#‘is this ship good?’ asking the wrong questions. start asking if their dynamic embodied the lyrics of no children at some point

[catradoraism]

and i hope you die. i hope we both die

[twdmusicboxmystery]

The S11 Trailer - Analysis

Okay, let’s talk about the trailer. I’ll go through what I’m seeing shot by shot, and then focus on a couple of things that really stood out to me.

We start with Negan and Father Gabriel, with Negan looking distressed. FG asks him what’s wrong, and he says, “bad memories.” FG says, “of what?” We don’t hear Negan’s answer in the trailer.

Then we see the windmill in Alexandria, followed by horses running by Kelly and (I think) Magna. I think the horses will end up being important, as we see them again later. And this is really interesting. Take a moment to remember Buttons from S5, and I’ll come back to this.

Next, we see what I originally thought were overgrown street signs. But when I lightened this picture, I realized they’re not outdoor street signs. They’re indoor ones. Almost like the kind of thing you’d see at a massive mall or market or airport, directing you where to go. East Market. The “East” is jumping out at me as well.

Then we see Negan with a flashlight and other things in the underground tunnels from the sneak peek.

We see Daryl staring out over what I first thought as a mural. But when I lightened it, he’s really just looking down at a scene below him. If you look closely, below him on the left is a tank. So, at the end of 10x22, Carol said they were going to visit an old military base Daryl had found. I’m assuming this is it.

We see Judith, and then Daryl with mud on his face. This may be important. Keep this in mind. It looks a little like he’s covered himself either in red mud or perhaps walker guts.

Then we see various scenes of people fighting walkers and one person (we don’t see who) being bitten by one.

Then we see Negan dragging Maggie backward while she yells, “no!” I’ve mentioned this recently, but this is really interesting to me. It’s a nearly identical replay of Maggie being held back at the end of AOW (8x16) because Rick declared that Negan would live. Except this time, it’s Negan holding Maggie back from something else. The dynamic has changed. So, it makes me very curious to find out what he’s dragging her back from. It’s almost like he's trying to protect her.

There’s more fighting with walkers, and scenes from the underground subway tunnels. Most of these scenes are fast and it’s nearly impossible to tell exactly who is doing what or what’s going on.

This is also where we hear Daryl say, “I don’t leave anybody behind. Ever.” Because of Beth, we’re definitely side-eyeing that. In a way, it just proves that something happened to make Daryl believe Beth was dead and couldn’t be buried. This is him affirming that he would never have left her behind otherwise.

Then we see Kelly and Magna talking, and Kelly looking at a note that seems to have been written by Connie. It says, “Trapped with the dead. Walked with them for days. No light. No food. Little water.” Yeah, I’m kind of side-eyeing that note. It’s strange that Connie would write it and leave it but be nowhere around when Kelly finds it. (However, based on stuff we see later in the trailer, she does seem to have been kidnapped or taken prisoner.)

But more than that, the note feels thematic. Being trapped with the dead feels like a Beth thing. Walking with the dead is something we’ve seen a lot on the show. Michonne and her pets. The Whisperers, of course. Plenty of examples. And then the “no light, no food, no water” goes well with the drought and famine themes we’ve seen a lot. One of the most notable examples being in 5x10. I’m just saying.

Then more fighting with walkers, and we get the scene where Aaron says, “so you’re going to fight ghosts?” Followed by a teary-eyed Carol saying, “This is a path you don’t want to go down.”

My fellow theorists and I have discussed these a lot and who both Aaron and Carol might be talking to. I think there’s a good possibility that both may be Daryl. I’ve talked before about the possibility of him hearing something of Rick or Rick’s voice and wanting to go find him, but no one else believing him or that Rick is a live. Possibly questioning Daryl’s sanity. Both would go well with that idea.

Of course, that may be a little too convenient. Some people have suggested Carol might be talking to Maggie and trying to keep her from revenge on Negan. Or these could be secondary characters we won’t even care about overly much. No way to know.

Next, we see a person in a mask, with Dog standing near them, apparently watching Daryl. This is one scene that got our fandom very hyped up. I do have some things to say about it, so I’ll come back to it at the end.

We see lots of people running through the woods, a sickle hitting a tree. (I think it’s safe to assume that the sickle is a weapon/symbol of the Reapers.) And then a line of people in masks walking forward aggressively. Again, I’m assuming these are the Reapers. We’ve been told the trailer is misleading, so it may prove untrue, but I think it’s what we’re supposed to assume here.

We see more fighting and houses being broken into. Ezekiel fighting in a house and Eugene with bloodstains on his shirt. Then someone bound and hooded being dragged backward down a dark hallway. I’m thinking that’s Eugene.

Then we get a quick flash of what looks like feminine eyes behind a hood. These are what people assume could be Beth or Leah. And yes, they could be either. We do later see Maggie taking a skin mask off, so I think they could be her as well. It’s so quick, it’s pretty much impossible to identify them for sure.

The next scene is a super-tragic one. I’m pretty sure Dog is dying, guys. We hear what sounds like Dog whining in pain, as dogs do, and see a knife flash. Then Daryl turns around and screams, “no!” From descriptions of the episode, it sounds to me like Dog gets separated from the group and Daryl goes looking for him alone.

Some of us have wondered if this is when Daryl will “see” Leah again. When he’s on his own and it’s just him and her and Dog. That would, once again, suggest her being something only he can see. Just conjecture on our part as we really have no idea how things will play out, but it’s an idea we’ve batted around.

Anyway, it doesn’t look to me like Dog is going to survive. And while that SUCKS (poor Dog, poor Daryl ☹) because Dog is the embodiment of the Sirius symbolism, it does make a certain amount of sense that they might kill him before Beth reappears.

The other big deal about this is that it’s a clear parallel template to Beth. If Dog = Beth, she gets separated from group, Daryl goes searching for her, found her, but she apparently didn’t survive, dying right in front of him. (Or so he understands.) It kind of looks like the exact same thing will happen with Dog.

We then see a blood-covered knife hit the wall just under a frightened-looking Connie’s nose. She seems to be a captive or prisoner somewhere, and clearly her life is in danger. We also hear FG telling someone not to be scared and see what I assume is a Commonwealth soldier in an orange suit.

We also see a very decomposed walker tied to a tree. We’ve seen that pose a few times, and my mind always goes to the blond girl tied to the tree that Aaron and Daryl find in 5x15. So, chances are this will be very symbolic.

Then we see Daryl in front of some burning shipping containers, staring out at people. It’s not clear if the people he’s look at are members of TF, or perhaps enemies, but he doesn’t exactly look carefree.

Remember that in 10x17, he and Maggie and their group stayed in these same kinds of containers. Jadis also kept Rick in a similar once back in S8, so it’s a theme that’s been building.

We then here FG say, “God isn’t here anymore.” We see what looks like a walker but it’s crawling forward in a super creepy fashion, looking almost like a demon. Most walkers don’t move that way unless injured, so it makes me question whether this is a walker or a human pretending to be one.

We also see someone hung upside down by their ankles from an overhead pipe. I’m reminded of the Librarian guy in 6x16/7x01 who was hung over the bridge. Again, it’s just a theme we’ve seen before, but hard to interpret because the trailer gives us so little context.

More from the underground tunnels including what looks like it couple be corpses stuck in dried cement. And we hear an interesting line. “This a damn death march and you’re the pied piper.” So, Pied Piper theme. Something else we’ve seen a lot.

Then we see Connie and Virgil running through rooms. Now, I’d assumed that when Virgil found her, he took her somewhere or took her captive. I guess I didn’t really trust him even after Michonne sort of came to and assumed he was kind of a bad guy. But based on this, it could be that both were taken captive after he found her. They both seem to be running and trying to escape.

We see Maggie lighting a flare inside a subway train. Then, in quick succession, more masked eyes, Maggie looking distressed, and then someone’s fingers slipping from a handgrip, as though they’re trying not to fall but not falling anyway.

Then we see Maggie walking first through a parking lot and then some kind of defunct mall near an escalator. She says, “I lost something. And I don’t think it’s a bad thing that I did.” 

