#and honestly my reaction to being told he died was 'meh -- okay'

[ahnsael]

Lat night at work was rough.

I was down a security guard (on drop night, when we empty the cash from the slot machines), the only other employee was a new hire, and for the first time that I can remember we had double-digit crowds through the process (for our place, at 3:30-5am, that’s a lot). And it didn’t help that the people kept jumping around to different machines that we had already opened for the drop team to empty, closing them up themselves (they’re regular enough gamblers that they know which machines they can close without a key), and playing them without us knowing. At least one machine’s count will be off because they played it after the meters had been read and we didn’t know it until it was too late.

On top of having to be the security guard guarding the cart, I was also a cashier, the floor manager, and the bartender (but since I was guarding the cart that the money is placed on, the bar essentially closed when the drop process started -- I had to tell everyone that asked for a drink that it was just not possible under the circumstances).

Next week, my schedule (as well as the schedule of the other graveyard manager) changes, so they will be bartending on drop nights and I can be free to handle the drop, and also so that I will be there Thursday night/Friday morning to do payroll.

But I told the new hire that she did an amazing job -- because she really did. She doesn’t know enough to handle the floor on her own right now, but I was close enough, when she had issues, to shout direction to her while I guarded the money. At the end, I told her that Graveyard just finds a way to make things work, and that she DEFINITELY did her part in that. I’m proud of her, and wanted to make sure she knew that (especially since when she came in, she broke down crying in the office due to a nasty custody battle involving her kids, and the swing shift manager called me in to hear her out so I knew what kind of day she had, but she was able to put it aside for the night and do some fantastic work under great personal stress).

This one is a keeper as an employee if she can hang like she did last night. And the custody battle involves the baby-daddy not dropping the kids off at the court-appointed time (two weeks with dad, two weeks with mom, rinse and repeat), and she thinks he’s trying to keep her from her kids. It’s a sad situation.

It made me think of my mom’s divorce with bio-dad. But in that case, they just asked each of us kids who they wanted to live with, and then told the judge our decision, and that’s how it was. I saw my bio-dad once or twice a month by being put on an airport shuttle from LAX to Santa Barbara for a while, until I was about 12 years old (about five or six years after the divorce) and he seemed to lose interest in seeing me. Because my mom thought it was important for me to still have a relationship with him (long-time followers know what a disaster that turned out to be for me -- if you didn’t follow me years ago when I told that story and are curious send me an ask and I’ll respond privately).

But her situation is different. And I feel for her. And she was an absolute trooper to work last night/this morning after what she went through yesterday.

Oh, and our three-day/week bartender has cancer, and starts chemo next month. So I don’t know whether he’ll be at work or not (I am not familiar with chemotherapy’s effects other than hair loss, and he says it will be five days/week for eight-nine weeks, so we may be down someone else soon -- which is okay; as I said, Graveyard finds ways to make things work -- but I’m worried about the guy, and obviously more worried about his health than I am about being short-handed). He told me he was going to be having radiation treatments, but didn’t say whether or not he’d be gone. Maybe someone with more knowledge can enlighten me on the odds, since I’ve never dealt with this on a personal level before (with my bio-dad, I wouldn’t consider it personal -- and he refused chemo because he figured that if he prayed hard enough, God would miracle him better).

I think I’ve told this story before (I used to call it a “joke,” but the more I think of my bio-dad putting it into action (even though he’s the one who told me this “joke” in the first place), but maybe it bears repeating:

A man is in a flood zone, and the water is rising. He resorts to climbing onto his roof to get out of the rushing water.

A rescue boat comes by, and the people in the boat urge the man to get in. “We can get you to land and to safety, just get in the boat.”

And the man says, “No, go help someone else. I have faith that God will save me.”

The boat pilot argues for a short time, but figures it’s a losing battle, and moves on to save other people while there’s still time.

About a half an hour later, the man is on top of his roof, and the water is at his ankles. The boat comes back. “The water’s rising, and you need to get into this boat so we can get you to safety!”

And again the man says, “Go help other people. I’ll be okay. God will save me.” The boat pilot doesn’t put much into his argument this time -- he knows there are people who still need to be saved who will be at risk if he spends too much time on this stubborn person.

Another 20 minutes goes by, and everyone else has been rescued. And the boat returns to the man’s house. The water is almost up to his knees, and he is struggling to keep his footing. “For the last time, man, get in this boat! We can save you, but if you refuse us this time, the water will be too rough for us to come back again to try to get you.”

“No, get yourselves to safety. God will save me.”

So, needless to say, the waters continue to rise and the man gets swept away in the floodwaters and drowns. After he dies, he goes to St. Peter’s Gate, and requests an audience with God. St. Peter says “This is very irregular, but after the story you just told me, I will see what I can do.”

St. Peter consults with God and God grants the man an audience. The man says to God, “God, I was a faithful man. I was SO sure that you were going to save me, and that I didn’t need the help of man. Why did you forsake me?”

God sighed, and looked at the guy, and said, “Man I sent that boat for you THREE TIMES. Don’t blame me that you were too stupid to get in.”

[twdmusicboxmystery]

The Daryl and Leah Spoilers - Everybody BREATHE!

Okay, let’s talk about it. We’re gonna have to talk about it. The Crappiest Spoilers of All Time. (We’ll just abbreviate them CSAT, okay?)

Yes, I saw them. Yes, I spent most of the day yesterday talking about them with people. Yes, we went up and down and forward and back and right and left trying to figure out what the hell. Actually, I literally got 68 Asks about this yesterday. 68! Lol. I may have sarcastically told a couple of people it was 400. It wasn’t that high. But even when something big happens, I don’t generally get more than about 20, so this was a lot.

***Below I’ll be talking about all kinds of spoilers for 10x18! If you’re not someone who wants to know, stop reading now. You’ve been warned!***

Okay, let’s start by attacking this head-on.

Does this suck? Yes.

Am I happy about it? Obviously not.

Does it change my opinion about Beth’s return? Not in the slightest.

And in all seriousness, I’m not trying to make light of this. I totally understand how everyone is feeling right now and I feel the same. But if you’re doubting or losing hope, please keep reading. I really think the things I have to say after talking to people in the fandom literally all day yesterday will make you feel better.

So I’m going to talk about some things that are suspicious to me about this, and also about some reasons why, even if it’s exactly what it looks like, we don’t really need to worry. I’m also gonna give you a possible way this could actually be okay, but I’ll warn you that scenario is mostly head canon and not super likely to be the case.

Context

The first thing I’m going to point out is that we really, REALLY do not have the full context for this episode. CSAT are big, but there’s a lot we don’t know about what’s going on here. I have a thousand questions and we can’t really be sure of anything until we know the answers. Which we won’t until we see the episode.

And I don’t mean things that make me doubt CSAT are true. I mean like, what is Leah doing out there? Why did no one else ever meet her? Why did she disappear? Did she go on her own because she’s a jerk, or was she taken? Is the CRM involved? We simply don’t know.

These are just a few, and the answers might profoundly effect the way we view these events. So, I’m just saying there’s a lot we can’t be sure of and we should be taking these with a grain of salt. I’ll come back to these questions in a minute. 

The Psychology

So, my first reaction to this was that it’s not entirely unrealistic. Is it out of character? Yes, for sure. They’ve pegged Daryl as a character who wouldn’t do something like this, so it’s definitely out of character for him. I’m totally with ya on that. But I also feel like this isn’t a real relationship for him. What I mean is, it might be something of a rebound or an act of desperation on his part.

Think about what we know about this part of his life. He’s just lost Rick and is devastated. According to these same CSAT, Carol abandons him. AGAIN. I think he’s feeling very depressed and lonely and would reach out to just about anyone at this point. It doesn’t mean he’s in love with her. And yes, I know about the note he wrote to her, but I still think that can be explained by his state of mind. If he’s not feeling like he belongs anywhere else, and Carol has specifically told him she’s not coming back, why wouldn’t he go with someone who’s promising him companionship? I don’t like it, and I know it’s not what everyone wants to hear, but I do understand it.

I promise I’ll move onto happier things. Like this:

Patterns:

We’ve seen this pattern with A LOT of the TWD couples. They put one or both of them together with a small, short-term love interest. And that always happens RIGHT BEFORE they hook up with their soul mate. So, let’s review, shall we?

Carol had Tobin, and right after she left him, she met Ezekiel. Rick kissed Jessi, and only a month after she died, he and Michonne finally got together. Enid was with Ron when we first met her, but it was obvious Carl was meant to be her true love. You could even point to Abraham and Rosita. Their relationship was a bit longer and more established than these others, but the fact is Rosita wasn’t Abe’s soul mate. Sasha was. And now Rosita is with Gabriel, so…

My point is that Leah may be Daryl’s Jessie. Or Tobin. Take your pick. But the pattern is that this will be short term and he should be finding his true soul mate VERY soon after. Just saying.

Is This a Healthy Relationship?

Someone in my group pointed this out. CSAT says she asks him to choose between her and the rest of his life. I didn’t think much about that until one of my FB groupies pointed it out, but it’s really not cool to do that to him. It’s almost passive-aggressive. The way I see it, when you fall in love with someone, you want to get to know their family and participate in every part of their lives. If this was a true, committed relationship, she would WANT to go to Alexandria and meet his friends. She would WANT to help him in his search for Rick’s body. But that doesn’t seem to be the case.

So, in terms of how Daryl feels about her, well, loneliness is a different feeling than real love, and I’m not sure this is the healthiest relationship for Daryl to be in.

Scope, or Lack Thereof

The thing that I think most of the fandom is on the same page about is how out of character this is for Daryl. How out of left field this feels.

I’m mean, this is Daryl. Daryl Freaking Dixon. The writers know about the shipping wars. They know that no matter who they pair him up with—Carol, Connie, Beth, Leah, someone else—it’s going to be a huge deal. For them to do it like this just doesn’t make sense.

Now, I don’t think we have a definite timeline on this. We have two possibilities.

1)     I’ve seen some people say he’s sleeping with a complete stranger, which is very out of character for him.

2)     I’ve also seen posts that claim the two of them meet and develop a relationship over time. That would be less out of character, but it would also mean that the writers developed an entire relationship for Daryl in only one episode…and then took it away.

Does that seem logical to you? I just don’t buy it.

So, at the very least, if this turns out to be what it looks like on the surface—a real romantic relationship for him—I’m gonna say it’s not going to be a big one. It’s not going to be end-all, be-all of Daryl’s love life.

My Praying-This-Headcanon-Is-True-While-Also-Trying-Not-To-Get-My-Hopes-Up-That-It-Is Theory

All right, everyone. I honestly wasn’t sure I should even include this. I don’t want to get people’s hopes up about it. But the more I think about it, the more I think it’s a distinct possibility. 

So, @wdway said this first, and I kind of just glazed over it like, “Meh, probably not.” But the more I thought about it, and the more I talked to people and hashed things out, the more sense it made.

Let me go back to some of those questions I asked at the beginning. Why did no one else ever meet Leah when he was in a relationship with her? Yes, because they were out in the woods together, but it talks about him going to see Carol and going to Alexandria and looking for Rick, which is why she asks him to choose in the first place.

But if you have a sustained relationship with someone, why wouldn’t you introduce them to your friends? Why wouldn’t he have taken her to Alexandria with him? It’s really odd to me that this happened at a time when Daryl was completely on his own out in the woods and NO ONE in his life ever saw or met her.

(Once again, I have to point out that with how vague CSAT are, we can’t know for sure that no one else knew about her. Maybe when we watch the episode, it will show that someone did, but this is the vibe I’m getting right now.)

What else do we know about this point in his life? He’s deep in the throes of his grief over Rick, he’s withdrawn to his robotic, survival mode, which he always does when he’s lost someone close to him, Carol has just abandoned him, and he’s lonely. People who spend too much time alone DO tend to go a little crazy.

So, here it is:

Is there any chance this Leah woman…could be a hallucination?

Honestly guys, that makes WAY more sense to me than that she’s real. Because everyone in the fandom who’s saying this is out of character for Daryl is 100% right. Everyone who’s asking why the writers would do this is 100% right to be asking that question.

And let me tell you, it’s not just us asking it. The entire fandom is. Obviously, all the shippers. And while I’m sure there are some in the non-shipping fans who are glad Daryl is getting a love interest, even they think it’s a little weird. Cuz, you know, it is.

But this show regularly does hallucination story arcs, and Daryl himself even has a history of it. I’m just saying.

People have also suggested that it would sort of makes sense given what I said above about the “unhealthiness” of their relationship. Maybe her wanting him to choose was really more about his sanity and leaving the delusion behind. Again, just a thought.

Then there’s the suspicious timing of CSAT.

Suspicious Release of CSAT and Hype

While messaging with @monroelibrarian0626, she said something I hadn’t thought of that made a lot of sense. Does anyone else find it suspicious that they said we wouldn’t be getting screeners for several weeks and then literally two days later all these spoilers about Daryl’s sex life drop?

It’s not rocket science to know that tptb intentionally leaked these to drum up viewership. Everyone is totally going to watch to see what this is all about. But it also seems to me that they may be releasing just enough information to get everyone all hyped up and then it won’t end up being what it seems. Here, I’ll just give you part of my text message with her because she explains this point better than I do.

But yeah, I get that impression that she's not real, and that's really good promotion and hype for the producers to draw in more viewers. Don't miss it! Daryl is gonna have sex! And then, boom! You find out it's a hallucination. I remember with LOST, there was a preview for next week's show, and in it, the Korean guy, Jin, was shown saying, "It's going to be alright." And he didn't speak English then, in season 2, so it was like, OH MY GOD! And here, when the episode aired, Jin speaking English was part of Hurley's hallucination. Could be along the same lines! --@monroelibrarian0626

Doesn’t that just make a certain amount of sense? Especially given how out of character this feels for Daryl? No matter what you think of the writers on this show, they just really don’t betray the way they’ve set up their characters like this.

Now, once again, I’m really not hanging all my hopes on this. I’m preparing myself for the outcome of her being real and this being a real relationship for Daryl. Mostly because I don’t want to get my hopes too high. And I would suggest you all make your peace with that being the case. I’m just throwing this out there as a possibility. Even TD aside, given how out of character this feels, it would make more sense to me than that they’ve actually put him in this relationship.

It could also that once we actually see the entire episode, depending on what the other details of the story line are, it might be really obvious that she’s real and the detail will explain a lot of this away. That’s a real possibility. Once we learn about other parts of the episode, everything I’ve said here could easily go straight down the toilet.

Another outcome is that she could be a hallucination, but we won’t even know it because Daryl doesn’t. If he doesn’t realize she wasn’t real, the viewers might not be told that, either.

Other Things I’m Side-Eyeing

Check out this tweet, specifically the emojis he uses. Don’t you find those suspicious? Fish? A violin? A sunrise? Boat? Hourglass? Now, this guy got a screener. He’s not one of the writers or someone close to the show who would know the overarching grand plan, so I’m not suggesting he has some inside knowledge of Beth’s return.

But why would he use these emojis? There’s no reason for him to tie them to Leah. The only answer there can be is that he saw these things in the episode. He simply added them to the tweet as hints of what we can expect. And if all those symbols are represented in the episode, this is going to be a super heavy Beth-symbolism episode.

Not to mention, have you checked out Leah’s costuming in detail? Her boots are damn close to what Beth’s looked like. And sitting on the porch, the bag on her back looks a LOT like the one Beth carried in Still. 

