#thoughts and analysis of the first two episodes

[ferarri16]

off the record

luke browning x actress! reader

summary: two interviews go viral and the whole world thinks you’re dating- or it’s a setup

authors note: please comment and reblog!

-

Okay, last one,” the interviewer smiles, glancing down at her card like she’s reading something she already knows will get a reaction. “Who’s your athlete crush?”

You know this question is coming. Of course you do. It’s always the last one — they want to end on a laugh, a blush, something viral for their TikTok.

You take a brief pause. The silence stretches just long enough to make it feel like a bigger deal than you meant it to be. You sit up a little straighter, smoothing your dress as you get ready to answer.

“Okay,” you say, keeping your tone casual. “If I answer this, no one’s allowed to be annoying about it, alright?”

The crew chuckles. The interviewer leans in like she’s about to be let in on a secret.

“Luke Browning,” you say simply. “F2 driver. Currently racing for Hitech. Very fast. Very British. Very... I don’t know, he’s just cool. Pretty cute too.”

There’s a beat of silence and then a chorus of surprised laughs — not mocking, just delighted that you didn’t say something predictable.

“You’re the first person to say an F2 driver in that seat,” the interviewer says, clearly loving it.

You grin, cheeks warm but not in a regretful way. “Yeah, I mean, I’ve watched Formula 1 since like… 2019? And then I got into Formula 2 and 3 soon after, so I’ve followed him for a while. I just think he’s really talented. And seems nice.”

That last part you say like it’s a disclaimer, like you’re afraid I’ll get called out for crushing on someone you’ve never met. Which, okay — fair — but also, not illegal.

“Manifesting a meet-cute in the paddock then?” she asks teasingly.

You groan, sliding down in my chair. “Don’t do this to me,” you laugh. “It’s just a silly little crush. Please don’t make it a thing.”

But of course, the internet will absolutely make it a thing.

•••

Austria. Red Bull Ring. A weekend that had already gone sideways. The Marti crash — the flip — was all anyone wanted to talk about. And Luke was over it.

He gets it, obviously. Big moment. Huge crash. He was lucky to walk away from it. But by the third interview, he can already feel the answers turning robotic.

“Yes, I’m feeling okay.”

“Yes, it was scary in the moment.”

“No, it hasn’t changed how I approach tomorrow.”

“Yes, we’ve gone over the telemetry.”

He’s on autopilot, nodding along to questions, until the Sky Sports reporter chuckles and says, “Alright, let’s end on a lighter note, yeah? Who’s your celebrity crush?”

It’s such a quick turnaround that he blinks for a second.

The camera’s still rolling. There’s a mic in his face. His mind races through options. He could say someone obvious. Margot Robbie. Zendaya. Safe bets.

But for some reason, what comes out of his mouth is:

“Y/N. Uh— Y/N L/N.”

“She’s a brilliant actress,” the reporter agrees. “What is it about her?”

Luke hesitates for half a second, then shrugs, letting a small smile tug at the corner of his mouth. “She’s just… cool. Seems really smart. Grounded. And funny in interviews. Like she actually gives thoughtful answers, you know?”

He doesn’t say he thinks she’s beautiful though it’s obviously implied. He just shrugs again and says, “I think she’d be fun to talk to.”

He doesn’t think much of it after that. Just something a bit lighter than crash analysis.

What he doesn’t expect is to open Twitter that night and see her face next to his in every F1 meme account post.

> “No way this wasn’t coordinated 😭”

> “Luke Browning and Y/N L/N saying each other’s names in interviews on the same weekend is SO unserious of them”

> “I love this soft launch energy”

> “Can we get the crossover episode please”

> “She watches F2?! We won.”

It’s a weird thing, going viral for something that wasn’t even your idea.

The team had just finished up a debrief, and Luke was still half-sweaty, half-annoyed, half-starving — and yeah, he knew that was too many halves, but his brain wasn’t at full power.

So when a Sky reporter asked him who his celebrity crush was, he didn’t even think about it. The words just…came out.

> “Y/N. Uh— Y/N L/N.”

He meant it as a throwaway line. Something to make the segment less grim.

He did not mean for it to turn into a shipping war.

By that night, the clip was everywhere.

But not just his clip.

Her’s too.

Apparently, Y/N had done an interview earlier that week — some press junket in London for a new project — and when they asked her about an athlete crush, she said his name. On camera. Without laughing. With this nervous, charming, very real little smile.

He only found out when Dino shoved his phone in Luke’s face like it was a tabloid.

“Mate. She said you first.”

> “Luke Browning. F2 driver. Very fast. Very British.”

Luke nearly chokes on his water.

“She watches F2?” he asks.

And then, because he’s incapable of any other response: “What the fuck”

•••

Your phone explodes sometime around 2 a.m. when you’re halfway through trying to scrub eyeliner off with a hotel washcloth. You don’t check it right away — you’ve been up since 5:30 doing press in three different outfits and trying not to fall over in five-inch heels. Whatever it is can wait.

Except it apparently can’t.

Because you wake up to five missed calls from your publicist and an inbox full of fan edits.

And they all have the same headline:

> **“Y/N L/N and Luke Browning: Crush Confessions?”**

You press play on one of the videos and there it is. Him. Saying your name. On camera. In real life.

You pause it. Rewind. Watch it again.

“She’s just… cool. Seems really smart.”

You sink into the hotel bed like you’ve been shot.

“Oh my God,” you mutter to no one.

There’s a knock at the door. Your best friend leans in a raised brow. “You seen Twitter?”

“Yeah. I saw Twitter.”

You’re not saying you regret it.

Sure, the videos have gone viral, the fan edits of you and a man you’ve never met, and your publicist has already said the words “just don’t feed into it” at least six times.

But no. You don’t regret it.

It was just supposed to be a bit funny. The side of you that’s a huge motorsports fan but doesn’t get to talk about that often. You thought you’d say his name and get a few laughs from the Formula fans on TikTok.

You didn’t think he would see it.

You definitely didn’t think he’d say your name back.

You’re sitting cross-legged on the bed with a granola bar in one hand and your phone in the other, watching the clip for the eighth time. Jess is somewhere in the background, probably reorganizing her hair clips by vibe, but you can’t focus on anything except the stupid five-second clip where Luke says you’re cool and funny and “seem really smart.”

Your face is burning.

“You’re down bad,” Jess calls from the bathroom.

“I am not down bad,” you call back, flipping your phone over like that’ll save you.

“You’re literally watching him say your name on a loop.”

“It’s research.”

There’s a pause, then: “For what? Your wedding vows?”

You throw a pillow at the door.

•••

His phone is lighting up again.

Group chats. Media alerts. Twitter. Instagram. Even his mum sent him a screenshot with the caption:

> *“She’s very pretty. Don’t mess this up.”*

Luke swears softly and sets his phone face-down. It does nothing. It still buzzes twice in a row, then three more times.

It’s gone beyond funny now. This isn’t just “haha crush stuff.” This is full-blown narrative. Edits on TikTok. Fan theories. A tweet that reads, “You’re telling me this isn’t PR when Silverstone is next week??”

Which — okay. That’s the kicker.

Because yes, they’re both going to be at Silverstone.

But it’s not some plan. No publicist meetings. No scheming. Luke’s been scheduled to race there since the calendar dropped. And as far as he knows, Y/N’s guest pass was sorted weeks ago.

But of course no one believes that.

So now, every time someone says “Silverstone,” they don’t mean “home race.” They mean, *“When are you two going to make eye contact and set the internet on fire?”*

The media team is already panicking.

“Just act normal,” his comms manager tells him. “If you bump into her, be polite. Say hi. Don’t say anything about TikTok. And don’t flirt.”

Luke raises an eyebrow. “I don’t flirt.”

“You don’t know that.”

He walks away before he says something stupid. Like, “I really want to meet her now and I kind of hate how much I mean that.”

•••

Here’s the thing: you’re not showing up to Silverstone in some planned "surprise reveal." You’ve had this pass for weeks. You’re here because you love this. Because you’ve watched this race every year since discovering the sport.

People are already whispering when you get to the paddock. Just soft enough that you can pretend I didn’t hear them.

> “That’s her, right?”

> “She’s the one who said Luke Browning?”

> “Do you think they’ve met yet?”

You’re doing your best to look normal. Jeans. Sneakers. A Ferrari cap, because you’re loyal even when it hurts. Jess is trailing behind you with a backpack and a grin she’s not bothering to hide.

“What?” You hiss.

“You’re being weird,” she says, nudging your arm. “Just walk like a person.”

“I am walking like a person!”

“You’re walking like someone who thinks they’re about to run into a boy.”

You glare at her. “We are not making this a thing.”

“Too late.”

You sigh, tuck your hands in my pockets, and try to focus on literally anything else.

You’re here for the race. That’s it.

Even if you are quietly hoping you might see him.

•••

The paddock is smaller than you expected.

Or maybe it just feels that way because you’re trying to disappear into the floor of the Ferrari hospitality suite.

This was supposed to be a normal weekend.

Well — normal for someone who got invited to Silverstone by a Formula 1 team. The plan was: show face, smile politely, take a few pictures for the team’s social, and spend the rest of the day watching your favorite sport. Low-key. Civilized.

That was before the internet decided you’re dating Luke Browning.

And not because you’ve met. No. Because you both — independently — said the other was your crush in back-to-back interviews. Same day, within hours. Total coincidence.

So now you’re sitting in the Ferrari suite, watching everyone prepare for the sprint race, and you can feel the eyes on you.

“Do you want to go down to the garage for a minute?” one of the Ferrari PR girls asks sweetly. “It’s quieter.”

She doesn’t say less awkward, but it’s implied.

You nod quickly, like she just offered you asylum.

•••

The garage is calm, at least. Controlled chaos. You lean against the back wall near the tire trolleys, trying not to look like a stray. Someone hands you a headset — you think out of politeness — and you slip it on, grateful for the barrier it creates. You can’t hear anything but team radio chatter, and no one’s trying to talk to me, which is bliss.

Then you see him.

Luke Browning. Walking into the paddock with his fireproofs around his waist and a water bottle in hand like he’s not the reason your phone has been blowing up for two straight days.

He looks exactly like he does on TV. Not better. Not worse. Just real.

You freeze.

For a second, you consider pretending you didn’t see him. Maybe if you duck behind a tire warmer, he won’t notice you—

Too late.

He slows. Looks up. Meets your eyes.

Stops.

Oh no.

You see it land in his face. Recognition. Surprise. A split-second internal panic. And then —

He smiles.

Not a confident, media-trained smile. An actual smile. A little lopsided. A little caught off guard.

He steps closer.

“Hi.”

You manage to blink. “Hi.”

A beat.

“You’re… here,” he says, as if he’s still not sure you’re not a hologram. “Like actually here.”

“I swear I didn’t plan this,” you say quickly. “I was invited to the race before any of that — like, weeks ago.”

“Oh.” He shifts his weight. “That’s… good. I mean— not that it would’ve been bad if you had planned it, just—”

“I promise I’m not running some long con,” you cut in, half-laughing.

He laughs too, more relaxed now. “I guess it would’ve been clever if you were.”

“I’m not clever,” you deadpan. “I’m just a girl with unfortunate timing.”

“Tell me about it.”

Another beat. This time, the silence isn’t awkward — it’s weirdly charged. Like you both know how absurd this is, but neither of you wants to say it.

Luke gestures to the cars. “You watching the sprint?”

You nod. “Obviously.”

He smirks. “Obviously.”

“Just so we’re clear,” you add, “I’ve known who you were before I ever opened my mouth on camera. I’ve watched F2 for years. This isn’t, like, a post-race TikTok crush situation.”

His eyes go wide. “You’ve actually watched F2?”

“Since Prema ran matching helmets for Halloween.”

He lets out a surprised laugh. “That was a deep cut.”

You shrug. “I’m a fan, not a poser.”

Something flickers across his face — maybe relief, maybe curiosity. He opens his mouth like he’s about to say more, but then someone calls his name from a few steps away. It’s a team staffer, pointing toward the pre-grid area.

He grimaces. “I should go.”

“Right,” you say, stepping back automatically. “Do your job. I’ll stop loitering.”

“You’re not loitering,” he says quickly. “You’re, like—"

He stops himself. Clears his throat.

“You’re fine.”

You smile. “So are you.”

His ears go *very slightly* pink.

“Right,” he says again. “See you around?”

“Yeah. Probably.”

Then he jogs off toward pit lane, looking back once — just briefly.

•••

He barely remembers how the sprint race went.

