#Is that Qwerty is Elliot's pet fish

[freebooter4ever]

Ok this is for the few who maybe have never heard about mr robot! ^_^ its a show about programmer/hacker elliot alderson (rami) who wants to change the world and challenge the power of the top 1%. It's smart, its clever, its very exciting to watch, and rami's voiceover is very soothing. A HUGE warning because this is my blog and yall know me - as good as this show is it also exhibits sexism and misogyny typical of computer scientists in the 2010's - its why it took me so long to finally watch the show. When you're in the middle of all that crap and experiencing asshole male programmers in real time the last thing you want to do is watch TV shows about them.

The tag on my blog is: freebooter4ever.tumblr.com/tagged/qwerty%20deserves%20a%20bigger%20fishbowl

@s-k-y-w-a-l-k-e-r is like the best mr robot gif artist, she captures all those artistic angles beautifully AND fixes the lighting - its magic.

[hvbris]

𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐈𝐎𝐓 𝐀𝐋𝐃𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐎𝐍 Mr. Robot

Name: Elliot Alderson

Family: Edward Alderson (father, deceased) Magda Alderson (mother, deceased) Flipper (pet dog), Qwerty (pet fish) (see more under the cut)

Date of Birth: September 17th (Virgo)

Age: 25

Height: 5'9" (1m75)

Hair: Black

Eyes: Green

Sexuality: Bisexual

Faceclaim: Rami Malek

Note: To avoid any spoilers (because there are a lot) I kept his main bio spoiler-free. There will be spoilers under the cut, so tread carefully! I will set most threads in the first seasons to avoid major spoilers, so let me know if you've seen the show! Trigger warning: abuse, substance abuse, SA

Elliot Alderson is a cybersecurity engineer and a member of a hacker group called fsociety. He suffers from social anxiety disorder, clinical depression, delusions, and paranoia. He also had a morphine addiction (season 1) but then managed to stay sober after a painful period of withdrawal.

His father died from leukemia because of radiation exposure at his job at E-corp (which Elliot calls Evil Corp). After his death, Elliot was only raised by his mother, a very violent and abusive woman.

He is an incredibly talented hacker and uses his skills to try and make the world a better place. His biggest plan consists of taking down E-corp.

He will hack any person he comes in contact with. He is an introverted, socially awkward person who holds in a lot of anger, mainly towards the society in which he is unable to participate. Elliot is rarely seen not wearing a black hoodie which may be his personal uniform for the world and a comfort blanket of sorts.

Elliot talks to an "imaginary friend" he calls friend, whom he addresses daily to describe his feelings and thoughts. This inner dialogue will be explored in threads.

SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT (read at your own discretion!)

Elliot Alderson also suffers from a Dissociative Identity Disorder. His main four alters all represent his family, with the exception of The voyeur, a fifth alter to which he talks daily and calls 'friend'.

The first alter he created, as a way to cope with the trauma of his father's abuse, is the Protector, Mr. Robot. He was created the day Elliot jumped out the window to avoid his father's sexual abuse. Mr. Robot looks like his father but he is the father Elliot never had. He's here to protect him.

The second alter he created is the Persecutor, who looks like his mother and blames him for the abuse.

The third alter is Elliot's younger self, created not long after to handle the abuse Elliot couldn't take.

The fourth alter, The Mastermind, was created to make the world a better place, so Elliot could be safe and protected from the horrors of the world. He was created by Elliot's rage and took over after a violent incident at his first job. At first, The Mastermind is not aware that he is an alter. This explains the fact that he does not recognize Darlene as his sister, at first. He has also transformed a lot of Elliot's memories in an attempt to protect him, which is why he also does not remember his father's abuse.

I will mostly write The Mastermind, as he is the main character throughout the show, but I will also write the other alters. I will also write the 'host' Elliot Alderson.

[protectspock]

Okay, so I finished reading the original draft of the Mr. Robot Pilot. It was pretty fun/interesting to examine. I do think the final draft is superior, although I will always hold the truth that Elliot doesn't think dinosaurs were real but that aliens are close to my heart. Fucking weirdo (affectionate.)

Here are some other valuable gems.

1. Tyrell's line about banks is from a meme, apparently, and was going to be used as an opening quote for the entire series.

2. Did you just unironically say "metrosexual?" Sam, I'm going to physically fight you.

3. Back when Qwerty was a cat instead of a fish, Elliot's crying attack happened while petting her.

4. Oh, Elliot 🥺

5. NOT TRENTON ORIGINALLY BEING ONLY 16!!!! 😭

6. Darlene being "Marlene" and this priceless exchange/foreshadowing:

7. A removed Elliot/Angela flashback. Looks like Edward was originally set to die when Elliot was 14, not 8. Also, "you looked sad before," I'm going to SCREAM. I really think Sam had the S4 reveals in his mind from the very beginning.