I feel like she’s a Beth stand-in. And I think that will be true whether she’s real or not. Again, if we go with the Tobin/Jessi/Ron pattern, she’ll be a forerunner of Beth, so having Beth symbolism around her isn’t surprising.

But once again, this isn’t something we need to worry about.

And don’t even get me started on the damn cabin motif. I’ve been thinking about this since I did my 5x09/Tyreese post last week. I’m not going to go into details here because I don’t even have it all straight in my head yet, but it has some interesting ramifications for this Daryl/Leah situation.

So, pretty much everything that everyone is saying (including me) is pure conjecture until we actually see the episode. I know that’s probably not very helpful, but it’s the truth.

So, what’s my main point about this? It’s this:

I hope she’s a hallucination, but even if she’s not, it doesn’t bother me overly much. I mean, of course I’m bothered because I don’t like to see him in a relationship with her, but I mean I’m not bothered where Beth is concerned. It doesn’t change the fact that I think she’ll still be back, and this will just be a blip of some kind in Daryl’s story. And if she’s real, and it’s following the Tobin/Jessie/Ron pattern, Beth (his true soulmate) should be surfacing VERY soon thereafter.

So, we basically don’t know anything until we do, and I know the fandom is collectively losing its mind. I know this is going to be hard to get used to. But try to make your peace with it, in all its possible iterations. Try not to let it freak you out. Hold the line, TDers. Hold the line!

[hockeysweetheart]

President Snow and President Coin

Where to start.... with these two evil ones I was raised on if you have nothing nice to say don’t say nothing at all... but when it comes to these two oh boy....  lord have mercy and forgive me for this one but damn. what the actual f*** was  that. 

Okay really this war is Coin pissed at Snow and Snow like no one put’s Snow in the corner. and so They use two teenagers who are in love but not seprated by one saved by the capitol  one captured.  

 If I were Katniss and Peeta in that moment I’d be like oh I see how this is going we are being used. Well this is between you two and me and Peeta had nothing to do with this besides being your personal pawns so we are gonna go now.. and run the hell outta there... 

One thing I admire about Snow is he did as well as Katniss promise not to lie to each other ( tho he totally was like Oh I don’t want to kill you let’s be friends if not that allies) and the whole ( I don’t beileve your in love with that boy bs)...  oh you must be enjoying the company of this other boy that I just threatened to kill. bla bla bla bla ( the mumbling). 

another thing I’d amire about him mainly because I just laugh. He’s like meh to the swearing at him tears the love poems like nothing knew.... Katniss comes in a freaking Mockingjay and is like Oh my god how the f*** dare you. ( I thought I left that bullshit years ago now you made it a freakin symbol)  and the baby bomb oh my god I’d pay big money to see snows face because I am sure  he would of been like oh my god why me.

admire part 3. Of Snow.... He knows damn good and well that Killing Katniss would set off a chain reaction and Killing Peeta isn’t any better after them breaking out of the arena.

admire 4. of Snow okay he doesn’t deny he killed people he came out flat like it was nothing but still he didn’t even bother to hide the fact that yeah the games killed thousands of children. ( but heres the thing) he might be like yeah I killed so and so but doesn’t admit how. For the most part. but heres a thing for seneca crane like everyone knew about that one.  and he streight up tells Katniss well blames her for it which I am like eye roll. And is like because of you he’s dead and your alive... Isn’t he just a joy.

admire 5. We know hes the bad guy okay he doesn’t even try to deny it.... 

Here is a list a list of things Snow did that pissed me off. 

1. Allowing the Games to go on for so long 

2. Lord knows what he does to his drinks  and roses  and poison. and Snakes blood.... 

3. When he shook his head no he’s not convinced. I wanted to scream...  I am like the nerve of him I swear... 

4. The  Audacity to think Katniss is playing Peeta and enjoying the company of another guy. Just because you fu**** in those woods doesn’t  mean Katniss would do the same plus you knew shes been going into the woods for years. And know nothing freaking happened.. besides hunting and talking about how much  your little system sucks. Here’s the best part if Katniss refused to see Peeta Naked  in the damn Games what makes you think she is fu***** around. Plus Katniss made it clear she  went into the games single af came out with a man she care about clearly or one of them would be dead. 

5. Thinking its okay for freaking 12 year olds to play the games.... Thank god Katniss made a point to be listen this aint okay and this  girl wont stand by it. You go glen coco 

6. We all know  this but it pisses me off... Sending the victors back to the games...  just  because your like well you have a little fued with one of them. 

7. I will never forgive Snow for what he did to Peeta. 

8. The fact he killed Finnick. Nope 

9. When he banned all symbols of the Mockingjay. Like he’s literally scared of a 17 year old. Just saying you kinda asked for it. 

10. Using Peeta as his personal pawn.... to use against the girl he is so in love with and finally she is in love with him and what happens you turn him into something to make him forget hes in love with her. 

I have so much more but that would be the longest post ever... 

Coin she honestly scares me deeply okay. 

My favourite thing is Katniss is like I’ll play your little game but I don’t trust you.  and When Katniss shot her just saying Like she knew her life would be hell with Coin alive no better with Snow dead. So she really shocked us all killing coin and snows exicution  and oh thank god ( okay I am not one to be like people should die but for this fandom thank god it happened that way)

Things that Coin did that Pisses me off. 

1. The okay when the Victors are saved if you step outta line sweetheart  they will have to pay for it too.  I screamed. Like WHAT!!!  at least Katniss knew this time she was being played with or I would of been like umm no I would of pulled an Elle woods move and be like that’s not what we agreed to last night in comand. but she is one sneaky person ...

2. She’s shady af....   

3. This is District 13 in general that fact that they basically sat back and watched the other Districts for years without a we are still alive 

4. The fact that Gale is like her minon. I love how Katniss calls him out on that... because she knows damn well Peeta would never. because they been threw that shit show before and are like oh my god they  are alike snow and coin. 

5. The fact she doesn’t admit her wrong doing... 

6. That she is after Katniss and has no freaking reason too. Okay Snows at least makes a bit of sense but her... This bitch is suppose to be on the same freaking side, and just because Katniss wouldn’t vote for you . You want her dead 

7. Her bullshit Speech over Katniss’s death... the fact she actually teared up I am like oh my god  she literally sent Peeta there to kill you Boggs told you That she is planning to kill you after this war is over. Thank god Katniss didn’t fall for it.  even  Plutarch was like looking at her like you don’t even like her what is this about. Even snow was like Honey I know damn well what your doing...  * the I had no idea I meant so much to her has sarcasm all over it. 

8. She is the reason Prim is dead. and you make it seem like it was Snows idea...

9. The fact she is pretty much using Katniss  against who she loves ( like  she knew that) Katniss figured out how the capitol is using Peeta and still wanted her to preform thank god Katniss has some good people on her side that convinced Coin not to go ahead. 

10. The fact she wants to keep Katniss locked up and as Haymitch says that my firends is how a revoultion dies....

I have so much more but I’ll leave it at that let yall fill in the blanks.. 

[tonotbelionized]

Volume 7, Episode 4: Pomps & Circumstances

Well, that was... an episode. I honestly had difficulty writing this review and needed a few days to think things through properly, especially with the ending and some important characters coming back. So, let’s just get into it!

The biggest thing that jumped out to me was the Monochrome food. I loved it, Monochrome is one of my biggest OTPS, and the small details during that scene with Jacques and Weiss, as well as the rest of her team’s reactions, they were just so good. Ruby seemed confused and upset, Yang was yangry, but Blake looked furious. She knows what it’s like to be in Weiss’ shoes, and the hand holding just shows that she’s there for Weiss, as well as the rest of the team.

Adding onto Ruby’s small expression changes with Weiss’ counter to Jacques. She’s sad when Weiss says they’re not friends, likely because not only is this coming off the revelation that Harriet doesn’t see her team as friends, but reminds her of her and Weiss’ less than great start in Beacon. Weiss wasn’t there to make friends, and she and Ruby clearly didn’t get along, so hearing her say that after everything they went through scared Ruby.

But that’s not what Weiss meant. Ruby isn’t her friend, because she’s her family. With that last bit, Ruby’s expression completely changes to happiness because Weiss is acknowledging that, yes, Ruby is not only a teammate, a partner, and a friend, but she’s Weiss’ family.

They’re all Weiss’ family now, and for someone who actually has the biggest family of the girls and yet felt the loneliest, that seemed like the best thing for Weiss at that moment. Jacques may be her father, but he’s not family. 

It definitely makes up for the ballsup with Weiss’ “White Guilt” complex in the last episode that I really hated, and I’m just glad for more interactions between the girls that aren’t partners.

On top of that, the way Team RWBY is played off of the Ace Ops following Harriet’s confession is interesting. While I’ll note something that I didn’t quite like later on, I did enjoy that how Ruby views her team and how Harriet views her team sets the two kingdoms apart nicely. Ozpin believed in working together, that your partner was someone you would have to trust and work with, along with your team, for the four years they were at Beacon, and even after they graduate.

He encouraged the girls to be children, to have fun and not worry about the war that was going on in the shadows, and it’s clear that above all else, he wanted the teams to be ones that work together not only professionally, but emotionally as well. It fits into not only his personality, but his whole goal. He wants everyone to be united and that starts with the students under his care.

James is more practical and professional. He treats Ozpin and Glynda like close friends, and he’s nice enough to Ruby and the other students, but he makes no mistake in letting them know that he’s the general and that he’s not their friend. He pushes for the Academy to funnel into the military, and isn’t against Atlas’ push for unity and conformity regardless of what the individual might want.

It’s reflected in their teachings. While Ozpin wants his students to remain kids and not worry, Ironwood already pushed for his students to be ready for war, regardless of whether they’re still children or not. He told Penny in the earlier volumes that they were no longer at a time of peace, and that she had to be ready, and he was the most clinical and professional when telling Pyrrha their plan to take Amber’s remaining maiden powers. He isn’t as callous as Qrow, but he doesn’t try to soften the blow or show disapproval to the plan like Glynda and Ozpin.

So while Team RWBY have come to see their team as family that’s gotten stronger because of all the hardships they’ve been through, the Ace Ops just see it as part of the job. They’re a team, they are supposed to protect and fight alongside each other, but that doesn’t mean they’re family. Yet it’s interesting that the rookie of the group, Marrow, doesn’t seem to share that sentiment. It could be that he hasn’t been in the mindset for very long or his personality just doesn’t work with that ideal, but we’ll have to wait and see if anything comes of it.

The only downside I have to it is that it would’ve driven it home better if the Ace Ops didn’t act so chummy with each other. I never would’ve thought Harriet didn’t consider her team friends from her interactions with Marrow last episode, with teasing him over the fact that they have to “babysit” him. Or how close Vine and Elm seem to be. It just would’ve helped if they stayed professional with each other to counteract how close and personal with each other Team RWBYJNR are.

Moving onto the scene at Amity Arena, it was... there. I didn’t hate it, I didn’t like it. I’m just... meh.

I did like that the group were interacting with each other outside of not only their partners, but their teams. It was nice to see Yang joking around with Penny, or that Weiss was chatting with Ren before Nora came in. It makes them actually feel like friends that want to talk to each other, rather than having to be in the same scene because they’re the protagonists. However, I got annoyed because no one mentioned OSCAR. He’s once again been shafted from the group.

No one even asks where he is, no one even thinks about saving him some cake, or sad that he couldn’t join. It just makes it seem once again that the group just don’t care about him, and after all the bullshit they put him through last Volume, I’m beyond annoyed anymore. Please CRWBY, stop shafting my son.

I like that once again, Ruby is isolated herself from the group, just like she did in the Brunswick farm and after the fiasco with Jaune and Oscar in the last volume.

She seems to shoulder all her negative feelings by herself, but this time, rather than her just happening across Maria or Qrow busying himself with a drink, Qrow extends help out to her. Ruby is finally able to talk about what’s bothering her and Qrow isn’t thinking about his own problems without a care for anyone else like last volume. I was so happy when we finally got Summer lore after like seven volumes of hardly anything about her, and we see under the surface about how Ruby truly feels about her deceased mother.

It’s not much, but I’m glad it’s there. It was interesting that she kept secrets from her team and even Ozpin, and that the mission she died on wasn’t one that Ozpin sent her on, so the annoying ass theory that he’s somehow responsible is taken out back and put down like Old Yeller. Though I do wish it was Taiyang and Ruby talking about her, just because there’s barely any interactions between them despite Ruby also being his daughter, but it was only a mild thing for me. Overall, a very cute scene.

That being said, the topic about it... wasn’t. It was trash.

I’m tired of the whole “Ruby lying is totally different to Ozpin lying!” because it’s really not, and Qrow trying to spin it that Ozpin was keeping the truth from everyone while Ruby is letting people in is... bullshit?

WHO has Ruby let in? She couldn’t control whether her team, Qrow and Maria knew the truth because they were there when Jinn told her. She told Team JNR not because of any practical reason, but purely emotional reasons. She told them not because “Oh they’ve proven they can be trusted so they can know now.”, but “They’re my friends and I have to tell them.”

She hasn’t told anyone else. She hasn’t told Penny, the Ace Ops, Winter, even Ironwood. When should she tell them? What do they have to do to prove to Ruby that they can be trusted? What about Penny sharing the very classified information about her being a robot to Ruby, or Ironwood telling them about his plans that only a hand selected few know? Is that not enough for Ruby to think “Okay, they trust me with this, so I should trust them.”

And Ozpin trusted the Pod Squad with way more than anyone else. They knew about Salem, the war, Maidens, Magic, the Gods, everything that Ozpin himself knew except that Salem can’t be killed. And what would be the point of saying? Tell them that, freak everyone out, and just have them more likely to leave because there’s no point, even though they can still do some good by protecting the people from the Grimm that definitely won’t leave even if they could kill Salem? Or keep it from them and have them continue fighting because otherwise what else could you do? Roll over and let everyone die? 

And the worst thing is? Ruby lying wasn’t a bad thing. It was interesting, I wanted to see how she’d cope with knowing that maybe Ozpin had a reason to lie, that being betrayed over and over and over again for centuries has a way of fucking up someone’s ability to trust, and that now she’s in the leadership role without Ozpin to fall back on like in her Beacon days. It’s a complex issue, and if this scene is just Qrow saying this and now feeling like the show itself is pushing it, then I would be fine.

It’s how a character sees a problem. Just because Qrow believes that Ruby’s different from Ozpin doesn’t mean it’s actually right, but Ruby isn’t being challenged on that. Oscar isn’t there to give that counter argument, and the rest of the team is so hypocritical that it would just annoy me if they did. Blake’s kept secrets, Yang’s kept secrets, Qrow’s kept some pretty big secrets, and now with the latest episode, Weiss has a secret to keep as well.

That doesn’t mean they’re horrible people, and Ozpin keeping his doesn’t make him an asshole like the team, and by extension some of the FNDM, likes to think.

I hope Team RWBY and Ozpin can reconcile, and not just have one or the other be the only one in the wrong. The way the show is going, however, I’m worries that only Ozpin will be shown as in the wrong and have to apologise.

Moving on to the final scene, I’m so happy that Whitley came home. I missed my son.

But more seriously, I’m glad they actually showed that, yes, Whitley is being abused just like Weiss is, and without Weiss there for him to keep his walls up, we’re finally able to see him as the vulnerable teenager who scared and alone. His voice actor did great in portraying the nervousness and fear that Whitley was clearly feeling, and we know it’s not because of Watts because Whitley just sorta glares at him when he finally appears.

