#and now he's clearly going to be a bigger character in s3 based on that trailer.

[demetriandelibinaryboyfriends]

Pride Month Character Sexuality Headcanon Moodboards 1. Yasmine - Lesbian 2. Demetri Alexopoulos - Gay 3. Moon - Bisexual 4. Eli "Hawk" Moskowitz - Bisexual

Next up is everyone's favorite Demetri Alexopoulos-obsessed slightly evil predatory bird boy, Eli "Hawk" Moskowitz! Unlike with Demetri, I am fully aboard the Bisexual Eli Express. Justice for bi guys!!! We need more in media because it is in fact sexy and valid to like dick AND boobs!!!

Now, quick disclaimer that there is not a single mlw Eli ship that I personally fuck with in the least. I've been pretty loud about the reasons for my immense distaste of H*wkM**n, and could in fact write a 20 or so page essay on why they're one of my all-time NoTPs if prompted. Furthermore, my first impulse upon seeing any other female character paired with Eli (or...really, any character who isn't Demetri, or possibly Miguel in extremely specific circumstances) is to keep said pairing approximately 491263844976 feet away from me. BUT, despite my personal feelings of revulsion upon seeing Eli paired with anyone who isn't his soulmate Demetri Alexopoulos, I fully believe Eli is bisexual and that there's plenty of textual evidence to support this!

So let's dive in!

The first thing that comes to mind is how Eli vents to his mom in the 2x05 flashback about how he's "never going to get a girlfriend." Granted, as I've mentioned in some other posts, high school dating is often more about social status (i.e. being seen as "desirable" enough to get an SO makes you more popular) than genuine romantic attraction. BUT Eli voicing his concerns to someone he clearly trusts more than most people indicates to me that he wants a girlfriend more than just for show--he's attracted to girls.

I have a friend who since moved on from the fandom who did autistic analyses of Eli, and pointed out that he's often uncomfortable with eye contact. Pre-Hawk, the only two people we see him make consistent eye contact with are Demetri and his mom. This seems like a pretty good indication that these are the two people he trusts the most, and can most honestly "bare his soul" and be himself around. Another reason I think his vent to his mom about worrying he's never going to have the experience of dating a girl has authenticity to it. I can't compare this to Demetri's interactions with his mom, unfortunately (and it's a damn shame!!! I demand to see Ms. Alexopoulos in S6!!!), but I can say for certain that Eli has expressed wanting a girlfriend from a (presumably) vulnerable and honest place, while S1 Demetri only ever seems to do so performatively.

As previously established, there is no bigger H*wkM**n loather than I. I make no secret of this. HOWEVER!!! I feel like it'd be naive--and maybe even dumb--to pretend that there isn't at least some physical attraction there. Granted, they're definitely emotionally incompatible in a way I wish the show had the balls to actually address (like how the fuck is a pacifist gonna last in a relationship with a dude who loves fighting more than just about everything else lmao), but I can buy they find each other physically (and probably sexually) attractive. Moon basically says as much when she's dumping Eli in S2! They very much strike me as one of those teenage couples who are all over each other 90% because of hormones. I'd say the main difference between them and Dem and Yas is that the performative aspect doesn't seem to be there. While Dem and Yas feel like they're putting on a show, it seems like Hawk and Moon really were just that horny.

So throughout S2, we see Hawk treat Moon in kind of a possessive way, and more as arm candy to make him look good than as her own person (yet another reason I am such a Hater lmao). Despite this, he spends so much time in S3 and S4 moping over her and pining for her that I do think they had somewhat of an emotional connection, even if it was pretty surface-level. I still think their relationship was mostly based on looks and social status, but him being that hung up on winning her back (a frankly unhealthy thing that should not have been narratively rewarded btw) instead of just moving on to some other hot girl who'd give him the time of day indicates that Moon was more than just a beard.

So like. I feel like if you weren't convinced that Eli has feelings for Demetri, you wouldn't be reading a post written by tumblr user demetriandelibinaryboyfriends XD But to briefly summarize: Eli spends much of the show shooting Demetri Yearning Looks and being the only one amused by his antics. Even when they're falling out, Eli is borderline obsessive about harassing Demetri when he could just ignore him and focus on his Cool New Karate Friends. He often seeks Demetri out in fights in a way that feels pretty damn fruity. He's pretty physically affectionate with Demetri, and never seems to mind when Dem is physically affectionate with him (to the point of near cuddling in S4). This is...unusual for teenage boys, to say the least! Oftentimes even the straight ones are so terrified of being perceived as gay that they're super stingy about all but the most "no homo" type of physical affection. The fact that Dem and Eli pretty liberally put their arms around each other and give each other little gestures of physical affection makes me think that they've been in a homoerotic friendship so long that they like. Don't even realize it comes across as kinda gay??? Like Miguel and Demetri are physically affectionate too, but it's much more casual and doesn't feel as intense.

Also worth a mention that Eli is literally simping for Demetri so hard that he joins Demetri's karate dojo right after being terribly traumatized and deciding to quit karate. Why??? Because Demetri said some encouraging things to him, cuddled him on a couch, and basically confessed his love by being like "hey I'll always care about you no matter how you wear your hair or what name you go by." This man is whipped as fuck. His actor basically confirmed he won the championship for Demetri! And lest we forget, the final push that got him to betray the dojo he'd previously devoted his entire life to--also led by a dangerous war criminal sure not to take betrayal lightly, might I mention--was seeing Demetri in danger. Eli "Hawk" Moskowitz is in fact Down Bad.