Honestly, it’s a miracle he made it to Turn 1 without running into the gravel, because the only thing in his head during warmup was her voice saying, *“I’m a fan, not a poser.”*

He doesn’t know what he expected from her. Some kind of ultra-polished, Hollywood energy? Someone who’d laugh off the internet drama and pose for a cute little PR photo and disappear?

Instead, she knew what a tire warmer was.

She made fun of him.

She was real.

And now he’s sitting in the back of the Hitech hospitality tent, absolutely losing the plot because he cannot stop grinning like an idiot.

“Did you see her?” one of the other drivers mutters to a mechanic, not realizing Luke is in earshot. “She’s actually here. Like, not just on TikTok.”

Luke says nothing.

But the pink in his ears gives him away.

•••

By the time the F2 sprint wraps, you’re ready to leave.

Not because you didn’t like seeing him — you did. Maybe too much.

But you’re painfully aware of the paddock whisper network. People talk. Fans post. And you can already feel the stories brewing. Especially because someone, somewhere, definitely got a photo of that moment in the garage. The internet’s probably mid-frenzy.

You try to leave quietly.

Key word: try.

But when you reach the exit near the paddock gates, there he is again. Changed, showered, casual in team kit and shorts, phone in hand. He looks up and spots you instantly.

“You’re leaving?”

You nod. “I thought I’d escape before someone turns this into a fake engagement announcement.”

He smiles. “Bit late for that.”

You pause.

“Do you want to walk out together?” he asks.

My brain screams. You play it cool.

“Yeah. Okay.”

You fall into step. The noise fades behind you — engines cooling, garages emptying, media wrapping up for the day.

And for a moment, it just feels… normal.

“I’m still not sure this isn’t some elaborate PR stunt,” you say, half-joking.

“Same,” he replies. “Except if it is, I’m definitely not the brains behind it.”

“I think we’re both just victims of fate.”

He grins. “Or chaos.”

“Probably both,” you add.

You reach the paddock gate, where a few fans are gathered, cameras raised.

He looks at you.

“Want to go out the back?”

You smile.

“Yeah. Let’s do that.”

[numblittlecrow]

another httyd analysis/ramble (race to the edge spoilers btw)

im rewatching race to the edge, and granted im only on ep 11 of s2(+ riders/defenders of berk), so these are just thoughts thus far. I really dont like Astrid in this series??? so far most of what i've seen of her has been just. So ableist.

I dont feel like bothering w getting the clips but ill describe them.

Exhibit one: this is the most insane example i've seen tbh. Season 2 episode 1 "Team astrid" at 11:42, Astrid is training the new A team on Berk, tells them to repeat after her "This is my dragon. there are many like it, but this one is mine." the others repeat. Astrid says "i cant hear you", thus everyone repeats it louder. Gothi scribbling ferociously at the ground. "I still cant hear you!" they all repeat again, Astrid is glaring at Gothi. Then she tells Gothi to "Drop and give me 20."

Like what the hell???? I dont even have words to explain how mad that made me. she's a mute woman, no shit you cant hear her! She was being overly mean in general in that episode, which i get the reasoning for there, but she had NO RIGHT to single out Gothi for something she cant control.

Exhibit b: s2 ep8 " Edge of disaster, part 1". This entire episode made me pretty mad at her. Starting at 2:50 when Hiccup, Fishlegs and Snotlout need to leave to help Johan with alleged dragon hunter troubles. Astrid is frustrated at being left behind to defend the edge and being left alone with the twins. (This scene isn't exactly an example of her being ableist, im just mad.) What i dont understand is her whining so much about this, because usually she's pretty reasonable, but in this particular case, hiccup has an incredibly logical argument as to why she needs to stay behind! Like he said, Toothless and Hookfang have the only working dragon armor, and Meatlug is the only one immune to the dragon root arrows. Plus Hiccup is entrusting her with hiding the dragon eye, which is a very important job! And she just doesn't seem to get it! swallow your damn ego for the love of Thor!

This next part in particular made me realize a few things though. The scene starts at 6:18, but the part at about 7:28 where Ruffnut(queen) goes off on her really made me think. Astrid truly doesn't respect a single other person in the group aside from Hiccup(at this point in time). She definitely doesn't respect Snotlout, she sees the twins as absolute idiot, and i dont exactly remember many interactions she's had with Fishlegs, so take that one with a bit of salt. In tough situations, if either Snotlout of god forbit the twins suggest a plan, or just point something out, she'll be the first to call them idiots. Its really only when the crazy plan is formed by Hiccup, or approved by Hiccup, that she even takes it into consideration. Example earlier in the same scene, the twins made a zipline from one sentry post to another, instead of building stairs. This is a great idea, as the twins attempted to explain, but Astrid shot them down, saying that there's no possible scenario, where that might be useful.

This closed-mindedness in battle really shows in the same episode starting at 14:18 and continuing into the next episode. Ruffnut was kidnapped, they realized that hunter ships are approaching the edge and her and Tuffnut need to defend the edge the two of them. Astrid starts forming a plan, but when Tuffnut tries to suggest his own plan about tricking the hunters into thinking theres actually more of them(one that genuinely sounds like a good idea btw), Astrid shoots it down because "this is no time for tricks". Battle is the BEST time for tricks, what do you meannnn???? Thats literally one of the best tactics to use, are you high?? its literaly "Work smarter not harder". Or in the wise words of Sun Tzu "All warfare is based on deception." I get that you're a viking and thats not your style, but it will be the death of you if you continue like this i promise you. She reluctantly lets Tuffnut set up his plan alongside her, but when its time to fight, she STILL isn't willing to consider it. its only when she's completely out of options that she figures they got nothing to lose and carry out Tuffnuts just as effective plan as hers was.

(unrelated side note but theres a silly animation error in part 2 at 20 minutes exactly where Hookfang's chest armor has the shiny factor turned up wayyyy too high, so he just has a slightly brownish mirror on his chest lol)

Now tbf this bit obviously isn't canon, but i feel that Hiccup, Fishlegs and the twins are clearly very autism and/or adhd coded. Im not sure about Snotlout, im sure someone's gonna tell me theres smthn similar going on there aswell, and i wouldn't deny it. But Astrid is just??? She feels like the neurotypical one. The way she looks down on everyone sans Hiccup irks me to no end. To give her a little credit, in the end of that episode she did apologize(or at least admit to feeling guilty) to Ruffnut about insulting her in the part 1, 6:18 scene, but that doesn't redeem much imo. I am hoping this gets better as the seasons continue.

[sympathytea]

Whitepine episode 4 thoughts (spoilers below!)

CW: mentions of domestic abuse are in these thoughts, due to the nature of certain events in the episode. Also a brief emetophobia warning for the same reason.

Oh. God.

Alright before...I touch that. The lighter events first.

We got introduced to Vi, a kid with...more than a few issues under his belt. Appears neglected, messy room and no butler or maid in sight taking care of him. He has an open window, which Vi and Serapter went through at the end of episode 3, which I assume is for possible escape attempts.

He attempts to blackmail to get anyone to listen to him, which I assume isn't helped by his upbringing in the Hemlocke family. He appears to take out his frustrations on staff (implied) and abandoned buildings that his father owns. He knows how to make explosives??? Also Ivory doesn't seem to mind being around him, which is good.

Zolister makes mentions of a mother bear during his talk with PrinceZam, and I feel like this is hinting at a connection with Ivory and Vi, but I'm uncertain about that analysis. Izzy is uncomfortable around the subject of the bear, which is understandable due to the nature of said subject.

Its also worth mentioning that I don't believe there is a mother present in this household? Maybe Ivory is filling that role for Vi. A more caring figure in comparison to Zombie, speaking of which...

Zombie is not great to his staff, which was revealed in prior episodes, but also seems to not be that great of a father either considering how Vi is doing, along with Pyro.

There wasn't much going on with Pyro today, he bonded with Ivory, which is always good to see.

And I suppose this is where we talk about. That.

(Due to the nature of Youtube Clips, this embed might break, so if you're curious on what its about, its the scene with Bormethius and Ivory, where Ivory gets cornered on the stairs.)

One: Holy shit, what is your issue man???? Leave her alone?????

Second: He's profiling Ivory based on...two interactions. He is also very much breaching boundaries here, actively making her uncomfortable and sending her rushing into a different room. Extremely bad, and that's not even mentioning that getting cornered by an intimidating man seems to be a landmine in Ivory's mind.

My current running theory? Shes a victim of domestic abuse, possibly in relation to the shower, which she's seen vomiting into the drain not too long after. I'm not certain of the extent of this abuse? But this is certainly not boding well for her.

Either way, Detective Bormethius is officially on my bastard list. Fuck this guy.

PrinceZam also mentions that he wasn't even supposed to be here, which is a major red flag. He went to go talk to the detective, but I'm uncertain if that conversation lead anywhere.

Loppezz makes an appearance, comforting Ivory.

She isn't willing to spill what happened today, which is another tick for possible domestic violence, since victims tend to stay quiet about said abuse. This might also explain her behaviors with everyone, always quick to obey, and deeply afraid of doing something wrong.

That's all for now, hopefully I didn't get anything major wrong with my analysis on Ivory's behavior, or anything else presented in my thoughts, I'll be continuing tonight or tomorrow (depending on what happens.)

watching whitepine for the first time (very mild spoilers of the first ep, undescribed images because there are too many and they're all text...)

i know what you are /silly

[centaurianthropology]

Thoughts and Probably Overly-Thorough Analysis on Adaptation in ‘Murderbot’ Episodes 1 and 2

After discussing adapting a very internal book series to the screen in this post, I was excited to actually get to watch how the show tackled visually trying to tell the story, especially given that the episodes are only approximately 30 minutes long.  That is TIGHT, and requires some tight scripting to establish the world, the characters, and the stakes. 

So, non-spoiler thoughts above the cut: I liked it!  I feel like the vibe is right, while changing some necessary things to better establish the world and several important concepts for non-readers.  The first scene felt a little clunky as far as pacing/info-dumping/character intro went, but after that I do feel like the pace evened out into something I genuinely found enjoyable.  There is a lot of effort to start defining cultures, concepts, and characters, and by and large I think it succeeded.  I have a few changes I might question, but we’re way too early in the season for me to feel comfortable judging them.  So overall, as someone who has read the books and enjoys seeing how things have to change to adapt to a different storytelling medium?  I think it’s overall successful, particularly as the first two episodes are clearly the setup episodes (almost always the hardest episodes to really nail during adaptation). 

If you’re looking for a 1:1 translation of the books, and if you’re really sensitive to changing the original, this is probably not going to be the show for you.  Luckily, there are great books and audiobooks still there for you!  But if you’re open to the changes, if your vision of these books and these character is flexible and you might even be excited to see a different version than the one already told, you will hopefully find it as fun a ride as I did.

By the end of episode two, particularly after some really great scenes featuring Alexander Skarsgard (whose portrayal of Murderbot completely won me over) and David Dastmalchian (Gurathin was always one of my favorites, and he is doing such interesting things to deepen the character), I am hooked.

More spoilery thoughts on the episodes below!

So, what do you have to do in intro episodes?  You have to introduce characters, situation and, in speculative fiction, also concepts and setting.  And for half-hour sci-fi episodes you’re almost certainly requiring a lot of shorthand, a lot of quick ways to get information across, a lot of info in as little time as possible.  Both of the first episodes dropped at once, and that’s honestly good, because they more or less function as the introductory two-parter before the action kicks off. 

The pacing is fairly leisurely, focused on introducing us to the world, the characters, and how they got to the place they are for the story.  And even after the intros, I do feel like we will probably be devoting more time to giving some of the more underserved characters more expansive moments.  But for having to do a lot in about an hour’s worth of television, I think they accomplished what they set out to do with fairly minimal clunkiness.

S1E1: ‘FreeCommerce’

That said the initial scene is a bit clunky.  I get why it was necessary.  We have to establish several big concepts in a hurry: what a SecUnit is, what they are generally used for, a sense of the Corporation Rim, and the hacked governor module that lies as the basis of the whole story going forward.  Those are big sci-fi concepts to front-load, and I do think the scene could have maybe taken one more pass through editing to not make it feel quite so rushed (a few pauses and beats here and there would have been appreciated), but I also understand that the sense was likely to get the information dump over quickly to get on with the story.  So, less elegant than one might hope, but not a deal-breaker by any means.  Information conveyed, moving on.