It’s Jacques that Whitley’s scared of. Even as the “Golden Child”, Whitley isn’t exempt from the same abuse that Winter and Weiss went through. Here’s to hoping they don’t throw yet another male abuse victim under the bus by making Whitley evil or something.

And on the topic of Watts, he’s just becoming more and more of my favourite villain. Hazel and Tyrian still outrank him, but these past two episodes have done more to endear him to me than the past three years he’s been in the show. Only downside is that “have your cake and eat it too?” line felt kinda cheesy and didn’t really bring home how intimidating Watts as a villain could truly be.

Given that Jacques knows him enough to call him by his first name, I’m curious to see what’s more for our Lorax Hacker Man.

So that’s it. Definitely the best episode of the volume so far given that I couldn’t find any BIG problems with it like the last episodes, and even though it was definitely slower, there was still tension in it without there being any fighting. Eddie did a great job with this episode and I’m looking forward to more of his works.

Episode Rating: 8.5 / 10

[calliecat93]

RvB17 Episode 7 Review: Limbo

Time travel sucks. That's all I've got for an intro, it sucks. It's confusing and makes my brain hurt and... let's just get into this before I give myself a migraine.

Overview

We start where we left off, Huggins in what we can now confirm is the heart of a Black Hole. But she's not alone. Remember in S16 when Huggins mentioned that her parents were killed by a Black Hole? Well... they're alive! And named Gerald and Cheryl. So how are they and Huggins alive? Simple, they are light. Light is information, and you can't destroy information. They also ask where Huggins brother is, who as it turns out is Muggins. Weird that he only called her a friend last season, but hey I'll go with it. But the parents are confused as the rest of the universe should be there, and the only thing that could prevent that is some kind of time blockage. A paradox, if you will. Huggins realizes what this means and is told by her parents to go at light-speed to reach where she needs to be.

Back in Season 5, Sister is talking to Doc about how to deal with Tucker. Essentially, she plans on fucking with him for as long as possible. Doc is not happy about this since Tucker is still recovering... and the fact that it sounds outright nuts. Back with the others, well... we still have the whole 'Donut betrayed everyone' thing to deal with. Sarge wants to outright execute him for it. Wash points out that Donut tried to fix all of it, but it does little to help with Grif pretty coldly pointing out that Donut stole The Hammer. Of course, none of them know that Donut tried to use it himself, but they aren't really giving him the chance to explain either, so... oh and Caboose figured out how to Time Travel on his own, so he's gone at this point.

Tucker wakes up, and Sister proceeds to fuck with him in several ways while Doc just goes 'fuck this' and leaves. Back with Huggins, she arrives at Blood Gulch and is surprised by how shitty it looks. But no one is there as this was before the Reds and Blues were sent there, so she goes forward some more until she sees Caboose. At first, she thinks that he doesn't know what she means when she asks about the paradox... until Caboose explains that they did it to save Wash and how she got angry at Grif before flying off. So Huggins explains that essentially black holes make time loop, like a circle... just go with it people. Like me, Huggins is overwhelmed before asking Caboose if they can talk.

Back with the others, Tucker seems to have bought Sister's story and says goodbye to Doc. He goes to apologize to Donut for making fun of him and at this point utterly agitated by everyone, Donut does the 'how do you know x if you never met x' spiel to snap Tucker back to normal. What is surprising though is that this also snaps Doc back to normal, so we can confirm that he isn't dead. He does remember the S16 finale fight, and about how awesome it was. And it is listening to Doc recount those events that cause Donut to do what we have been waiting for him to do for so long now: tell everyone off.

Donut goes and finally, finally tells off everyone for how horribly that they have treated him. Sidelining him, belittling him, left him for dead, etc. And he doesn't hold back even a little. No innuendos. He fully curses, even dropping the F-bomb. He outright tells Carolina to shut up when she apologizes for breaking the universe. Yes, just told Carolina to shut up. Nd the best part? He calls his armor color pink when he mentions them making fun of him about it. Yes, no lightish-red people. He outright said pink, and he is owning it. And now, here we are after Donut died, tried to reunite with his friends, was the only one who gave a damn about saving time while everyone else fucked around, and then after his mistakes went out of his way to fix them, and what does he get? Sarge trying to suggest killing him with Shelia.

With all of that now said, Donut says that once he's explained how to time travel so that they can deal with Genkins, he's done. Everyone is left speechless and in shock, as Donut walks off. Wash tells them to go after him and to apologize immediately, which while they mumble about it, they all go off and do right away. Well... Sarge asks if they really can time travel first before Wash sends him on his way too. Hot damn, now that is how you end an episode.

Review

Okay.. so... I liked the episode, but God it's confused me so much. Let's get that part out of the way first.

Huggins being alive? Yeah, we all knew that at this point and her being made of light/information makes sense. I think most of us expected her parents to be alive after the last episode. They're... okay. You can see where Huggins gets her quirks form, but I think it's pretty clear that they've gone insane from being in the Black Hole for so long. They're mainly here for Huggins to find out how to go through time, which tbf Huggins did speculate about that in Episode 7 when debating her options on getting out of the 6th Century, so okay nice subtle foreshadowing. Muggins being Huggins brother, again, had little to no foreshadowing and comes off as weird since Muggins never referred to her as such, not even in his eulogy when he assumed her dead. He just called her 'friend'. IDK, that's very minor in the grand scheme of things.

But honestly this and Huggins other scenes just... has me confused. So... a black hole send her back to before the Big Bang? Yet her parents haven't tried to leave even though they can go through time? It kinda sounds like they were expecting Huggins so... maybe there's a reason? But this mainly makes me question the Everwhen and time travel. So... I assumed that the Everwhen was a simulation, but I guess not. It's legit the past. And Doc was also sent into it, even though he wasn't caught in the paradox. So how did Donut retain his memory? I know they said that he got brought back through Chrovos' essence, so is that why? How can the Reds and Blues shift through time when they haven't entered the Everwhen? Why was losing the Time Gun a big deal if they can just jump back to S16 Episode 14? How does a black hole causing time to loop make any sense at all? I just... I don't know anymore.

Okay... let's talk about something else that won't hurt my brain. Sister and Tucker... there's not much to talk about. Won't lie, I got a giggle out of the bizarre stories that Sister told Tucker just to fuck with him. My only real issue is that... didn't they resolve their issues at the end of S16? Then again I can see Sister still wanting some form of payback, so meh. Otherwise, no real opinion and I'm glad that we didn't drag out Tucker being out of the loop for too long. Donut just being so done with everything and going through the spiel as quickly as possible was definitely worth it. Oh and Doc is back... yeah calling it now, it's O'Malley pretending to be Doc. We saw that he can do it before in S16's finale...and depending on when he took over in S16 Episode 6. I could be wrong, but I don't know... I feel like something big is still waiting.

But enough of all that. Let us talk about Donut and the moment that we have all been waiting for. Now, I will say that the Reds anger over the betrayal is justified... somewhat. Sarge has zero room to talk considering his own actions in S15. Yeah, he did ultimately do the right thing and regret it, but he still did it and couldn't promise that he wouldn't again, so no fuck you, Sarge. You're great at speeches, but you have shit room to talk. Grif has far more justification in his reaction (helps that he wasn't threatening to kill Donut) because.. yeah if Donut didn't take The Hammer, they could have resolved this before anything happened. Mind you if none of them treated him like shit and outright called him 'an empty suit of armor' he may not have, but still Grif handled it pretty maturely I feel. And Simmons... actually he didn't do anything wrong and even asked Donut if he did save them all, so he's off the hook. My point is, yeah what Donut did was wrong, but remember why he did it: everyone treating him like shit. Sarge outright called him an empty suit of armor. Seriously man, what the Hell?

The reason that Donut's 'The Reason You Suck' Speech was so effective, aside from the previous buildup these past few episodes, is because... well, he's right. They mocked him about his pink armor, and even the standard Red one he had when he first showed up. They've always been nothing but annoyed and belittling of him. Sometimes it was justified, like when he showed up in S11 but send the pilot off. Other times, like Tucker asking why they would ever listen to him in S16 were just harsh. And yeah, in Recollection they did leave him for dead. Sure Simmons was concerned, but that didn't last long and none of them ever mentioned him or considered getting his body during S8 or S10 before they found him alive. There is plenty of canon evidence to support this, and it's something that fans have been pointing out for years. And even with the betrayal, the paradox is entirely on them, not Donut. They still chose to cause it, knowing full well what could happen, so they are just as responsible for their shit situation.

Yeah, Donut did betray the group and that was wrong. To some degree, he deserved being called out, hence why I'm more okay with Grif's reaction that Sarge being a hypocrite. And no, they don't know about Donut ultimately changing his mind and trying to stop Chrovos then and there, but was too late. But they weren't exactly allowing him to explain, as per usual, even with Wash backing him up. Which BTW, Thank God for Wash. He was fully on Donut's side, Donut didn't tell him to shut up when he apologized for the multiple shootings, and Wash immediately told the guys to go and apologize. It's the kind of support that Donut needs and I think the push form Wash, along with his own frustration, finally got him to stand up to the others and tell them off. But back to my point, Donut is justified in his anger. Donut is justified in wanting to leave once he's explained everything. If no one will ever give him any shred of decency or even let him explain how he tried to correct his mistakes, yet people like Wash and Sarge got forgiven with little argument, why the Hell should he stand by them?

Final Thoughts

This episode gave me a headache. I think it's so far my least favorite episode. But that being said, I can't call it bad. Huggins is alive, everyone (except Lopez) is back up to speed, and Donut finally, FINALLY got to tell everyone off for treating him like shit for so long. That moment alone made this episode a winner for me. What's going to happen now? Hell if I know, but I am ready for it! Migraine over time travel bullshit be damned!

[magicofthepen]

Gallifrey Relisten: A Blind Eye

The end of Series 1! (I will admit I had to stop myself from immediately jumping into Lies because that’s when things really get going for me.) Some thoughts:

Mentions of/spoilers for: Neverland, Zagreus, Spirit, Insurgency, Enemy Lines, the Time War audios (but in a vague way).

Romana announces her name and title and then immediately follows that up with “I want no record of my being here” lol.

This episode is the closest we get to “everyone has to dress up fancy for an event” and it’s a shame we don’t get more of this! I would love more off-world and/or dress up episodes that are less......dire probably isn’t the right word because there’s some heavy things going on in this episode...maybe frantic? There is definitely a difference between the degree of tension in A Blind Eye and the degree of tension in the off-world episodes in Time War, for instance. (Also A Blind Eye has more banter.) I’m pretty sure it’s just A Blind Eye and Spirit that capture this sense of “we’re going to do something different for an episode” and I like it! (I feel like this is part of my ongoing push for a post-Enemy Lines, pre-Time War series of misc. CIA missions and shenanigans. Please someone just shove more side adventures into gaps in the timeline.)

The banter! The banter. (“You have your business face on. / You’re a transtemporal crook Arkadian, meeting you could never be a pleasure.”) 1. Arkadian is a supremely entertaining villain, and 2. he’s a tremendously good villain opposite Romana specifically, purely for snark and banter reasons.

I was never a big fan of the Sissy Pollard portrayal — the character’s personality feels too....exaggerated? Over the top? And not in an effective or interesting way.

Romana’s defense of Charley is actually quite sweet, given that they weren’t super friendly in Neverland/Zagreus.

Romana chastises Leela for careless talk, but uhhh if you wanted to keep things subtle and not reveal anything, maybe don’t have Leela suddenly grab Sissy?

“Madam, the Alps are in the other direction.” “Are they? Damn.” / “Be careful, you’ll break it!” “I’ll break you in a minute.” Truly, maximum levels of scathing Romana snark in this episode. 

I have never seen anyone mention this, so I always assumed I’m not hearing it right, but....when the original!timeline train is about to crash into them....does Romana tell Narvin to fuck off?

Andred has a whole scene with no other Time Lord witnesses in which he could have told Leela the truth and yet.

“I am a Guard Commander of Gallifrey” apparently I never paid enough attention to what he actually said here because I think that was the first time I noticed that Andred gave his Chancellery Guard title, not his CIA title.

“Arkadian! You’ve met with that crook!?” Shoutout to Narvin for some A+ false indignation here.

I’m not sure there was a way to write a parallel between between real world Naziism and Leela’s fictional past without having it come off a bit as oversimplifying/cheapening the horrors of Nazi Germany. (But I’m white and raised Christian, so I’m also really not the person to be speaking in depth about the portrayal of Nazis in this episode.)

Does Arkadian know about Andred? I assume that he would just because he generally knows most things, but hmm it adds another layer.

Narvin is genuinely surprised when Romana gives in and agrees to leave lol.

Ms. Joy — it’s funny because we the listeners know that the one random character must be there for a reason, so it feels like the only reason the characters don’t know she’s suspicious is that they don’t know they’re in an audio drama episode and so she must be important to the plot.

Did Narvin really intend for Romana to go with “Torvald”? “At least he’s have been exposed?” Way to throw your President under the bus sir (although possibly he assumed that Torvald wouldn’t actually assassinate the President?)

“See, it is always a monster.” Wait, I take it back, Leela knows she’s in a Doctor Who (adjacent) episode.

“The only name in town where there’s temporal naughtiness to be done” — the Arkadian = Brax crack(?) theory is the most “I can’t unhear this” thing that’s happened to me since Narvin/Torvald. What is it with y’all and Series 1, I’m losing it. 

...does Andred have a plan when he lowkey kidnaps Romana or is he just panicking? He is quite genuinely pleading with Romana to go along with him into the TARDIS and sounds genuinely desperate. But then he seems to regain control and starts more tactically trying to persuade Romana to work along side him without giving her any real answers. Although really, he must know that he’s very close to discovery — maybe he wants to resolve the past!Torvald situation first? Or maybe he’s not thinking that far ahead?

“I have no paws.” Awww K9.

“I think you’re a bad President. I think you’ve willfully sacrificed Gallifreyan influence upon the altar of your own increasingly cranky liberal agenda.” 1. “increasingly cranky liberal agenda” is such a specific insult wow, 2. I can’t tell how much of this is Andred still trying to be Torvald and how much he actually means this? The politics of this incarnation of Andred were always a bit fuzzy to me, even in series 2.

Also. Any conversation between Romana and Andred has a whole weird vibe on relisten when you know about the uhhh future murdering that’s going to happen.

I do love a Dramatic Reveal, and this one is incredibly dramatic.

....does the train crash? Does the train not crash? I’ve always been a bit confused about what happens in that moment — I assume Romana doesn’t actually plan on the train hitting the TARDIS, and we hear the TARDIS dematerialize so I think the train is fine? But it’s a weirdly ambiguous sound/end of scene.

“I can tell you are lying. It’s when your lips move.” Okay Leela snarking at Arkadian is also very good.

It is genuinely so interesting how connected this plot is to Neverland/Zagreus — if I had to pick one “you should listen to this audio before Gallifrey” I'd go for the Apocalypse Element because of the enormous ripples it casts in terms of Romana’s characterization (and also it’s more stand alone), but I imagine this episode would be particularly confusing without Neverland/Zagreus? (Would be curious to hear people’s experiences.)

“I never lie!” Romana, that’s the biggest lie you’ve ever told. 

