sparring-spirals - Tumblr blog

[sparring-spirals]

The mighty nein’s backstories are really like. Abused and kidnapped. Abused and killed own family. Orphaned and kidnapped into new tribe and abused. Woke up in own grave. Orphan who became a normal sailor then almost died. Family slowly disappeared one by one. Kept hidden inside a brothel and then sent away. Totally 100% normal life until horrifically killed and resurrected as the monster that killed you.

[sparring-spirals]

I was holding it together until Matt and Liam started crying.

[sparring-spirals]

I hope there is a chance for the bh to try and resurrect fcg, despite the result because I think it says a lot for the friends of someone who sacrificed themselves to try and get them back because they want them back to them. I don’t mind if fcg comes back or not it’s about the characters holding on

I'm almost certain Bell's Hells will try to get F.C.G back, although I'm unsure if it will be posed above table as a legitimate rez attempt or whether its going to be more a scene of collective grief and effort by the Bells, in character, that will take me out at the knees while reaffirming their love and the depth of their loss, but without the out-of-game framing of a legitimate chance to bring back F.C.G.

I assume that distinction will depend largely/almost exclusively on how Sam feels about bringing F.C.G back + whatever the cast have discussed since the ep happened, but! If it is any comfort, I do not see any world in which the next episode does not display how much the Bell's Hells care about F.C.G and how much they'd want to bring him back, while struggling with the weight and reality of the intentional sacrifice that F.C.G chose. And whatever happens, I see the potential for a deeply compelling story/character interplay that's gonna. Kick my ass. <3

Ugh just. the entire premise of. your friend sacrificed themselves for you. it worked. so now what. is fucking devastating. and can spin out so many ways. Im not sure what will happen. fascinated to see what direction they'll take it.

[sparring-spirals]

I know technically Breaking News only has a biggest loser, not a winner. But I think Rashawn might have won the episode with the barfight story alone. "You're Lucious on a tv show thats going to be cancelled in two seasons." INCREDIBLE.

[sparring-spirals]

it doesn't quite work as a gifset, so please have a single gif for your tinfoil hat theory needs:

[sparring-spirals]

Bell’s Hells as textposts 48/???

[sparring-spirals]

Parallels

[sparring-spirals]

Oh Liliana Temult the Exaltant that you are.

[sparring-spirals]

caleb and beau on first watch just sitting in silence staring at this building and caleb going "beauregard? i'm glad you're here." and beau going "yeah. i'm glad you're here too." ;~;

[sparring-spirals]

OK, but I love that Essek might be appearing in the Mighty Nein series before he meets the Nein! It's not just me wanting More Essek (though I do) or wanting to see more of what was going on with his dealings with the Assembly (which I also do). I think this could be super fucking interesting from a narrative construction standpoint.

Because I cannot see how you can include Essek from early in the series and not make it clear to the audience that he's the Dynasty traitor loooong before the Nein find out. Essek having stolen the beacons will not be a surprise. It looks to me like the cast are swapping out surprise for a fuckton of suspense. (Suspense vs surprise was explained to me when I was studying narrative structure as 'surprise is when a bomb goes off that the audience didn't know was there. Suspense is when they see the bomb being placed and have to sit there begging the characters to realise it's there.' In this analogy, Essek is the bomb.)

When we watched C2, the question was is Essek the traitor? In the M9 show, the question for new watchers will be when will the Nein realise that Essek is the traitor? When Essek meets the Nein, the countdown starts ticking; people will know that he is a danger. He is manipulating them. He is going to hurt them. Will the Nein realise before it's too late? But then Essek starts really befriending them, showing more of his loneliness and vulnerability, and... I think the mood will shift. Oh, shit, he really cares about them, doesn't he? What will the Nein do if they find out? Do I even want them to find out? What if they reject him and it makes him worse? He can't keep this up much longer, this is unbearable, they're going to find out - OH FUCK THEY'RE FINDING OUT -

It's such a fascinating choice and I think it goes to show that adaptation is an art form in itself! The actual events in the world will be the same, or at least very similar, but a new format means you can show those events in a totally new way and create a completely different tone! Narrative structure is the fucking coolest! I'm so excited for this show!

[sparring-spirals]

I hope there is a chance for the bh to try and resurrect fcg, despite the result because I think it says a lot for the friends of someone who sacrificed themselves to try and get them back because they want them back to them. I don’t mind if fcg comes back or not it’s about the characters holding on

I'm almost certain Bell's Hells will try to get F.C.G back, although I'm unsure if it will be posed above table as a legitimate rez attempt or whether its going to be more a scene of collective grief and effort by the Bells, in character, that will take me out at the knees while reaffirming their love and the depth of their loss, but without the out-of-game framing of a legitimate chance to bring back F.C.G.

I assume that distinction will depend largely/almost exclusively on how Sam feels about bringing F.C.G back + whatever the cast have discussed since the ep happened, but! If it is any comfort, I do not see any world in which the next episode does not display how much the Bell's Hells care about F.C.G and how much they'd want to bring him back, while struggling with the weight and reality of the intentional sacrifice that F.C.G chose. And whatever happens, I see the potential for a deeply compelling story/character interplay that's gonna. Kick my ass. <3

Ugh just. the entire premise of. your friend sacrificed themselves for you. it worked. so now what. is fucking devastating. and can spin out so many ways. Im not sure what will happen. fascinated to see what direction they'll take it.