The introduction to the PresAux team, in my opinion, goes a lot better.  Largely because the writers play it out over multiple scenes and scenarios, giving us perspectives on these characters in three very different situations (at Port FreeCommerce, setting up their base, and facing their first real threat in the story).  I think hard-cutting to the actual beginning of ‘All Systems Red’ briefly, before flashing back to show the team having to rent Murderbot is a great choice.  We get the nod to the book-readers for the in medias res cold open of ‘All Systems Red’, while still going back to help the non-readers really understand who these people are and how they got here.

Playing up the hippie vibes of the team is smart visual and storytelling shorthand.  We immediately get a good sense that they don’t quite fit in with the Corporation Rim.  I love that it’s pointed out that their clothing is hand made, that there are patterns and textures, that there is jewelry and accessories and fun bags.  Put that against the Company’s sales reps’ tech-bro synthetic aesthetics, and it works!  My one wish would have been that the sales reps were all a little more artificially hot, to really drive home how unmakeuped and natural the PresAux team looks.  But still, a solid contrast to let us know that these are not your usual group of spacefarers.

And it continues throughout negotiations, leading up to the humming consesus circle.  Again, I think this is a great choice, because it serves multiple purposes all at once.  We can feel how different their society is to the one that Murderbot understands, and even sets them apart from our culture, which unfortunately is a lot more like Corporation Rim culture than Preservation. 

And this, I think, is why amplifying the hippie commune vibes of these characters is such a great choice: we as the audience are mostly in Murderbot’s head, so PresAux comes off the way that it initially sees them.  They seem weird, quirky, naive.  And yet, I believe that throughout the series both Murderbot and we will have our expectations challenged.  Why can’t people be emotionally open, trusting, and kind, even be fairly far-out and kooky, and still be highly competent, intelligent individuals who manage to hold their own under difficult circumstances.  In our own particular cultural moment, earnestness and emotional openness and the general hopeful and sweet vibes of the Preservation team is viewed as “cringe”.  I think there are probably going to be some viewers who look at them and want them to be some cool, cynical rebel college communists rather than drum-circle having hippies who love decorating their surroundings, embroidering, and jewelry making.  But I am very hopeful that, over the course of the season, we are shown how much their culture of openness, trust, and kindness can be a strength.  We might be asked to confront our own biases against earnestness and ‘quirkiness’, which could blind us to how competent these people are, much as Murderbot itself was initially blinded.

The scene on Port FreeCommerce serves as our introduction to the vibes of at least some of the individual members of PresAux as well.  Pin-Lee is running point in negotiations, so we know they’re someone who either has negotiating, business, or legal expertise (something that is difficult to establish through the rest of the story).  Dr. Mensah is clearly in charge, but has no desire to make unilateral decisions.  She takes other opinions into account (even if she ultimately disagrees with them), states her philosophical and moral objections to SecUnits clearly, but still acts as a realist: if they are going to do this survey, they have to cooperate with the Company.  The hellish compromise.

But because the whole team essentially has to compromise their morals and ethics to do this survey the way that the Company is insisting it get done (renting what is essentially mandatory slave labor), she makes sure that her entire team agrees with her before signing their contact.  We see that the team is very cooperative, but Gurathin is a bit of an awkward outsider (though immediately invited to be an insider by Ratthi, so we also get a sense of his open and warm nature), although at this point in the episode we don’t know why he doesn’t seem to fit as seamlessly as the others.

Moving to the survey planet and the team’s habitat is also a scene that pulls a lot of multilayered weight.  It establishes all the important components of the habitat, it establishes Murderbot’s disgust of human bodily functions, and further expands on the team and how Muderbot responds to them.  These are important moments because these are the initial impressions that will go on to be confirmed or subverted throughout the season.  While it’s a bit on the nose to just do a verbal intro of everyone, it’s also a good use of time in a 30-minute episode to just get everyone’s names out there, base-level relationships, jobs, and at least one individual facet of them (Mensah has 80 million seven children, Arada and Pin-Lee are married but might be going through a bit of a rough patch, Ratthi flirts with All The Things, Gurathin is an augmented human, and Bharadwaj is hoarding soap for unknown reasons).  We see them decorating their habitat, growing plants inside, playing music (again, more cultural establishment and ways of making both Murderbot and the audience initially confused by this bunch), and being … really sweet with one another, honestly.  I felt immediately endeared to them and wanted to know more (why are you hoarding soap, Bharadwaj??).  We get tiny character beats like Arada running up the stairs to call dibs on rooms, followed by Ratthi and Pin-Lee, and we get a moment of Pin-Lee pausing as they run past SecUnit to smile at it and seem to try to engage with it, if only briefly.  We get Ratthi painting the habitat, and Gurathin fretting over if the paint washes off (they’re never getting their deposit back …).

We also get that Murderbot Does Not Want to Be Here, and see it grappling with humanity as a whole.  It seems to find actual human relationships offputting and confusing, but loves the melodramatic interpretations of relationships on ‘Sanctuary Moon’.  Reality makes it deeply uncomfortable, but unreality has become its comfort and what it mostly spends its time focused on.  Through its avoidance of them and their oddities, we get a sense both of its fear of being found out, and we get a Chekhov’s gun of emotional attachment.  It doesn’t want it, but it’s also deeply fascinated by its facsimile.  And given how open and loving this group seems to be in general (with one notable and delightfully bitchy exception, love you Gurathin), we can already see how it’s going to be loved whether it wants to be or not.

The final establishment of character, situation, and place, occurs with the return to the cold open of ‘All Systems Red’, now armed with enough information to actually care at least somewhat when Bharadwaj gets attacked by the worm, as well as somewhat understanding why she and Arada might initially not listen to the SecUnit (they know it’s refurbished and all the rest of their Company equipment is a bit shit, they’re scientists excited about their work, the planet was rated safe). 

The worm attack works fairly well.  The CG of Murderbot jumping down feels a bit floaty, but as soon as it closes in for combat the visual effects are on point, and the pacing of the scene is frantic and fun.  The use of the ‘Sanctuary Moon’ clip to give Murderbot a means of trying to comfort Arada to get her walking was great, and it was really this scene that sold me on Alexander Skarsgard as Murderbot.  After hearing its snarky internal monologue, hearing the awkwardness of its actual attempts at a social interaction is delightful!  Internal-Monologue!Murderbot is quippy and witty and sarcastic.  Outside!SecUnit is awkwardness and social anxiety personified.  And I feel like this disconnect can really hit home for a lot of people with bad social anxiety. 

This is also important to establish the initial character reactions to a majorly tramatic and shocking moment for them.  Arada goes into shock, but after that gets forceful and defensive of both SecUnit and her field of study (her lines about animals were actually great, and really set her apart in her own unique way). 

Pin-Lee demands action.  They can get loud and abrasive, and they clearly need to have control over their circumstances or they start to get very twitchy, but they are also caring, careful to correct themself when they say something that could be genuinely insulting. 

Ratthi is concerned for everyone, but also has a base-level chill nature that means he can’t stay worked up to the intensity that others can.  It makes him a sweet and leveling presence in tense scenes. 

Gurathin has to be useful.  He preps the medbay.  He stays with Bharadwaj until she wakes up, monitoring her vitals and the equipment, even though there isn’t much he can do.  But the equipment is his thing.  The tech is his thing, and he’s going to make it work.  Which is why, of course, he’s also the first to notice something is off with their SecUnit.  Not only is he focused on the equipment (and at this point viewing SecUnit more as faulty equipment than a person), but we find out that he’s the only one of the team who might have actually had prior experience with SecUnits, and whatever it was, it wasn’t good.

Mensah stays cool under fire, staying at the heart of the discussion while taking everyone’s thoughts and feelings into account.  She keeps everyone directed, focused, and calm.  And then, when she is alone, she falls apart, slipping into a full-blown panic attack over almost losing Bharadwaj.  And honestly?  I love them giving her a panic disorder.  Giving a character a panic disorder while still showing that she is competent, a respected leader, and tries her damndest to push through the panic to reassure and care for her people is a lovely touch. 

With these three data points we actually get a good baseline for these characters in their element, out of their element, and in danger.  They already feel human and flawed, despite not knowing any of them deeply yet.  It also means that we’re already able to read more into their interactions than Murderbot is grasping quite yet.  After all, it’s not great at this social thing, and it REALLY doesn’t get them and their culture.

This gets highlighted when it has to come out and talk to the team out of its armor.  Again, Alexander Skarsgard does a fantastic job of radiating the incredible social anxiety of a being that would vastly prefer to only ever have to interact with other people safely behind a helmet.  Being so exposed, with its feet and its face and its hands all on gangly display in one of the crew jumpsuits, is so clearly an existential nightmare to it.  And the more most of the team try to thank it, welcome it, treat it like a person, the more uncomfortable it becomes.  The speech is hilarious, but also a great bit of disconnect between its social comfort zone and that of the Preservation team.  And in that moment, we realize that, even if some of them are trying to embrace it, to invite it to be more integrated with them, to give it a chance, they understand Muderbot as little as Murderbot understands them.

I have seen some people not liking part of this scene because Arada misgenders Murderbot by calling it ‘he’, but I think this is actually an important part of character building for her, Murderbot, and the story.  My guess is that the writers are going to Rule Of Threes Murderbot’s pronouns, as many viewers have likely never encountered someone who uses it/its pronouns.  This scene serves as the Introduction: Arada is well-meaning, but accidentally misgenders it because she is reacting to the face she saw (as many well-meaning people can do).  Gurathin immediately and vehemently corrects her … for the wrong reasons.  He’s thinking of their SecUnit as a malfunctioning piece of equipment, while Arada is thinking of it as a human, so he is dehumanizing it.  They are both wrong, but also both a bit right.  Arada is right that Murderbot is a person, but she is wrong in immediately defaulting to Human Male when she thinks of it.  Gurathin is right in that it has no interest in being human and is, in fact, quite attached to being a construct and having no gender, but he’s wrong in treating it as equipment.  I imagine that, per the Rule of Threes, this topic will be Reinforced later, and then Confirmed in a final scene so the audience learns its pronouns properly, even audience members who might initially struggle to use the right pronouns or do the same as Arada by seeing Alexander Skarsgard and making assumptions.

And speaking of assumptions, the audience also gets its first hint that perhaps ‘Murderbot’ wasn’t simply a cool name it plucked out of the aether, but ties much more intensely into the fragments of memories it has.  We find out that SecUnits are routinely memory wiped, but a few seconds of something awful have leaked through.  It sees people screaming, running, and dying, and it has the feeling it might be responsible.  And despite its general misanthrope, it doesn’t seem at all pleased by this memory.  If anything, it seems horrified.  It’s one thing to idly speculate about killing humans, but another to realize it might well have already done precisely what all the SecUnits on the entertainment feeds do: go crazy and kill all its clients.

Introducing that memory and then having a one-on-one with Mensah is an interesting choice, because it adds layers to the scene.  She is clearly trying to thank it again, maybe reach out, but she’s also trying to figure out what’s happening with her clearly incredibly anxious SecUnit.  It’s terrified she suspects it’s hacked its governor module, but it’s also afraid she’s getting attached, which could be worse.  After all, if it’s done something awful once, there’s nothing stopping it from doing so again. 

The memories keep playing even after she leaves, and it says the same line it lifted from ‘Sanctuary Moon’ to itself: “Stay calm; it’ll be okay.  You have my word.”  It’s honestly creepy, and it’s clearly meant for the audience to read this initially as a threat to the scientists.  But looking at it again, considering how traumatized it seems to be by this fragmented memory, the line takes on an almost self-soothing quality.  Is it speaking to the people in its memory?  The PresAux team?  Itself? 

The first episode does a workmanlike and occasionally inspired job of introducing us to all the things it needed to.  And for all that this first episode is fairly direct in its storytelling, I feel like there are layers that will feel deeper on future viewing after the whole season is out.

S1E2: ‘Eye Contact’

The second half of our introduction to this show had two major jobs: reinforce themes from the first episode, deepen character beats, and get us to the point where the plot kicks off.  The show does this by splitting the episode into two subplots that both kick off with the opening scene.

We open in the hopper, and it’s clear from the first scene that this episode will, at least in part, focus on better establishing and characterizing Gurathin.  I’m hoping each of the characters gets this treatment going forward, because I really have to commend the episode for how much we learn about him throughout.  There are a lot of layers at play, both in the writing of his character and in David Dastmalchian’s performance.  This is a guy with anxiety to rival Murderbot’s, even if he can cover it better.  He’s trying to keep their conversation out of its purview, because he doesn’t trust it.  He doesn’t trust anyone outside of this small friend group he’s got, and he especially doesn’t trust anything coming from the Company.  And even though the group thinks he’s being overly paranoid, it’s really nice to see how immediately they confirm that he has good reasons for not trusting the Company, and they all love him (and Ratthi calls him “Gugu”, which … chef’s kiss).  We now get our first big hint of what makes him the outsider of the group: he’s not originally from Preservation.  As we learn later, he’s almost certainly originally from the Corporation Rim, and whatever happened to him there has fucked him up badly.