So I'm not a big fan of the migu/eli ship for reasons I don't want to get into here, but imo it's completely possible Eli had feelings for Miguel at some point (I just don't think they were ever reciprocated because Miguel is in love with Sam!). He definitely idolizes Miguel and puts him on a kind of "coolness" pedestal that feels like it could easily be romantic. He also gets so obsessed with avenging Miguel that he breaks the arm of the other guy he has a crush on, so...there's also that!

Come to think of it, there are actually some really interesting parallels between the Miguel/Eli and Moon/Eli relationships. Both are kind of a case of Eli getting really enamored with this idealized idea/concept he has of a person and getting so wrapped up in that that he has a fundamental misunderstanding of and neglects the actual person's wants and needs. Hence why he's so confused when Moon and Miguel tell him they don't want him in their lives if he's going to be an ass--this isn't how the doe-eyed ever-adoring hot girlfriend and stone-cold, super aggressive badass bestie he built up in his head were supposed to react! Why are they acting like independent people with agency who don't conform to the versions of themselves in Eli's fantasies???

(This is also why I think Demetri's the healthiest and most sensible romantic partner for Eli btw. Eli doesn't idealize and borderline deify Demetri the way he does for other people he has feelings for/seems to have feelings for. He's known Dem so long that we can reasonably extrapolate any feelings that developed were based in the Demetri that was actually there, and not a fictional version he built up in his mind. In fact, it almost seems like Demetri knows Eli has a tendency to do this and won't let Eli project an untrue version of Demetri onto the real guy. That might be why Demetri staunchly refused to change himself to go along with Eli's karate shenanigans in early S2--he was basically saying "I am who I am, and I refuse to become this impossibly glorified image you're projecting onto me." And I can't blame him--I actually get really annoyed when people try to put me on a pedestal, and will often go out of my way to break their illusion that I'm whatever perfect, wholesome box they try to shove me in XD Bottom line being that between Moon, Miguel, and Demetri, I think Demetri has the healthiest relationship with Eli because it's, at the end of the day, the most honest and doesn't hinge on any untrue and unfair projections.)

At the end of the day though!!! The fact that Eli is able to separately idealize both a guy and a girl and both in a pretty romantic or romantic-coded way is pretty damning proof to me that he is in fact bisexual! Look, not all bisexuals process their feelings in healthy ways okay aiksjuuhfkdhg

He dyes his hair ALL THE DAMN BISEXUAL FLAG COLORS. And on the order they're on the flag, too??? Red (S2 - S3) to purple (S4) to dark blue (S5)??? Fucking wild. If this was a fanfiction I would joke about it being too on-the-nose, BUT NO. THIS IS CANON MATERIAL IN THE SHOW.

Okay, I'm sorry, but. NO non-queer dude dyes his hair bright-ass colors like that. Red or blue maaaaybe, but PURPLE??? NO. Straight men simply do not dye their hair purple. Like speaking as an LGBT I'm here to tell you that in the community, brightly colored hair (but especially more "flamboyant," girly colors like purple or pink) basically a signal that says "hey, I am also queer!" ESPECIALLY if you're a dude. Straight girls dyeing their hair bright-ass colors is more common, but I have never known a single straight guy to. And that's because it's associated with being gay af.

Also I can't tell you the amount of times they've put this dude in bisexual lighting. The ones I can think of off the top of my head are S2 Valley Fest and the S3 arm break, but I'm sure there are more I'm forgetting. Demetri is there both the times I mentioned. Hmmmm.

Took some liberties with the bisexual flag in this moodboard to better fit Eli's vibe...and also like. These are literally the three colors he dyes his hair in canon. I had to XD

I'm still not over that btw aksjdkhuef like it's so bisexual it's PAINFUL

I really like how this one came out <3 Hopefully I was able to capture the full scope of technonerd, avian motifs, and that one S3 angerboi I-want-to-punch-everything-and-everyone arc!

Btw the top middle picture is just supposed to be neon fire because our boi is Fiery™️, but then I realized it...kind of also looks like a mohawk??? So kudos to me for the accidental character accuracy XD

Okay so. Would you believe I have several more of these that I didn't have the chance to post? ^^; I uh. Guess I'll have to make July Pride Month 2.0 and post them then XD This is what happens when I'm too overambitious in my shitposts, eh?

As always, pic credits available upon request!

[poisonousquinzel]

HQTAS not having the balls to permanently kill Joker off continues to be one of its biggest faults and I will not forgive them for that.

[mcd-ms-rants]

I wrote the whole post and TUMBLR DECIDED TO DELETE THE WHOLE THING

anyways it’s finally here

take

STUFF I DIDNT LIKE ABOUT MYSTREET SEASON 4:

• ok but the animations here are great. actually tho they're so fluid and clear. Credits to whoever made them!!

