#MFS:2x10

[heddagab]

ONCE UPON A TIME Golden Queen in 2x10 "The Cricket Game"

[arbitrarygreay]

Transcript digging: Goddess

So one of my earliest MFS posts wonders if "Goddess" as an invocation is fanon. I have now done a full transcript deep dive for this, and mea culpa it is not fanon. HOWEVER! It is actually not universal, either, but mostly consistent world-building! Tally says it the most frequently (and she got it from her mom), but many US witches say it a few times. In contrast, characters like Raelle, Quinn, and Thelma Bearkiller say "Oh God" or "Oh my God", and never say "Goddess" as a reaction phrase. There is a clear culture gap between the US and the Cession. (Either way, though, it's still weirdly monotheist, with the one acknowledgement of polytheism in that War College covens are named after different war goddesses. Although, note that Alder says that Nicte will return to the Goddess, not The Mother. Intriguing differentiation.) Now, I say "mostly consistent" because the actors slipped up a couple of times. Tally and Abigail each did "Oh my God" exhales in S3. Raw data and numerical analysis under the cut.

"Goddess" is used in 21 episodes (8/12/9 season split, which is pretty even). Tally accounts for 6 instances, Abigail 5, Alder 4, which is a little over 50%. Non-Camarilla utterances of "God" only happen 15 times in 9 episodes. Raelle is 10 of them, and mostly in season 1. Although I crushed together all of the "freaking out over Porter" into one incident, so it's actually even more imbalanced than that lmao. Raw data: 1x1: Cession woman: God bless. 1x2: Tally: Oh, my goddess! 1x3: Tansy: Goddess protect. 1x3: Raelle: Oh, my God! 1x4: Raelle: Oh, my God, spare me, 1x4: Raelle: Stop. Oh, my God. Serious? 1x5: Abigail: Goddess permits, 1x6: Abigail: You wanna make flower rings and sing to the Goddess too? 1x7: Raelle: Oh, my God! 1x7: Raelle: Oh, my God! 1x7: unnamed witch: Goddess forbid the Bellweather Unit have to take responsibility 1x7: Raelle: Oh, God. 1x7: Raelle: Oh, God. 1x8: Raelle: Oh, God, okay. 1x9: Alder: and Goddess knows what else. 1x9: Abigail: May the Goddess bless you. May the Goddess bless this country you served so well. 1x9: Tally: Goddess protect. 2x1: Raelle: Oh, God. 2x1: General Clary: Goddess knows how many more are out there. 2x1: unnamed witch: Goddess help you. 2x1: group chant: Goddess protect her! 2x3: Abigail: Goddess forbid 2x4: Alder: What in the name of the Goddess were you thinking? 2x5: Anacostia: Goddess, not you again. 2x5: Abigail: Thank Goddess you're okay. 2x6: One of Abigail's dads: Goddess permit, 2x6: unnamed witch: Goddess, protect her! 2x6: Quinn: God, Greenville was chaos. 2x8: Tally: Goddess. 2x9: Alder: Nicte Batan will meet the Goddess. 2x10: Tally: Goddess protect 3x1: Vira: What In the name of the Goddess, 3x1: Petra: May the Goddess protect you. 3x2: Tally: Goddess, they can see him. 3x4: Petra: thank Goddess you're okay. 3x4: Tally: Oh, my God. 3x5: Anacostia: Goddess. 3x6: Tally’s mom: What in the name of the Goddess are you doing here? 3x6: Tally’s mom: Goddess, protect. 3x7: Thelma Bearkiller: Oh, God. 3x7: Raelle: Oh, God 3x7: Abigail: Oh, my God. 3x9: Alder: Goddess knows where, 3x10: Tally: For goddess and country.

[basiltonpitch]

I neeedddddd to know your predictions based off the trailer (of Benvi in particular, I really do care about other things in the show but I love them the most)

ooooh okay so.....not all of these predictions are actually serious some of them i just think would be FUN but i dont think they'll actually implement lmao. also....as usual i dont know when to shut the fuck up and stop typing SO. predictions under the cut!!

my prediction for benvi is: devi ghosts ben post-boinkening (basically confirmed; the trailer insinuates that they havent spoken since); ben goes after margot because she likes him (and we all saw how well it went the last time ben started dating someone else bc devi wasn't an option), it implodes, devi retaliates by dating ethan because he's hot or whatever the fuck (and honestly good for her im sure he's a tool but like.....rebound arm candy isnt necessarily a bad thing.....except in this case it is bc that is Also going to implode.) i think it would be HILARIOUS if margot and ethan ended up going out lmfao but. i doubt it. after both their rebounds fail (ben's i want to say around episode 2 bc i dont think they'll drag it out super long, and devi's probably episode 5?) they're still.....skirting around each other, in a will they/won't they kind of situation. i can see fab & eleanor trying to talk some sense into devi but devi just not listening bc she's stubborn as hell and of course she knows there's something there with ben but they've done this back-and-forth dance for so long that she's still nervous about taking that full leap.