Mensah once again comes in as the tempering force.  She mentions her conversation with SecUnit.  She wanted to see if she could trust it, and she FEELS like she can, but THINKS they should be cautious.  I like this slight change from the books, as all the Preservation natives feel the immediate desire to trust and befriend SecUnit, but in this they are a bit more cautious because they aren’t certain if they can trust anything supplied by the Company. 

I think this is the benefit of the visual medium expanding out the story.  After all, while the audience is able to hear all of Murderbot’s internal snark, they only get the anxiety-ridden, clearly atypical external SecUnit.  And even if some of them are now seeing it as a person, they are also seeing that it works for a deeply untrustworthy company that may or may not be deceiving them.  So with the information and experiences they currently have, Gurathin is making a reasonable argument for leaving the SecUnit behind. 

And from a storytelling perspective, it makes sense to leave it behind.  It would be easy for this episode to feel like it was retreading the worm incident from the first episode, but having Mensah and Bharadwaj decide to go alone to survey the blacked out area in the map makes the stakes very different. 

And speaking of, though we don’t get a lot of time with her, I am LOVING Bharadwaj.  The actress is hilarious, particularly when the character is clearly high as balls on stimulants and pain meds is just fantastic.  I also love her little moment later of academic one-upsmanship.  Having known so many academics in my life, that was the most real moment of academic bullshit so far.  I cackled!

Their plot is primarily used to reestablish Bharadwaj, and to get Mensah into a dangerous situation (and honestly, I don’t think she should have gone alone trying to climb a fucking mountain, but whatever).  She ends up having another panic attack, and it’s a good beat to see her trying to force her way through it.  She doesn’t want to let the team down.  Even while she’s spiraling she’s trying to be so supportive and encouraging to her team.  I like that she doesn’t handle this situation perfectly.  I like that she struggles and sort of fails, and still keeps pushing.  One of the things the show has been consistently good at is giving the characters very relatable flaws.  She takes her role so seriously she’s going to put herself through hell to see it done, all while trying to mask how bad it’s getting in front of the people she cares about.  This is a good way of reinforcing what we learned about her in the last episode, and setting up an emotional arc for her.

And speaking of setting up emotional arcs, let’s talk about Murderbot and Gurathin, or what I like to call The Best Scenes in the Show So Far Holy Shit.

The scenes between them function on so many levels: comedy, drama, character development, worldbuilding.  We have it all right here!  Major concepts that will be important later (ComfortUnits, Corporation Rim vs Preservation culture) are established quickly and with deliberate discomfort for both characters.  Gurathin weaponizes Murderbot’s deep discomfort with eye contact and social interaction to try to interrogate it and figure out what’s gone wrong, but it doesn’t really go the way either of them wants it to go, because both of them are socially awkward disasters; both of them have conflicting motivations and desires; both of them don’t understand one another and understand one another way, WAY too well.

This leads to scenes that can be interpreted on multiple levels, all while setting up some meaty stakes.  Both characters are trying to do multiple things at once, and it’s really fun to see how well or poorly they succeed.  Gurathin definitely set up the scene to be at least a bit intimidating … and promptly fumbles it when he realizes that his chair isn’t a swivel chair and he can’t turn and do a cool reveal, but instead drags it around, scraping along the floor.  And honestly, part of him not only can’t be intimidating, but doesn’t want to be.  Part of him wants to understand this incredibly awkward being he’s now sharing space with.  There is a weird earnestness, almost a stream-of-consciousness strangeness to the way Gurathin is written in this scene that I adore, and that David Dastmalchian absolutely nails.  He seems even weirder than Murderbot in his own way.

They’re both such messes, and both ready to needle the shit out of one another.  Gurathin, especially, is clearly trying to provoke reactions, to test boundaries.  It’s almost like he’s conducting a stress test on a computer system, but with a sentient being instead, and his life potentially on the line.  He questions Murderbot about its capacity for emotion, for connection, by comparing it to ComfortUnits, but because, again, this is an interrogation conducted by and to the two most cripplingly awkward beings on the hab, it half comes off like he’s hitting on it.

And then there’s the reason for the episode title, and something that is both a deeply dirty trick on Gurathin’s part, and an absolute red flag waved in front of a bull.  He orders (likely suspecting that this SecUnit might be capable of disobeying orders) that they maintain eye contact throughout this interaction. 

And I think that red flag in front of a bull is the other level he’s trying to work at in this scene.  This is a systems stress test, trying to tease out what is happening and where what he sees as a malfunction lies.  But he’s also painting himself as a target.  He’s pulling out every nasty trick in the book to make sure that, if this SecUnit really is rogue and really is going to go on a killing spree, it doesn’t go after anyone but him.  Because as was established in the opening scene: Gurathin may be a paranoid dick, but he loves his weird extrovert friends so, so deeply, and he would absolutely die to protect them.

Because Gurathin, above all things, needs to feel useful.

Murderbot is trying to dodge questions, trying not to give anything away.  It’s trying to bear up under the sheer painful amount of eye contact required, and it’s trying to get Gurathin back (you make me look you in the eye?  I’ll make you see your friends making out with one another!).  And the funniest thing is that they’re basically just inflicting on the other what they already find uncomfortable.  Again and again, they parallel one another.  It was established twice last episode and hammered home now.

And at the same time, there is a weirdly heart-to-heart quality to this interaction.  Because as much as Gurathin is trying to be a hardass, and as much as Murderbot is trying to shut this interaction down as quickly as possible, Gurathin is also just trying to understand, and Murderbot can’t help but explain itself a bit.  It’s the awful moment of sympathy with someone you loath because they’re far too much like you, but you just keep reaching out.  And that layer of earnestness, of accidental vulnerability on both of their parts, adds such a lovely, bizarre tinge of sweetness to what is otherwise a fairly brutal encounter for both of them.

The choices in this scene are what sold me on the show, from the storytelling to the writing to the performances.  The actors fucking kill this scene.  Alexander Skarsgard gets to do a lot of subtle facial expressions as the internal snarky narration struggles to emerge under its facade of calm, and its deep levels of social anxiety keep kneecapping it from fully extracting itself from the conversation or getting the upper hand.  And David Dastmalchian brings all the conflicting motivations, all the half-aborted gestures of hostility and kindness and awkwardness and paranoia through to make Gurathin feel desperately, earnestly human.  I really can’t say enough about their performances; they bounce off one another fantastically.

And of course, these two storylines dovetail at the end of the episode as Mensah finds the Alien Remnant (really cool use of visual effects there!), almost gets eaten by a worm, and everyone realizes that either the maps are glitching out due to the Remnants’ influence, or someone is deliberately hiding them.  They try to confer with the other survey team currently on the planet, a small group from a company called DeltFall, but something is wrong.  And as the episode closes with bodies strewn over the darkened DeltFall habitat, I think we’re about to see the plot kick into gear.

Conclusions

So, what did I think about the first two episodes overall?  They were solid.  I want more establishing time with quite a few of the characters (Bharadwaj, Ratthi, Pin-Lee, and Arada especially), but episode two in particular made me confident this show is going fun places.  Because the scenes between Murderbot and Gurathin were added for the show; this is new material, and it’s exactly the sort of thing I was hoping we would get from an adaptation.  Those scenes struck the perfect blend of humor and danger and sincerity and anger that I read in the books.  That was what convinced me that the show really could pull off something new and fun and fresh both as an adaptation of a series of books I enjoy, and as a piece of science fiction media that feels defiantly hopeful and colorful and weird in the face of a fairly bleak and depressing sci-fi television landscape. 

Like I said before, doing set-up episodes is incredibly hard to do gracefully in television, and doing sci-fi setup where you’re having to explain places, politics, and concepts as well as characters and situations, is even more challenging.  And you’ve got two half-hour time slots to do it in.  And with those limitations in mind, I feel like the show currently ranges from Gets-the-Job-Done-Inelegantly-but-Fine to Holy-Shit-I-Want-to-See-More-of-That-Right-Now. 

I want to get to know all these weirdos on the same intense level I now feel we know Murderbot and Gurathin, and I feel like we will.  Will it be the perfect show?  No.  It will not.  Have I still watched both of these episodes multiple times, and am I super excited to see DeltFall and how much things are about to go to shit?  Oh hell yes.  I am so excited!

So, yes.  There are my scattered thought about this adaptation, where it mostly succeeds and occasionally feels clunky.  The cast is charming and occasionally electric, and I am eager to see more.

[heyclickadee]

Because I’ve decided to be somewhat annoyingly optimistic about Tech coming back eventually, I kind of wanted to explain the hypothetical framework through which I’ve been looking at the all of this wiiiiiiiiiith…

…a crappy diagram. (I’m sorry about my handwriting. I usually write in cursive, so it’s usually smaller and even worse).

Now, this is simplified, there are plenty more arcs, plots, and subplots than this, but I sort of picked out the main three that we seem to be dealing with from the beginning of The Clone Wars season seven onwards.

First we’ve got Rex’s arc, where after an endless string of losses and disappointments from previous seasons, he begins putting his foot down and trying to take something back and help his fellow clones, first within the GAR when he insists on rescuing Echo, and then later on in The Bad Batch as we see him gradually form a small band of clones and other allies (people like the Martez sisters and Riyo Chuchi) with the end goal of freeing as many clones as he can. This seems to be an ongoing plot, given that Rex’s work as well as the setup with the senate continues into season three of TBB but receives neither climax nor resolution as we narrow the focus towards Omega.

And, of course, alongside the Rex arc is what I’m calling the clone agency arc, introduced (or perhaps re-introduced) via Echo and his captivity by the Techno Union in the beginning of season seven of TCW, continuing through the end of TCW and into TBB with Order 66, Crosshair’s time under the chip and with the empire (his story far has given us a great look into the life of clones subject to order 66 and imperial service), the clone retirement bill, and the CXs. It, too, reaches neither climax nor conclusion and seems to be ongoing. Furthermore, Rex’s arc seems to be dependent on the clone agency arc (though you could argue it the other way), and many of the loose threads from the end of TBB tie into it as well.

Next, at the beginning of “Aftermath,” we’ve got the clone force 99 family arc as well as the individual bad batcher arcs, none of which reach a resolution. (The bad batch characters are all introduced in the bad batch arc of season seven, but I’d argue that with a few possible exceptions, they don’t really begin their arcs until the start of TBB. They’re not the focus in season seven and are there largely to facilitate Rex’s arc, so what we get for them is a lot of set up and establishing baselines).

I’ve argued before that each of the batcher’s character development goes only so far as it needs to go in order to facilitate Omega’s arc ending by the final episode; after that, they don’t conclude, they slow down, get put on the backburner, and come with period reminders of what those arcs were doing. Hunter gets very close to resolution in his development, since he’s the most tied at the hip to Omega’s arc and most of his character arc has to do with her, but the others are all completely open-ended. The family arc likewise remains open-ended—not necessarily because Tech’s not there and they remain separated, but because the separation and brokenness of the family is never dealt with and left wanting a conclusion despite the fact there was ample opportunity to reach it if necessary.

And last, we’ve got Omega’s childhood arc and the Hunter/Omega relationship arc. These, closely tied together, are the only major arcs that conclude by the end of TBB. And here’s the interesting thing; they’re not actually the first arcs introduced in the show.

Omega is the POV character, but she’s not actually introduced until the second act, I would argue she doesn’t become the POV character until the hyperspace scene at the end of “Aftermath,” and her arc proper doesn’t really begin until “Cut and Run” when we introduce the idea of Omega choosing where she wants to be and the, “You all have a purpose—so what’s hers?” “It doesn’t matter, she’s just a kid,” exchange. Other arcs including her start earlier—I would argue that Crosshair’s arc with her starts in the brig scene, for example—but her arc doesn’t quite kick off until a little later.

Basically, the way I’m looking at this is as a series of nested arcs. A storytelling nesting doll, basically, where the major arc that was introduced the latest and has the smallest scale is also the only one to reach a resolution by the end of TBB show while the others imply a larger, ongoing story.