• and now let’s do the real thing

• ok so first off this is where the actual plot starts. I know that some people were getting bored of the monotony of the slice of life episodes so they liked it. Again there’s nothing inherently wrong with having it but you have to remember that these characters most likely weren’t written to be in a plot and I say this because their personalities are funny and lighthearted. Their clearly meant for comedy. This also makes them redundant for plot since most of them a few characters barely have any development which is probably why like half the cast was dropped. im not sure how far back jess had planned the plot but needless to say most of the characters wouldn‘t be able to fit there. Travis, Katelyn, KC and the sk’s just dipped for the whole season and even when kc, Travis and Katelyn do show up in s5 their personalities really took a beating

• WHERE DID LAURANCE AND DANTE GO?? We never see them after s3. its probably because their personalities were too funny for plot but laurance was a shadow knight in mcd and since the whole of mys is so hyped up on the whole ‘mcd and mys are connected’ thing by all means he should’ve been there too

• it makes sense that since the lodge is jointly owned by the Ro’meaves and the Lycans, Garroth, Zane and Aaron- and by extension, Aphmau- would come along. it make sense that they would ask Lucinda for help- she’s a skilled witch and has been their friend since high school. theyre literally neighbors. it makes NO SENSE to being Kim- a girl whom they’ve barely ever interacted with and whom they barely know- to a place meant for close family to go to. Ok from a plot perspective yes Kim needed to be there but Aphmau logically doesnt know that yet.

• how does ghost/emmalyn even exist?? We’ve seen emmalyn and kenmur in s1 and they’re ok. not dead or anything. Yes I know that this is mcd emmalyn and she is directly referencing mcd Zane when she says that’s the only name she remembers from when she was alive but that raises two questions- first, how can both mcd and mys versions of her exist at the same time?? and second, what exactly happened between her and mcd zane?? It sounds like she either hates him way more than she loves kenmur (or she’d remember him too) that it’s the only name she remembers or its Stockholm Syndrome.

• I feel that since the plot demanded a ghost vessel thing that was the only reason Aphmau brought Kim. it’s pretty clear that Dante and laurance wouldn’t fit the role because of their personalities so she just remade an older character and changed her completely right down to her skin to fit the plot. her whole personality changes with it- look at her I mean she even becomes more open when she talks. Again this only happened because none of the existing characters could fill that role because IT WASNT MEANT TO HAVE PLOT

• no one likes you michi girl take the hint

• seeing liochant brings back meMoriEs

• what was that potion that lucinda made and which Garroth threw on Zane?? its clear that it cured him from the effects of the forever potion but the bigger question is WHY DONT THEY USE THIS IN S6?? Ok yes in s4 Aphmau gets freed by the power of love(TM) but that doesn’t mean you do that for everyone

• as someone who liked Laurance’s character I miss him :(

• ok there’s WAY TOO MANY PROBLEMS with Ein and his villain shtick. Ein is basically some obsessive werewolf yandere boy who has an unhealthy obsession with aphmau and hates Aaron. and the cherry on top is that Aphmau is his HALF SISTER. THATS INC*ST. That’s GROSS. What is it with Aphmau antagonists and not having a clear motive or backstory?? mcd Zane and Ein both suffer from this and it shows. there were definitely better motives to give him- he doesn’t have to be centered around Aphmau all the time!! And even if you don’t want to go to all the trouble of rewriting the plot you could at least make it so that Ein knows that he and Aphmau are related. Maybe he wants a perfect sister instead and he’s willing to go to any lengths to get her there. it would still be dark and serious but it would be SO MUCH BETTER than the current plotline. Also showing the contrast between his pdh and s4 self and then not giving any semblance of an explanation really makes it difficult to imagine where it all went wrong. yes Michael definitely had something to do with it but to what extent?? How much is Ein actually in control of?? Is he under the influence of a forever potion when he turns Zane, Lucinda and Aphmau to his side?? Is he still under its influence when he fights Aaron?? look I get that they can’t reveal everything but leaving out THIS MUCH and not even revealing it in s6 makes it very difficult to accurately nail Ein’s character.

• how is Aaron even revived?? is that Irene?? how is she here and what is she doing here?? Can we have answers pls. also it makes no sense that she saves Aaron TWICE- once in s4 and second in s6. How does death even work here if Irene can just swoop in and bring them back to life. i feel like none of the villains ever count as threats then because you know that a cryptic mysterious goddess who somehow looks just like your girlfriend will revive you.

• how did Aaron even survive?? No seriously how?? We know that there’s no service or wifi up there at the lodge so using their phones is out of the question. i don’t think Lucinda would be able to conjure up a whole medical team for Aaron. and they're on a MOUNTAIN. It takes precious time to get down from it. for context, even if they sent Garroth (since he’s the fastest) down to get help they’d have to wait for him to reach the village area at the base of the mountain, get a phone, call for help, wait for said help to arrive and get Aaron to a hospital. meanwhile Aaron is bleeding out from multiple gashes on his chest made at like point black range that are critical at best and fatal at worst. (his only saving grace is the snow he’s on which would help to numb the wound because its cold but he has like FIVE deep chest wounds and the snow isn’t even on his wounds.) Ya sorry I don’t see how he manages to survive.