9. The ferris wheel conversation was originally bonkers in fucking yonkers. Mr. Robot, are you okay? (He's not.)

10. This is a great line, actually. @ Sam Esmail, why didn't this stay in?

[ra-lek]

could you do an analysis of elliot's dream sequence in 1x4 please? i love reading your thoughts on the show. thx

i sure can try!! this gets lengthy tho so sit back & enjoy while i try my best to write coherent sentences. under the cut we go;

alright so the way i’m going to do this is by dividing the dream sequence into 6 parts, give a quick summary of what’s going on in each of them, and then add my thoughts; sounds good? here we go:

part 1.

summary: mr robot leads elliot to some drug house, elliot gets injected, there’s a shootout, both he & the girl are shot, he glances at the tv to see the weather forecast, followed by an fsociety speech, before he closes his eyes. next, he’s standing next to mr robot who hands him the key and the mask, then the program switches to an ecorp commercial.

first and foremost, i want to point out the symbolism when the shooting begins. the girl who had given elliot the shot was kissing him before she was killed and fell dead next to him. so i think the drug-supplier-girl who he hooks up with & she ends up dying is a reference to shayla? (keep in mind this dream happens before her death); just as how him getting shot and falling on the floor could be seen as foreshadowing.

when it comes to the fsociety speech, mr robot delivers a very unique line in my opinion: “if you have any interest in waking from your slumber, in retrieving lost, damaged, or stolen memory, we are here for you.” how i see this particular quote is tied to my overall opinion on elliot’s coping mechanisms. he suffers from DID- so we know for a fact he has lost & damaged memories. but what about those stolen ones? maybe it goes with the package but maybe it’s something we’ve yet to find out. waking up from his slumber could just be a reference to this being a dream- or in a sense where elliot needs to step up and discover these things for himself.

the key, as you’ll come to realize, is a constant repetition in these scenes. in this first part, mr robot is the one who has it around his neck. once elliot stands next to him, he’s handed the key and the mask. in my head this is a direct symbolism to what we see at the beginning of the show. mr robot introducing elliot to fsociety. so let’s say whoever holds the key, is the one in control of the operation and hold onto that thought for the rest of these, okay?

when elliot asks “what’s it open?” mr robot answers with just “it belongs to you now” followed by saying the mask was made in orient (meaning east, could even be china. dark army.) and just for his head- which i see as a little ‘we’re the same person’ detail- but then adds “now, find your monster, and turn the key.” then the commercial plays. this could be there just to get us to believe e-corp is the monster, turning the key is taking them down. but that’s far too easy.

part 2.

summary: elliot is walking down a neighborhood until he stops in front of the aldersons house. as he turns to look at it, the house is replaced by a pillar with a note spelling out ‘error 404: not found’. next shot is of a little girl on a scooter humming a tune then stopping to look at elliot. they chat a bit, then she picks up the key and hands it to him. once the key’s with him again, he hums along and approaches the house.

the first thing we see, aside from the copy-paste houses, is the mailbox which has the number 404 written on it above the name “the aldersons” so we know that once he turns to look at the house, it’s supposed to be his childhood home. it’s in the shot until he turns only to see the aforementioned error. it’s common knowledge by now but i’m going to add it anyway: “the browser was able to communicate with a given server, but the server could not find what was requested” as a callback to what i mentioned before about lost memories, i’m also going to mention that there is something about this house that he’s forgetting. my guess is the reveal in s3 finale. finding out that he had been the one who jumped.

we know the girl with the scooter is young darlene, humming frère jacques. (brother john/or however your version translated the name) and essentially the lyrics are “brother [name] x2, are you sleeping? x2, ring the morning bells x2, ding ding dong x2.” we can make the connection to the 'slumber’ which mr robot mentioned in part 1- with the same meaning, i’d say. though to continue with my point, elliot greets her with “hello. hello, friend” to what she responds with “but we’re not friends” because she is his sister. again, this dream sequence had been before we knew that obviously, so this is important because in the french version of the song; the brother is the one who is supposed to ring the morning bells- and as elliot hums along and approaches the house, he sings “ding ding dong” out loud as further confirmation he’s, in fact, the brother in question.

i avoided the “first can you tell me, what’s your monster?” part because i don’T KNOW–

now, i mentioned before how whoever holds the key is the one in control of the operation? darlene had been the front face of fsociety while elliot was away during s2; once he’s out of prison, he gets the key back. 