It’s not that the two larger major arcs stop when the Omega arc is introduced, either. They keep being told alongside, largely through Omega’s point of view with occasional zoom-outs to a wider frame, and limited to what we need to see at present either for future set up or before zooming back in and, in the case of much of the third season of TBB (last four episodes in particular) focusing in on Omega’s arc and that resolution before, hypothetically, broadening to a larger focus again. It’s also not that Omega can’t show up now that her arc is concluded, either. She can! In fact, she should, for multiple reasons. She just wouldn’t be the focus anymore and would probably show up in a more limited capacity.

And it’s not that these nested arcs are even separate. They might start and conclude at different points, but they are told alongside each other because they’re tied together. They weave in and out of each other and push each other along. They’re relevant to one another and, I think, pieces of a larger clone story that’s not quite over.

Because here’s the thing: There’s a lot of stuff in both TCW season seven and TBB that we don’t really need unless it was there for setup. The only part of season seven that was entirely necessary for closing out the clone war and that part of Ahsoka’s story was the Siege of Mandalore arc with maybe, *maybe* one additional episode to explain what she’s been doing. I love the bad batch arc, but we didn’t need it…unless the purpose was to set up arcs for the batch and also tie the batch’s and Echo’s stories to Rex’s and the clone agency arc. We don’t need the Martez sisters episodes…unless we need to introduce the Martez sisters, who also meet the batch and are also working with Rex once we get to TBB (and are presumably still working with him from time to time, since we haven’t heard otherwise). Likewise, the list of things in TBB that aren’t strictly necessary from a storytelling perspective if all we were doing the whole time was telling Omega’s story is extensive…unless the larger story with those larger nested arcs isn’t done.

[beepborpdoodledorp]

Alright it’s that time again, general ramblings post about Ep 5

I never thought certified silly billy Caine would ever actually scare me but I was proven wrong within the first minute. We definitely all expected him to become really unstable this episode but I can’t imagine many of us were thinking he was going to become violent. (And not in his ‘oblivious to the pain he’s causing others’ way.) Really scared for the players in the future episodes not gonna lie.

It’s not like it’s a huge shock a scene like this happened but I do find it very funny I wrote a one-shot with a nearly identical plot to this back in January

Also just…Jax and Pomni friendship!! I’ve been holding out for their love/hate frenemies bond to develop and I’m honestly surprised it’s happening this soon but I’m not complaining. I read them as having a purely platonic ‘bickering best buds’ dynamic but I’m proud of the funnybunny shippers for eating with this episode

Also where do I even start with these two. They’re just adorable. In a sea of messy emotions and messier relationships it’s so refreshing to see these two just…have a healthy friendship, support each other and enjoy each others’ company. They’re so in love I will die on this hill

I liked Kinger pulling Pomni under the desk to talk to her since he thinks better in the dark! Honestly very sweet of him. Their dynamic makes my heart happy

Was just trying to find a good screenshot of the anime segment to talk about how funny it was but then I spotted TGD Easter eggs on the bulletin board! Just thought it was neat

I do find it both kinda funny and fascinating how all of these lines up with the fanbase’s most popular headcanons. I know a lot of this could just be inferred from the previous episodes (and in Pomni’s case her being an accountant was just confirmed outright before) but the fact these all lined up nearly to a T to the most common interpretations of them just goes to show how well the fanbase knows these characters. It took wading through some content farming but Goose struck the right audience eventually

Found it interesting that Pomni didn’t vote for Jax to be put in the maid dress. They bonded pretty damn quick lol

I think all of us were expecting a scene like this at some point but I wasn’t thinking Pomni was going to be involved like this. It’s interesting how Jax and Ragatha are basically doing a tug-of-war over her, denying her of her agency and trying to project their own ideals onto her. I expected Pomni to play peacekeeper but I wasn’t expecting her to be a pawn in the middle of this argument. Honestly that’s just scratching the surface of this scene’s nuances, Jax and Ragatha are such fantastic foils to each other and I am very glad Ragatha finally got to have her crash out moment

Also I know there is a TON of analysis that could be made just off this one expression but just look at him for a moment. stupid man

I did find it very funny that Evil Pomni curses with basically the same frequency I write regular Pomni lol

This fucking mannequin dude…I was on the fence if they were actually plot relevant or just a running Easter egg and it definitely looks like the former’s the case. Can’t wait to find out what this guy’s deal is

Also how dare they call me out like this

[jane-asmo]

Why I think Caitlyn didn’t ask Vi for forgiveness

(Thank 'anons' for your messages. I’ll try to respond to you through this text: )

The importance of Caitlyn’s “I know”

A key moment in Caitlyn’s character narrative is her “I know”—both its content and delivery.

The content: When Caitlyn says, “I know,” it doesn’t just mean “You’re right.” It means, “I’ve taken the time to think about this.” And thinking is what Caitlyn does best. Her “I know” conveys that she has already had this conversation with herself, over and over in her head. She’s thought about it constantly, she’s already told herself these things, and she’s already blamed herself for them.

The delivery: She screams it with violence, and we can see this represented by the boat falling apart. It’s not just that she has thought about it; it’s tormenting her. Her “I know” is incredibly powerful because it’s filled with suffering.

To me, this is as valid as an apology because asking for forgiveness is outward-facing—focused on the other person. "Asking for forgiveness" says, “Whether I’ve forgiven myself or not, whether I feel guilty or not, it’s on you to decide to forgive me.”

But here, Caitlyn’s “I know” is inward-facing. It means, “I’m not asking you to forgive me because I can’t even forgive myself.”

She knows everything you’re saying, and it torments her.

This is followed by:

"I didn’t even have time to think before they hauled her off."

This line is so telling. Everything about Caitlyn is tied to thinking and reflection.

Being a sniper means aiming and shooting. Aiming is the equivalent of thinking, and shooting is the equivalent of speaking. Everything Caitlyn does is deliberate and thought through.

This is why some people dislike her: as I’ve said before, unlike other characters, Caitlyn’s actions can’t be forgiven easily because she doesn’t do anything by accident.

Then we get to:

"We can’t erase our mistakes. None of us."

Caitlyn speak in “we.”

In the prison scene with Jinx:

"No amount of good deeds can undo our crimes."

This scene mirrors the rage she felt when she threw the boat. In this moment, she’s speaking to Jinx, but also to herself.

Caitlyn and Jinx are paralleled so many times throughout the show. Caitlyn quickly realized that, in some ways, she had become like Jinx. And so, in order to forgive Jinx, she would first have to forgive herself.

At this point in the episode, the person Caitlyn hates the most is herself.

But she no longer has the "energy" to hate, neither Jinx nor herself.

Energy comes from fuel. What she perceives as a lack of strength to keep fighting is simply the fact that the fuel that powered her hatred has disappeared. And when you stop feeding a fire, it eventually dies out. She has no energy left; she has no fuel to sustain her hatred.

It's a particular way of saying, I don’t hate you anymore, and I don’t want to hate myself anymore either, because in the end, that hatred corrupts us/everything .

In her own unique way, Jinx also says, I didn’t know your mother was there, even if it wouldn’t have changed anything. And this too is a strange way of taking a step toward the other.

We have two brilliant and intelligent women who express their emotions in unconventional ways. ----------

There’s also a whole analysis that could be done about her concept of justice and rules, "but I don’t have the energy" to dive into that here. Still, it would only lead back to the fact that Caitlyn doesn’t see herself as the right person to free Jinx (and therefore to forgive her) because she believes she herself is beyond forgiveness.

[inafever]

I think we might have shared a brain cell for a moment my friend cause that DIALOGUE

He could let off Gabriel and Beelzebub to go off together or whatever, (cause Gabriel was a burn notice and useless boss anyway), but he couldn't let the same thing happen with Crowley and Aziraphale, because "for it to happen twice makes it look like there's some kind of institutional problem" so if Crowley and Aziraphale also did the same, it wouldn't set a good example for heaven and hell AT ALL, and Metatron obviously couldn't have that!

So Aziraphale either could take the lovely little option of returning to heaven and taking Crowley with him, as an angel obviously, cause he couldn't keep befriending the adversary (the metaphorical coffee) or take the other option (death) and risk Crowley or both of them being erased from the book of life

And another line again: "I can't have you risking your life Crowley"

Hell, It's so much more a GRAND love story than I could ever believe.

Oh my god I've been so stupid

GIVE ME COFFEE OR GIVE ME DEATH

It was an outright goddamn death threat

You either take the coffee, or take the death

Metatron you nasty little piece of shit

[iamespecter]

Delusional Showtime hours: the fact that Pomni is a jester, which if you know your history; serves not only as the royal court's entertainer but ALSO as an advisor for the ruling court, makes me go feral because we're already getting small HINTS of this actually being the case-- where Pomni tells Caine that the Mildenhall adventure was bad (ep 4) being the only one to speak up about it before Zooble pitched in more aggressively,

and then told him that she didn't really mind the Fast Food adventure,

And then at the end, conversing with Zooble how she liked the low-stake ones.

Which I do really like the bond that Pomni and Zooble have where they seem to be the ones that are the most vocal and honest about adventure feedbacks.

It's like representing the two sides of the spectrum of an emotional reaction regarding people's way of delivering criticisms: One more polite and nicer about it, while others don't hold back on the brashness of their words; focusing on driving the nail straight to the point.

The fact that it was Pomni who raised her hand and told a blunt "it was bad" criticism, and while Caine passive-aggressively snided the criticism, he still begrudgingly listened and actually changed that day's adventure to be Gangle's suggestion.

Also: "This presents a clashing irony as a greater man could dispense the same advice, and find himself being detained in the dungeons or even executed."

(.... Oh fuck. Considering Caine's growing frustration and near blatant hatred towards Zooble, now I'm worried for future episodes. Shit.)

It's also worth pointing out that it now partially makes sense to me as to why Kinger is a king chess piece, because in a subversion of expectation, Kinger is the one to give out a piece of valuable advice that Pomni learns at the end of episode 3 with Ragatha, and then episode 4 with Gangle's near abstraction case. Which, I hope that advice WILL make a grand come back for the case of Caine.

All in all, it just really goes to show how well-thought out the designs of the circus cast are.

I may be wrong, but if Pomni being a jester has a double-meaning both as an actual circus jester, to also becoming the first step to Caine being more accepted and viewed less as an outcast of the gang (and maybe even someone who can guide Caine), then oh my god, I WILL scream and sob uncontrollably on the floor

I hope to GOD that even though this is an insanely delusional post because me and the Showtime Nation are so starved of official Showtime content, that the more critical part of this analysis doesn't get shut down like how fnaf handled shit with it's horrid writing and constant retcons

[nobody-nexus]

Episode 4 Talk: Ragatha

LOOK I know this is the Gangle episode (And yes I WILL give my own thoughts and feelings on her later because there's SO much to unpack with Gangle) but I wanna share my thoughts on Ragatha and what it shows about her character since the next episode is all about her.

I think Ragatha was honestly a highlight of her character just not in the typical sense. The reason is because the way she showed flaws in her character was unique and not how most flaws are shown. The stupid sauce making her honest is very interesting to me, but I also think a lot of people won't fully understand what this means

So- let's start with this over analysis on this character and why she's still honestly my favorite in the series

(SPOILERS AHEAD)

First of all, there's no doubt that the stadium teaser is the Ragatha episode. She is literally teaching Gangle how to throw a ball. It's something she knows about well, and it'll make sense for that to be where we see her the most. Of COURSE she's gonna love a teamwork-based game, but similar to this episode, it's probably gonna boomerang back into something horrible

But then there's after Gangle's mask is broken. After checking if Gangle's okay (sort of, she didn't exactly try) she instantly attacks Jax and they start to fight

Considering a line later in the episode that she said that I'll talk about later on in this essay, I think this does make sense for her character. She seems to have a short tempter with specifically Jax, so she's more likely to turn on him. I think this is due to how he behaves in general, so them always being at each other's throats is probably a very common thing

Them arguing as well gives off (personally) sibling or roommate energy, which I kinda appreciate

After a bit though, we get to the REAL meat of the analysis (pun intended tee hee) which is... the stupid sauce

First of all: I do kinda feel bad for Ragatha. She honestly would've been a fine employee (maybe overworked like Jax?), but the stupid sauce getting into her eye was 100% accidental. Meaning from here on out, we know Ragatha is not completely in character, and against her will at that point

But also the creepy scene out of nowhere makes me think that maybe this stupid sauce isn't the best thing to have....