• did I mention that I miss Laurance?? • Why is Aaron not at a hospital I don’t even see a ventilator or oxygen mask near him. Listen I’m not a medical expert but those gashes landed straight on his chest which means straight on his lungs and dangerously close to his heart. how is he alive. how is he not choking on blood right now. we know he’s bleeding out- I’m pretty sure one of the doctors even says “Mrs Lycan, we need to draw more blood for your son.” yes he’s bleeding out why is no one trying to idk stop the wound through pressure with a cloth or something?? (Note: it’s been a while since I’ve watched s4, so if I do get anything wrong thats why!!) also why are the werewolf doctors so chill about Aaron’s ultima eyes? like yes they’re doctors they could’ve been sworn to secrecy or maybe they work for the Lycans but Derek is shown to be really paranoid about anyone finding out about Aaron being the ultima. how does he know they won’t tell it to someone else??

k imma head out now-

thanks for reading!! <3 <3

[twdmusicboxmystery]

The Dominant Template in TWD

Hey Everyone! This is a very over-arching pattern that I pinned down after 10x17 aired. So I reference that episode several times. But I reference plenty of others as well. Hope you enjoy it. It’s a new pattern you can look for!

Let’s just say that watching 10x17 and thinking about how Hershel Jr.’s arc is like Beth’s sent me down a rabbit hole and this is the result.

We’ve seen this template so often, I really think this is the dominant template they use to plan arcs on the show, from minor characters that only last a few episodes to full-season arcs to Beth’s multi-season arc.

And once again, this isn’t super groundbreaking. We’ve definitely identified pieces of this before. I’m just kind of seeing it in a new light.

In each example of this template, these are the step I’ve identified as always present or present most of the time. (And maybe they’re always present but I just can’t think of how in every case.)

Basic Template:

1. New threat to the community arises.

2. TF attempts a preliminary fix to the new threat.

3. It doesn’t work, everything goes wrong, people die, and often, the community itself falls.

4. The group splits into smaller groups for various reasons.

5. These smaller groups include the splitting up of both romantic couples and more platonic relationships.

6. Not sure if this is always the case, but often two people end up in a group together who will soon become love interests.

7. More often than not, in the chaos, someone goes missing and is presumed dead, but they aren’t, and they return at some point.

8. Romantic Reunions – eventually the entire group will come back together to face the threat, but the romantic reunions always happen PRIOR to this.

9. The group solidifies again, coming back together to face the threat.

10. Any familial or platonic reunions that haven’t happened yet happen at this point.

So, let’s look at some examples. It gets complicated and wordy to go through every example of this, and I struggle with the best way to explain it. There are kind of two examples in each season (think of it as one for every 8 episodes, roughly) but they also tend to be related, so you could think of them as Part A and Part B.

S4. The first big threat is actually the virus. So not bad people. But let’s focus on the second big threat: the Governor. This example is better for what I’m trying to explain.

Governor’s Arc:

1. The threat is the Gov trying to take over the prison. The secondary threat that brings the group back together will be Terminus. In this case, they’re pretty much two different threats, but in most other seasons, they’re related.

2. Preliminary attempt could be seen as what they did to defeat the Gov in S3, which ultimately didn’t work. You could also see Rick trying to negotiate as the preliminary action that doesn’t work.

3. It doesn’t work. Everything goes wrong. Hershel dies. The prison falls.

4. The group splits into smaller groups, not by choice but because of circumstances.

5. Romantic couples that split: Glaggie, Richonne (They weren’t canon yet, but I think this was purposeful because the writers knew someday they would be.) Platonic splits: Rick/Judith, Sasha/Tyreese, Maggie/Beth, Daryl/Carol, Michonne/Carl.

6. Obviously the two who will become love interests are Beth and Daryl, but there’s also Sasha/Bob to consider.

7. Missing and Presumed Dead: Baby Judith

8. Romantic reunions before the entire group comes back together: Richonne in 4x09 and Glaggie in 4x15.

9. They all come back together at Terminus.

10. Platonic reunions after Terminus: Sasha/Bob and Rick&Carl/Judith.

I’m gonna skip S5 for a minute. You can use this template as something self-contained within season 5. 5b is a little weird because the “separations” are emotional rather than literal/physical, but it still works. But of course Beth’s arc that follows this template starts in S5 and will end up going between 5 and 10 seasons, just depending on how you look at it and how long it takes to get us to the CRM war, so I’ll come back to this.

Let me give you a couple of other examples first.

Season 6:

1. The threat: the walkers at the quarry. (So the threat is usually a bad person or group, but here it’s walkers, and in 4a it was a virus, just so you can see different ways they do this.) The group will come back together in 6x09, pull together, and eliminate the walker threat.

2. Preliminary action: Well, it goes wrong right at first because the truck falls off the ledge and they have to start before planned. But all of Operation Lead the Walkers Away could be seen as the preliminary action that goes bad.

3. It all goes wrong when the wolves show up and blow the horn. The person that dies is Emery. I don’t think tptb wanted to kill off any main characters in this sequence, so they created his character specifically to adhere to this template.

4. The group splits again, though not by choice. Michonne and co to pet shop, Rick…running, Daryl/Sasha/Abraham, etc.

5. Romantic couples that split: Glaggie again, Richonne, Tara/Denise, you might even count David and Betsy. Platonic splits: uh, you know, anyone who’s not romantic.

6. Romantic reunions before the final battle: Richonne early on when Rick gets back to Alexandria (6x05, I think?) Tara and Denise briefly, before Creepy Wolf Dude takes her. And then Glaggie when Glenn returns and they get Maggie off the scaffold.

7. Missing and presumed dead: Glenn, obviously.

8. Two in same group who later become love interests: Sasha and Abraham. Also Carl and Enid, who are both at Alexandria. Clearly the writers use these sorts of situations to forge relationships.