The narration of what happened to Andred by Andred and Romana is um. It’s a little bit obviously an info dump for the listener, but I’m not sure it’s the best way for Leela to find out? I mean, hearing the context and explanation probably was a better idea than just “oh btw I’m Andred”.....possibly this felt weird to me because of the acting? It’s very emotionally detached, very “so this is what happened” — Andred manages some emotion afterwards when he’s pleading with Leela but uh. He could have sounded more apologetic here.

Leela. Leela. “You have watched me suffer and worn my enemy’s clothes?” / “The man that I loved is dead.” Goddddd I want to give her a hug so much ughhhhh. Leela just goes through so many awful things throughout....all of Gallifrey actually, and she still remains such a good person with such a genuinely caring heart......give her a break please.

“I think the only person who’d actually benefit from a temporal war would be a...dealer in arms? A trader in secrets? A fixer and a fiddler. A dishonest broker with no scruples and no shame.” / “An interesting theory Madam. Prove it.” I just really like the delivery of this bit. Although: I realize there were several things going on at this point, but really, they just let Arkadian walk away at the end?

And thus ends Series 1. It has some highs and lows but it honestly ranks near the bottom on my constantly-in-flux list of favorite-to-least favorite Gallifrey series. (Weapon of Choice is probably the only episode I actively look forward to relistening to?) I said in my Weapon of Choice post that Series 1 was a nice “palate cleanser” after Apocalypse Element and the Charley arc through Zagreus, and that was true for the first time listening, but I think some of those same attributes mean I’m kinda meh about relistening to it. It just doesn’t hold my interest quite as much as many of the other series. (Series 2 though....👀)

EDIT: I realized I forgot to tell my personal story of my first time listening to the Andred reveal, and I wanted to have some record of that, even if I don’t quite remember the specifics of my reaction. In general, my first listen of Gallifrey was shaped by knowing a lot of major spoilers, which is what happens when you spent a lot of time lurking on Tumblr blogs in advance of listening to the series. (It actually led to a lot of super fascinating experiences of “well I know X happens, but I don’t know how or why” and being really curious to find out how X played out.)

So I knew something about Andred and Torvald going in, and I think I should have known that it was simply Torvald = Andred, but somehow I got it in my head that oh no, no it’s weirder and more complicated than that. But of course there are a lot of hints throughout series 1 that Torvald is Andred, so the first listen was this cycle of me going “I think maybe Torvald is just Andred? Nah, it’s going to be more convoluted than that. But no really, it makes sense that Torvald is Andred...” etc. etc. So it was a weird experience of knowing pretty early on that Torvald might be Andred, but still not being quite sure until the end of series one. The other bit of this is that I can’t remember at what point I knew that Andred died (and how) — I think I may have known he died before I listening to Gallifrey (or at the very least I knew that he was written out in some way or another earlier on), so that may have also confused me further re: the series one question of: what actually happened to Andred? All around, an odd experience of “I was spoiled...but somehow I still wasn’t sure what was going on” and I wasn’t surprised per se but it was still a reveal. 

Next Episode Reaction: Lies

Previous Episode Reaction: The Inquiry

[reviewae]

H2W Reactions (SPOILER ALERT) Chapter 14:Hands On Approach

(Disclaimer: any excerpts taken and posted here do not belong to me, only the reactions do. All the excerpts belong to the great, great Olivieblake.

So I was going to do the reactions last Sunday itself but I saw olivie’s post that she would not be posting a chapter this week so, to help myself from succumbing into dramione withdrawal, I did the reactions a week late.

"But that man is my father," Daisy reminded him bitterly. "And seeing as I've already told you who's responsible - "  I feel really bad for her, actually. They should have torture Emmett or something, not outright kill him. Daisy reminds me a lot of Harry too y’know.

"Miss Carnegie," President MacArthur sighed, "as relieved as I would be for any explanation absolving my own Head Auror from guilt, the story that someone kidnapped you from your home, restrained you in your own office, and then murdered a famously well-respected man for conceivably no reason is not one that anyone's going to believe. Particularly not if the party responsible was, as you claim - " he paused, grimacing, to pick up her report file. "Nicholas Flamel, the alchemist who was born in the fourteenth century," the president muttered, and Hermione winced at the obvious skepticism in his tone as he shook his head, displeased. "Surely even you know this is not a promising alibi, Miss Carnegie." Spoken like -every politician who’s gotten his hands tied- ever. Though now that you think about it, Nicholas Flamel being alive does sound far-fetched. The fact that these people don’t believe them obviously means that these kids definitely are going to stir up some shit on their own.

"Wait a minute," Hermione interrupted, but Harry, who had been standing with his hand curled warily his mouth, promptly yanked her back. Was she always this vocal? I mean, yeah she’s a Gryffindor and all...but she’s like too impulsive. Even Harry knows that he needs to stfu and back off. And honey Harry, I’m still mad at you. So watch it.

"President MacArthur," he attempted, stepping forward, "surely you've considered that these enchantments might have been tampered with. Having worked with Auror Carnegie extensively, I assure you that I can vouch for her character, and - " Honey, you’re no smooth talker either.I think you should let Draco talk. Actually, no. His sarcasm will blow the guy’s head up.

"Let me guess," Draco ventured, his tone effortlessly dry. "The files are missing." Fucking obviously. This, is turning into a fucking nightmare of an investigation. But I really wanna see daisy go rogue. And Draco and Hermione to help her. But that would be too cliché so I am assuming not.

"Auror Potter, you may have rid the world of Voldemort, but that feat alone doesn't elevate your word beyond suspicion," President MacArthur cut in, his voice clipped. Finally a person who doesn’t worship the ground he walks on. No offense, but the guy’s right. Harry may have saved them all, but that doesn’t mean his word’s god. I’m pretty sure Harry’s feeling disgruntled and his brain’s going, “Touché.”

"I still don't know why you're here, Miss Granger, but believe me, this brings me no pleasure," he said flatly. “and that is only the case because Auror Potter has arrived - completely uninvited," he added drily, This guy is  so no-nonsense types, he reminds me of Professor Mcgonagall, but he’s also getting on my nerves.

"Aubrey's already submitted an addendum to his initial reports, saying - "He trailed off, and Daisy clenched a fist."Saying what?" she demanded, and the president grimaced."Expressing doubt," he offered, clearing his throat. "In your - "He stopped again, and Daisy's mouth tightened, furious."In my leadership?" she prompted angrily, and the president shook his head."In your innocence," he admitted, flinching apprehensively, and Daisy's eyes widened, opening and closing her mouth on a disbelieving lack of defense until Harry stepped forward to place his hand on her shoulder, his expression grim. Okay, this fucker Aubrey needs to be put into his place. Does he not know not to bring playground rivalries to the big leagues. Motherfucker. (I have adopted Daisy Carnegie cause she’s got two no good parents who have featured for barely 2 scenes in the entire duration of this fic and my sunshine and flowers needs someone to look over her.)

"Why we were - " She stopped, blinking, as she realized she'd forgotten altogether that their presence had been inexplicably erased. "Oh, my god -Like seriously gurl? You are a fucking war heroine. Pay some damn attention instead of just calling out other people’s bullshit.(I’m sorry, I’m just pms-ing and its horrible and there’s no hot chocolate and Hermione’s just getting on my nerves!!!)

"Anybody from all of time! What if nobody's dead?" she pressed frantically, tearing back and forth across the marble of the chamber floor. "What if literally nobody has ever died, ever, and anyone we know, including my - my granny," she sputtered, "is out there trying to murder us?!" Okay I’m pretty sure this is just the hormones speaking. Dang it, should’ve made Harry wait before he barged in. Now all the sexual frustration is making her brain short-circuit.

"How can you joke?" she demanded, and then let out another harsh cry of frustration, resting her forehead brusquely against his shoulder this time and beginning to wonder if either crying or vomiting would help. "I just - " she stammered. "Everything is - it's just so - "  Okay the only thing I am paying attention to is the fact they have initiated physical contact and Houston we DON’T have a problem so just go go go!!!

"You can't fix everything that's broken, Granger," Draco told her, shaking his head. "Don't you know that by now?"  Ha. I’m pretty sure she’s going to take that as a metaphor for him. Him accepting that, I am not so sure about it.

"Does everything have to be a metaphor?" he demanded. "No, Granger, I'm just saying you can't fix everything. Some things just can't be fixed.""But you mean you," she said. "Right?""No," he growled. "I'm fine, Granger - ""No, actually, you're not," she retorted, scowling at him. "You're doing terribly. You're a mess." Called it. Does this lead to angry sex? Please please please *crosses fingers, sacrifices goats and right hand, joins a cult*

"No. No," he said forcefully, staring down at her. "I told you I was sorry. I meant that. I'm sorry. I'm fucking sorry about everything that I was, to you and to the rest of the world. I'm fucking sorry, Granger," he repeated, his voice mechanical and stiff, "but what good does that do me?""Malfoy," she sighed, "let's not do this, okay? I shouldn't have said anything.""No, you shouldn't have," he agreed, "but you did, so we're doing it. We're doing this right now," he half-shouted, "because you started it!" Sigh. My trash babies. Normally I would have been waiting to barge in and break up this fight but this is just gonna build up the sexual tension to a crescendo and then we’ll be having hot, hot, sex. Well, they’ll be.

"No, this isn't about me! STOP MAKING EVERYTHING ABOUT ME!""DON'T YELL AT ME!""STOP TRYING TO FIX ME!" he roared, taking another step towards her. Okay guys I am getting a little worried. Is nobody else gonna stop them? Damn harry where are you when you need to be?

She didn't hit him. No, don’t tell me. Is it happening?!!! I am not ready for this!!! My body’s not ready for this, my brain’s not ready for this, my hormones are not ready for this!!!

She kissed him, yanking him towards her and falling back against the railing as he half-choked on something breathless, stumbling against her and biting down on her lip as he let out a gasp of surprise. He caught himself, holding his breath, and pulled away, dazed.

I literally have no words for this. Just..

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So she yanked the zipper down.  GET SOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Not posting the rest ‘cause, hey! ya nasty!?

I am, supposed to be kid-friendly, though i have already cursed like a sailor, so, still, no smut. Though imma read this again. and again.

I hate to go forward, but the show must go on, so scene change.

the man's formerly handsome face now mangled beyond recognition. Yes! you deserve it you fucking bastard. Now enjoy eternity with that rubber bag for a face.

they should really call you Herpo the Oblivious, I remember hearing about this Herpo the oblivious somewhere though i don’t remember exactly where. Just a sec..

Roughly 3 secs later,

Oooohhh... This bitch was the one who hatched a basilisk.

Herpo the oblivious does have a better ring than Herpo the foul don’t you think?

*Snickers*

Okay,okay, moving on...

he replied, as Herpo and Ignotus exchanged an impatient glance. It is soo clear that antioch bitch wears the pants in this club. He’s almost like another Voldemort, maybe with more finesse.

"already knew what the lemniscate was, and - " Okay, back up! What the fuck is lemniscate?

Roughly 50 seconds later (’cause i spelt it wrong)...

It’s the infinity symbol!! That’s his tattoo? Or is it what’s carved into the victim’s bodies? Honestly, I feel so confused.

"Not just that. They were expecting the lemniscate," What does he mean by expecting? Like they knew they would find the tattoo or what? It didn’t seem like that to me actually. Meh, whatever.  

"Yes," Ignotus said. "It's a complex potion, though, and paired with a fairly ruthless incantation. It may take a while."  That’s my trash kid’s handiwork. Honestly, I am so proud of him. I think this is the only fic in which I am invariably on Draco’s side no matter how asshole-y he’s being.

"Couldn't he be responsible for the Warlock poisonings?" Herpo asked, and Antioch shook his head. Wait. So these guys, are seemingly innocent. So now we have ruled out the ministry of magic, the MAUSCA, Draco,Hermione, Daisy, Emmett, Dionisia, and the Infinity Club. Who the fuck is left?

Shit, I forgot about Umbridge. Of course it has to be her. Okay too much foreshadowing. Moving on..

"Yes, definitely. But a matter of days ago it was published in the Daily Prophet that he's now an event planner for the Ministry," Antioch said wryly. "Evidently he and Granger are consultants."Herpo scoffed. "A cover, surely," he asserted. "But for what?" You know, the way they say it, it actually sounds ridiculous. I wonder how everyone’s bought the farce.

"Really, Ignotus?" he asked dubiously, the air between them turning glacially cold. "So now, suddenly, you don't see why we don't just get rid of everyone who presents a problem, do you?"   Oooooh. Bad blood between the ranks. you know it would be such a fuck all if Ignotus (Is he the youngest one. God knows.) teams up with Cadmus and together they screw over the eldest one (I think he’s Antioch? Well, he does look like the bossiest bitch out of the three so he must be. )

trailing off pointedly, and Herpo sighed."Can't you kill her yourself?" Herpo asked. "In case you've forgotten, I'm severely decaffeinated." God, this is so damn relatable. No murders today till I have had my coffee with cream and sugar. #Relatable

This is because while Dolores was not a pretty girl, she was a clever girl, a ruthless girl, and though her mother lamented her only daughter's failures - preferring instead her handsome but powerless son, the squib who was born with her own amber eyes and porcelain skin - Dolores decided her mother was just another pretty girl to be easily bypassed in the end. Ellen Cracknell was only a muggle, after all, and hardly anything was beautiful beneath the surface. Dolores, blessed with magic in her veins, ultimately found that it was her mother who was quite displeasing to her, and not the other way around. Okay, do i qualify as a heartless bitch for sympathising with her? I mean she’s still a complete bitch who i would love to see die slowly and painfull, but dang, does olivie paint her good. Making her this victim to gender discrimination and societal judgement has instantly made her appealing. And umbridge is not a pureblood? Okay, that’s kind of off.

Better to be lethal than lovely, she thought, watching her pretty mother shatter in crystalline shards across the kitchen floor, the pieces glinting in the midday sun. Shit. Oh my god that’s so cold I’m pretty sure even elsa’s bothered by her.(Get it? “The cold doesn’t bother me anyway”? Okay, I apologize, that was bad.)

Better still to be deadly than dead. Okay this is gonna be my new catchphrase. See me sport this on my original blog cause dang those are some smooth lines. Olivie you lethal dose of cyanide.

It was funny, really, that she and the Dark Lord never met. She always suspected they'd be quite good friends, or at least kindred spirits; but then, as they say, one should never meet one's idols. Hers, for example, disappointed her by ending up dead. Hahahahahahah...this is such  fuckall moment. I always assumed that they had met. But this is priceless. Honestly this is proof that umbridge was the real threat. Voldemort is the playground bully, and umbridge is the principal.(Our school’s principal was a fucking tyrant.)

A pity she hadn't seen Harry Potter coming. Seriously? He waved banners screaming,”This guy’s evil!!! this guy’s a death eater!!!!” so on and so forth. He was literally a poster-child and you didn’t eliminate him when you had the chance? I guess they always underestimate the small ones.

Dionisia made a face. "Amazing that you're willing to trust an idiotic man with a gambling addiction," she murmured, "rather than - ""Rather than the woman I've blackmailed into servitude?" Dolores prompted, tutting impatiently. "Strangely, I find I'm inclined to question your motives." She’s so snarky, I love it!!! I hate her still, cause you can never stop hating Dolores Umbridge. It’s like olivie had all this snark inside her but theo nott isn’t enough to release it though, so she’s made all her other characters equally snarky.