(although on a funny unrelated note, her reaction makes me think she's a bit of a monster fucker. Hehe, Ragatha x Gangle go brrr)

After a bit of funnier shenanigans, and the Gummigoo thing, we get to the first bits of these impulsive honest thoughts

I think that how these "honest thoughts" work is that they're not like her ACTUAL thoughts, but instead it's what she's thinking at that exact moment. She's going off on exactly what she's thinking and just speaking without foresight. This is the first line that I think implies this, especially with the "I wish someone flirted with me" line

She's not exactly jealous. She's just- saying what comes to her mind. And at this moment, its mild annoyance turning into being upset that she doesn't get that same treatment. Like the "Why isn't that me, why not I get that treatment?" impulsive thought

After some more funny, and a very creepy scene that I swear to GOD is a Get Out reference, we get to another part that for me proves that "Impulsive Honesty" idea for Ragatha. She's TRYING to work, but just- kinda can't cause she's all slouchy and all that, to which Zooble gets annoyed

And then Ragatha calls her a "grouch"

She only says this because Zooble's complaining that she's not doing anything. And Ragatha, having impulsive honesty, just complains back only to say something that makes herself laugh

It's just what she's thinking at the moment

And then here's the part where I think a lot of people aren't going to get this right: The Ragatha and Gangle conversation

This scene is VERY important to me. Specifically, with what it shares about Ragatha. First of all, we get LORE-??? She HAD HORSES AT SOME POINT???

And then we get two lines that I can say as someone who has actually recently been so sick while on their period that I had zero filter in the slightest are 100% impulsive honesty

First, we have the "I'm more responsible than you" line. First of all, she's not. She REALLY fucking isn't. She's all bark and no bite she does NOT have the mature attitude it takes to being a manager despite being older. In fact, it's funny she says this because of the fact that she's the ONLY character working under Gangle that's older

She's been in the circus for a while, and that means she also didn't mature from her mindset from whenever she joined in, which I do think it'd be rather young considering Kinger's age

So this "I'm responsible because I'm older" mindset is certainly on the table for why she said this. Probably because she was taught this mindset when growing up

She would NEVER think this is sober I believe though. Again. IMPULSIVE HONESTY. What was on her mind AT THAT EXACT MOMENT

(Also side note: Gangle still clearly cares about Ragatha in this scene, and I think she knows she'd be a bad manager due to her own struggles and flaws)

Of course after the HONESTLY AMAZING RAGGEDY ANDY REFERENCE we get the scene I feel that's gonna make people misunderstand her the most... THIS SCENE.

This whole scene is so interesting about how Ragatha's impulsive honesty works. Because let's be honest... We've ALL had these thoughts. Like em or not, we all have thoughts like this where you find people you care about annoying or undesirable. You never WANT to have them or say them aloud, but you have those thoughts

The difference? Ragatha has no filter. She doesn't know HOW to shut up at this point and time, so she says something she didn't MEAN to say out loud. And the line she says AFTER confirms this:

SHE DOESN'T REALIZE WHAT SHE SAID WAS EVEN MEAN

Yes, it was mean, I can't deny that- but what I'm saying is that there's a lot of thoughts that go through your head every moment of every day, and not every thought you have is desirable

That's the case here. Ragatha, with no filter, WILL say mean things that she'll NEVER say sober. But I find that her even having these thoughts is a bit of foreshadowing for the future. Perhaps she'll either be more likely to hide how she feels more or be more accepting of them after her episode. Guess we'll have to wait and see for that

EDIT: THANK YOU TO @kingzombear for their post because THIS IS ALSO VERY IMPORTANT TO ADD- the way Ragatha words what she says is something to also take into consideration. While Jax straight up says he likes her better when sad, Ragatha's mention of the happy mask makes this important as well

Notice: It's "Happy Mask" and NOT "Comedy Mask". Both the concept art Goose has posted on Twitter AND how even Gangle doesn't call this mask Zooble gave her a comedy mask, but instead it's referred to AS a happy mask

Now knowing what this mask is specifically called, we now know that even though what Ragatha said SPECIFICALLY was hurtful, that was NOT the intention. Sure, words will still hurt that's a given- but let's think about it more like this:

Ragatha doesn't like Gangle's masking. She likes her when she's being her authentic self and even while basically drunk, she can tell this is NOT Gangle. But also it shows her own flaws because Ragatha is also being a hypocrite

She herself masks her true thoughts and feelings for some people (as will be discussed in a moment), but that also means she can tell when a smile is fake. Because she has a faker smile overall. This mixed with impulsive blunt honesty leads to a line that I think even Gangle didn't understand considering her reaction was to begin to spiral into a mental breakdown

The power of wording can make any context for a scene THAT MUCH DIFFERENT so again thanks for @kingzombear for pointing this out cause this is ALSO really good to understand Ragatha as a character even more- especially her flaws

But of course, that's not the last thing, because I just mentioned the hiding true thoughts and feelings:

The last scene that's important gives us full context of what it's like to BE a people pleaser. When Jax and Ragatha interact while she's on the floor. Although more impulsive honesty, in this case it's her realizing her tendencies. Her people pleaser ways

This is her just sort of- realizing she had a weird mindset but doesn't have the right word for it- which I find neat. Not as groundbreaking in my opinion since I always felt she sorta hated Jax with how explosive she usually is with him and all, but her admitting it, even in such a state, is kinda refreshing to hear

Anyway that's my essay over. I hope this can give some new thoughts on Ragatha as a character! She's my favorite for a reason, and I want people to see how fleshed out she really is!

See you another time. Probably with some art too ^^

[avelera]

Analysis: Why Jayce broke up with Mel in Arcane 2.08

Since the finale episodes of Arcane dropped this morning, I've been going back and re-watching some of my favorite scenes, and I was struck by Jayce breaking up with Mel.

First of all, yeah, he clearly does break up with her, though I missed how formally he does so on my first watch-through. He does it in the Council chamber, just before Viktor attacks. But since they get interrupted, he finishes breaking up with her (after checking in with her) on the balcony later.

But what really struck me about the breakup wasn't in those scenes, but actually back in 2.07, when Jayce is alone in cavern in the darkest timeline. I definitely didn't catch on the first viewing that this is where he chose to break up with her.

In the background, you can hear Jayce in the depths of his despair and solitude starts going over in his mind all the steps that led him to where he is.

Here are some of the quotes he hears:

"I never asked for this!" - Himself to Viktor, trying to justify his actions up to that point just before Viktor leaves him.

"This research is everything, my whole life," a quote from one of his first conversations with Viktor but, more importantly, it establishes Jayce's entire raison d'etre up to that point. Hextech research was his life.

"He was my mentor, Mel, and I betrayed him," obviously is Jayce discussing the coup d'etat against Heimerdinger he orchestrated to save Viktor, but it was with Mel's assistance and urging.

"You must destroy it. It corrupts. Consumes." A quote from Heimerdinger, warning against Hextech. Which must feel especially prescient now that Jayce is stuff in the evil bombed-out future where Hextech destroyed the world.

"I was trying to create magic." Jayce to the Council to defend his Hextech research and save himself from banishment, but, he only mentioned magic at Mel's goading, which I would guess he's beginning to recognize now for what it was in retrospect.

"It's your time now, Jayce." Mel, part of her goading of Jayce into advancing Hextech research and his political career.

"Perhaps it's time for the era of magic." Mel's words on the night she saw Hextech for the first time, after helping Jayce and Viktor break into Heimerdinger's lab.

"You must destroy it." Heimerdinger about the Hexcore, again, probably feeling pretty prescient right now with Jayce literally in the pit of despair in a the evil Hextech future.

Finally, while looking out over the fire while clearly going nearly insane from the isolation, Jayce begins to hallucinate seeing Mel. But then, her image in the fire gives way to Viktor's.

The decision has been made there. It's not just Jayce reflecting on his two closest loved ones (as I thought the first time), rather, it is the moment Jayce makes his decision: he is picking Viktor over Mel. He has decided that the reason he is here in this terrible place is because of Mel, not Viktor. He is choosing his partner, going back to what they had before she became involved in their life. His new course is set.

Now, I want to preface the next part by saying I love Mel, she's a fascinating character, and though I ship Jayvik I also ship/shipped MelJayVik, so this isn't coming from a place of bias. I'm just analyzing the material when I say these flashbacks were Jayce rearranging the narrative in his head and realizing Mel's been manipulating and goading him in his pursuit of Hextech.

Given where he is when this is happening: starving, freezing, in pain, alone for weeks if not months in a stone box, slowly going insane, surrounded by the burnt corpses of people destroyed by Hextech, I'd say... yeah. His need for someone to blame is pretty understandable. He even starts whispering, "No!" in a panic at the memories in response to what she says in his mind.

So when we get to the Council chamber in the main timeline in 2.08, I'd argue that Jayce is spoiling for a fight. He's had months of agony to decide things are over with Mel and that he's angry at her. He wants to blame her for what happened to Viktor, for what happened to him, and he's in pain and he wants to lash out. The relationship is definitely over.

But then Mel is in pain too. And Viktor shows up, with his own autonomy, showing that they all had their shitty parts to play in this drama.

The attack by Viktor adds another element, Jayce was probably also mourning that he had to shoot Viktor at that point, another thing that was painful and made him want to lash out and blame others for this horrible place he's in emotionally and the horrific place he's been in physically until recently.

It's only after Viktor's attack though that Jayce realizes that this situation is complex, it's not all Mel's fault. It would be easier to just pin all the blame on Mel and make Jayce and Viktor her victims, but Viktor shows to him that he has his own agency and Jayce needs to be clear-eyed going forward about who he is saving, because it's not "Mel's victim". Viktor is his own person.

Jayce also remembers some of the care he once had for Mel when he catches her before she falls (in a tender moment I mistook for a full reconciliation between them the first time but no, it's just him remembering he cares for her wellbeing). Jayce can't trust her anymore, after realizing just how adept she was at manipulating him without his realizing, but he does still care for her as a person. And he's cooled off enough to address the pain she is clearly carrying.

(I admit, I do love this moment of him calling himself an ass, because I adore Jayce but it's a lovely beat of self awareness and really shows his growth as a person that he can say this to someone that just hours before he was squaring up to fight against and blame for all his misfortunes.)

But anyway, the moments you really see that it's over between Mel and Jayce:

When he doesn't explain to her what happened to him. That's not for her to know anymore. He's decided that they're not together or intimate anymore. And he's probably still hurting from realizing how she's used what he told her in the past to encourage/manipulate him to her own ends and therefore wary of sharing. This is also a reason for the breakup: he can't share the immense pain he's been in because he can't trust her anymore, and he knows it. It's over.

In the scene on the balcony when he turns away from her instead of towards her before offering his advice. Jayce is very touchy-feely, he always offers physical comfort to his loved ones. But there, he deliberately turns away instead of taking her in his arms and comforting her. Again: it's over between them. But he still respects her. So he reminds her of how indomitable she is, along with offering the slight backhanded compliment born of his distrust for her: she's never the passenger, she is always the one in control. He knows, because he's realized she used to control him.

I've mentioned in other meta that this season deals in a lot of comeuppance for events in S1, and this is arguably Mel's. She'll be ok, she's got magical sun powers and she's the head of a powerful house now. But she doesn't get to keep Jayce in her life as her lover anymore after what she did, because she did manipulate him, even if she had good intentions mixed with the self-interested ones.

The trust is simply gone now. But he cares for her and wishes her well, so, I'd argue they parted on as good of terms as could be done.

[amadinan]

TADC episode 5 analysis

I will collect here my thoughts that appeared after watching the 5th episode of TADC. And there are many of them, the episode is really rich in revealing the backstories of the characters and even lore. But I will mainly touch on Caine and the lore of the circus.

But first, some small thoughts before I move on to the Intermission time.

Jax is an NPC?

To be honest, I never believed in this theory, it is interesting in a vacuum, but nothing more. However, at this point we have not one, but three hints about this: Jax's number in episode 4, which refers to the Blender program and how copies are named there, the fact that Caine was able to make Jax a vegan (although Caine stated that he cannot influence the minds of players) and the fact that Jax himself was sure that he had a tail.

This would already be enough to consider the theory probable, but perhaps this hole is a little deeper. In the end, Caine was also able to influence Ragatha, although not directly.

But what if we combine this with the main theory of the circus, that all people are digital copies of minds? Then, Caine can theoretically control them, because from his program point of view, they are no different from very complex NPCs, which Caine churns out himself, like on a conveyor belt. Let's remember that Caine deleted Gummigoo because he was afraid of confusing him with a person (after all, even then there were thoughts that Caine accidentally deleted someone) and probably Caine deleted the original Jax, and then replaced him with a NPC copy that differs from the original only in the absence of a tail. After all, even in the episode with the evil team, we were shown that Caine can easily create humanoid personalities by copying them from players.