9. They all reunite at Alexandria, Daryl sets lake on fire, they fight the walkers.

10.   Platonic reunions after: they don’t focus on these in a big way in this season, but we see everyone standing together on the porch afterward, Michonne holding baby Judith, and of course Rick talking to Carl.

Saviors Arc:

I’ll focus on S7 here, as I think we see this template several times throughout S7 and S8, but the Saviors arc really spans like 2.5 seasons, so I’ll keep this brief.

1. Threat = The Saviors

2. Preliminary action: attacking the satellite station in 6x13. They thought that took care of the problem.

3. It goes wrong even though they don’t know it right away. Leads directly to Glenn and Abraham’s deaths.

4. The group splits, not by choice, but because Negan makes them. Rick trying to get supplies for the Saviors, Daryl at Sanctuary, Maggie/Sasha at Hilltop, Michonne on her own, etc.

5. Other than Rick and Michonne not being on the same page, there’s not major romantic splittage here. Glenn and Abraham die of course, but in this template, it’s always that the couple comes back together again, so death doesn’t count. We do have Carl and Enid splitting briefly when he goes to the Sanctuary in 7x07. Platonic splits: again, just everyone in different groups who isn’t romantic. So, Daryl/Rick, Rick/Maggie, etc.

6. Romantic Reunions: Carnid, Richonne when they got on the same page.

7. Missing and presumed dead: I think this would be Daryl. It’s a small thing, but when Negan took him, Rick really didn’t know if Negan planned to kill him.

8. Two who become love interests: Again, maybe Carl and Enid outside the walls together? Just not a huge emphasis on the romance here. Though possibly we could consider Sherry and Dwight too.

9. Again, this depends on how you want to see it. You could see the final battle as the end of AOW in 8x16, but if you want to stick with 7a, then it’s when they all reunite at Hilltop and hug in 7x08. See what I mean about how they use this for both big and small arcs?

10. Platonic reunions in 7x08: Maggie/Rick, Daryl/Rick, Daryl/Everyone, etc.

Okay, I’ll stop there with the examples. This took me a long time because you can go through every single season, even every 8 episodes, and see this same thing. There’s so much going on AOW, I didn’t even want to try to pin this down for S8, but I’m sure it’s there. In S9, this works first for Rick’s death and then for the Whisperers. Whisperers, preliminary action = giving Lydia back, but that leads to pike victims. Hilltop falls. You can fill in the other details. S10 is the Whisperers continued, but the first threat was the satellite falling and the fire it caused. You get the idea.

And I think in this episode (10x17) they’re setting up this same template with the Reapers. What we see in this episode might qualify as the preliminary action. It’s very small, but it might. So we might be seeing steps 1 and 2 of the template, using the Reapers as the threat.

So, back to Beth. I guess the main reason this got me all excited is that it simply backs up other things we’ve already theorized. If you think of this template in an extremely long-game sort of way (many seasons), it makes perfect sense.

Beth/CRM Arc:

1. First threat: Grady/CRM. Because we believe Grady was entangled with them.

2. Preliminary Action: the prisoner exchange at Grady to stop the conflict.

3. It goes wrong. Beth “dies.”

4. Group splits. This one is interesting because the group has obviously split and come back together many times over the seasons. But this has to be on a bigger scale than that. So, not just characters coming back together a few episodes later. It has to be more epic than that. Like, having them separated for several seasons? 

So think of it this way: the only people still alive who knew Beth in S4/S5 are Rick, Michonne, Daryl, Carol, Maggie, and Judith. And who is separated from the group right now and for the foreseeable future? Rick and Michonne. 

We also know Daryl and Carol will leave together at the end of S11. I’m assuming Maggie stays behind then, though we can’t know for sure yet. But if things work out the way I think they will based on other templates (like TWB) then at some point Daryl and Carol will split up, too. So, the splits are definitely there, but it’s much more epic in this case. The splits happen over multiple seasons, rather than all at once. Rick in S9. Michonne roughly a season later. Daryl and Carol a season after that, etc.

5. Romantic splits: well, things may change but as of right now, Richonne, Bethyl, Carzekiel are all split up. Platonic splits: Daryl/Rick, Daryl/Michonne, Daryl/Carol, Michonne/Daryl, perhaps Judith from all of these, etc.

6. Romantic reunions: we don’t know exactly how they’ll play out, but I’m assuming Michonne will find Rick BEFORE the final CRM conflict. Assuming Ezekiel has a death fakeout, I think he and Carol will reunite before the main CRM battle. And of course you know I think Daryl will meet Beth on his way to Rick. The romantic reunions always happen BEFORE the big, final conflict. :D

7.  Missing and presumed dead: right now it’s both Rick and Beth, though Zeke may join at some point.

8.  Two in group who become love interests? I have no idea who this will be. Might possibly even be characters we haven’t met yet. Eugene/Stephanie? Kelly/Elijah?

9.  Final conflict is war with CRM.

10. Platonic reunions afterward: Possibly Beth/Maggie, Judith/Various people, main characters with those back at Alexandria, so like Daryl/Aaron, Rick/Maggie, etc.

I was going to give you the rundown for how this template plays out in 10x17. After reading this though, you’ll probably recognize it right away. There’s a part where Daryl and Maggie’s group splits into two to follow two paths. That’s what got me thinking about this to begin with.