And then we see what I think is Maggie and Negan helping someone who is injured. Because we only see the backs of their heads, it’s hard to tell for sure. But I think the two on the outside are Maggie and Negan. I can’t tell who they’re helping. It doesn’t look like Daryl or Carol, but beyond that, I could say. If you look to the right, you can see department store mannequins, so this still seems to be in the mall.

Things speed up again and we see lots of people in masks, what looks like walkers invading Alexandria, Carol hugging Magna (forgiveness for Connie, perhaps?), people wielding weapons and running different places, etc.

We then see a bunch more of the underground tunnels stuff. People killing walkers in trains and such. We hear Negan say, “this only works if we trust each other.” And then Daryl says, “if you say trust him, I’ll trust him.” No idea who Negan’s line is directed to, as it’s just a voice over here. Chances are Daryl is talking about Negan, but again, no way to be sure.

Then Maggie says, “The woman who lived is not the one standing here now, so keep pushing me Negan. Please.”  When she says the final word, “please” we see her pointing a gun at someone with Daryl standing behind her.

A couple of things here. This is where we see her take off a skin mask, but that’s in daylight in the woods, so clearly, it’s a different scene than the subway with her and Daryl. What I’ll say is that, to me, this line from her feels very stilted, which means it may be spliced together. Remember back in the S5 trailer when it sounded like Gareth wanted to take Eugene to Washington to cure the virus, but in the show, he never said anything remotely close to that? The words really were his, but they just took lines of his dialogue and spliced them together. It was very misleading. I feel like this line from Maggie may be the same way. No way to be sure. I could be wrong. But it just sounds unnatural to me, like different parts of her dialogue have been spliced together. And who knows if the person she’s pointing the gun at is even Negan. We can’t see them.

I’m just saying, take it with a grain of salt.

Then we see the TWD logo. But it’s not over, yet. We see a coda, which is Eugene at the Commonwealth. We see a happy little “welcome to the Commonwealth” promo video, followed by lots of darkness and drama around Eugene.

Why is this important? Beth was the coda of the S5 trailer. For S6, it was Sherry and Dwight capturing Daryl in 6x06, which was replete with Beth symbolism. In the S7 trailer, it was Tara finding Oceanside. I could go on but, while Beth clearly wasn’t in any of the seasons after S5, the codas to the trailers tend to deal with symbolism or storylines that we’ve tied to her in HUGE ways. And we already believe she’ll probably come through Eugene’s story line when we, the viewers, first see her. So, it’s significant that they used Eugene, rather than any other character, as the coda.

I also noticed that in the CW promo vid, we see things like a mall or department store and a train station. Those are the same kinds of places we see Maggie and Daryl and the others exploring, except where they are everything is dark, defunct and overgrown, where in the CW video it all looks happy and functional and vibrant.

Not sure what that means. Are they meant to be the same places? Is there just a duality theme going on here? Are the Reapers and the Commonwealth connected somehow? We just don’t know, but it’s interesting.

I also notice behind the narrator is a monument with the words “The Great War” on them. Practically, the monument is probably referencing WWI, which was often called The Great War at the time it was happening, because it was the first worldwide war up until that point.

But I have no doubt that this monument is purposely placed by the writers and foreshadows the big, coming war, that we won’t truly see until the spinoff.

Okay, that’s pretty much it, but let me go back to that scene with the masked person and Dog staring at Daryl.

I think most people are assuming that it’s Daryl in the foreground (and I concur) and therefore the person watching him, who Dog is so comfortable standing beside, must be Leah. And it’s possible that that’s true. But keep in mind that, especially when Daryl isn’t around, Dog is equally comfortable with Connie and Carol. So, we just can’t know for sure who this is in the mask. I even think it could possibly be Daryl himself. I know that probably doesn’t make any sense to you but let me explain.

The angles and clarity of this shot are very suspicious to me. Let’s start with the angles. Clearly this is meant to be someone Daryl doesn’t see, but he feels he’s being watched, which is why he takes out his knife. But if you look at the angles, he’d only have to turn his head a fraction of an inch to see this person, so why doesn’t he? It just doesn’t feel like realistic positioning for the vibe they’re going for.

Secondly, the line between the right side (Daryl in the foreground) and the left side (Dog and the masked figure) looks a bit blurry and indistinct to me. And there’s a brown pole running down the center of the frame. At first glance, it seems to be a tree trunk, but if you look at it, it’s way too smooth and symmetrical to be one. I think it’s a metal pole. And what would that be doing in the middle of the forest?

Why am I telling you this? Just to show why I don’t think this is a “real” shot from the shot. Could Daryl be hallucinating? Sure. That’s one possibility. But I really wonder if this is just two different shots spliced together to create a creepy vibe for the trailer. So, one is the masked person standing next to Dog, and the other is Daryl in the foreground. And they’ve been put together with a computer.

That’s why I think the hooded figure itself could be Daryl. @wdway pointed out that this hooded figure wears a large knife very close to the center line of their body, and we’ve seen both Beth and Daryl do that in past seasons. Plus, remember that scene from the beginning of the trailer I told you to remember, where Daryl has either red mud or walker guts all over his face? I’m wondering if he’s just taken off a mask there. It would also explain Dog standing so calmly beside him.

And of course I could be totally wrong as well. Maybe it IS a masked person watching him. Maybe it IS Leah. There’s just no way to tell for certain. I guess my point is just to take everything with a grain of salt. We’ve been told this trailer is very misleading, and there’s absolutely no confirmation of who any of the masked people or random eyes are. Just keep that in mind.

Oh, I also said I’d come back to the horses. I didn’t write down exactly where, but at one point, we get a shot of Maggie walking up on dead horses. So, they’ll clearly play a role this season. Maybe it’s a matter of TF seeing some wild horses, and then finding them dead, and realizing this means there are bad people around. 

But remember there was a dead horse near Princess and Eugene’s group last season when they walked through the field of landmines. So, it’s something that’s been foreshadowed. And I can’t help but wonder if clear back in S5, Buttons might be a foreshadow of what’s about to happen in S11. Especially if it leads to Beth, which we think it will, I’m gonna say it was. But of course we’ll have to wait and see what that’s all about. 

Okay, I think that’s all I have for the trailer. Thoughts?

[patton-cake]

Wanna rant about something (idk, I’m bored)

Okay! :)

This js going to be logicality, but I don't think anyone is suprised at this point

Let's start this essay shall we?

First, what makes logicality such a great dynamic?

Well, to answer that question, we have to break down the two characters. Let's start with Logan, Logan is a very intelligent and caring 'person'. Knowledge and Thomas' wellbeing seem to be the most important thing for him. He can be very strict and he can lose his temper from time to time. One of his biggest wants is to be respected and be listened to, which is why Logan is also known as 'the teacher' or 'the mom' of the group.

So you might wonder, if he cares about knowledge so much, why ship him with the character that is the embodiment of emotions?

And to answer that question, we have to look at Patton. Patton is 'the dad character'. He has a very caring personality and he loves to make puns. He often puts the wants of others above his own needs, which leads to him hiding his sad emotions from the group. Another side effect from being the dad is that he also can be too strict. However as soon as Patton realizes what he did wrong, he'll do anything to make things right. Patton loves to compliment to others and encourage them to listen to their feelings.

And this is where we start the shipping. Logan has a difficult time accepting his own emotions, he needs someone to listen to him and he loves compliments. Patton needs someone to ground him, someone who keeps a good track of reality and Patton loves to listen to his loved ones.

Logan and Patton are the mind and the heart. A really important balance. Those two need eachother. You can't make a wise decision if you only listen to your heart, and he can't make a happy decision if you only listen to your mind. They balance eachother out and they strengthen eachothers weaknesses.

In the series we see that Logan loves receiving compliments. So that might indicate that one of his love languages is words of affirmation. He loves being told that he is right and he always reacts pretty emotional (and maybe a little arrogant sometimes) when the others compliment him. Another thing I noticed was that Logan, while loving to receive compliments and praisings, rather shows his love without directly saying it. He struggles a lot while telling the others he loves them and takes back his compliment to Patton almost immediately. However we do see in the Moving On episode that Logan gives Patton a gift to make him less sad. This was a surprisingly emotional thing to do for Logan.