and well. then she ends up getting like...accosted in new york (which im guessing the trailer may have been a bit misleading about that exact scenario because, ya know, it's a trailer) and ben tries to play knight in shining armor and well. we all saw what happened lmfao. cue devi icing ben's face n devi being like "why did you do that?" and ben just says "for you" or smthn cheesy as hell. this is probs around like? episode 7 i'd like to think? and they probably at least partially get their shit together but like. lbr it's ben and devi. so it can't be 100% smooth sailing. like you said im excpecing a tatbilb sort of thing - they agree to date & then break up before going to college. (we all know devi gets denied for early decision from princeton - this could play into her actually going to a school in new york - something prestigious, ofc, she graduates as valedictorian).

based on the trailer....im honestly torn on whether ben goes to prom or not! i know you said smthn about him perhaps going home and changing, but part of me also thinks - what if he didnt go at all? what if he stays home, because he knows this is gonna be one of his last good memories with devi and he just cant do it? i know we havent seen a lot of bts for season 4, but we have seen bts of maitreyi + lee + ramona in their prom dresses, and i dont recall jaren being there at all or wearing a suit (the only suit bts ive seen is of him in 2x10). so......maybe he doesnt go, but he comes to her after. idk exactly how that will play out but thats what im hoping for!!!

and of course, they end up going to the same school - thats been something ive been sure of since, well, forever lmao. i'm 100000% convinced that the last shot of the show is going to be devi coming up to ben in the library of their college or vice versa and if im wrong i will eat my mf words

as for other predictions....

i'm with you on thinking it might not be kamala's wedding anymore, but i'm still not sure who's wedding it would be - perhaps another family member? a family friend? who knows.

i think treleanor is going to break up, which is TRAGIC because they r everything to me <3 but i feel like they're the kind of couple to come back to each other after years apart so im holding out hope for them 🤞 in treleanor we trust u know !!!!

paxton's.....there. idk. he's there. devi probably like. goes after him or whatever in the midst of the ben/margot/ethan bullshit bc she doesnt want to be alone and shes like oh i finally like myself maybe i can have this since i can't have what i really want but ya know power dynamics due to him being sherman oaks staff or whatever so. im HOPING as the party with the upper hand in that scenario he turns her down or whatever. maybe she even waits until after this to go after ethan - make both ben and paxton jealous, kill two birds with one stone

i have no idea what else im hoping for and this is straight up a Wall of text aksjdss;d im SO SORRY u know how i get !!!!!

[gregoftom]

And also from the other day you were sososo right about them being the only people who actually like each other and enjoy each other’s company, even purely from a platonic sense nobody else in this show is consistently happy with anyone except for them two, at least not to the extent that they’d hold their relationship over any kind of business decision (especially with tom being willing to go to prison for Greg in 3x06 and shiv throwing tom under the bus in 2x10) and I know it’s because neither of them came from the same wealth as the Roys and didn’t have the trauma and childhood of living as a Roy, as one of Logan’s children, so it makes sense that they’re the ones with the least fucked up views of relationships and the capacity to enjoy the kinds of wealth they live in together and ahfkgfdhtksethksth I love them smmmmm <3333

OH AND ALSO off topic but I saw somewhere that the costume designer works so that Tom and Greg’s outfits always pair well together whereas his and Shiv’s deliberately contrast and now I CAN’T STOP THINKING ABOUT IT because holy shit it’s so true they match so well <333

LIKE LOOK AT THEM (<3)

AND THEN LOOK AT SHIV (<3)

YESSSSSSSS GAWD LIKE I ALWAYS SAY THIS BUT "i love you but i cannot fucking stomach you" IS SUCH A RAW ASS FUCKING LINE FROM SHIV AND WHAT HURTS IS HOW MUCH IT APPLIES TO LITERALLY EVERYBODY ON THE SHOW, save for. you guessed it! tom and greg! [and willa and connor]. like???? it just makes me OOF so much because their friendship is just so. it's so. they offer some light to the dark you know? there cannot be darkness without light and there cannot be light without darkness so they have to be there to offer some of the light to this bleak as fuck show. love is something you just do. like is something you don't work for like that... i dunno it just. the likeness comes to them so naturally you know? like after all the bullshit of meeting one another and their defence mechanisms and not knowing if it's real is out the way and they're still with each other, they start to see that they like and care for one another and it's NOT A JOB, ITS NOT HARD WORK. it just happens! loving is hard work! liking is not! at least in the context of this showwwwowoekwd like holy fuck.