[sparring-spirals]

I need to yell about fcg and *specifically* this great post that you wrote ( https://www.tumblr.com/sparring-spirals/747570433506902016/okay-after-some-sleep-back-on-my-bullshit-lets ) because it made me realize that I really, truly hope Laura will remember she took off her circlet moments before the bang and Imogen had the chance to hear that fcg was at peace with this decision, not because they were trying to be a martyr, but because they had a true chance to save their friends, knowing full well that detonating *would* be a sacrifice because their life *did* matter.

(I hope sending asks is okay, sorry to barge in like this)

Ahw, hell yeah, glad the post hit hard, recontextualizing it in my head helped a lot with chewing through my feelings about. All of this. I'm always okay with asks!! As long as folks are aware I am not necessarily going to agree with every ask that comes in, and more critically, sometimes I disappear off the face of the Earth for a while, dont answer asks, and then feel too embarassed about answering them so much later/get asks about something I didnt watch, go "ah ill answer when i watch it" and then. Well.

(To the various people who sent the total 12 asks that have been sitting in my box for over a year now. I am. So sorry.)

Honestly, I didnt even think about the possibility that Imogen might have heard it, goddamn. Fascinating. I was fully bracing myself for Bell's Hells just- never knowing, and them having to grapple with it. Which. Takes me out at the knees, tbh. I hesitate to speculate on it too much when the episode is going to come out Thursday and probably prove me wrong, but. God, there's no world where the Bell's Hells would instinctively know that F.C.G had made the call with that attitude, and fuck, that puts all of it into a different light, clearly.

I'm a little apprehensive and tbh deeply curious to see how the Bell's Hells take this- the depth of the loss, the sudden nature of it, the victory against Otohan probably not even feeling that way. Maybe wanting to honor F.C.G's sacrifice but. Probably. And understandably. Angry at them for making that call, but he's not. Even there for them to be angry at. So what then? So what then? They can have all these feelings and have all these questions about why he did it, about what he was thinking, and he's not there to answer them, and that's the issue.

If Imogen did hear his last thoughts, this elevates it into a different kind of heartbreaking, but probably still easier overall. The world where they don't know. Is. A more tricky one to navigate, for sure.

But also if I'm being honest. I am not opposed to how the cast would have the Bell's Hells experience and explore that scenario. So i mean. I mean. I hope so too. But if Imogen didnt. Consider me buckled in for whatever happens.

[sparring-spirals]

...and no one was in costume during this major pc death

[sparring-spirals]

F.C.G. || Fresh Cut Grass || Faithful Care Giver

[sparring-spirals]

now the funniest thing sam could do is make his new character AGGRESSIVELY anti-flat exandrian, just so so so angry at anyone who could ever think that exandria is flat, says how anyone who could think that is an absolute moron, just so the rest of the party has to angrily defend their dead friend who was so so dumb and so so wrong

[sparring-spirals]

I mentioned in this post that I thought it would take a life or death choice about Imogen for Liliana to flip, situationally, as opposed to the party being able to convince her to change her ideology (cult juice is strong), and it seems we may have gotten an element of that in Liliana flying to Imogen's aid against Otohan. I'd be very curious what Liliana would have done if she'd gotten there in time to fight, but we'll never know, so we have to digest the moment we got. I also think FCG's death adds another dimension both in-game and above the table. Since we dropped out literally mid-scene after her arrival this post may get stale immediately after the first few minutes of next week's episode, but for now I think it's safe to say that at least for the time Liliana spends with the party right now she will not be an active antagonist. Her daughter called for help and she answered, and her first act was trying to comfort her. Matt also wouldn't hit the players with another big battle fresh off the first (and with that outcome), so if they do have to face Liliana as an enemy it would be later under evolved circumstances.

To be clear I don't think FCG dying means Matt nerfs the threat of Liliana or that this situation means she has flipped permanently, but rather, it neatly interrupts the established dynamic between Liliana and Imogen thus far and creates a chance for new dialogue that doesn't just repeat all the same things as before. Imogen hasn't needed her mother - not really - and maybe still doesn't, but she called for help and is grieving now and the conversation doesn't necessarily have to be the same old "Liliana renounce your cause" but rather "help your daughter here and now" and to connect with her through that emotion. This is probably the best opportunity they'll ever get to flip Liliana in a more than "last ditch in a crisis moment" kind of way or lay the groundwork for that happening later. Now, the party - and Imogen in particular - may rightly be angry with Liliana as an ally of Otohan, and that FCG died because of the cause Liliana supports. Liliana may want to comfort her daughter while also believing that FCG's death was unfortunate but not ultimately a reason to doubt the cause or escape what she sees as inevitable. It's messy! But it's a very interesting situation and FCG's death is such a visible wound on Imogen that it may elicit Liliana to do or consider things she wouldn't, otherwise.

[sparring-spirals]

"Some connections are made with wires, and some are made with blood, and some are made with bone, and some are made with wood. But they all matter. And they, even in this dark, dark cave... they make every day a smiley day. "