part 3.

summary: the door opens and elliot is standing in his apartment. tyrell is there, holding the key- looking at elliot and not saying anything. instead, qwerty the fish is the one to chat him up as elliot sits on the couch next to him.

at this point we know 'whoever holds the key’ theme i’m going with- and here it’s no different. we know tyrell had been the one who initiated 5/9 with mr robot on that day. though he never gives it back, since he’s technically working with elliot ever since the hack.

now qwerty’s dialogue is so interesting to me because it’s this whole loop thing which i love so much and i’m gonna put the most important quotes here: “time’s money, elliot.” we all know which character is obsessed with time, and keep that in mind cause i’m about to bring it up again later. the rest goes: “when you’re in a fishbowl, ain’t no such thing as change. my entire life has been spent in this thing. my whole world’s on your side table. i look around same shit, different day. the lighting, the furniture. even the sounds always the same. i’m stuck on a loop. and it won’t stop until my life does.” now i think what he’s referring to here- being stuck in a 'fishbowl’ and seeing the same things, being stuck on a loop- could be seen as foreshadowing to elliot’s jail time. however, it’s not the only time elliot has this 'loop’ moment. the one that i think is being predicted here as well is the loop he has while working for e-crop? so the answer to how to ‘help’ his pet is to “move him to a goddamn window” it just screams 'do something.’ or rather- see the bigger picture.

part 4.

summary: they’re in a restaurant, angela is cutting up a big betta fish. elliot is sitting on the other side of the table as he stares in betrayal and informs angela it’s his friend. she tries to feed him a piece but he refuses and looks over to see his younger self being force fed the fish by his mother. then elliot gets served a raspberry pie in which he finds the key upon the first bite. angela misunderstands the gesture and accepts the 'proposal’ which is followed by applause as she takes the key, hugs him, and they leave.

since qwerty had mentioned 'time is money’ as some kind of whiterose symbolism. seeing angela being the one to cut him up and say he’s delicious is, at the same time, betrayal in the sense she’s associated with whiterose; and the fact she has been working with mr robot behind elliot’s back.this further proves the elliot working at e-corp loop i talked about earlier since qwerty is associated with both whiterose and angela at this point. 

when she offers him the food, he refuses and sees his younger self do the same thing- but what’s fun is that the woman sitting behind his mother has a white rose in her hair. so this could be seen as his mother’s general abuse plus both of them trying to get him to work for the dark army. this refusal is further emphasized with a symbolic 'wall’ between himself and angela.

the food in which the key is placed is a raspberry pie- or rather, raspberry pi. the one elliot is supposed to plant in steel mountain in this very episode, if it weren’t for the withdrawal he’s going through. so he’s- once again- holding the key. though not for long, since angela’s the next one to get it. i think her control had been in the episode where she had to help darlene.

bonus: the image taped next to elliot on his table seems to be a guy in a boat?? there’s another one, too- but i never got a good look and have no idea what it means but it’s there.

part 5. 

summary: elliot is entering the arcade in a tuxedo (with the hoodie still over it lmao), slowly approaching angela who is leaning against the wall and wearing a white dress. she approaches him, tells him a couple of things w a cynical attitude, before giving him the key back and saying it doesn’t fit. when he asks why, it cuts to black in the middle of her response.

first of all the song playing in the back is an absolute bop and i suggest listening to it but ok let’s go back to serious stuff: 

angela is dressed in white and standing in front of an illustration of a joker. the one symbolism i know about that in particular is that he’s a symbol of beginning and end- considering you have him at the top and bottom of the deck. so it could be seen as another loop, right? it’s there and i can see it in the scene when angela rewinds the video of the buildings falling- but it might as well have more meaning than that. for instance, it’s important to note that elliot has the same illustration behind himself. when she approaches elliot, there’s a line separating them, suggesting they are opposites. further emphasizing the two sides of the deck reference.

the highlights in her monologue for me are the following: “you’re not gonna do it, are you? change the world. figures, you were only born a month ago.” and this is so, so strange because it’s later followed by “you’re not elliot, you’re the-” and then it cuts off. it’s too obvious to say it might be another personality elliot created. either mr robot, or us- but the last part changes everything because she isn’t asking elliot what his monster is. she’s asking the person she sees in elliot. “you’re afraid. afraid of your monster. do you even know what it is?” and honestly?? i fuckiN DON’T.

part 6.

summary: dark room filled with children’s laughter. elliot’s calling out and saying hello- then he sees the camera and the fsociety mask in front of him. he slowly approaches it, has an inner monologue with us, puts it on and says 'i am here. you are alone.’ which is followed by the arcade lights turning on & beeping as elliot takes the mask off and gasps. then the dream is officially over.