Thoughts?

[forever-animated]

TDP Season 4 Preliminary Predictions, Part One (1-12)

So with S4 in production, no trailer in sight, and a TBA release date, it looks like there’s still a wait before we get any news on the upcoming season.

That being said, we do have some information to go on regarding what might be in store for our favorite characters. (Previous SDCC interviews, the recent Instagram Live and Reddit AMA with the creators, Callum’s Spellbook, and of course, Through the Moon.)

So I decided to put together some preliminary predictions based on the info we have so far. My desire is to create a TDP S4 bingo board just before the season airs, so that gives me 24 guesses/predictions to come up with (not including the free space). I’ll probably tweak most of these once we get our trailer, since I’m sure it’ll provide more insight as to the direction of the show.

So without further ado, here are my first 12 TDP S4 preliminary predictions...

1. Spring 2021 Release

During the Reddit AMA at the beginning of October, the creators gave the following update:

Since it’s been over a month, we can safely assume they’re in production now.

From what I understand, pre-production is mostly writing and storyboarding, possibly voice recording as well. If they’re in the production phase, that means animation has begun.

Let’s consider the turnaround time for past seasons. S1′s airdate was September 14, 2018; S2′s was February 15, 2019; and S3′s was November 22, 2019. This means that there was only a five month gap between S1 and S2, and a nine month gap between S2 & S3. 

The gap between S3 & S4 has been longer than both of those. But considering that we’ve had a global pandemic and that we’ve been waiting on Netflix to greenlight more seasons, this is to be expected. We only heard about the renewal back in July. Assuming the team started work around that time, they’ve already been working for about four months. 

If we estimate that it’ll be another five months before we see S4, (nine months in total, same as the wait between S2 and S3), that means it will air around April 2021. Of course, it could air before or after - depending on how long production takes. But I believe it’s safe to say that we could be seeing TDP S4 air in spring 2021. 

2. Timeskip < 6 Months

We know from interviews that there will be a timeskip between S3 & S4. If you’ve read Through the Moon, you know that there’s a few weeks in between the end of S3 and the beginning of the graphic novel, and that the events of the story happen in the span of about two weeks. So we can estimate that it’s been about a month between the end of S3 and the end of TTM.

We also know there will be a bit of a timeskip between TTM and the start of S4, per the Reddit AMA, but we’re not sure how long that will be.

My guess? The timeskip between S3 & S4 will be six months or less. 

I was initially going to play it safe and say “less than three years,” because anything more than that would require a recast to account for teenage Ezran. (And given how much the creators and fans LOVE Sasha, I doubt a recast will ever happen in the show.) 

But realistically, I don’t think the timeskip will be more than a half a year. The events of TTM imply that the story is very much moving forward, and anything too far in the future would give the audience too much to be caught up on. So it’ll likely be only a few months of a gap between seasons, and definitely less than six.

3. New Clothing & Hair for Characters

Many of the characters in ATLA received either new hairstyles or clothing between the seasons. So following that logic, and given that Ehasz is behind both shows, it stand to reason the same will hold true for TDP.

The creators have confirmed that Callum will be going “sun’s out, gun’s out” for S4. (Their words, not mine.) This makes sense since he now knows how to cast mage wings, and he wants them to be readily accessible at a moment’s notice.

We also see that Rayla’s sporting a new cloak when she leaves at the end of TTM, so she’ll likely have this for S4 as well. 

Ezran may get new garb as well, as he settles into his new role as king.

I also think it’s possible that their hair could change as well. Rayla’s on her own now, so her hair will probably just get longer. Maybe she’ll braid it or wrap it up in a ponytail to keep it out of her face. If Callum returns to Katolis, he might get a haircut in-between seasons. But if he goes straight out to search for Rayla, his hair might be even longer.

Either way, new hair and clothes seems like a given.

4. Older Zym

The creators have assured us in prior interviews that Zym is still very much a part of this story. It is called The Dragon Prince after all.

That being said, I think it’s possible we’ll see a slightly older Zym next season, especially due to the timeskip. I doubt he’ll get much bigger. He’ll probably go from being the size of a puppy to the size of a full-grown dog. And I don’t think he’ll talk yet. That seems like it won’t be for many years in the future.

Still, I think we can reasonably look forward to seeing an older Zym.

5. Mid Season Rayllum Reunion

I already have a post highlighting the reasons why I think Callum and Rayla will definitely reunite in S4, as I know many fans are wondering if they’ll spend the whole season apart. 

But I think this reunion may happen sooner rather than later. By that, I’m guessing it’ll happen at the midway point - either episodes 4 or 5.

This gives us the chance to have three or four whole episodes with them apart, which seems like a reasonable amount. Then we get their reunion, which’ll likely be it’s own episode. Then we get four or five whole episodes with them together again, dealing with the fallout of Rayla’s decision, working together, and hopefully reconciling by the season’s end. This seems like it could be a nice, tidy arc for them to have for the season, so that’s what I’m going to guess will happen.

Plus, it’ll have us feeling all the feels.

6. Janai’s Brother Wants the Throne

It’s been confirmed that Janai and Khessa have a younger, unnamed brother. We know nothing about him, and the creators decided not to comment when asked about him during the AMA. This means that he’ll likely be an important player for S4.