Patton on the other hand, loves giving compliments and praising (you see where I'm going with this?). He often tells Roman that he did a good job or that he loves Virgil unconditionally. He also seems to look up to Logan a lot. Patton has often said how smart Logan was, or he asks questions about whatever kind of information Logan shared. This might not seem as really important, but for someone who gets ignored all the time, it means the world when someone is interested in what you say. Patton is also really really really happy when someone gives him a gift. Patton knows that these little things, can say a lot more than a thousand words. He knows what kind of love lays behind the little things.

So in conclusion, Logan need someone to help him to get in touch with his emotions and Patton needs someone to ground him. Those two can really help eachother to get better.

If you've read all of this, I love you and thanks for reading!

[travllingbunny]

The 100 rewatch: 5x05 Shifting Sands

After four really strong episodes at the beginning of season 5, this is a slower episode focused on developing the new dynamics. This episode is by no means bad, and there are some lovely character moments in it - but this is, unfortunately, where the plot starts getting kind of boring. It’s the start of many subplots that, either intentionally or unintentionally, ended up not mattering much for the overall story.

Some of the subplots introduced:

the mutant worms - I’m not a fan of this subplot, which the show will literally chuck out 5 episodes later. Also, it’s gross. I don’t like to have to actually avert my eyes from the screen. The show was really going for the Alien vibe here.

Zaven romance was probably meant to be Raven’s endgame, but unfortunately, Jordan Bolger got another role and we know what happened. And now all that screentime devoted to the development of their relationship feels like a waste of time, which may be unfair to season 5, but it is what it is. In itself, it’s not the worst romantic subplot by any means, but it’s another rushed romance.

It seemed like the show was going somewhere with the friendship between Diyoza and Kane (with some flirty moments that could have at least suggested even more) - don’t get me wrong, I was very much against it being a ship (not a fan of Stockholm Syndrome romances, and Kabby is one of the very few well developed romantic relationships on the show), but every relationship involving Kane got pushed aside when Henry Ian Cusick decided to leave the show. In S6, only Kabby and his friendship with Indra were addressed. On the other hand, it’s always it’s nice to get more Diyoza backstory, which we get when she tells her story to Kane: her suicide attempt - when marines who used to be her own team came to arrest her and after they killed her father. 

Both Diyoza’s shock collars and Vinson are introduced. Vinson is a very unusual character for The 100 - which is full of leaders, warriors and cult leaders, but which doesn’t usually feature cannibal serial killers. I have to say that I quite liked where they went with this character - he was like an embodiment of Abby’s demons (addiction, cannibalism during the Dark Year) and the demons that almost destroyed the Kabby relationship.

The last scene sets up the main plot of the next episode, which is Octavia and Bellamy arguing about Echo… Not the best subplot out there.

In Eden, Diyoza shows again that she may be ruthless but she’s smart - she is against waging war in Eden and potentially destroying the only habitable land on Earth. Not such good news: she wants to use missiles on Wonkru, which makes sense - especially since they are, from her POV, a bunch of dangerous fanatics. (Actually, they are a bunch of dangerous fanatics, period.)She is aware that the rest of Spacekru are still somewhere in the woods, as is Madi (since she knew 5 of them were almost captured by her people, when Madi saved them). The rivalry between her and McCreary is highlighted again - and we also learn about their history. (Which is going to be important because of a certain reveal that will be coming soon…) I guess Diyoza was more honest than McCreary knew when she dismissed his sexual prowess as “that was torture, too” - since we learn in S7 that she had sex with him to get him to be on her side in the rebellion.

Diyoza’s choice of sex partners may not be the best, but she has good taste in music and hates speed metal or trash metal or whatever that was just as much as I do. “Play something with a beat” - exactly!

Kane in the meantime offers intel on Octavia in exchange for a guarantee of protecting Raven and Murphy, but his other reason is that he thinks Octavia will get all of Wonkru killed and wants to stop her.

And we get more of McCreary torturing someone, this time Raven and Murphy. McCreary torturing various people is a recurring thing this season. Is there any episode where he isn’t either murdering, torturing or both? I guess no one has told him that torture is not an efficient or reliable way of extracting information… but it’s quite possible he doesn’t care. Shaw gets to be reluctantly present during someone’s torture again - not a great way to get to know your future girlfriend. The fact that she’s in pain and tortured for who-knows-which-time may be why Raven is showing her judgmental streak again, this time dissing Shaw for lying about the fact he was the one who disabled the missiles and accusing him of getting them tortured to save his ass, which is technically true but ignores the facts that 1) he saved hundreds of Wonkru, 2) he saved Raven’s and Murphy’s lives, and 3) admitting the truth wouldn’t have helped anyone. But Raven also shows her smarts and comes up with a good plan how to get Murphy out so he can inform others about the missiles - and does some really good acting when she pretends she’s furious with Shaw.

One of the highlights of the episode is Murphy meeting Madi for the first time (”hobbit” as he refers to her), as everyone is in the Rover that Madi is driving. Murphy is not happy when Madi says she thought he would be funnier, and even less so when she says Octavia is her favorite. (It’s OK, Murphy, Hope and Jordan (during his rebellious phase) will love you.)

Contrary to what you’ll often hear in the fandom, Spacekru have been, in these early episodes, talking repeatedly about the fact that Clarke saved them and thanking her. They mentioned it all by themselves in 5x03. Bellamy told Clarke ‘Clarke, you saved us all!” in 5x04 and Raven tearfully thanked her for saving their lives. And now Echo tells Madi they wouldn’t have made it without Clarke, and Harper confirms it.

When Murphy realizes that his shock collar/tracker can be used as a bomb, he tells the others to leave him and save themselves and go warn Bellamy - which , I believe, is the first time that Murphy has been really unselfish and unconcerned with saving his own life. Emori has, up to that point, been hostile to him, accusing him of selfishness (she even jumped to the conclusion that he left Raven to die to save himself). But the moment he says this, you can see her face and her whole attitude changing. She says nothing, just staring at him - and then stays with him instead of going with the others. (Murphy will again be unselfish and ask others to leave him to save thrmselves in the season 5 finale, and Emori will refuse to leave him.)

………..

In Polis, there are more reunions: Clarke gets to interact with Jackson and Miller. Jackson tells her they could have used her in the bunker (Clarke replies that they had her mom, and Jackson’s silence hints that something is wrong, but she’ll only find out what much later).This is an interesting “What if” - what if Clarke and/or Bellamy had been in the bunker? How would that have affected everything - Octavia and Abby, above all? Indra later tells Bellamy that Octavia needs him. She is clearly not one of those who drank Kool-Aid and hopes for Bellamy to be a good influence on her, the way she obviously wishes she could be, but Octavia is not listening to her. Cooper, on the other hand, is Octavia’s yes-woman and clearly encourages her worst behavior. Miller still seems somewhere in between at this point - unlike Jackson, he tells Clarke not to get involved, but then changes his mind and tells Blodreina that Clarke has something to tell her.

(This is also a rare occasion: an actual Mackson kiss.)

Clarke and Bellamy are starting to realize that Octavia is pretty scary now, starting with the way her cult worships her and turns against anyone daring to criticize or question her, and then with the way Octavia herself has changed. The episode does a good job of showing that she has been losing her grip on reality,  and apparently drinking her own Kool-Aid a bit too much. She is obsessed what she sees as her messianic role pf delivering her people to Eden, and trying to get her people through the desert during the sandstorm, contrary to the advice of Clarke, who actually knows the terrain, (Maybe she’s taken it too much to heart to continue Jaha’s legacy.) Some of the things Octavia says in this episode:

“The wind hasn’t met Wonkru” - many people mock it as one of the worst lines in the show, but I like it, I think it’s intentionally hilarious, one of the few funny moments this season - and meant to show what ridiculous things Octavia says when she’s boasting in front of Wonkru. All the Wonkru members fully accept it while only Bellamy and Clarke are looking at her with WTF? faces.