Caine and Gangle

In the fifth episode, I noticed two actions between them and both were not entirely direct. First: immediately after exiting the portal, Caine noticed Gangle's broken mask and fixed it without a word. Second: Gangle was not on the evil team, she was replaced by Orbsman. I think Caine realized that Gangle almost abstracted at the end of episode 4, so Caine decided to be a little more attentive to her. And he did not add an evil clone, because this clone ... would have been Gangle from episode 4 herself, which could only upset her.

"Sarcastic eye-flying" after Zooble's sentence.

It's only one phrase, but it's clearly a lore bomb, although it is not entirely clear without context. For starters, Caine does not call Zooble by name, not "player", "guest" or even "human", he calls them "toy-box character". This may again hint at digital copies, but not necessarily. And then Caine says "other intelligent AIs" and this is even stranger, who did he mean? People like him and Bubble, simple NPCs or  like players? It's unclear, but interesting, and Caine seriously doesn't like this idea from Zooble and again it's unclear why? The overload on the system? A possible NPC revolt? Caine is afraid that if there are too many characters, he will completely get confused who is who?

And finally, The Intermission time.

Get ready, there will be a complete searching for meaning where there may be none at all.

To be honest, I didn't understand everything, but some things may well have a context, so I'd be glad to hear your thoughts.

So, right after the intermission there was a bar where almost all the characters shared their past, and what if Caine shared too, just before this adventure? But purely in his style.

Right after the  start scene, we are shown Bubble and how three jaws overlap each other, and then also three Caines, each larger one holding the smaller one. This may refer to his development, how starting with something simple like Bubble, he first became "jaws" (probably an alpha version), and then more and more complex, until he became what he is now. This also corresponds to the fact that at the end of the scene, Caine sort of folds himself, and then a small splash screen plays like in the 2000s games and the computer monitor turns on/off.

Why in the next scene Pomni is not clear to me, but here's why exactly cubes suggested by @poprocksriot. Perhaps there were three parts or even three AI that became a single being: two eyes of Caine and Bubble (possibly a third eye, as in the concept art).

Gangle, Zooble and Jax are sucked into the void: a metaphor for sucking people into the game.

A bunch of eyes in the void and Caine in the light in the middle. I think this is one of the most important scenes, which shows that Caine "came to life" and is no longer just a program. Firstly, the official music, secondly (thank you, @puddingandp1) he breathes in this scene, which may just mean that he is now sentient. In addition, the eyes. There are indeed a lot of eyes, but NONE of them are looking at Caine himself, which could mean how he became an "rogue AI".

Then we see the chessboard floor and the characters. Their world is literally turned upside down. A bowling ball falls on Pomni and Jax, which may indicate their condition as they were affected by getting into the circus. Moreover, we even saw Pomnis' condition in the first series. The situation crushed her, like a bowling ball. With Gangle and Ragatha it is a little more complicated, cakes fall on them. This means that for them the situation in the circus is "sweeter" than what was in reality. We heard about the abuse in Ragatha's family right in this episode, so in the circus, where her mother is not, she could get better. And with Gangle it is even easier. She worked at such a hateful job that even simulating these memories for just one day almost killed her. In the circus there is Jax, as a minus, but she does not have to work and she can draw as much as she wants. And Kinger. He catches the ball, which seems to say that the situation has not crushed him, but then he is not just crushed, but directly knocked off the board (mind) by a black figure, the loss of Queenie.

Then it is more figurative. Caine literally holds everyone in his hands. The characters in Caine's "hat" and they are clearly being watched, then a bunch of mannequins, which can also refer to the fact that Caine, as a puppeteer, holds them under control.

Then Caine stands on the floor and the camera approaches him. Note that this is the same chessboard floor on which the others were standing, and a bowling ball can approach it, as if the camera was attached directly to it, but Caine manages (for now) to not let himself be crushed.

Then a corridor and abstractions. Well, here it is quite clear, the attitude and the display of lost players.

Then Zooble interrupts Caine and he hangs. Perhaps we should have seen something else, from which even Caine hung, but alas.

Of course, there is also a mysterious mannequin that follows Pomni and is possibly Gummigoo, but little is known about him yet.

That's all for now, I really liked the series, I'm sure it will only get more interesting.

[stuckwiththephobia]

one time I looked up the ratings of each episode of black sails. I expected to see s2e5 near the top, but I wasn’t exactly surprised when it was actually at the bottom (free us from the clutches of homophobia man). I read some of the comments and they were saying that the reveal felt out of nowhere. Okay, so actually you just have no media literacy skills. For me, the revelation made so much sense that I experienced something akin to ascension. I felt I had unlocked all of the knowledge there was to unlock. My whole engagement with the show changed. That thing that had been bubbling under the whole time, in every interaction between Miranda and flint, in every mention of Thomas, in every display of rage from flint, in each one of his desperate schemes.

I just find it so hilarious that people thought it was out of nowhere? Louise Barnes and Toby Stephens were actually the only two cast members aware of the backstory from the beginning of the show, and you can see it so much in the way they act their characters. So much unspoken, but that doesn’t mean it’s not there. Season 1 ep 7 — that whole altercation they have where he refuses to apologise to England, the way she says ‘if he were here he’d agree with me’, the tension of it all. The note Thomas wrote in the front of their copy of meditations? It’s so obviously not out of the blue, it’s set up so brilliantly so as to evade perception but also to lodge itself in your brain before you even know what *it* is.

Tom Hopper (Billy) said it was the best episode of television he’s ever seen. Literally years later, in a promotional interview for the umbrella academy. I agree wholeheartedly.

saying that it was out of nowhere is just wrong. It’s either a) just a guise for your homophobia or b) a betrayal of your evidently terrible media literacy and critical analysis skills.

When I saw the episode so many things from season 1 finally clicked in to place inside my head. The enigma of Flint, for the first time, began to slightly unravel.

[sideblog-usernametaken]

Ok so Dandadan analysis time because I've been seeing some of the old conversations about it again. So two things about Dandadan (Not the only things but two important ones):

One of the over arcing themes is bodily autonomy

This series is a romcom

Rant below the cut.

A major reason people don't like Dandadan and/or are willing to dismiss it outright is because of the SA scenes. More specifically, a lot of people believe these scenes are fanservice and have no narrative reason to be there. They do have a narrative reason to be there though. These scenes aren't supposed to be fanservice either they're intentionally supposed to be upsetting/unnerving (I won't get into how here because other people have articulated this better than I can, and they will continue to do so as long as this misconception exists).

When people think of "violations of bodily autonomy" or "violations of consent" they usually think of rape or sexual assault. It is the beginner's example to the concept, largely because everyone with common sense agrees that rape and sexual assault are bad so it's easier to point out why they're bad. This also makes it easy place to start a narrative around bodily autonomy.

The very first scene of Dandadan is of a guy trying to coerce Momo into having sex with him even though she clearly doesn't want to. The same episode/chapter directly puts this kind of behavior on par with rape and sexual assault by paralleling the time Momo kicked him to the time she kicks the rapist aliens so hard she breaks their space ship. It's very clear that the narrative's stance is that not only are rapists bad, the people who aren't legally rapists because they technically got "consent" first (through coercion) should be treated with the same level of disdain. This isn't the kind of thing that you write into a series without legitimately thinking about the dynamics of consent and bodily autonomy.

Continuing on: The series also touches on the double standard between male and female victims of sexual assault. Okarun gets laughed at for having his genitals stolen, and Seiko just does not believe Momo got abducted by aliens. This very clearly parallels how in real life people will believe male victims got assaulted, but their assault is also brushed off as not that important or something they "should've enjoyed" or a sign of weakness. Especially if the assaulter was a woman. Meanwhile female victims are usually accused of lying regardless of any evidence they provide. These two things hold constant in Seiko's reactions throughout Dandadan. She literally rides in a space ship but doesn't believe aliens are real, and even when she's helping Okarun she's usually also doing a bit at his expense.

Going even further, Dandadan also branches out into other forms of violations of bodily autonomy that aren't thought about as often. For the sake of the analysis I'm going to do bullet points regarding each character. Fair warning: There will be major spoilers here so if you haven't read the manga keep scrolling until you stop seeing bullet points.

Acro Silky: It's very easy to point out that she was a sex worker, but what I don't see is people talking about the other ways she had to sell her body to keep her and her daughter afloat. She worked in janitorial services (A lot of manual labor) and as a store clerk (A lot of standing). Individually these two jobs are not necessarily coercive, they're not great but they aren't pulling you into something you didn't know about from the start. The thing is though, none of these jobs pay enough by themselves for Acro-Silky to make a living, meaning none of them are properly compensating her for her manual labor. This is an instance of manufactured consent, while she technically agreed to take these jobs, it's clear that she wouldn't be working all of them unless she had to. This is kind of an expansion of the coercion from the guy in the first scene but on a societal level where Acro-Silky wasn't in the position to be able to say "No" and move on. As a result, her freedom is restricted. She can't spend nearly as much time with her daughter as she wants to and she can't afford to get her nice things either. To top it off, any time she did spend with her daughter she spent physically exhausted because of her work.

Mr. Shrimp: Similarly to Acro-Silky, Mr. Shrimp is forced into work he does not want to do because of limited options and the need to support his child. What sets him apart though is that he's a migrant worker and his employers physically abuse him because they can get away with it. This is an exact parallel to how migrant workers are treated in real life. He even goes to work on a farm and it's potrayed as him making an honest living to support his family which is exactly what the majority of migrant workers are trying to do. Mr. Shrimp doesn't technically "have to" work on a dairy farm now, but he chooses to enthusiastically because it's his only option that doesn't require him tk disregard his morals.

Jiji: Jiji is an example of bodily autonomy violations of minors in regards to medicine. This one is a bit more complicated so stick with me here. When the Evil Eye starts possessing Jiji, the adults around him unanimously agree it needs to be exorcised and start preparing for the ritual. When Jiji decides "Hey, actually I want to try to co-exist with him" Seiko is his only adult advocate, and even she turns around on the idea when the Evil Eye has a close call with Momo. This parallels how in real life adults will make decisions for the children in their care regardless of their wishes, and how even the adults trying to be accommodating will still go against the kids' wishes sometimes. It also does a good job of accurately capturing the nature of these disagreements too, because yeah the Evil Eye is a problem so it's understandable why all the adults want to just get rid of it even if Jiji doesn't agree. But Jiji's stance of "Yeah this will be a pain but it's one I want to deal with" is also understandable. Like, imagine instead of an exorcism we're talking about getting an amputation that would be technically helpful but isn't strictly necessary.

Vamola: One of Vamola's initial goals when she's introduced is to find a strong man and have kids with him. This isn't something she actually wants to do but is something she has been obliged to do because she is one of the few survivors of a planetary genocide. She has been marked as her people's only chance at a continued survival because the rest of her people are too old to have children. Her mother and the rest of the surviving Sumerians gave everything they had to get her off planet safely as "the last thing left on Sumer to defend" so she has unfathomable amounts of pressure and survivor's guilt to go out and have kids. She doesn't get to figure out if she wants to have kids or not, that's just something that has already been made up to her and her only choice now is with who. Luckily, the story currently has her in a position where she can have peers, a (comparatively) normal life, and she doesn't have to think of her mother's request for a while. But even if it's not the primary focus in her life right now it's still there.

Rin: At a very young age Rin was forced into the role of caretaker. With a bedridden grandmother, a deceased father, and a mother who had to work long hours to make ends meet, Rin had to learn to be independent fast. She was basically forced to, otherwise her already unstable home life would break apart even further. To make things worse, Rin knows the predicament that she's in and her mother doesn't yet. Rin's mother thinks she "got lucky having such a good kid" and doesn't realize the pressure has gotten bad enough that Rin is already giving up on her passions to take care of her grandmother to give her mother a break. Mostly because Rin knows their family doesn't really have any other options and she doesn't want to place an even larger burden on her mother by adding more grief on top of it. It's essentially the "parent running themselves ragged to support their kid" story we've seen at least twice now but from the perspective of the child.