"But I've seen enough organized crime in my lifetime to know they will always opt to clean up the little messes until it becomes too large to ignore. I would not expect them to seek you out at this stage, as I've said before - or at any stage, really," she murmured, "unless you manage to hit them where it hurts."  So its umbridge behind all the killings? I don’t get her motive though. Just to get their attention she’s doing all this? Its kinda far-fetched don’t ya think? And where will it hurt for the infinity club? They don’t really have a home do they?

"It must be undeniable that the British Ministry is under siege."  Oh shit. Umbridge is going to strike again. They are so screwed.

"There's someone here," she eventually managed, visibly uneasy, but Dolores only shrugged. Shit, Herpo’s here. she’s really going to die isn’t she? That’s a shame. I actually was starting to like the ignotus and dionisia pairing.

For Dolores had never been a pretty girl, nor a very lucky one, but she was certainly a resilient one, and there had never been any doubt that she was a hard one to break. She had not been born ordinary, and she trusted that her future held a return to freedom, to power, to greatness, and - at long last - to the long-deserved humbling of Harry Potter. *snorts* good luck with that. Anymore humble, and harry would be as humble as he is rich.

Okay scene change. Yaaaayyy its Dramione!!!!!

Internally, he sighed.They had to -Touch. That never occurred to you when you were f***ing each others lights out.

He glanced down at her, instantly regretting it as the memory of her face (the way her eyes had fluttered shut, the way her lips had parted, the way she sounded the way she felt the way she tasted, everything everything everything and the constant echoes of oh god and yes there and holy fucking shit you feel so—) flooded through him in a rush without restraint, his entire body going rigid.  That’s hot and they are definitely going to have regret sex later. call it a gut instinct but they are. *Fanning self*

To say that the aftermath of what had happened between them had been awkward would be tragically unfunny; a laughable understatement. I couldn't put it in better words. my trash kids are really useless. Like seriously, they had sex in an f-ing corridor and then they worry about touching each other? Obviously both of them were thinking with their downstairs brains till now.

He grimaced.She obviously didn't want to touch him.If he had been waiting for a sign, that was clearly it. You idiot boy, don’t jump to conclusions. She wants to touch-oh do much more than just touch you again, you just need to glow a little slower than a bullet train at wanting to attempt their escapade again.

"Yes," she snapped. "A thoughtless mistake.""We should have known better," he said. "After all, we barely get along." escalating..."I wouldn't have done it if I weren't so tired," she told him briskly, giving him a hard, sweeping glance. "You - " she sputtered. "You're - " EsCaLaTiNg..."Yes," he drawled. "And I am thoroughly opposed to you as well."Good!" she half-shouted. "I'm glad we're on the same page. This was a mistake, I regret it completely, let's just both put it behind us and - "  The foot in the mouth syndrome raises its ugly head."Oh, you regret it, Granger?" he echoed, bristling. ‘

How Dramione foreplay:

"Do you think I've just been mooning about, longing for this to happen?"She opened her mouth, furious, and then snapped it shut."God, you're such an arse," she growled, the words slipping through her teeth. "I can't believe I ever let you near me.""Oh, is this you putting it behind you?" he prompted sarcastically. "Thank goodness, and here I was so worried you'd overthink it and be a nuisance - ""Oh, so I'm a nuisance now?" she retorted. "You're the one that's completely - "

Like this ^^^^^.

He paused, facetiously holding his hand to his ear and waiting, and then laughed. This is most definitely Antioch.

"You both look awfully flushed," he commented, smirking, and then discarded the thought, shrugging  Well they first fucked, then they fought...

"Are you alright?" he asked, reaching for her, and she nodded, stumbling forward and gripping his arm Awwwwwwww their first instinct is to reach for each other that’s so cute!!!!

Okay so where I am from its now 3 o'clock in the morning and i haven’t slept all night, so i’m just gonna just go crash now.But before I go...

Here is the noteworthy moment of the week:

“And the rest of the world clearly cares more about Dramione," she added, gagging at the utterly ridiculous diminutive on the newspaper's cover, You’ll take some time honey, but you’ll get there. Shifting from romione to dramione is kinda hard, but worth it.

Okay so that’s it and i don’t have the energy to do anything except for crash. I’ll meet you on the next sunday.

1402wisegirl over and out.

(Links to the fic are: [FF] [AO3])

[atamascolily]

I've been catching up on the MCU films (well, let's be honest, most of them) in preparation for Spiderman: Homecoming, Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War, all of which I am excited about after watching numerous tumblr gifs.  (Thanks, tumblr!) I was inspired by a Vox article ranking the films by quality, so I watched them out of order, which was actually quite interesting in a very meta way. I'd seen the original Iron Man, and some of my friends in college had filled me in on the intricate details of the Marvel universe back in the mid-2000s, so I had a pretty basic idea of the situation with HYDRA, SHIELD, Nick Fury, etc, etc, and could just jump right into the middle of the action without needing too much more context.

So here are my off the cuff thoughts:

Captain America: the Winter Soldier:

My favorite movie of all of them (so far, anyway) and the one I watched first - no regrets! Has everything I want in an MCU movie - great action sequence, a decent but not overwhelming number of characters, Steve Rogers, Sam Wilson and Natasha Romanoff starring in their own movie, plus a gripping plot and great action sequences. Nick Fury proves he is a total badass, with Maria Hill not far behind. Also, I'll confess a soft spot because the movie is mostly set in DC, which I am more familiar with than New York. The Smithsonian scenes were ON POINT.

Oh, and I totally ship Romanogers after watching this film. Not sorry at all. I know the writers are actually trying to ship him with Sharon Carter, but I'm really not a fan. I mean, it's just a little creepy that she's Peggy's niece, and even though he didn't know that when they first met and flirted and got to know each other a bit - I still find that a bit too much Replacement Goldfish for me. While it's tragic that Peggy aged and Steve didn't and she doesn't really remember him, eventually Steve is going to have to move on. Sharon is a lot like Peggy, but so is Natasha - at least in terms of badass competence - and I love the working dynamic between Steve and Natasha - they know each other well, they trust each other, they have each other's backs, and I love their casual banter. Also, I'm a sucker for Contrasting Opposite pairings - and the morally ambiguous former Russian sleeper agent Black Widow with the honorable, square Captain America is full of it.

The deep irony is that Black Widow is canonically with Hawkeye and the Winter Soldier in the comics, neither of which is ever even remotely hinted at in these movies. But that's okay because I really don't ship those pairings! Yay, movie continuity... because let's face it, sometimes the comics are really weird.

Major thing I would change: NO MORE MALE GAZE SHOTS OF NATASHA, OKAY?

The Avengers:

Surprisingly, not a huge fan, despite rave reviews from Vox and others. I can't even put my finger on what it is, exactly, but things just feel "off" to me here. Maybe it's the Joss Whedon touch? Because that scene with a shoeless Natasha taking out Russian mobsters while tied to a chair really just screamed Joss Whedon to me. Although I did enjoy the look on Phil Coulson's face when she puts him on "hold".

Also, Phil Coulson was a badass and I'm sorry they killed him off (though apparently Nick Fury brings him back to life in the TV series because Nick Fury doesn't believe in death? It's the sort of thing Nick Fury would do.) Nick Fury and Maria Hill continue to be badasses. Surprisingly, I find Loki somewhat tedious and Thor charming when I really expected it to be the other way around. I enjoy watching Bruce and Tony exchange science banter, but I'm really not into the Hulk. And while Tony Stark continues to be the king of sarcastic wit - to the point where I refer to him as "Tony Snark" - and I'm normally a big fan of that (and I enjoyed the original Iron Man when it originally came out), I'm somehow no longer interested in watching the antics of an egoistic billionaire playboy who makes crazy science weapons and then is surprised when bad people use them, especially compared to Captain America.

I do like the Chitauri giant fish weapons and how organic they are but Thanos and the rest of the Chitauri stuff just feels over the top.

I did love the post-credits scene at the Shawarma joint, though; definitely more than Tony's post-battle shawarma ravings in the film proper.

Captain America: The First Avenger

Probably could have skipped this one, but I enjoyed learning more about Captain America's backstory, even if it wasn't really necessary. Peggy Carter is such a badass, and it really make the events of The Winter Soldier all the more tragic when you watch Steve with Peggy and Bucky, and learn that SHIELD has been infiltrated by HYDRA from the get-go. Also, I thought I was going to hate Howard Stark because his son is frequently a jerk, but he was surprisingly endearing. Red Skull is kinda annoying, and having Captain America stuck in the cryofreeze unit.... wasn't really explained.... but I did love the awakening scene in New York at the end. Nick Fury continues to be a badass.  

Avengers: Age of Ultron

Still didn't like this as much as a lot of people seem to (probably the Joss Whedon thing?) - while lots of individual pieces were good, the movie felt weird as a whole thing. Watching Steve and the Avengers take on a European HYDRA base was an interesting callback to the 1940s with Steve and the Howling Commandos - probably the happiest time we see with Steve in the post-SHIELD era, honestly, and right before it all goes to hell. Tony Stark's "yay" as he opened the secret door was fun, although I don't think Wanda (I feel weird calling her "Scarlet Witch") could have snuck up on him and kick-started the plot if he hadn't taken off his suit for no obvious reason.

I hate Tony's decorating skills - all the modern uncomfortable furniture and clear glass - and fancy dress parties full of rich people. Loved the drinking and banter about Mjollnir and Thor's reaction to Captain America being able to move it just a bit. Glad all of Cap's surviving friends from the 1940s showed up, though - warms my heart.  

NOT a fan of the plot shipping Natasha and Bruce together. I like them individually, hate them together. But I was really happy to see Hawkeye has a family and a real life outside of the Avengers he never told anyone about - and his family knows about what he does and supports him. Hawkeye gets a lot of crap from people both in and out of the films, but I think he's one of the more stable and balanced characters, and frankly, by my standards, one of the most successful and happiest ones. Go Hawkeye! You've got your priorities straight.

My favorite action moment is Black Widow using Captain America's shield for a minute in the Seoul action scenes before tossing it back to Captain America, hands down. Why doesn't this sort of double-teaming happen more often?

Also, I like how Thor just decides to leave to follow a vision, is bad at fitting in with the human world, and does his own thing in bringing Vision to life, AND at the end going off to figure out the whole Infinity Stone business. I'm still confused by all the Asgardian references, but not sure I really want to watch the Thor movies to figure it out, so I rely mostly on my knowledge of Norse mythology, which actually gets you most of the way there.

I love Hawkeye and Wanda's relationship - it confirms my feeling that Hawkeye is a mature adult. Also, I enjoy the way that Vision just casually swings Thor's hammer... and everyone is suprised and then decides not to wonder about his ultimate allegiance... and a delighted Thor has someone to discuss his hammer with.... and Vision is just a few notes shy of Uncanny Valley territory (and could be downright creepy if he didn't have JARVIS's voice).

Best part of the movie for me is the end scene at the new Avengers headquarters - thankfully they've moved out of New York! - with Steve and Natasha training the new crew of Avengers, because shipping.  

Captain America: Civil War:

Liked it much better than both the Avengers movies, probably because Joss Whedon wasn't involved. Despite the Sharon/Steve kiss, there's nothing in here canonically that messes with my preferred Romanogers pairing in the long run. I like how Natasha tries to talk sense into both of them (though she fails, which is really not her fault). Too bad Peggy Carter dies and isn't able to talk sense into Tony and Steve and get the government off their backs because you know she would have if she could have. Also, Black Panther and the Wakandans are awesome, T'Challa does the mature adult thing at the end, and watching Peter Parker geek out with Tony Stark makes me like Tony so much better than I previously have, despite the fact that I think he acts like an idiot even though I agree with most of his basic points in the film.

Great action sequences, throughout the film, especially the Berlin chase sequence and the airport battle. Not so into Iron Man vs. Captain America, honestly. Watching Wanda grow is great; Hawkeye gets some great lines and actions; the ending is bittersweet but hopeful. Apparently, Tony broke up with Pepper, which makes everybody sad except for me, who was kind of "meh" about the pairing anyway. Watching Tony flirt with May was hilarious although I don't ship it - just shows Tony's still got a bit of the playboy in him (or maybe that was just a ruse so he could talk to Peter alone? Either way, funny).

Really sad about War Machine, though... glad he survived. Love Falcon and Redwing, watching the opening scene in "Lagos" (really, it was filmed in Georgia). Also glad the whole "Winter Soldiers" business turned out to be a red herring and the real plot was actually something else. Though it breaks my heart that Howard Stark recognized Bucky and calls him out by name.... only to die at Bucky's hands a moment later. So tragic. I didn't catch the name of the villain, but apparently, his name was Zemo - doesn't really matter, his plan was brilliant. Also not clear: who filmed that footage of Bucky murdering the Starks and why?

I think Vision may have a point about the number of enhanced humans increasing the possibility of catastrophe. Though, to be fair, Loki probably would have conquered the earth unchecked if the Avengers hadn't been there, and that just opened the doors for more weird shit to keep occurring. Though Vision may not know about all of the crazy HYDRA plots that went down PRIOR to Tony Stark becoming Iron Man when he made that comment.... or does he? Hard to know what Vision does and doesn't know.  

Mixed feelings on Martin Freeman as Everett Ross - maybe he'll be better in Black Panther, but in this movie, I can't really figure out what his deal is (and didn't catch his name until reading the wiki afterwards). On the other hand, Benedict Cumberbatch is in the MCU universe as Dr. Strange, which means at some point they'll probably have an in-universe meeting, which pleases me on some deep level since I enjoyed their dynamic together in Sherlock.

Also, the Avengers headquarters is actually the Porsche headquarters in Georgia and I cannot take it seriously now that I know this.

Other movies:

-Probably not going to watch the first two Thor movies, might be persuaded to watch Ragnarok depending on fan reactions and the overall quality of tumblr gifs. Since tumblr gifs are what inspired me to watch the mcu films in the first place, it seems only appropriate. Likewise with Ant-Man and the Wasp and Captain Marvel.   - I'm probably not going to watch Ant-Man or The Incredible Hulk either. I'll probably watch the scenes with Black Widow/Natasha in Iron Man 2 and skip the rest of the movie. Likewise, going to skip Iron Man 3 because Tony Stark is only bearable if he has someone to counter him, and I'm pretty sure that's not the case in that movie. -On the fence about Doctor Strange - probably will watch it, but it's not a high priority right now. -Guardians of the Galaxy - these are supposed to be good, and will probably be helpful context for Infinity Wars, BUT Chris Pratt is not my favorite actors and I'm not really interested in the side characters enough for it to be worth it. (I did enjoy Jurassic World, but I was in it way more for the dinosaurs, although his raptor training / racing raptors on motorcycles through a jungle was just crazy enough to be awesome - and also since it was on the DVD cover, I knew exactly what I was signing up for. I HATE how that movie treats Claire, and the inevitable romance between her and Chris Pratt's character... so I'll say I enjoyed Jurassic World in spite of Chris Pratt and not because of him. Don't hate the dude, just not interested in his movies or the style of humor that seems to run through the Guardians movies.) If I find their appearances in Infinity Wars to be good, I'll consider watching them.

Predictions for Infinity Wars:

-Cliffhanger ending to Part One, with all/most of main characters dead/dying as in Tony's vision back in Age of Ultron. -Vision gets the yellow infinity stone ripped out of his head and dies, at least until they can figure out how to bring him back to life -Iron Man's heroic sacrifice, since apparently Robert Downey Jr is getting tired of playing Tony Stark in these movies and is looking for a way out. Someone else will take over the suit eventually, though.

