#;Hraka one end jokes the other (Bluebell)

[handfulofmuses]

traumatized little jester....

[mylordshesacactus]

Watership Liveblog 1.2

Oh this is EASILY the best version of the Warren of the Shining Wires to date. The main hindrance in other adaptations has been that you just don’t have time to capture that agonizing slow burn of realization--the way no one will answer questions about the history, or where anyone is, or where they went, or where--

Also the first time they’ve visually been shown as...different. Big. Fat. Sleek. No scars, no scruffy fur. They are not wild rabbits like the protagonists. Not anymore...

...They made Strawberry female and I’m not sure why but I’m concerned. Killing Strawberry doesn’t make much sense, and frankly I’ll be sad to lose the “We don’t care for rabbits who deceive us” thing and the absence of his character later--but it’s a foregone conclusion that no does join the party.

All right, Bigwig and Hazel’s relationship is getting closer to the book--friendly rivalry and Bigwig viewing Hazel as the leader but not as his Chief Rabbit, an important distinction. If this continues, I’ll be okay with it.

Bluebell has his proper personality back, even if he doesn’t belong at this point in the story and I’m unhappy with his presence robbing Dandelion of his place as the....hymnist, essentially. Dandelion is the talented, hardcore storyteller, the bard; and Bluebell is the court jester. They’re both important, but they’re not interchangeable.

And dammit, Bluebell is important to Holly. Hraka one end, jokes the other, rolling a joke along the ground and we’d both follow it. I wish an adaptation would understand how important that is.

Interestingly, Silverweed is so always interpreted as an older rabbit that I forget he’s meant to be around Fiver’s age--but that was a fantastic portrayal of Fiver’s terror at his poem

Ugh, here it is again! Bigwig would never attack Hazel. He cuffs Fiver for luring Hazel away--his exact words are “the best rabbit we’ve got” and he blames Fiver for pressuring him into a suicide mission because the idea of Hazel dying for no reason makes him furious.

I’m sure this will end well, and it’s being very well-written; it’s just sad to lose the complexity of their relationship when I love it in the book so much, that’s all!

My god, Strawberry survived. That’s unexpected. There was really no NEED for her to die--one doe does not the future of a warren make--but I’m pleasantly surprised regardless

...A little skeptical that it’s the soft, naive one the writers made female, if they were going to do it; but also, this way avoids fridging Nildro-Hain, and also gives Strawberry a more complex arc than grief for his dead mate suddenly giving him a conscience. “I don’t--I don’t have...We don’t like to make friends here, in case they...” has the same power as his half-mad dash across the open.

BOOO NO COME ON Y’ALL RUINED IT

Thlayli doesn’t call Hazel “Hazel-Rah” for AGES yet ugh come on that was the most emotionally powerful moment in the entire BOOK don’t be like this writers.

Oooh, unexpected glimpse of Efrafa this early. Good capture of the horror of the warren, and Woundwort has an excellent voice. However: book!Woundwort doesn’t have a scratched-out eye, that was something from the movie, and let’s stop using that as a shorthand for a villain please and thank you.

[handfulofmuses]

@wolperkinger

games of thrones

Ah. Sounds like Sandleford thoughts. Because whenever Holly mentions death, it was usually about what happened back in their old warren. A joke would be in order, but Bluebell knew when things have to be serious. This is one of those cases - he can throw a joke or two later.

"And isn't that the beauty of it, Holly? Experiencing all these possibilities while we are still alive?"

[handfulofmuses]

"Why did the rabbit cross the road?"

[handfulofmuses]

"Why are ducks so funny? Because they are always quacking jokes."

[handfulofmuses]

Bluebell: Orchis. He's the joke.

[handfulofmuses]

jHFSJDGFSDJ HELP

[handfulofmuses]

Bluebell man.

Unlike Holly, he was underground when it all happened. Keep in mind, he is also the ONLY survivor from the rabbits who were underground. Holly said he can only imagine what it must have been like, but Bluebell interrupts him, saying that he can't and takes over the story.

Bluebell telling about everything that happens underground is the only serious moment in the book with him.

He was in the poisoned burrows. He was there when the does did not want to leave their kittens and attacked any rabbit that came close. He was there when rabbits were desperately trying to get out, clambering over each other and even ending up killing each other in the process. The cries for help. Kittens who were screaming for their mothers. Owsla trying to give orders during all that. The dead rabbit that came tumbling towards him - the same dead rabbit that he had to tear at to get out. Pimpernel trying to help him out, but constantly confused over everything and Bluebell biting him out fear that he might die and block the way. The guy has most likely PTSD himself from the event but he needed to keep himself and Holly going so he coped with jokes.

Just - the strength that must have took.

[handfulofmuses]

No but seriously. I love Bluebell so much.

He was there when everything happened. What Holly heard, Bluebell experienced.

He was locked in the tunnels, breathing the poison. He was there when kittens were crying out for their mothers, rabbits tearing at each other trying to escape. He was there when the officers were trying to give orders, desperately trying to control the situation. He saw his friends dying or losing their minds.

And he is the only survivor from what happened underground.

Yet what does he do? He is equally as traumatized as Holly, you can't tell me he DIDN'T have PTSD from the event as well. But he keeps marching on, chattering and telling jokes just to keep Holly and himself going. That's the only reason Holly survived - why BOTH of them survived. It saddens me that this detail was left out in every version before because it's such an important part of his character and friendship with Holly.

Holly even said it himself that they wouldn't be here if it wasn't for him.

His whole jokes and chattering? It's a coping mechanism. Because if he distracts himself by talking or throwing out jokes, he doesn't have to think about what happened. If it means it keeps Holly and himself going, then he will try to remain levelheaded.

[handfulofmuses]

For a while, Bluebell actually had troubles to sleep in burrows or go anywhere underground, so even at night or when sleeping you could find him on the surface. The thought of going under there brought back memories from when the old warren was destroyed.