Zuma: Similar background to Rin where his father died and he took on a caretaker kind of role for his younger brother. Except his brother dies and this absolutely breaks his mother, to the point she commits suicide and tries to take him with her. Zuma is in the position where he has lost both his caretaker and the person he took care of, and he is fully aware of why that happened. This manifests as rebellion and him forming a gang that protects kids at his school from bullying and harrassment. He's becoming a caretaker again, but this time it is an active choice he has made. He doesn't technically have to start his gang or protect anyone, he has an adult taking care of him now and if he wanted to he could spend the rest of his highschool years stepping back and being a kid again. But he doesn't, and society labels him a delinquent for stepping in when the adults who should have didn't. This is another way that Dandadan shows how minors often have their opinions dismissed by adults who believe they know better.

Much shorter less spoilery rant:

Dandadan is a romcom. I have seen too many people complain about basic romcom shenanigans as if it's bad or generic writing instead of being genre conventions. "Ugh, there's a love triangle," Yes romcoms tend to have those. "Ugh, so many girls are into Okarun," Yes, and a lot of guys are into Momo, they both get romantic rivals because it's a romcom. "They keep going back to the romance and I don't like it," It's a romcom there's going to be heavy focus on the romance, you disliking that is a genre preference not a writing issue.

Like, do people not understand the concept of blended genres? Yeah this is a Shonen battle series but it's also one that has decided to be a largely character driven romcom. This is like someone walking into a horror comedy and walking out complaining that there were jokes and the horror would be better without them. The jokes are the point and the horror is a vehicle to get there. If you don't like jokes, go find a pure horror movie to watch.

[essycogany]

Justice For Amy Rose

My first long character analysis that isn't about Sonic and is very controversial. Let’s see how this ramble pile goes!

If you want to see a better structured analysis I’ll recommend this video. I’m basically saying the same stuff but with added-on clarifications.

No one has to agree with me but keep in mind I didn't grow up with this franchise, so my opinions are all over the place. A good thing is you don't have to worry about any biases from me. Now, onto my loveable pink hegie!

Amy is misunderstood to be written as this one note girl who’s only character trait is to love Sonic. People usually say she’s now strong, confident, a leader, capable, and is her own character and I agree. But she’s always had those good traits. Was Amy always well written? No! Do I think it could be a sign of her being inconsistent? Absolutely! Here’s just a few examples of her best moments in the past.

Sonic X’s best moments were whenever Amy genuinely wanted to help people or stand up for them. The episode where Amy gives Sonic a bracelet to make him feel protected is incredibly thoughtful. There were also times she led the group even though she wasn't supposed to. It's a flaw, not many people talk about, but it’s a part of her. It’s also a trait that is most shown in Sonic Boom and Prime. (From what little we saw of it) Also Team Rose exists, so she's always been a leader.

-In the Japanese version of the show Amy has a whole life goal that has nothing to do with Sonic. She wanted to own a restaurant someday.

Sonic Adventure has good moments too. Her reason for wanting to be with Sonic isn’t because “She wants to see his handsome face” but because she’s bored out of her mind. Then Amy helps a little Flikey despite the fact she would’ve been safer by not doing that. Amy’s interactions with Gamma impacted the robot to the point of him sacrificing himself to free a Bird he needed to stay alive. This shows how much dedication Amy has to doing the right thing even when she doesn't have to. To top it off she got what she wanted in the end. A not-so-boring day.

In Sonic Adventure 2 she jokes around about marrying Sonic and acts like she won’t tell him about Shadow but does it anyway. Then she breaks him out too. Can’t forget about her moment with Shadow. With her positivity and most emotionally mature moment. Amy basically saved the world by doing that. I know some say “Anyone else could’ve done that,” but everyone else was occupied and Amy had the most patience (mind you she’s been left behind constantly in this game lol) to have a talk with Shadow. No one else had the time (and debatably wouldn’t have took the time) to talk with him.

That one moment in Sonic Heroes wasn’t Amy’s best moment, but I don’t think it’s horrible for two reasons. One, Sonic doesn’t take her seriously (same as SA2) and tells her this.

Yeah, Sonic figured Amy was trying to annoy him. Two, she made sure to continue the search to find Chocola and Froggy and stayed with her team until they were found. Even when Amy wasn’t written the best, she stayed true to herself in some fashion.

Anyway, back to Amy’s other moments.

In Sonic 06 Amy quickly bonds with Silver until he turns against Sonic. The moment she says “If I had to choose between the world and Sonic, I would choose Sonic” was never meant to mean she loves one more than the other. It’s meant to be a sign of how much Amy trusted her friend. And don’t worry Sonic Adventure shows her standing up for Gamma in front of the main person she’d usually trust. Sonic is not immune to her protective nature. She’ll go against him if it means making the right choice. Amy’s devoted to Sonic, but she’s not a blind follower. Heck, she’s even encouraging towards Elise and wishes her luck on finding Sonic. Despite not knowing Elise was looking for him. Amy is the definition of encouragement and I wish people could learn to appreciate her moments of being a kind and honorable person for those she cares about.

Did I forget to mention she saved the world AGAIN by not letting Silver kill Sonic which caused him to question Mephiles?

-I really love how Amy is so friendly to most characters. She is just as energetic when she talks to Birdie, Shadow, Elise, Silver, and anyone she meets as she is when Sonic’s around. The girl’s a total extrovert. It could also explain her alleged abandonment issues. It definitely explains why she’s so pushy. Even the prospect of being alone makes her worried and there are so many examples of this it’s crazy!

Almost every moment in Unleashed is Amy’s best moment. In my opinion, she’s written the best in that game. Amy apologizes when she thinks Sonic in his Werehog form was someone else. She doesn't even call him “ugly” or anything like that. Amy just leaves him be. Her compassion knows no bounds. She encourages Professor Pickles when he’s worried about the destruction of the earth and compliments Sonic at the same time. Amy even gives Sonic encouragement when he’s insecure about being a “monster.” Proving her love for him is (and never was) disingenuous or about a perception of him. Amy loves Sonic for Sonic. She even states this in her first appearance in IDW. This trait clearly wasn't made up on the spot.

By the way, has anyone noticed how much of a symbol of hope Amy is? Sonic IS truly an inspiration to her. Even Sonic Forces got that part of her character right.

Okay, so that was most of her good moments. Now what? Oh, yeah. Amy is not a stalker. She doesn’t constantly follow Sonic around when he’s not looking or something. That or calling her a “fan girl” implies she’s some random girl who likes Sonic.

Amy is and has always been friends with him. It’s also why she’s always so excited to see him. She even says “Long time no see” in Adventure. It’s a common saying for a reason. It shows how little these characters see each other and proves they mostly live independent lives.

Both Amy and Tails have followed Sonic in the old games too. Tails also finds Sonic all the time. You don’t hear anyone calling Tails a stalker. In Sonic X they and their friends all stay in the same house. This proves she’s not a stalker there either. Even if not always shown very well in the past, Sonic and Amy are best friends. I DO think the writers could’ve made their friendship clearer by having Sonic not act as uncomfortable around her, but that’s my opinion.

-Do you notice how in Boom, IDW, and other versions of Amy people commonly like are from material where Team Sonic includes her and treats her like she’s a part of the team? Instead of stories like in Sonic Riders where Amy has to find Team Sonic or Sonic Heroes where she makes her own group. Or any monument in the past where she’s either left behind or has to say “I’m coming too” and joins her friends anyway despite being left. I don’t think her friends meant any harm (and it probably wasn’t the writer's intention) but how the characters, especially Sonic treated Amy seems to affect how the audience at the time thought of her.

Another reason I don't think the writers wanted people to hate Amy is that usually, Sonic is blunt. He’s not the “I’ll just spare your feelings” type. Sonic is an upfront and honest character. He’d call Amy out assertively if he needed to.

While I won’t say Amy was written perfectly, I’ll chalk it up to her being written like a child. You know, how some little kids are always honest about how they feel? Like the moment in Sonic Battle when she’s talking about raising Emerald with Sonic. Kids play pretend all the time. I’m not excusing her moments of threatening Cream or any other questionable moments like in Sonic Rush. Sonic Freeriders is the biggest example and by far her worst appearance.

I will defend Sonic Riders. Sonic launched Amy into the sky with Eggman. Sonic isn't perfect either. Her anger wasn’t agreeable but justifiable.

-Also all Sonic characters have bad characterizations. A huge example is Shadow, but we don't define him by those moments. Amy should be no different.

Amy is meant to be exaggerated and cartoony. You know, like when Sonic and Knuckles fight or clash with each other. Same for Shadow too. They always fight, but it’s how their dynamics work. It’s never made to be taken seriously.

All of this was to say, Amy is a great yet flawed character. But I want people to know she’s always been a kindhearted, girly, silly, selfless, adventurous, loyal, and fun character people praise her for in Boom, IDW, and Frontiers. I wouldn’t say she’s “gotten better” because that implies she was never good to begin with. I see it more as the writing became easier for people to understand. The constant hate from the past has truly tarnished her reputation even today. To the point where her best moments are ignored.

Even though her love for Sonic is the cartoony and genuine part of her personality, it’s not the only part. No, Amy doesn't have to be romantic but other female Sonic characters exist for that reason. Amy is also a wonderful representation of a strong and confident character who is traditionally feminine at the same time. A good example is her being a literal comfort character because she comforts and protects everyone she comes across. She'll kick your butt for messing with her friends then help you with your emotional issues afterward. She'd make a great therapist.

My favorite examples of Amy's characterization are Unleashed, TMOSTH, and the IDW Sonic Riders Arc. Those are the main examples of how she used to be commonly written. It’s just the little things you’ve gotta pay attention to. Thanks for reading my less-than-organized rambling. Again, you don't have to agree with me, but I enjoy chatting with you lovelies. Hope I at least gave a coherent answer as to why people always loved Amy Rose!

Stay Creative! 💜

[actuallyjustabiscuit]

I’ve been dissecting Ragatha’s character with surgical tools because I am not the least bit normal about this damn doll, and something that I’ve gathered upon rewatch is how much responsibility Ragatha has been taking for Pomni’s first day. Prepare for another character analysis about everyone’s favorite confirmed girl failure

Useless Lesbian jokes aside, it’s so interesting to me how much Ragatha cares about Pomni liking her. To the point where she believes Pomni’s terrible awful no good very bad first day has some relevance to how she thinks Pomni thinks of her.

At first I thought this was just the result of her people pleasing tendencies that needs everyone to like her for her to have any degree of self worth (no I’m not projecting, shut up), but she doesn’t seem to be this pushy about getting along with anyone else.

Another possible reason for this behavior was that she just wants to make the newcomer feel as comfortable and welcomed as possible to lessen the blow of being trapped, and she’s doing such a bad job of it that it’s making her think less of herself for failing. But here she’s specifically talking about the “horrible experience” of having to deal with Kaufmo’s abstraction.

Here Ragatha is literally writhing in pain from glitching after getting her ass handed to her by Kaufmo and she briefly stops Pomni from leaving to get the help she needs to apologize to her about having a bad first day.

Honestly, Pomni’s awkward response to this was hella fitting.

Like, Jesus Christ, Ragatha. Priorities girl.

When I first watched this, I thought her little apology fell under the same category as someone apologizing for hearing bad news, (y’know like a “I’m sorry your dog died” kinda thing) said in a way to express sympathy over a bad situation. But in episode 2, it really feels like she actually blames herself for what happened.

and I think I know why.

It was Ragatha’s idea to go see Kaufmo in the first place and introduce Pomni to him. We know that she honestly believes that participating in the adventures are essential to persevering a person’s sanity. And yet she didn’t suggest to play along with the game Caine left for them. Instead, she thought it would be nice to check up on a friend who was suspiciously absent. And was, according to what Kinger told them before they left, slipping off the deep end.

I know hindsight is 20/20, but these should have been major red flags for her that Kaufmo may not have been alright and they should’ve all probably stayed away. And I think she realized that too late, which is what might’ve led to that awkward apology to Pomni in the hallway.

Kinger is right to reassure Ragatha that Pomni doesn’t blame her for what happened (which is why she thought Ragatha was being weird for apologizing in the first place), but I imagine Ragatha is the type of person who can’t help but dwell on the “should’ve, would’ve, could’ve”s of life. So it makes sense that she would continue to take things personally. And I bet it got even worse after

…yeah. That.

Of course, I don’t think Ragatha could’ve known that was gonna be the outcome. But she was very wary when Pomni suggested it, loudly wondering if that was even “allowed”. But she went along with it cuz it made Pomni happy.

Whelp.

Yeah this woman’s self esteem so about to go into the negatives. Which is why I’m really hoping for a good heart-to-heart between these two. Cuz they both really need it. Ragatha especially.

I think it would really help her to know Pomni wouldn’t want her to feel like less than nothing.