I think Steve Rogers might die, too, but I'm really not happy about this. Gamora, Peter Parker and many of the next Gen Avengers will probably survive, since Marvel will want to make more movies after all this is over. I think Black Panther will be one of them.

I'm secretly hoping that we get a reference at the beginning of Infinity War that Natasha was helping Steve bust into the Rift and get everybody out. Because that's exactly the sort of thing they'd do together. There's so much going on in Infinity War, though, and so many characters, I'd understand if it wasn't included. But it would be a nice nod if they did.

[bustmytomater]

So here are the thoughts of Turf Wars part from a conflicted bi woman:

- So unfortunately even though I didn’t dislike it, I probably won’t ever buy these comics because they’re just too damn short and the pacing is too rushed, which is very nostalgic and reminiscent of the actual episodes lmao. I MIGHT buy the inevitable collector’s volume with all three parts though, whenever that’ll be out (probably 2019 ugh). But just for so little its not worth $10. Yes, I feel guilty about it.

- For the most part I really did enjoy Korra and Asami’s dynamic and I greatly appreciate that so far Mike hasn’t been abiding by the popular interpretation of what it’d be. That is-- Asami just does something like flip her hair and Korra just loses it. That’s not Korra, Korra doesn’t stammer or get rendered speechless. She blatantly compared Asami to a sunset in terms of beauty. She unabashedly kisses her in front of their friends when earlier they had discussed whether it’d be best if they kept their relationship. Like... I don’t get how after this comic I’m getting replies to my post about how oh but Korra totally has a sensitive side! Yeah she does! It shows in the way she just flat out calls Asami beautiful and kisses her after beating up a bunch of mooks. I don’t know why this fandom is still so obsessed with putting Korra down when her actual canon dynamic with Asami, where they both treat and view each other as equal and beautiful women, is good, wonderful even depending on how future comics turn out.

- So the... homophobia thing. I’m definitely getting Dragon Age vibes from how Mike’s trying to handle it but at least he just came out and said a lot of the world still isn’t very accepting instead of what the DA team tries to do (Oh it’s accepted but it’s just seen as a quirk lol). Kya... I’m not entirely sure but it almost reads like she’s still in the closet? I don’t know, there’s so much about her we don’t know, but the semi-closeted lesbian that has commitment issues definitely rubs me the wrong way. OTOH I can kind of relate to keeping that part of her private. I don’t know. As someone who still struggles with her sexuality Kya struck a chord in me but I don’t know how or why.

- Aang being supportive of Kya was so ;_; I wish we got a flashback! I’m afraid Katara reacted less enthusiastically because Kya didn’t bring her up/Korra didn’t ask and it’s a WT thing to keep that sort of thing private.

- Sozin... uhhhhh, okay? Like why? If the FN was accepting of it before, what made Sozin change that? I’m kind of wary because I get the feeling it might’ve been done out of self-hate after being rejected by Roku, and reading around I’m not the only one who thinks that :/ like so far they’v been good about introducing and acknowledging LGBT women, but the only confirmed man is Aiwei and he was a terrorist who died. The man who led a genocide and started a one-hundred year war doesn’t need to be added to that very short list.

- The plot so far isn’t very exciting but I admit I have no guesses as to how the portal thing is going to be resolved, because Mike actually acknowledged how dangerous spirits are. I’m guessing there isn’t going to be a solid conclusion and we'll get something about how spirits and humans are just going to have to work harder to live alongside each other. I think it’d help if they introduced a recurring spirit character, preferably not the bird eel thing.

- I’m guessing Tokuga is going to make Wonyong launch a mud-slinging campaign against Korra and... well, the guy definitely has ammunition, lol. Look what a spirit did to this guy! Avatar Korra told the spirit to attack him! And that is actually an issue-- Tokuga is now living on borrowed time. Imagine if some innocent bystander accidentally got spirit-merged instead. Like I get the feeling this is really gonna blow up at one point.

- OH I TOTALLY FORGOT THIS but I definitely get the feeling that Asami isn’t as comfortable as being out as Korra is, and not in a way where she’s afraid of people’s reactions. I think there’s actually a part of her still struggling with her bisexuality. Like when she’s hesitant to go see the evacuees with Korra, her response isn’t like “oh I think I’ll be more useful here, you go on ahead!” it’s reluctant, and she’s clearly looking for a reason to stay behind... but the thing is, nobody would’ve been able to tell they were dating just from walking alongside each other. I definitely think Asami’s not ready to be seen in public with Korra yet. And honestly that’s the first time I’ve ever been remotely interested in Asami.

- Unfortunately outside of that it still feels like Asami’s not going to get to do much. Hiroshi’s brought up all of one time but it when talking about Wonyong backed out of a deal with him and... IDK, Asami doesn’t like him for it? Why? Did Wonyong do something to screw Hiroshi over? Does Asami know something else about him? Probably not ‘cause she probably would’ve said something so... she just doesn’t like him because he didn’t close a deal with her dad. It was just an awkward moment esp ‘cause Asami approaches him with such hostility. I want to believe there was something else there but I’m not getting my hopes up.

- The tension and plot is just kinda meh because I can guess Korra’s going to get her spirit sanctuary in the end and Tokuga’s probably gonna die unless they find a way to cure him.

- So I’m gonna be That Bitch and say I found Mako’s reaction to Korra and Asami understandable and (currently) not homophobic lol, I’d have the same response if two of my exes go together. I just hope it’s a red herring and Mike doesn’t forget what Mako said to Korra and that he pulls through for both of them when they need help.

- The art is... thoroughly average. This is going to sound MEAN and I’m sorry but it’s very clear they weren’t Bryke’s first choice.

So far I’ll rate the comic a 5/10 which is just average. Pacing is bad, story is too short and unexciting but I admit I’m giddy at seeing girls kissing and being happy together and I’ve found the LGBT world building to be semi-acceptable.

[igglybuffliveblogs]

0:48 Water Tribe? WATER TRIBE? Of course my laptop dies right before the episode we get to the North Pole. Bato is the waterbender who's gonna teach Aang I guess? 1:02 Ayy I missed you guys. But I think you all know who I miss more. 1:04 A whale's tooth? Also where's all the snow in the background? I thought we were in the North Pole dammit 1:09 Wait? Are we gonna learn about the part of Sokka and Katara's tribe that went to the Earth Kingdom? 1:22 Ayyy it's Katara. Still waiting for you know who though so I can make my reaction to seeing him again in Bold 1:25 RIP Half of the South Pole Water Tribe 1:29 Yup Fire Nation killed them all. Can we see a dead water tribe person now? 1:33 I like how you're being optimistic about this Sokka but like didn't the Fire Nation raid your tribe once? Than again we can't really tell who won until we see like a dead body or something. 1:44 (Wood in the background) Uhh.. 1:49 Have no idea if that's a Fire Nation or Water Tribe ship. If it's a Water Tribe ship I assume this Bato person is the only survivor. 1:52 Oh okay so it is a Water Tribe boat. Let's go see how this Bato person looks like shall we? Well you probably already know how he/she looks like so... Let's me see how this Bato person looks like shall I? 1:58 Dammit this show has tricked me like 4 times about the North Pole with their titles. 2:00

YESSSSSSSSS!!!!!

AND HE'S DRINKING TEA TOO

2:15

Who the fuck are you supposed to be? Bato?

2:26

Okay using the Avatar animal logic we have a hybrid consisting of a Giant rideable Dog and a... uhh.. Seriously what the fuck is up with that nose.

2:34

Dog and Scorpion hybrid? What's next? A bear and a bee? terrible jokes aside, a Dog and Scorpion hybrid seems pretty creative.

2:49

Sheersku? Is that how you spell it?

3:08

Bato about to ruin Sokka's pointing fire with a stick party

3:08

Oh shit more flashbacks

3:23

How old is Sokka in that scene? He's chubbier than usual.

3:46

So uhh was that his dad?

3:49

Sup Bato was waiting for you to show up evantually.

3:51

UHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH What.

3:59

I still have 0 clue if Bato is their dad..

4:05

Never mind, questions were answered immediately for once.

4:09

So why the fuck are you chilling here in the West? Or NorthWest? Or SouthWest if Aang and crew are that slow.

4:16

Inside? inb4 is that's piece of wood from a while ago.

(Screenshot of Wood from 1:44)

Yeah that one

4:18

Good Job leaving the fire. Also where's Momo? He was probably sleeping in the background but I'm too lazy to go back and check

4:34

B-but they didn't tell him he was the Avatar..

4:42

oh there you are Momo

4:56

Papa Arrow about to kill a guy

5:00

Dammit now I wanna see their dad just to see how close Sokka acts like him

5:13

Look on the bright side Aang. Now Momo can feel superior in front of a bear.

5:14

Or not.

5:40

So this episode is gonna involve Aang getting rejected than?

5:49

I know that feeling kid..

5:52

B-but you guys did too... Like uhh let's see Sokka's instincts I guess? How Aang made up a random legend to resolve a conflict.. oh wait that was bullshit not hilarious

6:02

Good to know I'm not the only one who does random shit behind my friends while they talk about something I know nothing about.

6:22

Wtf is Ryu doing in Avatar?

6:38

Uncle Lazy? More like BEST FUCKING UNCLE USED TO BE A GENERAL BUT NOW HELPS ZUKO THE BANISHED PRINCE WITH HIS JOURNEY TO GET THE AVATAR AND IS VOICED BY THE LEGENDARY MAKO FOR LIKE HALF OF THE SERIES WHERE HE GETS REPLACED BY THE SAME DUDE WHO REPLACED AKU IN SAMURAI JACK SEASON 5 AND IS THE BROTHER OF FIRE LORD OZAI IROH

[kinetic-elaboration]

February 10: Thoughts on 4x02 Heavy Lies the Crown

I sat down to write my reaction to 4x02 and wrote basically a novel because I have no self-control. I talk so big about being barely invested in the source material anymore and then this happens. I cannot be trusted.

I wrote this before I saw any fandom reactions at all so it’s really just my unfiltered and uninfluenced thoughts.

Tl;dr version:

Team Jaha all the way

Loved the Arkadia stuff especially the Clarke and Jaha stuff and Clarke’s speech

Intrigued by the possibility of waiting out the radiation in the Ark

Interested to see Bryan develop, worried about Miller/Bryan

Legit thought Bellarke were going to kiss when they were saying goodbye

I would have voted with Miller and Monty but I also think that Bellamy’s final decision was the only possible outcome morally and narratively and that for this reason that whole story line was meh for me

A+ Monty characterization

Why does no one care that the Arkadia government has been decimated? This is some grade A nonsense.

...Jasper

*

I'm probably going to nit pick a lot and sound like I didn't like, but overall I actually really did. I'm never going to stop being nostalgic for what the show could have been, but I think it's doing the best it can to come back from the mess of S3.

I'm going to organize my thoughts by storyline this time since, I don’t have definite negatives and definite positives like last week.

POLIS

I have made the tentative decision to avoid absolutely as much as possible all content beyond the actual episodes themselves—that includes preview scenes and bts stuff released before the show airs, as well as interviews, Twitter statements, etc. (I will watch the trailers because I just love trailers in general but that's it.) I have a variety of personal-preference reasons for doing so but I think the opening of this episode really solidifies my episodes-only position. Because such a fucking meal was made about the glowing butterflies, and what did we get? Literally, no one lied: we did see a glowing butterfly, very first thing. But everything that glowing butterflies are associated with (associations the people doing the teasing are very well aware of)--including early S1, the glowing forest, the beauty of the Earth, a sense of calm, etc.--was missing. We get the exact opposite instead: mutilation, death, blood, loss, grief. Wow. I was not impressed. In fact, I felt very cheated. I guess one central reason I'm cutting extras out of my viewing experience is because I feel that most of them are designed to create this reaction, designed to tease and trick on the one hand, or just to outright spoil on the other. They decrease my enjoyment of the show and make me feel like I'm being fucked with for sport.

Not to make too big a deal out of it though, because I feel like my language is harsher than my emotions... Anyway I didn't like the intro is what I'm saying. I don't want to say too much because this is a larger point about the episode but one I'm not sure is fair on my part but...it felt a little too...on the nose? Rote? Like a very simple story was told very quickly and unsubtly: we know Ilian has issues because ALIE had him kill his whole family like it doesn't get shorter and simpler than that. And considering I have nothing but negative associations with ALIE, I'm a little...don't subject me to this please.

I'll reserve most of my judgment because he's barely been introduced but so far Ilian is boring and I don't care about him. Next.

Also boring: Trishanakru (sp?). Again, I know it's early, but what I got out of this episode was that, for all they spend so much fucking time on the Grounders, the PTB really do not have very many ideas for them. Because so far the total variation of the clans has been in degree of warlike qualities (average: Trikru; high: Azgeda; low: Flokru). If we hadn't been told Ilian and dead guy were part of a new clan about twenty times I would have just straight up assumed they were Trikru because they're pretty much impossible to distinguish. And I know, I'm being unfair because it's only been one episode but like...I'd always been under the impression there were real and obvious differences among the 12 clans? If there aren't I literally never have to see any other clans I mean it's bad enough I have to be subjected to those ugly white Azgeda tattoos or the Undergrad Common Room aesthetic of Luna's people.

Kane and Abby: everything's going along in just exactly the way I'd expect with them, which means that my interest level is pretty low tbh. I have a very calm sort of appreciation for them, but no particular thoughts or high emotions. Nothing wrong with two attractive people in bed. But like...the main plot point of their relationship was about Abby deciding what to do with Jake's ring and considering I've already thought about that in a fandom context repeatedly and in more depth—without even being a hardcore Kabby shipper—I was a little underwhelmed by it here. Also actually a little disappointed that she ultimately took it off. Like I know why she had to but I also thought that Kane's earlier statement about Jake being a part of her was his acceptance that she would continue to wear it, and I thought there was something rather nice about that—because Jake was his friend too, and what's really wrong with someone whose spouse is dead simultaneously remembering the deceased and having a relationship with someone else? IDK. I guess...it was all fine but not very deep.

Octavia: I have to say I'm kind of surprised by Octavia so far because I was under the impression that she would immediately cut ties with everyone and have a totally separate story line. So that she's still hanging out, at least in body if not spirit, with Kabby and that she hasn't been, like, universally shunned or even officially banished or whatever is just.. I'm not sure what to make of it. What I mean is: does no one but Bryan care that she assassinated the Chancellor? (Also tbt that time she had a big fit about Bellamy attempting to assassinate the Chancellor lol how times have changed.) I'm personally pretty ready to forget literally everything from S3 in a lot of ways but realistically stuff that happened mere days ago in the show should probably be addressed and it's just really weird to me that there's been next to no consequence for her. Also I don't think the show has any idea what to do with O now (which is also why I have an eye-rolly reaction to 'Lincoln died to further O's story line' arguments because IMO almost the opposite happened: Lincoln died and O's story fell apart.) Anyway I don't care about her.

I am STILL BOTHERED by the fact that O got a tattoo in the S2-S3 hiatus but we only got the barest hints of it in S3 and are only getting full views of it now, a season later. And no one's ever mentioned it. I mean maybe this is my Conservative view of tattoos but imo inking your skin is like kinda a big deal and even if you don't think it is in the here and now... tats are a Grounder thing, a permanent alteration of your body that only Grounders do...so it feels like her getting one is sort of a big deal within this society and I would have liked to see it, if not on screen, at least...like a plot point? Or honestly why the fuck even do it. Like literally why subject to Marie to additional make up, why take on the added burden of continuity checks about her tattoo, if it's not even remotely important to your story??