She also says “Wonkru doesn’t retreat” And then orders retreat at the end of the episode. She’s not fully delusional.

“That valley is (our home) and we’re taking it back” - Back? When did she/they have it exactly? I guess she may just be considering everything that any of the clans had/where they lived as belonging to Wonkru… but she’s never even been there

“Thanks to you, we’re at war” to Bellamy again (would it have been better to stay locked in the bunker forever?)

“You don’t understand because you’re not one of us”

and finally, she straight up threatens her brother if he keeps questioning her.

During a meal by the campfire at night, while Wonkru are chanting “All of me for all of us”, we find out that Octavia is trying to live by the “Love is weakness” maxim, which is here retconed as something that all Flamekeepers teach all Commanders (and that Gaia is teaching her now, accordingly), rather than just a Titus/Lexa thing, as it seemed in season 3. (Which in itself was a retcon, since it first seemed in season 2 that it was just something Lexa came up with as a result of her tragic experience with losing her lover Costia.) And yes, it’s love in general, not just romantic love. “Love no one, and no one can hurt you”, says Octavia, and she clearly includes her brother in that. Indra rejects that and replies with “I love you”, asking if that makes her weak. This is a recurring theme in the show: Clarke and Octavia have both gone through “Love is weakness” phase. (And now in season 7, it’s time for Bellamy - only this time, this idea came to him in the form “love is selfish”, and that he should love all mankind rather than focus on love for individual people.)

Clarke finds something “beautiful” and impressive in Wonkru’s unity - maybe because she has been alone for so long. The long isolation has changed her - she seems less assertive when she’s around others, although, to be fair, it doesn’t help that she’s not in the position to be a part of the leadership while they are around Wonkru. But she’s also shy and vulnerable when Bellamy - after telling her how amazing she was for surviving so long on her own - tries to make her talk about that time. She starts saying “Well, I wasn’t alone” - and if she immediately answered “I had Madi”, that would be nothing strange, but the way Clarke makes a long awkward pause and seems to catch herself, before saying “I had Madi”, and then quickly leaves, almost as if running away - suggest that maybe she was, for a moment, thinking and going to say something else - something about radio calls that allowed her to keep her sanity. Subsequent events have certainly supported this interpretation - we will learn in 5x13 that Clarke has been keeping it a secret from Bellamy (when Madi tells him, she says “I probably shouldn’t be telling you this”), and when Bellamy finally reveals in 6x01 that he knows about them, Clarke is again very shy and embarrassed and almost runs away from the conversation.

But at this point, Bellamy doesn’t know any of that, and I don’t think he understands Clarke’s state of mind. To him, it must seem like she’s withdrawing into herself. 

Later on, the two of them get another moment, and this time it’s Clarke’s turn to tell Bellamy how awesome he is. She praises him for not killing the prisoners in cryo and for saving her, and says “the Heart and the Head” - recalling their conversation from over 6 years ago,. in 4x13, when she told him to use his head and not just his heart. She’s saying that he’s using both his heart and his head now. Bellamy repeats “The Heart and the Head”, and I believe that’s the first time they’ve said that phrase to each other. Now they have another canon catchphrase to describe their relationship, in addition to “Together”. (They will say it again - a little different - in 6x10: “The Head and the Heart”.)  Clarke then asks Bellamy “What does your head say about fighting a war (etc.)” and he replies “Same as yours”. Which is just crying for a callback to happen in the final season. Will we get Bellamy and Clarke saying “What does your heart say…”?

Clarke - in a rare moment of medically treating someone (something she did a lot in season 1, but rarely after that), saves Octavia’s life from the worms. And - in one of her better moments in this episode - Octavia thanks for her saving her life. Sadly, their relationship is not going to be that harmonious in the rest of S5.

And at the end of this episode - more reunions! The rover comes with Madi, Monty, Harper and Echo, with three memorable reunion moments:

I love the moment when Monty greets Octavia (he still has no idea how much she has changed) and she greets him back with the most awkward smile ever. It’s like she isn’t sure if she can be Octavia now that she’s Blodreina but she’s acting like her old self for a moment with an old friend who has no idea what she’s like now. 

And this is just moments after she has threatened her brother. This camerawork in this episode is quite interesting - the way it plays with focus. When Octavia threatens Bellamy, while Clarke looks at them, concerned, we have Octavia/Bellamy in focus and Clarke out of it, and then the reverse.

And then in the reunion scene at the end, after we see Clarke and Madi running into each other’s arms for a big hug, and then we also see Echo and Bellamy running towards each other - it’s interesting and very telling that. as we see Clarke and Madi hugging and Bellamy and Echo kissing, in the same frame, the Becho kiss is out of focus throughout, while the camera zooms on Clarke’s reaction. While the first Becho kiss we saw (in 5x01) served the purpose to reveal the relationship to the audience, this time, the kiss is there just for Clarke’s and Octavia’s reactions to it, and this frame screams - what matters here is Clarke finding out about Becho.

Does this look familiar? Oh yes, we saw the same kind of scene and the exact same facial expression from Clarke in 1x05 when she learned that Finn had a girlfriend.

(But in case you ignored this moment, since it’s subtle - the dramatic music only starts with Octavia’s reaction to seeing her brother with her old enemy, which is the cliffhanger - don’t worry, you’ll get another scene of Clarke looking sad while Becho are kissing, in the next episode.)

And here’s the (melo)dramatic cliffhanger! I guess the audience is supposed to be on Bellamy’s and Echo’s side as Octavia is showing once again she can stare daggers - but I suspect many were on Octavia’s side on this one, since we’re pretty much in the same boat as Octavia and Clarke -, for us and for them, comes from nowhere, after we’ve only known them as enemies. Especially Octavia - Clarke did spend semi-amicable moments with Echo and witness Bellamy spending them just before Praimfaya. Octavia's last memories of Echo are… Echo mortally wounding Ilian, Bellamy almost strangling Echo for trying to kill Octavia/cheat them all out of the bunker, and Octavia banishing Echo. and Echo briefly trying to threaten her with telling the other Grounders about the Skaikru rebellion.

Was this really necessary in terms of the conflict between the Blakes? I don’t think so. They’ve already been butting heads over Octavia’s leadership and actions and her intention to fight a war - but yay, we are getting an episode centered around Octavia objecting to Bellamy’s girlfriend, which will ultimately go nowhere and matter little in terms of overall Bellamy/Octavia relationship this season.

Body count: 12 Wonkru members died: Obika died a horrible death from mutant worms. (His death will haunt Miller, who was with him when he was attacked by the worm, during the red sun eclipse in 6x02, when Miller hallucinated having bugs inside of him and yelled he would end up the same as Obika.) 11 other Wonkru members died from Diyoza’s missile, which means there are 801 left.

Rating: 6/10

[nerdsideofthemedia]

BB & Renora

I usually don’t tend to spend so much time on shipping, but this one, it feels like the reason is so questioned and even denied is in no small part due to homophobia and heteronormativity. Honestly, if you keep denying it’s basically almost certain now, I’d call it homophobia, unless you don’t think Renora became canon in V4 either. The parallels are as on the nose as they can be and BB had much more romantic buildup and this is part of what I intend to show here.

Just to make things clear, I am not doing this to attack Renora. I think that romance was handled well enough, it’s just too bad that it’s demanded a whole lot more from LGBTQ+ couples. I just want to show that if we want to be pedantic nitpickers who find justifications to see Renora as just a friendship, we can do that, so how come only BB is subjected to such scrutiny?

 What was the evidence for Renora before V4?