the laughter i associate with forgotten childhood, i think? i’m not too smart on this scene i won’t lie. i think it was supposed to be seen as the “you created all of this” or “i am mr robot” foreshadowing but that seems a bit too simple? though honestly, i can’t see much else here other than the sound of the arcade being the 'alarm’ that wakes him out of his slumber.

another one for this, that’s a bit far fetched but can work goes: the children’s laughter are young darlene & elliot- and the camera elliot is looking at, the one w the mask attached to it could represent the camera he took from his father on that day he jumped out. considering the mask had originally come from a movie darlene & himself used to watch as kids.

the words elliot says when he puts the mask on, when he’s mr robot, are “i am here. you are alone.” which could mean a number of things?? since the moment he says this, the arcade lights up and shows that he is, in fact, alone. once again the symbolism i personally see the most here is 'although nobody else is physically here with you, i’m there inside of you.’ another ‘we’re the same person’ one here, i’m guessing.

so i must admit i ended on quite an anticlimactic note. since it’s the scene that’s the shortest and confuses me a lot- i don’t know how much sense this all made but i tried my best to sum my thoughts up without going all over the place. but!! you can tell me what you think about all this in my inbox and give some of your own input all the time, i’d love to hear it!! same goes for if you want me to analyze any of the other dream sequences elliot has. thanks for reading!!

[0dayvulnerability]

@shcrpknives​ asked [Shea]:

Are you okay? 

                    ❝In the present sense or in the general sense?❞ she asks with a faint chuckle. ( It’s a strange sound coming from their body since those who mainly run the show seem to have rather harder senses of humour. But it’s not unpleasant, it’s genuine, if not a bit awkward. It shows her lack of certainty with the body less so than with her actual response. ) ❝I guess I can’t complain too much. Things could always be better. But they could also be a lot worse. And I don’t really want to follow that train of thought to the station. Or worse, off the rails. You know what I mean?❞

How to do you feel about fronting? 

                    ❝While I understand the role I play in this bizarro family portrait we’ve got goin’ on in our head, I also have to admit that I don’t get to be me as often as I’d like to.❞ She runs a hand along the shaved sides of the body’s head, inner-world tucking her hair behind her ear. The body’s differences in sex and appearance don’t bother her, per say, but she does find herself using the same mannerisms she uses in the inner-world only to find they don’t quite line up with their hosts’. ❝Miss Aurora refuses to let anyone but “Elliot” and his protector out around anyone who doesn’t know about our condition. Suffice to say I don’t do a very good Elliot impression. I think that’s very intentional on the part of my...design, shall we call it?❞ 

          She looks down into her lap and folds her hands, wringing them a bit. ❝I exist to protect their memories of Shayla. She was very special to them and they were drowning in guilt and grief when I first showed up. The moment I stop being Shea and start becoming more like Elliot is the moment I endanger Elliot’s stability the most. They need to know that I am a piece of Shayla that will never leave them and doesn’t blame them for what happened.❞

A tiny almost-amused sound that isn’t quite humour and sounds more akin to a suppressed sob escapes her. She scrubs over her eyes with her hands. ❝Uh, sorry. I think that was a little more than what you were asking for, yeah? The short answer is...I wish I had the chance to spend more time with people. I wish that I could get along with just about anyone like Shayla could.❞

I heard Qwerty was somewhere in the power plant. Do you think you’d ever want to get another pet?

          Shea hesitates a moment before responding. ❝QWERTY was...very special to cr45h and Sam. To the outer world Elliot. Not so much to Shayla. Any grief I feel is for their loss rather than personal.❞ After a slight pause she adds, ❝And if I know Shayla the way I do, she probably broke whatever she was keeping that fish in on purpose in order to get Elliot to open up to her. Shayla was very intuitive. She could sense that Elliot was lonely but also the lone wolf type. In some ways, so was she. Giving Elliot QWERTY as a companion with no strings attached was her way of saying that she understood. That fact that QWERTY outlived her was devastating, but...losing QWERTY was nothing compared to losing her.❞ 

          She hesitates once more, but Shayla valued honesty, and Shea can feel a pang of guilt whenever she isn’t. ❝And honestly? By the time we reached that power plant there was so much going on in our life we didn’t have time to care for a pet. On top of the fact that QWERTY had already been gifted to Angela much for the same reason QWERTY was gifted to Elliot. The attachment was no longer as personal as Whiterose expected it to be. Maybe now that things have settled getting a new pet could happen. That’s out of my hands though. But I’m all for whatever is best for Elliot.❞