Speaking of tattoos, I forgot to say this before, but if literally everyone has tattoos (and pretty much every Grounder we've ever encountered has had tattoos, whether they're warriors or not, as far as I can tell), how does it help a Spy not to have them? I mean...if there's only one person hanging out with no tats...would you not automatically suspect that person of spying?? Also it kinda looked like Echo did have a tattoo in that fight scene with Roan, a black one on her arm, but it was hard to tell. Coulda been her shirt I dunno.

AKA the world building on this show leaves a lot to be desired but what's new.

These people are shit at keeping secrets for real.

ARKADIA

I'm intrigued by this idea that they could hide out in the Ark itself during the radiation—for a lot of reasons. I fucking love the Ark, first of all. It's an idea I hadn't previously thought of or seen anyone else think of so it's actually surprising to me, and creative, and unexpected, unlike a lot of the rest of the show at this point. It's way better than going into space, which is tragic in its comic ridiculousness. It makes a nice full circle. I think there's something O.Henry sad about it in a way too because if that's the solution they use...they'll live, but they'll never see the outside again. They're creating another Mt. Weather in a way (and I think they semi-know it: "If there's another Mt. Weather out there, the Grounders will know")--and we know how that worked out for them. (I think the lesson from Mt. Weather, honestly, is that if you can't evolve you don't get to live.) Then of course there's the lifeboat problem which, personally, at this point, is getting a little boring. But I definitely caught Raven saying at the end that only "a hundred" of them would fit without the water machine, so that's either significant or bad story telling.  

Also finally my boy Monty coming back into the genius fold. I'm still a little...wary of how they're developing Monty because I remain dissatisfied with his post-Mt. Weather story but what can you do. Promising so far at least.

I literally stopped the video and laughed when I saw the Bellamy/Miller/Bryan scene because of Bryan's gratuitous shirtlessness. Like...I know the implication is not that Bellamy walked in on anything because Bryan was in pajamas and Miller was dressed but it was still fucking hilarious to me anyway because I have the sense of humor of a 12-year-old and always will. (More on them below.)

TEAM JAHA all the way. Okay, I've been thinking a little more about him and... I think it's important to differentiate between liking a character as a character and liking a character in universe. By liking a character in-universe I mean 'if X were a real person, I would like him. I agree with his choices, his sense of morality, and he has an agreeable personality.' Sometimes I dislike Jaha in-universe; I think he was objectively wrong in S2 when he chose the City of Light over getting Our Heroes out of Mt. Weather. But it also isn't important to me to like a character in-universe. Plenty of characters do bad or wrong things and if everyone always did the right thing, there'd be no conflict and no story. What I can't stand is characters who don't make sense as characters and I've been, as I said, uncertain about Jaha. I don't think the show's done him any favors by separating him from so much of the cast for so long (aside from Murphy, has he had any extended interaction with any major cast member since S1? This isn't a real question. The answer is no.) He has often just been not as entertaining as other characters because of this. And I think he's on a long arc, starting all the way back in mid-S1. Combine these things—a long arc that requires a long attention span to understand, developed slowly and in separation from most of the rest of the main cast and main events—and you have a good recipe for a widely-disliked character. I don't dislike him, but I've been frustrated by him, and uncertain how to separate in-universe frustration from badly-drawn-character frustration. BUT I increasingly think that Jaha is an excellently drawn character, probably one of the more consistent on the entire show (certainly way more consistent than Kane lol), and I'm really enjoying seeing him, the real him, again. Jaha is sounding a lot more like his S1 self. And bringing him together with Clarke is A+. More of this please. More philosophical conversations about leadership I can get behind. I love that he used to be an engineer. I love that he's unflappable—never defending himself, never self-flagellating for others' sick pleasure. I love the hair (or...lack of hair). I love the lines he's given, like the 'no leader sets out wanting to lie to their people' one. (I stg if that line doesn't make its way into fandom lore I will riot. I need recompense for every single Clarke "I bear their burdens" gifset I've ever seen.) Just...yes, more Jaha, good stuff.

I like Clarke's new/old outfit and shorter hair but I don't like that little pouf on the top. That must go. I also like, tentatively (it's always tentatively with me and Clarke because if I were to rewatch 2x16 tomorrow I'd insta-hate her again so), where Clarke is going. I like that she's still pragmatic and a little ruthless but that this is mixed in with that old idealism of hers. I do think she's becoming more of her old S1 self, while still taking into account her other experiences and how she's grown and changed. So...yeah I don't feel I have much in terms of analysis on her after having only seen this episode once, but I'm encouraged.

I know I literally just said mere hours before watching this episode that the show had abandoned the relationship between Clarke and Raven but then what do you know, a pleasant surprise: they are interacting again. I liked it. I will always want more because they're one of my favorite relationships on the show but this was so good. I like seeing Raven challenge Clarke and Clarke actually take it into account. I like the tension between them. I like seeing Raven owning her own department. And I liked the tension with Jaha because it's consistent with her general character, very hard nosed and unforgiving.

...There's a part of me that wants to ship Monty/Raven but it's just so hard to ship, in-universe, Monty or Jasper with pretty much any other character because they're so much younger. I know the show doesn't treat them like they're younger and at this point pretty much every delinquent (except Bellamy) is in the "rough contemporaries" category but... Raven is still 19 or almost 19 and Monty is still 15 maaaaybe 16, and that's a big gap, it just is. It makes me semi-uncomfortable. Especially because, even though I think difference in life experience matters more than difference in calendar age, I still think Monty and Jasper were introduced as like the little brothers of the group and it's hard for me to break out of this conception of them.

I know we didn't really see anything new with Jasper in this episode, like that wasn't in trailers or whatever (I didn't see the shower scene clip before I watched 4x02 so I that was semi-new to me), but... I still love him. He is definitely incredibly damaged and it's still fairly remarkable to me that literally no one seems to recognize that he is sick—but I have no problem watching incredibly damaged characters so I am having a good old gay time with his story. Just don't let it end in death. As always, I love any reference to him and Monty being stoner dorks and the high five did not disappoint when given greater context. Actually it got better. And I'm glad he has a spear-scar still, although—and I have no idea how spears or scars work so maybe it was realistic—I wish it had been bigger/more obvious.

I'm pretty angry that my characterizations of Jasper and Monty re: their sexualities are backwards in the angst story and almost everything else I've written of them. Dammit fandom, letting your gay!Monty headcanon seep into my brain. I have no problem with seeing Monty as gay, but there was never actually any indication that he was and, more importantly, there was indication that he's into girls going all the way back to the pilot ("Note to self: next time save the girl," and, from mid-S1: "Are you kidding me? That was there for the taking."). Anyway, it's fine; sexualities are there to be messed with in fic. More importantly, bi!Jasper becomes increasingly canon for me every day. Monty's all "I am hella uncomfortable with your nudity" and there's Jasper like "I give no fucks anymore, I'm enjoying my slow suicide and I'm going to do whatever, wanna hug???? We can get high later and whatever happens happens!"

Fuck, Jasper's taste in music is bad though. IMO. As with the Violent Femmes song in 3x01, I get that the lyrics work well and I get why this song was chosen, but I just thought both songs were obnoxious to listen to. UGH. Where's my Joy Division.

I definitely thought, when Clarke was saying goodbye to the road trippers, that she and Bellamy were going to affectionately kiss goodbye. Like, obviously I didn't think this in the intellectual sense. I just had this sudden flash of feeling: this is where the goodbye kiss goes. And then when it didn't I had to sit back and think—all this happened in a handful of seconds obviously—oh yeah, they're not established yet. That's how easy and natural their chemistry is. It's really refreshing.

Clarke's speech at the end was very interesting. Honestly... I know why it had to be her, narratively speaking, but I kinda wish in a way it had been Bellamy. Because I like his speeches more. But it wouldn't make sense so this isn't a criticism. I liked that she was responding to Jasper and Raven and Jaha all at once. (And I especially liked the call back to Jasper, the sort of delayed convo, survive versus live versus thrive.) I thought it was an interesting moment too because not only did it call back to the Ark government's season 1 decisions, but it also called back to Bellamy's early decisions on the ground. I'm thinking in particular to how he used the threat of the Grounders to inspire the camp to work and build a wall—and listen to him, of course. He instinctively harnessed the threat and used it to power the forming of the community. He was even willing to lie to keep it together: to let everyone believe Wells had been killed by a Grounder, even when Bellamy knew better. And that's what Clarke's doing, she's giving a version of the truth to the people to inspire them and to get them to work. I wonder if Bellamy sees this parallel too.

It's been 9 days since Clarke pulled the lever and now not only does Arkadia not have a council but it doesn't even have a chancellor and no one cares. NO ONE CARES. All of their government is totally gone, not just Pike but Kane and Abby (the prior de facto leaders), Sinclair (the head of a major department)...Jaha is around but he's clearly disgraced and powerless...who is running the show??? By which I mean, lol Clarke obviously. But why?? How? From where does her authority with non-delinquents derive? It's just this really weird hole in the story line imo because she's a child who 99% of the people have never met (okay arguments can be made about S2 but imo she was more Grounder-liaison than Arkadia head of state) and there's just... no...explanation...of how the  community survives on the day-to-day. Except for the scene where Jasper oversees the party, which I guess, fair enough, is probably what would happen. This is all the more frustrating for me because the idea of a leaderless lawless community coming together was a major initial theme/plot of the very first episodes, and I've been missing it ever since, and here's another opportunity to engage in those themes and questions again and instead it's like...don't look over here at this humongous plot hole!!! Don't look!!

FARM STATION

I'm so tense about Miller/Bryan because in my opinion it makes sense to keep them alive and keep them together but with this show who ever freaking knows. They're the only long-term couple on the show, and the only m/m couple the show has ever had; their story's barely been told; Bryan couldn't stand on his own at this point and I feel like the pr nightmare of killing another queer kid just isn't worth it... But there have been plenty of other nonsense deaths on this show and I don't trust it. So. Anyway. I'm tense but I'm liking what I'm seeing so far. I like that we're seeing more of who Bryan is. I like that they're not forgetting where he came from or what his experiences are. I like that he's a little hard and a little on edge and a little dangerous because I think that's a good sort of person for Miller and it's more interesting. I like that they addressed his sudden change of heart last season because, while I'm not bothered really by everyone's easy forgiveness of him (I think it made narrative sense if not in-universe sense—not ideal but I can live with it), I do think that they organized that episode around the surprise of his about-face, without really explaining why he made the decision he did. Because that decision making process occurred off-screen in order to keep the surprise. I mean obviously it was pretty clear he did it For Love but I'm nevertheless glad they're discussing it.

I'm a little confused as to how Miller/Bryan ended though... I asked my mom (before I watched) if they broke up and she said no and I agree that on its face that does not look like a break up. It looks like a fight. If I were Miller or Bryan I would view it as a fight not an ending. BUT. This show doesn't really do relationship arcs, so much as it does relationship plot points here and there and you have to fill in the rest. I think. I guess it's hard to tell given how few relationships there have been, as opposed to hook ups or more informal romances, but that's sort of my feeling. A developing theory. So I guess I mean I wouldn't put it past the show to just act, next time we see one or both of them, like it's obvious they're not together anymore. I hope that's not how it goes down but I'm floating the possibility.

I asked my mom about M/H content too, so I could brace myself, and she said that, had she not known they were together, she would not have guessed based on 4x02. I agree and that makes me happy. The less of that the better. Also...while obviously I know that there's more to a relationship than just kissing or fucking, and that it's a bit silly to say "well I couldn't tell they were a couple because they didn't kiss in this episode..."—that in fact is not what I'm saying. Or what my mom was saying. My point is more that, if a couple has a basis for being a couple, like any sort of compatibility at all, you'll see it all the time, not just when they're on a date or in bed together. But what is the basis for the M/H relationship? There's nothing there to remind you why they're together when they're not...literally together...because it's random!! Because we know nothing of their common likes or interests, nothing of their way of interacting, nothing of what they like about each other, nothing about what makes them compatible—nothing! They're two names drawn out of a hat! Like the moment I thought that Bellarke would kiss even though they're not a couple...that could never happen with M/H because they have no substance! AT ALL! You can think they're cute as much as you fucking like but that doesn't give this story line any weight and I will continue to judge it harshly and bitterly until my contrary heart stops beating.

As to the actual Farm Station story line... the eternal small tragedy of high expectations I guess. I was...underwhelmed but I don't know why. I wanted to like it. I was looking forward to it. And I can't quite pinpoint what didn't do it for me in the narrative. But it seemed a little off.

One possibility is that it just didn't go into the details I most like. I am desperate for more info about the Ark, so if we're going to go to Farm Station, let's fucking go to Farm Station. Let's take a tour. Let's see Monty's bedroom. Let's take the space weed from behind the wall idc. Let's let Bryan and Monty interact even more than they did. Let's reminisce about the past. Realistically and objectively, I know that's not the focus of the show or the episode and I did get several small details of the sort I love and I shouldn't complain. I'm not complaining exactly. I'm just saying this might be a source of my personal disappointment.

Another possibility: the alleged Big Moral Decision of the Week was an easy one. Too easy. I feel a bit weird saying this because I actually came to the opposite conclusion of the majority, and not only did I come down on the Miller + Monty side of the debate (the first and so far only time they have agreed on anything in case anyone was keeping track of the State of their Relationship), but it was an incredibly obvious and easy decision for me morally speaking. Which is sort of a separate problem but I'll get to that in a minute.  

However, what I really mean by it was too easy is that the actual conclusion, to save the immediate victims at the expense of later people, was literally the only place the narrative could go. Which meant that the conclusion wasn't a surprise, and the tension leading up to the conclusion was lacking. Bellamy as a character, regardless of what one thinks of the 3a massacre, cannot handle more immediate deaths on his hands, in terms of casual viewer reactions and after all of this consistent narrative shaming. He just can't be seen standing over dead bodies, literally or just-off-screen, right now in the story. So obviously he's going to save the slaves. Also it's only 2 episodes in and there's no way they can come home with the magical mystical life saving machinery this early. It's too easy. Not that one problem can't be solved and then followed by ten more new problems but that's not how this show operates. It piles on the problems, resolves some mid-season, and the rest at the very end. The only moment of actual surprise I felt was when I saw them walk out with the thing, but even then I recognized in about 0.2 seconds that it was a fake out—of the audience and of the Grounders themselves. When the seemingly deep debate is about a non-issue it loses all of its sense of importance and becomes essentially a waste of episode time instead of the center of the episode.