Was it Nora touching Ren’s nose and saying “Boop”? They’re childhood friends, it’s normal for them to be very close and have gestures specific to them. OK, I don’t really have to guess, because a BSer decided to start a conversation with me, complaining how me saying stuff like BB is canon or close to that made LGBTQ+ raise expectations and the writers would have to deal with queerbaiting accusations when BS becomes canon, which: yes, if BS happens, there will be queerbaiting accusations, which would be more than fair and would have nothing to do with me. (Not that I don’t appreciate it, I just don’t really think I wield that much power within the RWBY community). Fortunately, they did direct to a post about the Renora romantic hints:

        - Boop, but if we’re looking at songs, BB isn’t lacking those, including the very first one Red Like Roses. All that Matters and Armed and Ready have lines with romantic connotation and I’ll always argue that though Bmblb isn’t canon, it would have been extremely stupid to create such a song with no intention on delivering. Queerbaiting is not seen as a good thing. Also I’d like to remind you that RT has been supportive of LGBTQ+ with 2 of the main RWBY VAs being bi. 

        - Jaune, the oblivious guy, picked it up when he asked Ren how he and Nora had gotten together, to which I say: Jaune, the oblivious guy, could have easily misinterpreted a close friendship as a romantic relationship.

        - Ren stammers when correcting Jaune and he is usually cool and collected. Still, I’d say it’s normal for teenagers to act that way when there’s crush accusation. That’s exactly how I was as a teenager, even if I didn’t have a crush on the guy. 

        - Nora’s words: “What are the odds we’d still be together?” followed by “Well, not ‘together-together’… Not that I’m not saying that you’re not handsome; you are handsome, but that’d just be weird, right?”, which the person argued “After that she’s just fumbling for words, and reveals more about how she feels about Ren. She didn’t have to say anythinggg. But she did, and now we know that she thinks Ren is handsome (well, duh). If her feelings for him were completely platonic, she wouldn’t have said anything like that. There’d be no reason for her to. Like seriously if I was writing two characters that were only meant to be platonic, I would never write a scene like that. The implication of those words are too strong.”

When I was a teenager, I literally fumbled over words in a pretty similar way to Nora, including the handsome part, I was not interested in the guy I said that to.

Yes, this isn’t real life, it’s a show, so words like those maybe should have a better reason to be there then verisimilitude of teenage awkwardness, I guess – it’s debatable. Here’s the thing, how can you argue romance as not only one possible interpretation, but THE correct interpretation because of the implication of such words, yet deny the romance as a possible interpretation of Yang and Blake’s scenes despite the implication of a girl flirting with another while phrasing it “coming out tomorrow”, or associating those 2 girls with the word “love”, or having one of the girls stroking a photo of the other one or traveling on a ship named “Pride” or having the ex-boyfriend asking “what does she even see in you?” – all of which are far far more coded as romantic than any of the Renora moments. I think the “Like seriously if I was writing two characters that were only meant to be platonic, I would never write a scene like that. The implication of those words are too strong.” applies to all the cases described.

 Renora became undeniable at the end of V4 though, as Ren put his hand over Nora’s. They look at each other, both of them know what that means.

Wait, no, sorry, wrong pictures.

As I was saying they look at each other: they both know what that means. That’s right, they’re really good friends. Wait… no. They’re in love. That’s it. They’re in love.

Did you get my joke and what was being called out or do I have to be even more obvious?

I’m going to flat out say it: if you consider Renora became canon in that moment in V4, BB should be considered canon now. They parallel each other, and the whole excuse that Blake and Yang only held hands to show support after facing their demon can also be used for Renora.

 Just a few bonus anti-BB arguments:

Yang can’t represent Yang in Yin-Yang because she’s not a man

Sun doesn’t embody all the concepts of Yang either, so it’s weird to draw an exclusion criteria for Yang but not for Sun (or Blake for that matter). If only Yang hadn’t used a yellow dress, it could have driven the point of Yin-Yang. Wait…

It didn’t actually click for me as to why Yang used a white dress until I watched Passion of the Nerd’s video on Primeval (Buffy). While watching it, I was like:

(Apparently, Yang’s dress was supposed to be yellow, but there was an animation problem. Still, it was a cool thought)

“We can’t trust Adam, he’s delusional even Blake said so herself”

Adam clearly had his reasons to believe those were their feelings, because he didn’t show jealousy immediately. Also why would the writers write those lines with no intention on delivering? Adam didn’t need to be jealous to attack Yang – he wanted to hurt Blake, so attacking her to hurt the latter would be good enough reason, not to mention she was standing in the way of his mission.

Again, I quote the person who tried to defend Renora, yet attack BB: “Like seriously if I was writing two characters that were only meant to be platonic, I would never write a scene like that. The implication of those words are too strong.“

 Ruin the team dynamics

I find it funny that the people who criticize Yang for not making her life revolve around Ruby are also the ones who complain about how Bumblebee ruins team dynamics because two characters now prioritize each other. I’m sure this isn’t motivated by homophobia, especially considering the same logic is never used for Renora and even Arkos (don’t even bother with team JNPR aren’t main characters: they’ve appeared almost as much as the main ones), and misogyny, because how dare Yang not be completely about putting Ruby first at all times?

If having 2 sisters on the same team doesn’t ruin the dynamics, then a romantic relationship doesn’t either. It’s not like sisters don’t put each other first too.

I just address the assertion she treated Summer poorly which is based on absolutely nothing other than crapping on a female character just for the sake of it. Yang probably loved Summer and thought she was her mother until told otherwise which happened after Summer’s death.

 They ruined Adam because of BB

They didn’t. Adam was never intended to be an anti-hero with a chance for redemption. If you had that idea, it’s on you. His death didn’t happen just because either – it did because it ended both Yang and Blake’s arcs, it marked the end of a chapter in their lives as well as the beginning of their relationship which is only possible precisely because they confronted their demons. It’s the ultimate obstacle that confirms that Blake will no longer run and instead faces her demon and Yang confronted her abandonment issues in V5 when she talked to Raven, yet she still had to deal with the pain caused by Blake leaving and trust her. Their fight with Adam and her reassuring Blake she knows she won’t leave shows Yang knows Blake isn’t Raven: one ran out of selfishness, while the other ran out of selflessness, however misguided. Adam going down is tied to their closure.

And for the love of all that is good and pure, stop saying a relationship isn’t healthy because someone was hurt. Yes, it’s true we should avoid hurting each other, but to think we’ll never hurt someone and call a relationship abusive as soon as someone is hurt is ridiculous. There are no healthy relationships by that standard.

More RWBY posts:

Filmmaking and Bumbleby

Bumblebee was Always the Plan

Bumblebee was Always the Plan part 2

Faunus and the White Fang: The Portrayal of Racism

BB & Renora

Weird Post on Weiss’s Clothes

Foils: Adam and Yang (this one is in wordpress; it was my first one and I didn’t have Tumblr then)

Let’s talk about Adam Taurus (I didn’t post this one on Tumblr because the title and tags could lead Adam fans thinking this was about “his wasted potential” when really it defends the decision of killing him off and explains why it happened)

[khaleesirin]

Lelouch, C.C. and The Arendtian Concept of Freedom and Equality. 1 of ? Political Theory in Anime Series.

I believe this post should begin with a clarification: I don’t consider Code Geass a story imbued with deep philosophical ideas.  In all honesty, I find the entire series entirely fabulous and unabashedly silly, and exactly why I unironically love it. I am, however, without irony, a fan of Lelouch and C.C.’s dynamic in the series.

This is not a shipping manifesto. I don’t ship them romantically, although I can say that in terms of writing, their relationship is written with romantic undertones. That’s not the point.  I love the dynamic of Lelouch and C.C. because, in terms of engaging to political question, I consider them a good model to Hannah Arendt’s concept of freedom and equality. For those who are acquainted with Arendt’s political thoughts,  it’s an outlandish claim, and I can see that, but please humor me on this.

Freedom, according to Arendt, is the capacity of humans, as a collective, to create something new. The American Revolution is a manifestation of this freedom not because of the American liberation from the then British Empire, but because of how the founding fathers treated each other as equals, participating in this public political realm where they have sustained dialogue, sharing thoughts to how they can create a new republic, and to finally institutionalize that freedom.