One of the writers (I believe it was Devon) also confirmed via Twitter that Janai is next in line for the throne after her sister’s death, calling her Queen Janai. 

This raises a very interesting potential plotline for S4. What if Janai decides to ally with the humans that helped during the battle at the Storm Spire? What if her brother is not happy about this? Letting a human into Lux Area was the reason Khessa died, after all.

What if Janai’s brother decided to make a play for the throne - either by contesting Janai’s rule, threatening civil war, or by trying to usurp the thone?

The creator’s have mentioned that despite the Zym being returned to Xadia, there is still a long road to peace between the elves and humans. They alluded to an “event” that makes Ezran aware of this.

Unrest / war between the Sunfire elves could very easily be what they’re talking about. And Janai’s brother wanting the throne could very easily be the catalyst for that.

7. Aaravos in the Shadows

Many fans are speculating that our main characters may now finally become aware of Aaravos’s existence in the series. As for me? I’m not so sure.

Keep in mind, outside of Viren, Claudia, and perhaps a handful of Sunfire elves, no one else in the show knows of Aaravos’s existence. He’s been keeping to the shadows, pretty clearly using Viren as his puppet. 

With the end of S3, he’s in the cocoon, leaving Viren and Claudia on their own. We don’t know how long it’ll take for him to emerge, or even what form he’ll take when that happens. But we do know that he’ll be back for S4, per Erik Todd Dellums. (And apparently, he’ll have an even sexier voice.)

I imagine he and the dark mage fam will have their own arc in S4, which may eventually intersect with whatever the main cast is up to, but not for awhile yet. As for Aaravos himself, I think he’s playing the long game. And I think part of that means staying in the shadows as much as he possible can, while he consolidates power. The goal it seems is to make his form stronger and stronger, and eventually finding a way to leave the mirror realm entirely. Why would he want to play his cards too early?

So with Viren and Aaravos out of the way for much of S4, who does this leave as the main antagonist?

8. Sol Regem, Main Antagonist

Enter Sol Regem. It’s been confirmed that we’ll see him again, after all. And we know just how much hatred he has for humans. He was hellbent on frying Callum to a crisp, even after he had agreed to return the human kingdoms.

It was revealed that Sol Regem was once revered by the Sunfire elves, before he became a symbol of rage and bitterness. Still, this reverence is an important part of Sunfire history.

This is something Janai’s brother could leverage if he’s looking to usurp the throne and pit the human-hating Sunfire elves against those that are loyal to Janai. With the literal Sun King on his side, he becomes a formidable foe.

This could be the event that leads Ezran to act. Will the humans who fought at the Storm Spire come to the aid of Janai and her people? Will the Dragon Queen weigh in on this matter? Will they need to gather the other elemental dragons together in hopes of defeating Sol Regem? (If so, this is a way we could bring Rex Igneous into the story.)

This might be a bit of a stretch, of course. But it does lead for an interesting direction for S4, and S5 as well, and would be a way to introduce more dragons and keep Zym and his mother in the story. 

And, as I stated in my Rayllum S4 reunion post, this gives Rayla incentive to stop hunting Viren and shift gears to focus on the more emergent threat. Which in turn could reunite Team Zym once again.

9. Rex Igneous Eats a Jelly Tart

It’s pretty much a given that we will meet Rex Igneous (the Earth dragon) in this season. You can see a sneak peak of him in Callum’s Sketchbook, which has the following caption:

It was also revealed by the creators that some “very important figures” would be eating jelly tarts in upcoming seasons.

Given this information, it doesn’t seem farfetched to imagine that Rex Igneous will be one of those figures.

10. Soren & Ezran Adventure / Bonding

Soren used to share his screen time with Claudia, but now that she’s out on her own with her dad, he’ll need a new buddy to share screen time with.

I nominate Ezran, mostly because S3 dealt a lot with their relationship, and it just makes sense to continue to develop this in S4. Plus, Ezran’s the king and Soren’s the guard. Where he goes, Soren follows.

So it makes sense that they’ll have an adventure together in S4.

11. Dramatic Claudia Reveal / Confrontation

I had this on my list for awhile, but Ehasz tweeted this and nearly confirmed it:

I think we’re going to get either a really dramatic reveal or confrontation between Claudia and another character. Either Viren, Soren, or possibly Callum. (I don’t think it’ll be Rayla, since she has no real connection to Claudia.) Or perhaps it’ll simply be a dramatic reveal for us, the audience.

Either way, stuff’s going down.

12. Callum Learns Moon Arcanum

The creators have mentioned that Callum will be learning more of the primal sources in future seasons. I think it stands to reason that moon will be next for him.

S3 already showed him starting to grasp a lot of the fundamentals of the source - both in their evasion of Sol Regem and in casting the spell to see Rayla’s parents. Through the Moon builds on this even more, with him using moon opals to cast more moon magic, and learning even more from Lujanne regarding the nature of the primal.

Being separated from Rayla might be the push he needs to finally unlock the arcanum once in for all. Perhaps it’ll be key to tracking her down, if he goes after her.

If not, perhaps understanding Rayla’s past and the decision that she made, and their reconciliation is what will trigger it.

Hard to say for sure, but I feel like this will relate to Rayla in some way. And it will definitely happen in S4.

Okay, that’s it for now. I’ll do a part 2 eventually and go through my last 12 predictions.