AND ABOUT THE WEALTH YEAH. YEAH. those two are the only ones who seem to be able to spend their wealth on things that make them happy both alone and together. they do it for comfort. wealth in terms of the emotional and affectionate too, they give each other. just god. A. i love them tooooooo so much <333

AND AAAAAA THE COSTUMES YEAH. YEAH. YEAH. they specifically say they complimented the outfits with each other BUT I DIDNT KNOW ABOUT THE SHIV THING AH. god. help. BUT YES i do see here with the pics you senttttt oh mgyfuijkmewlfwef. PLUS the whole. tom wearing a suit called a gregory in 3.09 like what the fuck??????? what the fuck. what the fuck!!!! don't even SPEAK to me about this episode though with those mfs oh my god they were unhinged asf, ridiculous! moving their hips towards each other, greg acting the ever de-escalating spouse "he's a lovely guy", THE FUCKEN. PROVE IT. lord. loooord. i am Weak.

[jvstjvmes-fit]

1.16.2023 #afw

#pushday / 00:52:46

MCP

3x10 95lbs

MTE

3x10 70lbs

MSP

3x10 75lbs

MF

3x10 95lbs

MTE

3x10 70lbs

MSP

3x10 75lbs

MCP

2x10 95lbs

1x06/05 95lbs

MSP

3x10 75lbs

MTE

3x10 70lbs

MSP

3x10 95lbs

MTE

3x10 70lbs

MF

3x10 95lbs

[4alarmfirecracker]

I've missed you so, so much.

[scyllaraelle]

"Might need to make the reunion short and sweet."

[uservillanelle]

#Same energy

[ostropest]

Cinematic parallels

Sorry, sorry!! Pls don't block me 😂😂

I just couldn't resist 🤣🤣

[heddagab]

ONCE UPON A TIME Captain Hearts have Archie in 2x10 "The Cricket Game"

[bestactorinamusical1993]

the split between people disliking sam/rebecca because they ship ted/rebecca vs people rightfully pointing out the inconsistent (and sometimes straight up bad) writing really highlights the different ways people consume media lol

[arbitrarygreay]

Looking forward to the future post about Abigail being the teams scourge.

I was a major Bellcollar shipper in season 1 because I couldn’t get over the whole Scylla is a mass murderer thing. And I wonder if there were more Tally and Abigail scenes that were just cut for runtime because looking back they are pretty underdeveloped.

MFS was definitely plagued by the "only 10 episodes a season" aspect, there is so much plot they have to get to, most of which need to focus on characters other than the unit because they affect those events so much more.

However, there is an element of dialogue quality, as well. Having recently rewatched it, 2x3 stood out to me a lot. Izadora and Alder talk to Raelle a lot, with lines that feel like they could have gone somewhere characterization or relationship-wise, but in hindsight have no true follow-up or impact, for either party. At most you could claim that it's to show how much Alder isn't treating Raelle correctly, but that's at a complete contradiction to how the other episodes tell us how Raelle supposedly feels about these scenes (she confesses that the Army did make her strong in 2x4, her goodbye thanks to Alder in 2x10, zero acknowledgement of Raelle's relationship with Izadora).

I don't think there were Abigail/Tally scenes cut for time, though. It's not like there were Bellcollar scenes cut for time, either. The writing just decided that Abigail's dynamics with the other two don't include confessional emotional intimacy the way Raelle and Tally have with each other, because Abigail only does that with Adil instead. Abigail treats her sisters as family, not unlike how she acts with her mom (or as I mentioned in the last post, how she acted with Charvel). Family, for Abigail, is a source of expectation and trust, going both ways.

It may be a contrast to how Raelle and Tally were both only-childs, while Abigail had to guard her own boundaries from everyone else in the clan (and the High Atlantics).

[shortielukas]

I am a bit disappointed that we don’t get to see Raelle Witchbomb people and turn them into mushroom 😔

[jvstjvmes-fit]

1.10.2023 #afw

#pushday / 01:08:18

MF

3x10 85lbs

MSP

3x10 70lbs

MTE

3x10 60lbs

MCP

3x10 85lbs

MSP

3x10 70lbs

AD

1x10 -130lbs

2x10 -150lbs

MF

3x10 85lbs

MSP

3x10 70lbs

MTE

3x10 60lbs

MCP

2x10 85lbs

1x08/05 85lbs

MSP

3x10 70lbs

MTE

3x10 60lbs

[4alarmfirecracker]

By the time I realized I loved you, it was too late.

[theavatarspirit]

first ten minutes of mfs 2x10 spoilers