Freedom is rooted on the Arendtian concept of natality.  “Birth” is not simply about the biological process, but is based on her definition of homo sapiens. Unlike animals, humans are distinct because we are all different. In our capacity to think, to speak, to do action based on our thoughts, no human existence will be the same. That’s what frees us from the nature’s “circle of life.” The moment we are born, we already changed something. The heterogeneity of our history is born out of the fact that we are all “contingent and innovative,” and this is where our true freedom lies.

Freedom requires equality and the exercise of freedom is power. A supposed act of “freedom” that is not grounded on equality is not power, but violence. Freedom is always deeply connected to political activity, and hence is connected to the public realm. This public realm is based off the Greek concept of polis, a close knitted society where they participate directly when it comes to politics, where they communicate with each and work together as equal men. A great example of this in the American society, according to Arendt, are the town hall meetings, where a person can participate in politics as a man among men, as a citizen among citizens.  As the American Revolution is a manifestation of that freedom, it’s also already flawed. The presence of slavery in the American society is its fundamental flaw. The greatest offence of slavery is not that it has taken away liberty, but the taking away of even the possibility of fellow men to fight for their freedom, since they are not permitted in the public realm.

This freedom and equality, since they are deeply connected to the distinct capacity of humans to think (in the perspective of others, and to judge what they think through dialogues), is what makes people fully alive.

(Hannah Arendt is more subtle in her political thought so everything you think is flawed in this concept is probably because of my misinterpretation.)

So, why is the relationship of Lelouch and C.C. a good model to this Arendtian concept? We all know that the entire basis of their relationship is partnership. They are each other’s accomplice. Their collaboration, their contract with each other, is also what sets Lelouch’s journey to create something new.  With the power that C.C. gave Lelouch, ironically the power of violence, Lelouch became fully alive. When C.C. asked Lelouch if he hated her for giving the geass, he said no. He chose his own path, the realization that he now can have the freedom to change something, the capacity to create something new, is what made him fully alive. For that, he was thankful.

At the end of the series, C.C. finally realized that she just didn’t want to accumulate experience, but to truly live. For all the years she has existed, she’d never met someone like Lelouch. What’s the difference? She wasn’t treated something special. Not a goddess, not a witch, not anything but a fellow person, someone you can stand on equal footing. If it means, for Lelouch, to turn into a warlock to emphatically say that C.C. is not alone, that someone can stand next to her as equal, he is willing to be one.

More than anyone in the series, no one knows Lelouch more than C.C., and no one knows C.C. more than Lelouch. They know their secrets, their pasts, and although they did hide things from each other,  they express their thoughts with each other as well. But that’s really not the point I want to make here. The thing here, to see each other as equal is a fundamental part of their relationship; it’s what binds them together. C.C. will not have that more open relationship with Lelouch if he started treating her as only a witch, something you only fear, or a goddess, something you only admire. C.C. is achingly human in front of him, because despite his attitude, that’s what she is to him.

Lelouch is not just Zero to C.C., he is not just the Emperor, he is not just the brother. He is, as she is to him, achingly human.

Episodes 15-16 of R2 really embodied this fundamental dynamic between the two. Everything is off, everything became different the moment C.C.  treated Lelouch as her master. I also love that little detail they put when Lelouch accidentally cut C.C.’s finger. I like to think that when Lelouch put a bandage on C.C.’s ring finger, is to reemphasize the mutuality of their contract, that like marriage, they are bound to each other, forever, until death do they part. In this case, since C.C. remains an immortal, their contract is perpetual. Which is also a different way of saying that C.C. will never be alone.

Their relationship is this: you value the essence of life, not because of the presence of death, as C.C. finally relearned. You value life because you are alive, and it means there is always something new to experience, because you can share it with others. Because you will never be alone in your thought. You will always have that someone you can have a dialogue with, someone you can share your thoughts with, someone you can make something new with. That when everything is said and done, history really doesn’t repeat itself. And that is freedom, that’s what makes you fully alive.

To quote Lelouch:

“A life without no changes can’t be called life. You can only call it experience.”

What about the fulfilment of C.C.’s wish?

At the end of the series, the camp that argues Lelouch isn’t really dead dead believes so because he hasn’t fulfilled C.C.’s wish yet. He didn’t make C.C. smile yet. I disagree. Lelouch fulfilled her wish. Look at how happy she was at the final clip of the series, when she was having a conversation with Lelouch:

That was a genuine smile. But, then again, to smile is not her real wish, right? Correct. C.C.’s wish is not to die. It’s also not to smile. It’s to be loved. We know this. Even so, Lelouch still fulfilled her wish.

She was loved.

Again, according to Arendt, love is the most apolitical human force.  Here, Arendt refers to the love born out of craving.  This love in the form of intimacy/craving is fatal, because it’s an expression of escapism, a form of hiding from the problems of society. It’s fatal, because it has the capacity to destroy the public realm, where freedom and equality lies. With Lelouch’s love to Nunally, he destroyed his goal to create a new future, a society with no hierarchy. If not for Rolo, he would not have survived.  I would argue, in this case, that Lelouch, more than C.C., seeks intimacy with Kallen the most. Between the two of them, Lelouch loves Kallen, based on the Arendtian definition of love. In two instances, whenever Lelouch lapses in his desire for a different political community, whenever he wants to hide from society’s problem, he seeks intimacy from Kallen. This love is born out of loneliness. More than anything else, it’s a thoughtless action because it reduces a person’s ability to tell what is right and wrong, to maintain the equality in the public. This intimacy that he seeks from Kallen short circuits both of their capacity to communicate with each other as equals. It is without the presence of reflection.  It’s a rejection of wordliness. Particularly in his love for Kallen, she is only a phantasm, where he only sees and tries to feed his own craving, and not the person in front of him.

Amor Mundi, or love of the world, is entirely different. It’s a form of understanding with what happened in this world, reconciling the self with the world as it is.  It’s an expression of human activity for the the continued  creation of human wordliness where we can live together as equals despite our differences. Amor Mundi is Arendt’s articulation of a different love that is not meant to destroy, but to build, to maintain our humanity.

The paradox of Amor Mundi is that it requires a form of distance. To express Lelouch’s attempt to maintain the human wordliness, to re-establish a political community based on equality, freedom, civility and friendship, rather than hierarchy, he has to let go of his desire for intimacy, his craving, with Nunnally, and yes, with Kallen. To seek for their love is to reject their humanity. Hence, why Nunnally had to keep asserting who she is and what she truly wishes to Lelouch, in the same way why Kallen also had to assert herself in front of Lelouch during his lapse of judgement.

So how did Lelouch fulfill C.C.’s wish? He gave her the love of the world. He gave her an answer on how to love the world. Slavery, genocide, isolation, war, pain, betrayal, rejection: C.C. is the embodiment of the complex and contradictory world we live in. How can you love an existence that seems to mock the essence of life? Love is not just between the person and the beloved, but a recognition of the space between them, that the other is not the same as you, and still to love the entirety of who they are. C.C. is what happens when we forget to love the other in a way that we recognize their differences, to see life in the perspective of others, she is what happens when we strip the world of humanity. Lelouch is the only one in the series who embraces (metaphorically) C.C. not despite of who she is, but because of who she is. Thus, he doesn’t hate snow, he finds it beautiful. As the Zero Requiem is his expression of his love of the world, it’s also his expression of love to C.C., our world as it is.

[ncscope-blog]

THEMES & PREFERENCES QUESTIONNAIRE !!

AKA, things i’ve always wanted to ask people / have people ask me. please remember to REPOST rather than reblog!  HAPPY MUNDAY ~ !!

ANA AMARI

WHAT TYPES OF GENRES DO YOU GRAVITATE TOWARDS ?   I think I do a bit of everything - I like to have variety so that I always have something to turn to depending on my mood, so angst, action, comedy, slice of life, there’s always space for everything. My favourite though are any thread that brings in a lot of character exploration and relationship development, hence my losing interest quite quickly in ‘pure’ 1-para slice of life for instance (it’s different when it’s about taking our time to explore our characters’ mentality that moment in mutiple paragraphs, I feel). I like to explore my characters changing or being shaken up in a dynamic environment and story, so I’ll always privilege consistent development between our characters to pure everyday moments. After all, I picked a muse from Overwatch for a reason - there’s always something happening and tons of space for radical developments and evolutions in all directions. I just need something to be happening - either extrenally or internally.