So that being said... I know it's a hard argument to make to say simultaneously that the conclusion of the narrative is obvious and that I came to an equally obvious opposite conclusion. And I also know that something can be obvious and still narratively tense/morally gray/difficult to watch/otherwise captivating (for example: destroying Mt. Weather in 2x16). BUT. I think there is a disconnect between how obvious it was and how obvious it was supposed to be. I think the intention was for it to be a reasonable-people-can-disagree sort of thing. I think it was supposed to cause internal conflict in the viewer and its conclusion was meant to anger at least some of the audience. But that's not how it worked out for me. Perhaps this will sound callous, but I really did not care about the enslaved Sky People. I have no idea who these people are. I don’t even get what they're doing there, like what the purpose of them for Azgeda is. I'm sure they used the word 'slave' not just to be accurate but to immediately bring up certain associations in the viewers' minds; it's a really charged term for good reason. And obviously, intellectually, I know slavery is bad, and Azgeda is bad, and these are Sky People, and Bryan et. al. know them, and that girl is really small and sad looking. But none of this resonated for me emotionally. Maybe I'm dead inside. But it felt an awful lot like being told instead of being shown. I cared about the Mt. Weather people, because I knew some of them well after an entire season and because I'd been mediating on the tragic impossibility of their situation in general for roughly as long. Their deaths were narratively and in-universe inevitable, even heavily foreshadowed, but it still hurt to see. These people? They matter less to me than saving all the characters I already know, people who may have to be sacrificed later in order to protect these Unknowns now. It's no contest. This is obviously very much a question of perspective—Harper made a good point in saying it's like them at Mt. Weather, because Jaha then wanted to do essentially what Miller and Monty wanted to do in 4x02, which is to say sacrifice a few of his own to save the many, and I thought that Jaha was objectively wrong in that instance. (Part of that is that the narrative later proved him wrong: almost all of his merry band of cultists died on the journey to the CoL. But even up front, the idea of sacrificing the main characters is untenable within the story, so he was automatically wrong.) But it's the narrative's job to shape the perspective, and it has a lot of power to make an issue morally gray or clear black and white. I don't think the narrative did its job in this instance.

I'm still not sure I'm doing a good job explaining (or defending) my lack of emotional response here. Basically, I felt like the Farm Station story, like the intro with Ilian, and like the Kabby stuff as well, was paint-by-numbers. It was 'okay let's get this done, one two three, all the bases touched, story complete.' Rote. It didn't have the nuance of the show at its best, like the last episodes of Season 2 or even the Clarke and Jaha convo in this very episode.

I did like the scene where Monty confronts his father's killer, first because of Bryan's line about this being "Monty's kill" because it speaks to how he lived for four months during the S2-S3 hiatus and that interests me, but also because I thought that scene was spot on for how I see Monty. He is ruthless in a lot of ways but he's not a hands-dirty type. He doesn't hesitate in his moral judgments and as far as we know he doesn't have much of any regrets (I've been annoyed at him not reacting enough to Mt. Weather—maybe he really isn't plagued by guilt about it at all—an interesting possibility but one I still think should be on screen a little). He's very sure of himself. But he's barely even held a firearm (like once in S2 and then a little in S3), I'm pretty sure his only one-on-one kill is his own mother...and that's pretty unusual on this show. (Clarke, Bellamy, Jasper, Octavia, Miller, and Harper, and I'm going to have to assume Bryan, have all killed, sometimes with their bare hands, and/or were consistently using firearms going back to S1.) I definitely would have been surprised to see him axe that Ice Nation fellow in the face. But I also would have been shocked to see Monty show him mercy. I thought that the route they went, having him sentence the man to death without ever touching him, was such a good choice, a powerful moment for real without being out of character.

I feel like I haven't said much of anything about Bellamy....again, wonderful. He is such a great leader with these kids. I think he really walks the line between military-style leader and just straight up Dad. (And yes I thought he was adorable with the small child at the end.) It might be more subtle than last episode, but I still think groundwork is being laid for Bellamy to fully come into his own as a leader, to the same extent that Clarke already (BIZARRELY AND PREMATURELY) has, if not more. Basically what I'm saying is Blake for Chancellor 2018.

I have long headcanoned that Farm Station crashed in Pennsylvania. It's cold and snowy enough to be "Ice Nation" territory; close enough to be reached within a day by Rover, as we saw in 3x01 (and here? IDK how long this episode was supposed to cover but it looked like a pretty short period to me); but far enough away that Pike, Hannah, Bryan, et. al. could easily be lost for 3-4 months without running into our heroes in Virginia. I still think this is a plausible theory but man, those mountains do not look passably Pennsylvanian to me. Not that I'm a Pennsylvanian mountain expert. And not that they shot in Pennsylvania honestly. Anyway my headcanon remains.

I thought the moment with Clarke meeting Riley again was really sweet. It somehow helped more than the Bryan stuff at the Station itself to remind me that these are Sky People—not just poor mistreated human beings but poor mistreated friends and neighbors. Also again this is my favorite society so seeing some more unexpected connections among them was cool. I do hope we see Riley again, not because I care about him yet, but because it's annoying to see someone obviously foregrounded as a New Character to Watch only for them to disappear. Like with Mel in season 2. Ruined expectations are really annoying and not to be confused with "being realistic" or "being shocking."

[reviewae]

H2W Reactions (SPOILER ALERT)

Disclaimer: any excerpts taken and posted here do not belong to me, only the reactions do. the excerpts belong to the great great olivieblake.

Oh my god, so we’re starting with Dramione?! Yayayayayayayayayay!!!!!!(does a little tap-dance with sombrero dangling off of head.)

(Just so you know guys, I have already read this chapter roughly five times(I couldn’t control myself!) and all my reactions are not actual live reations, but roll with it.)

A whiff of something familiar that tickled his nose to consciousness; a faint hint of gardenias.Oh my god oh my god I know what that is..its Hermione’s perfume,right, from Clean and Marked!?

Hermione's perfume. See? I told ya.

"I wouldn't keep her very far," he commented, and Draco frowned, recognizing neither the man nor the intent behind his reference. Cause you’re not really into her yet, son. It takes time. But look what we got here: another Dramione shipper! Welcome to the fam son, your name?

"You're a motherfucking swine," Daisy snapped,  Yeah, tell him, girl!

"My father," Daisy interrupted, "has nothing to do with this." You poor, innocent child. *pats hair gently*

"Okay, listen up you little shitbag, I - mphhmhihm-" Ewww. Is it just me or does it look-sound like he’s kissed her. He’s most likely gagged her though.

Draco had once hoped himself that she would stop talking, he determined that a disconcerting form of wish-fulfillment. The snark levels of this guy, like honestly. He’s probably going to die but *gestures hands wildly* 

Draco caught the outline of a tattoo at the base of his throat, tucking the observation in the back of his mind for later. Okay, another guy from the mysterious infinity club. I’m going to save this info for later too.

Demonstration of what excessive snark levels make you:  "Sounds like breaking and entering," Draco commented in reply. "Though, considering you already have kidnapping checked off the list, I suppose that's nothing remarkable, is it?"

Draco Malfoy. They make you Draco Malfoy.

"I have surveillance charms set up in my office," she said tightly, not quite looking at Hermione. "I know you and Malfoy took my files, but I figured once you saw I wasn't covering anything up you'd simply return them. I thought it would be better to let you think you had me fooled," she exhaled, sighing out the irony, "so you'd figure out on your own that you could trust me." You little shit, Carnegie. You’re also kinda like Harry y’know. Just more, slytherin-ish.

Draco, again, felt a twinge of guilt at having once made the same assertion. I love how they keep coming back to this non-consequential piece of information.  

"You know," Draco ventured tangentially, "I have a tattoo myself." Yours is one heck of a tattoo son. Really..um, sophisticated. Also, I see what you’re doing there.

"I find that mine is rather telling," he offered wryly.No shit Sherlock.

"I'll tell you precisely who I am. I'm Nicholas Flamel, though I prefer to go by N-" What the fuck? That old shit’s dead. He was connected to that shiny red ruby then he died or something. Or was going to.

"You can't be Nicholas Flamel. He's - he's old," she protested, "and the Philosopher's Stone was destroyed, so - "   Same, sis, same.

and as I was saying, I prefer Nico. So You’re Nico!? Nice to meet you! Sorry to say this, but you’re kinda an asshole.

Nico's expression stiffened. That was a risky gamble. Let’s hope it works for your sake.

"Lady Revel," he repeated, his tongue darting angrily between his lips as if to rid himself of the taste. "I'll have to have a talk with Ignotus," Damn, she is already gone, man; nothing you do can ruin her further. and I kinda like her(totally cause she wants to mutilate umbridge) he murmured to himself, and behind Draco, he felt Hermione stiffen. Why did hermione stiffen? What does she know? Something’s up.

Draco elbowed her as sharply as possible, smacking the back of his head against hers for emphasis. When I said ‘physical affection’ I certainly did not mean this. Gentle with the goods, man.

"The attention," she croaked. "We theorized it was being done for attention. The reason for low-ranking officials is obviously access - they're easier to get to, first of all, and they don't have years of threats teaching them to watch their backs and safeguard their security, and - "

"Yes, yes," Nico said, flicking his wand again to silence her. "Attention, fine," he permitted, "but whose? That's no less opaque."

"But why on earth would anyone blame an organization whose entire purpose is predicated on secrecy?" Hermione pressed. "If these poisonings aren't being orchestrated by the Club, then who could be - " Wait, What the fuck? Two of them are tied up and the third is holding them hostage and they’re just talking to each other like they’re just solving any other case or something?

"Are you nearly done?" Emmett demanded. "Emilia's going mad, I can't hold her off for much longer, and if she calls in Daisy's Aurors - " Okay, first of all, Fuck you Emmett, you heartless bastard. Second of all, thank god, emilia is not involved in this. that would have been just too much heartbreak for poor Daisy.

"Really," he added, shaking his head with what appeared to be wildly misplaced mirth, "what parent would?" Wait. What’s happening? Why’d he say that? is he going to kill him? oh my gosh he’s gonna kill him isn’t he?

"What murder?" Emmett asked, and Draco groaned.

"Worst last words ever,"Seriously Draco, I honestly don’t know what to do with you. he muttered as Daisy screamed, and behind him, Draco felt Hermione gasp, both of them watching Emmett Carnegie fall stiffly to the floor in the span of a breath. Eeek. Didnt see THAT coming. or maybe i did. either way, good riddance?

"I have a chocolate frog card of you, you bastard!" HAHAHAHAHA!! Of all the things she could have said, she says that?!!

"That's a man I paid to continue to be me as I focused my attention on other pursuits. “ Stunt double. Seems like even the best can’t hold their own.

"Hermione," Draco interrupted, clearing a rasp from his voice. "I have to tell you something. Before we die, I need you to know something," he pressed urgently, and turned as far as he was able, catching the sharp turn of her head. "I need you to know I'm - I'm so sorry," he exhaled. "Everything I said to you, everything I did, I need you to know how sorry I am, and - " Omg, is it happening? is he telling her he loves her? but he’s accepting his death so quickly? that’s not possible. that’s not the Draco I know. He’s upto something isn’t he? He’s buying time. ahuhhh...

^^^Actual footage of Draco Malfoy. Sorry, Back to the story!

Draco was certain the compulsion to imagine his final words must have occurred at least once to Nicholas Flamel, a man who'd outlived his friends and family for centuries.

After all, even a man fixated on immortality must suffer mortal pitfalls.

"Surely you've thought about the things you would have done," Draco pressed. "Haven't you? The things you'd want to say, and how you'd want to say them." He paused, parsing his words carefully. "You can't tell me it's never crossed your mind." This little shit. He knows exactly what he’s doing and I love him!!!

"Draco," Hermione said quietly, leaning her head back against his. "It's okay, I understand - " Hermione, child,I love you and all but please, shut up. 

"In the lining of my pocket," he whispered to her. "Any vial will - " Please tell me there’s a bomb in there.

Draco nodded hurriedly, gripping Hermione's waist as her fingers rose to place themselves against his chest, smoothing out against the fabric of his shirt.  Yaaaaaasss pull her closer boy! Get some babay!!!

"I'm sorry," he told her. "I hurt you, I insulted you, I misjudged you, and I'm fucking sorry for it. Before anything happens to either of us, I need to know you forgive me for everything I've done."  Is he being genuine? Please be genuinely sorry. Please.

"I just need you to know that I love you, Hermione," Draco pronounced firmly, and yanked her in close, kissing her as deeply and ferociously as he could manage.

He deepened the kiss, gripping the back of her head with one hand as he covertly grasped her fingers with the other, and took the vial from her with careful, breathless precision.And then - because nothing in life was ever certain, he reasoned, and if he were going to die, he'd prefer it be in the aftermath of something enjoyable - he kissed her a few moments longer. He slid his tongue along the bottom swell of her lip and she shivered, drawing him closer. Her hands dropped to his hips, her fingers digging into the lip of his trousers, and  Oh my god, do i feel hot? is it hot in here? no only hot in there. oooff , when i said get some, you really took it to heart didn’t you?

"Ehem," Nico said, making a face. "I think you've said it."  Nico be like, “Meh. Straight, mortal people.”

Draco pulled away, dazed I totally understand boo.

"I'd rather not live to see Draco die, if that's alright with you." Gives me such Ride or Die deja vu feels.

There was a loud series of gasps, a shattering of glass, and then Draco looked up slowly, realizing that the many eyes of the party's guest had fallen on them; specifically, on the dead man clutched by his traumatized daughter, and then on Hermione and Draco, who clung to each other, breathing hard. Ooops?

Okay quick note, I’m skipping the rhys part cause unpopular opinion, I don’t like him. I mean, he’s decent and all but, Paws off Draco’s Hermione!! So yeah, y’know. Also he’s a side character, not veeerryy interested in him.Also, who’s gonna read that when you have dramione coming up? Yes, more DRAMIONE!!!YAAASSS!!! I’ll probably do this reaction later, in a small side note or something.

She reached out, catching his arm. Are they going to fuck?Please do!!!

"Malfoy," she began, and exhaled, uncertain how to proceed. "What you said back there, in Daisy's office - "

"It was a distraction," Draco supplied curtly. "Nothing to acknowledge. Shockingly," he drawled, kicking at the upturned corner of the rug, "I'm not actually in love with you." Sheeshh. Harsh.

"No, I meant about - " she faltered. "You said you were sorry." She’s not letting go that easy, isn’t she? God bless her.

"Of course I'm sorry," he said. "You know that." Awwww, he acknowledges it.Okay,that’s it, i am officially in love with this Draco.

"Until what?" he asked, stepping towards her. "Until it was almost too late? Until we were both about to die?" He paused again, staring at her. "Until I was holding you in my arms?" Woooh, from a zero to a hundred just like that. Man, he’s hot when he’s scary, and frank.

and he looked as though he might step closer, but then abruptly decided against it.  Nononononononnonono. Its just one little step. Just one little step, do it man.

She took the step he didn't. THANKYOU!!!!!

She reached out, brushing a strand of silvery-blond hair from his eyes, and swallowed hard. *chanting* KISS KISS KISS KISS!!!!

Behind them, the Floo suddenly burst into flames, Harry's head appearing in the fireplace. OKAY WHAT THE FUCK! HARRY? YOU FUCKING BASTARD!! YOU COULD’VE JUST WAITED 10 SECONDS COULDN’T YOU? YOU JUST HAD TO COCKBLOCK RIGHT NOW!? YOU ABSOLUTE FUCKER!! GET LOST!!! 

OKAY I AM NOT EVEN READING THE REST CAUSE I AM TOO ANGRY TO(And also cause the scroll sigh is almost at the end.). HARRY POTTER YOU COME IN FRONT OF ME NEXT TIME AND I’LL FUCKING RIP YOU TO SHREDS!!!

Roughly an hour later, That was not a cliffhanger, but it was also fucking worse!!! Now have to wait for like 3-4 more chapters of angsty eye-fucking and rhys-hermione before i get a glimpse  of pure unadulterated and uninterrupted Dramione (yes, I’m side-eyeing Harry.)  Well, that’s all for this chapter, make sure to reblog and follow.I make new reactions every sunday.(Though this came a little late ‘cause i had exams.) Also shoutout to @coyunnnnn for reblogging. Thanks for reading!!! 1402wisegirl, over and out.