WHAT TYPES OF GENRES DO YOU GRAVITATE AWAY FROM ?   Like I mentioned, I find myself doing less slice of life recently, even though it can be nice from time to time and especially with the right characters - especially people I’ve plotted extensively with, and Ana knows their characters enough for me to have more to write and reflect on. Then again, I didn’t pick an Overwatc muse to have her chill at the headquarters all the time. Ana was a Second-in-Command, she’s now a masked bounty hunter, everyone thinks she’s dead, there is a lot of fun to have with this configuration. I also stay away from writing AUs on my blogs, especially more domestic AUs like what most people call modern AU (which I’d refer to as domestic modern AU), or the one thing I’ll never really understand the appeal of: coffeeshop AU. I can indulge in imagining my characters having a relatively normal life in our modern days, but will more likely keep it strictly to plotting. Just a personal preference. Also, smut is something I tend to stay away from and which I’ll only try with particularly trusted rp partners.

WHAT TYPES OF CHARACTERS DO YOU MOST OFTEN PLAY / ENJOY ?   I definitely play older muses, my youngest at the moment being 36, and the oldest 74. I try to have some variety in my characters so they don’t really have much in common in terms of tropes or style - except maybe they’re all somewhat eccentric characters who generally end up being outcasts at some point in their lives, for one reason or another, by choice or by accident. I like characters who have both lighter and darker sides that I can explore, that I can seriously explore in depth but without having to take them too seriously. I hope my characters have enough redeeming qualities and deep flaws to make them balanced and not Good or Bad - just somewhere in the middle. They also tend to be Very Tired people for some reason.

WHAT TYPES OF CHARACTERS DO YOU SELDOM PLAY ?   Characters who are either 100% pure goodness or 100% pure evil. I also avoid playing sociopaths and other so-labelled psychopaths (I just really can’t play them, other people do it much better), characters who supposedly have no emotion, or are the epitome of edgy tortured character (this last one I just really dislike). Characters I cannot play also include politicians or highly tactical people, like… take any character of House of Cards, and I would be completely unable to play them.

!!! ANY PAIRING TROPES YOU PARTICULARLY ENJOY ?   Me enjoying a romantic pairing is very largely dependent on the other mun and how much we get along - but generally speaking, the more a ship is plotted, the more I’m going to love it. I want to explore relationships in depth (and not just romance) and going from there, I’m going to dig any trope as long as both me and my rp partner are enthusiastic about it. With that being said, I’m a sucker for a good slow-burn romance building over the years, romances where two characters can’t be together due to their circumstances (convenient, as Ana is a supposedly dead person and also on the run) but still have feelings for each other, emotional reunions, ships where characters learn from each other... And as a bonus specifically for Ana, any ship that pushes her boundaries (a particularly intense relationship/crush, someone who somehow manages to have her wrapped around their little finger, a ship where she’s very much smitten and the epitome of help I’m panicking) which would probably take someone with a very strong personality to match hers. Also the great old trope of “they’re really annoying why do I like them so much” is never wasted on me.

!!! ANY PLATONIC TROPES YOU PARTICULARLY ENJOY ?   All of them I love exploring platonic relationships at least as much as romantic ones, and there are so many possibilities with Ana! I’m a sucker for the mentor-student trope which she’s a great embodiment of and can include many variations (especially with her being a role model for so many of the young Overwatch heroes), family relationships (someone send me a Pharah please and thanks I need my daughter), very close friends who are radically opposed in personality but have unexpected common points and somehow get along when no one expected them to (I’m thinking maybe a Reyes on that?), and anything that invoves amazing chemistry - chemistry being, imo, just as important in platonic ships as it is in romantic ships. Also Ana adopting young people - not necessarily to be a motherly figure (as reducing her to the Mom trope would feel super wrong) but as a figure of guidance is something I live for.

!!! ANY ANTAGONISTIC TROPES YOU PARTICULARLY ENJOY ?  Oh yes, also very easy with Ana especially since she became Shrike: of course there’s the “friends-turned-enemies” trope (hi Reaper) which is great, the constant game of cat-and-mouse (which she can definitely have with Widowmaker, now that they’re both out to finish the job). Also an antagonistic trope where they’re not set to kill each other but are definitely working on different sides (I’m thinking maybe Sombra who we know has gathered information about her and Shrike?). I also enjoy the forced truce trope, enemies being forced to work together towards a common goal. 

WHAT ARE YOUR PREFERRED THREAD TYPES ?  Definitey novella/long threads, especially if they have been plotted beforehands and contain character and relationship development. Shorter threads are cool too, improvisation is cool too, but I will forever prefer in-depth writing, even though I take forever to reply to things and may want a more light-hearted, easy-to-reply-to thing every now and then.

WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE TYPES OF INTERACTIONS ?   See above and the question about genre, PLOTTING IS GREAT I LOVE PLOTTING but I love everything else too so that’s cool.

!!! WHAT’S ON YOUR WISHLIST ?  WHAT SORTS OF THREADS / PLOTS / RELATIONSHIPS ARE YOU CRAVING RIGHT NOW ?   See the questions about pairings and platonic pairings and antagonistic pairings. This blog has been very recently remade (like, 3 days ago) after an 8 months ‘hiatus’ so I’m having a fresh start and a lot of previous interactions and rp partners I had either got dropped or have left the community. Right now from the top of my head I would love to interact with a Pharah and a Reaper, and OW characters that are less obvious, for instance Doomfist (Talon enemy), Hanzo (fellow killer on the path of redemption), Winston (confirmed old friend), Sombra (who is apparently tracking her), Ashe (I don’t know it just sounds like a recipe for sass and disaster and I love it)... Any interaction involving Ana as Shrike, and literally any in-depth plotting with development at the end of the day.

TAGGED BY:  stole it from another one of my blogs TAGGING: YOU.

[imsfire2]

Marvel asks: All of them! Sorry, can't choose! ^^'

AAAAARRRGGHHHH!!!  Well that’ll larn me!

Marvel asks

Tony Stark: favorite movie? 

Close call; I’m very fond of “Avengers Assemble”, “Thor” and “CA:TWS”, but the one that has wowed me the most of all was “Black Panther”, which took everything to a new level of brilliance.

Drax: what character would you wanna be friends with?

I’m going to make this “characterS” and say Jane Foster, Aunt May, and General Okoye.  A lot of my other faves probably wouldn’t be so easy to be friends with (too prickly, messed-up, hyper-focussed, downright dangerous, etc) but I would love to be mates with these three!

Valkyrie: favorite director? 

Ryan Coogler, no question!

Pepper Potts: top 3 fave characters

Ugh, very hard to choose!  Most of our protagonists are pretty cool, in their different ways.  Let’s pick three of the women; Okoye, Gamora, Natasha.  But I could just as easily have said Nakia, Hope and Hawkeye.  Or Rocket, Groot and Shuri.  Or...

Yeah, very hard to choose.

Sam Wilson: funniest scene?

Unlike a lot of people I loathed the relentless humour in “Ragnarok”.  So I’m going to say, Sam and Cap’s first meeting in TWS, which is gentle and kind, and character-driven. 

And (although it’s rather sick humour) “He’s adopted” is very funny.

Bucky Barnes: most heartbreaking moment?

The bit in TWS when the pilots try to take off and provide air support and are shot down before they can get to their planes.  Reduces me to tears every time.

Nakia: character you wish had a bigger role?

I want to see more of Shuri!

Rocket Racoon: best nickname?

I don’t think I know the scripts well enough!  “Legolas”, possibly?

Natasha Romanoff: favorite ass kicking scene?

Another one that’s very hard to choose. 

Natasha’s first scene, maybe, when she’s barefoot and unarmed and still beats the shit out of half a dozen brawny guys.  It’s such a great use of an action scene to establish character.  I also love her fight with possessed!Hawkeye. 

But on the other hand, the Dora Milje’s team fighting style is unbelievably awesome...

Ned Leeds: favorite villain?

Killmonger, no contest.  He’s rounded, believable, well-motivated, and even though you know he’s wrong you empathise with him.  Masterclass in how to write a top-notch antagonist.

I also really liked Toomes/Vulture in “Spiderman Homecoming”.  Again, because he had good motivation and was an interesting rounded character, not a cardboard “I wanna rule/destroy the world >snarl snarl

Bruce Banner: guardians or avengers?

For sheer fun, Guardians.  But I’m enjoying seeing them all meet up!

Thor Odinson: most attractive character?

Still Hawkeye.  Give me those Renner arms.

Gamora: favorite pairing?

As in Ship?  T’Challa/Nakia, and Gamora/Peter Q.

As in Best mates?  Rocket & Groot, Peggy & Jarvis, and Peter P & Ned.

Mantis: what do you think will happen in Avengers 4?

I’m with @hanorganaas on this; it’ll have to involve time travel in some form, to bring back at least some of those lost.  Also I have it on good authority from @spectralarchers that Hawkeye will come back as Ronin.  And clearly a certain Carol Danvers is going to be involved.

There’ll be an opening section where the traumatised survivors are trying to regroup in a shattered world.  Somehow or other the script will have to contrive another “lowest ebb” moment even lower than the end of “Infinity War” (& I don’t envy the people tasked with that!) because that’s how script dynamics work.  But ultimately the big purple knob-head will be defeated.

Shuri: most rewatched movie?

Either “Avengers assemble” or “Guardians of the Galaxy”; I haven’t kept count, but they are the ones I go back to for a happy evening slobbed out in front of the telly with a big bag of tortilla chips.

Peter Parker: best outfit/suit?

As a Superhero Suit, I love the Ant-man suit! 

As actual wearable clothes, I’d like to have Gamora’s leathers, especially the red coat; practical and sexy.

Happy Hogan: what ‘superpower’ is the coolest?

Well, I’ve always wanted to be able to fly, so any of the superpowers that give you that would be great! 

I also love the way Mantis’ abilities take something that culturally is just expected of “nice good girls” (being empathetic, reading others emotions and reactions, being able to soothe down even the most aggressive person) and make it a fucking superpower!

Aunt may: most painful death?

After those brave pilots in TWS?  Pietro.  Really didn’t see that one coming.

Pietro Maximoff: Peter Quill or Peter Parker?

Aww, don’t make me chose!  Quill is so cute! 

I was never a Peter Parker fan until Tom Holland but now - ok, Peter Parker.

Heimdall: would you like a Deadpool crossover?

Properly done, then hell yeah!  But it would need a very, very good script to juggle the emotional/tonal switchbacks required.

Steve Rogers: who resembles their role the most?

From what we get to see as fans?  I’d have to go with Chris Evans.

Rhodey: who resembles their role the least?

Karen Gillan certainly doesn’t sound much like Nebula!

T’challa: favorite non-romantic pairing?

I’ve already suggested a couple of Best-mates relationships; so how about some siblings?  Gamora and Nebula; so much tension, so much anger and yet so much torn, blood-soaked loyalty.  It’s just as interesting a dynamic as the one between Thor and Loki, with a lot less screentime than that has had. 

I also liked the sibling loyalty and love between Wanda and Pietro.  Always good to see a happy sibling relationship, when Screenwriting 101 would have it that only sibling rivalry is interesting...

Peter Quill: favorite place in the mcu?

That’s going to be a tie between Know-where, for the visuals, and Wakanda, for - well, everything really.

Loki laufeyson: best line/quote?

Ugh, there have been a lot of great lines.  Right now, I’m going to go with Okoye’s “For Wakanda?  Without question.”  Such a fantastic use of a single line to cement how her character is the embodiment of honour. 

Scott Lang: do you think you’d have died in the snap?

Hmm.  I kind of hope I would, to be honest; life afterwards is going to be spectacularly hellish until they manage to fix it.

Stephen strange: favorite song used?

The opening of “Guardians of the Galaxy”, with Quill slogging through the rain and then putting on “Come and get your love” on his walkman and starting to dance.  Just gorgeous; as a sequence, as framing, as a way of telling us something about him very economically, as a device to show us this is going to be a hell of a fun ride...

Phil Coulson: the moment you fell in love with your favorite character?

Seeing as I find it impossibly difficult to pick a favourite in the first place, this is one I can’t answer! 

Okoye: which movies did you see in cinema?

All of them bar the first two “Iron Man” films.

Maria Hill: favorite special credits?

What, as in “Mr Evans’ marmalade sandwiches made by” kind of thing?  I’m not sure I pay enough attention to the credits to have ever noticed one (I made that one up, needless to say). 

Or are “special credits” like cameos?  A nod to the mourners for Yondu, then.

Erik Killmonger: favorite press moment/interview

Way back during the press tour for “Avengers assemble”; a journalist asked RDJ in-depth questions on Tony’s motivation and development, and then only asked Scarlett Johansson some ridiculous thing about her diet; and instead of answering with a patient smile she called him out on it. 

It was only, what, five years ago, yet it was almost unheard-of then for a female actor to bite back publically like that.  And the good thing is, that already seems pretty extraordinary. 

Wanda Maximoff: favorite relationship of the actors?

I don’t know enough about their relationships to have one, really.

Nebula: favorite minor character?

Luis.  An “ordinary person” character who is highly likeable in his own right and who does the right thing even when he knows it’s bloody dangerous & could get him killed.  For similar reasons I’m also very fond of Cameron Klein and Dr Helen Cho.  

Vision: Steve with or without a beard?

Without, definitely.  Not a great fan of beards to be honest.  There’s the odd face that looks great with one (thinking of a certain Mexican actor and rare fern collector) but mostly they’re just fashionable face-fur. 

Nick Fury: what actor would you like to see join the mcu and for what role?

On one level, I’m content to wait and see what they come up with.  I’m not a comic-reader, so I know almost nothing about any of the characters until they appear in the MCU, which makes dream-casting any of them pretty difficult.

On the other hand, I did read a rumour that John Boyega is in line for a future role; and as I’m a huge fan of his I would love for that to be true!

Hope Van Dyne: expectations for ‘Captain Marvel’?

As a non-comics person, I don’t know anything about the character or her story.  Hopefully we’ll get an interesting, well-rounded female lead with solid motivation and her plot-line isn’t primarily about a) a man or b) not being able to have children.  Or c) her children being dead.

Groot: I am Groot?

We are Groot.

Grandmaster: which characters would you like to see interact more?

Shuri with all the scientists!

Peggy Carter: Hulk or Banner?

Both.  Both is good. 

Luis: favorite Chris?

I’m sure they’re all lovely chaps.

Michelle Jones: would you like a Black Widow movie?

I’d like to see lots of the female characters get stand-alone films.  So, yes please to a “Black Widow” movie, but also, hmm, let’s see; how about a “Shuri and Jane Foster Science the Shit Out Of This Mess” movie?  A “Peggy Carter and the early days of SHIELD” movie?  A “Nakia the Super-spy” movie?

Sif: long hair Thor or short hair Thor?

Long hair.  Markedly more appealing with long hair.

Jane Foster: favorite character development?

I love the way Steve Rogers’ story kind-of goes in cycles of effort and hope and bitter experience, and always comes back round to situations where he affirms who he essentially is.  It’s good to see a non-liner pattern of development like that, which is much closer to how real people deleop and change, instead of the standard narrative “A to B” model like Dr Strange (”was a jerk, learned to do better” - okay, he saves the world, so that’s good; but as for development, pish).

Yondu: favorite after-credit scene?

The Shawarma joint. 

Also Hope seeing the Wasp suit for the first time.

Wong: favorite marvel intro?

Not sure I pay that much attention to the intros, tbh.  I’m just sitting there thinking “Give me the story, folks!”

Thank you for asking! - and thank you, if you’ve had the patience to slog through all this, for reading!