[sally-mun]

Unsurprisingly on my mind due to TKP's blog going through it, I've been meaning to ask (if just to clarify) about if any details from the "Enerjak Reborn" saga ever slip into your universe, even if clearly can't happen due to the characters' relationships. A part of me assumes that the idea you mentioned of Locke becoming the threat he prophesized sounded like the most likely direct replacement for that, but I wonder if any other ideas end up still mimicking it?

First of all, I fucking love your username and as far as I’m concerned you DID decide on a good one.

Anyway, this is an interesting bit of the storyline because it’s in that nebulous place where my partner and I agree that it happened, but we’ve never actually hammered out exactly what happened. For the most part, the bullet points of Finitevus tricking Knuckles into getting hexed and Locke sacrificing himself to release him are agreed to have been in the RP’s backstory, but given the version of Locke that I wrote for the Brotherhood, I’m sure the tone of the situation was very different. I can only imagine what the situation looked like through Locke’s eyes, honestly. In some ways you could argue that Knuckles becoming Enerjak IS the realization of everything Locke worked for, so that begs the question of whether or not he would see that as his premonition coming true. It’s hard to say given that there’s so many other events that have happened leading up to this point that would’ve also gone differently based on the new circumstances, and some that probably didn’t happen all together.

However, here’s my immediate hunch:

1) The events of S3&K definitely happened in the RP’s backstory, although again I’m sure several events played out in different ways. The great point to this is that, as WE all know, this was the fulfillment of the mural that Locke saw on the wall in Hidden Palace, which unknowingly inspired his recurring dream. Locke, however, would’ve taken the arrival of Eggman and the Death Egg with a lot more confusion. Obviously this is the level of threat his premonition insisted upon, but Knuckles wasn’t the one to ultimately defeat it! Some ground-dwelling heathen actually took care of it!!! So no matter how much the situation would seem to fulfill the slot of the Great Evil, it obviously can’t be because Knuckles did not ascend to become the Savior in order to stop it.

2) It’s probably safe to say this cycle happened a few others times, because let’s face it, Angel Island has seen some shit. I don’t think the others probably ever compared to S3&K arc, though, both in terms of the impact it made on the situation (and Locke’s psyche) and the fact that the enemy just plain looks like the figure in Locke’s dreams.

3) This would probably mean that an already paranoid Locke is getting jumpier and jumpier every time a new threat arises, because by now there’ve been so many BIG bad events that he’s probably constantly worrying, “Is this the Great Evil?? IS THIS THE GREAT EVIL??” and his already frayed nerves are probably completely shot.

4) So imagine, then, when Knuckles -- Locke’s only pride and joy, for whom he sacrificed absolutely everything in his life and has been banking on saving everyone’s lives -- seems to have become the Great Evil himself. It’s not enough that he’s powerful on an otherworldly scale and seems to have gone mad with said power; the bigger shock is that Knuckles does, indeed, seem to be fulfilling the criteria of his premonitions. He’s not just terrorizing the rest of the world (which, let’s be honest, Locke probably doesn’t even care about), he’s also terrorizing echidnas. He left Echidnaopolis in ruins by forcibly removing the entire population, and he’s destroying a lot of lives by changing their bodies against their will. The entire echidna species is terrified of what he has become, and what else he might do. Maybe the fact that the Great Evil was enormous in Locke’s dream wasn’t about literal physical scale, but rather, a representation of the enormity of the threat that’s posed.

5) In a perfect world, I’d really like to imagine that this finally, FINALLY, brings Locke a desperately needed moment of clarity. Locke got to the state he ends up in because he’s so afraid of some ambiguous and unidentifiable threat, so maybe the fact that he now CAN identify the threat could be enough to raise that fog. Maybe seeing Knuckles as the evil they need to be protected from will finally be enough to jolt Locke back to reality, and allow him to see just how bad his decisions have been and how Knuckles’ state is, honestly, a very logical conclusion to the chain of events that came before it. Knuckles becoming the Great Evil was always a possibility all along, but Locke was so convinced of the contrary that he just literally couldn’t see it. Now he can see it. Now he can grasp how, no matter how well-intentioned he was, he absolutely, 100%, undeniably caused his son to become the one thing he’s feared all along.

6) If Locke is able to have that moment, and think completely clearly again for even a brief time, then I have no doubt whatsoever that Locke would make that sacrifice to save him. No attempts to find an alternative, no hemming and hawing, no attempts to get everyone to kill Knuckles like in the comic, NONE of that shit. If Locke, the REAL Locke that’s been lost inside the madness all this time is able to wake up for just a few moments, emerges again and learns that the only way to save his boy from the fate he himself unwittingly doomed him to is for someone to give up their own life, Locke would make that sacrifice in a heartbeat. He said back on the day he activated the chaos bath that he wished he could take Knuckles’ burdens away and put himself in his place. This would be one way to do exactly that, to give Knuckles a shot at a real, normal life again, and to atone for the enormous mistakes he made that caused this tragedy.

I think if the situation arose under those sorts of circumstances, it would just make Locke’s sacrifice all the more meaningful. Allowing him to not only realize that he’s the one that ultimately caused all this, but to fully admit to it AND take responsibility without being harangued into doing so completely changes the tone of what he does. It’s not a situation where Locke sees sacrificing himself as something that has to be done, but something that should be done, to atone for his wrongdoings and save the one person he loves more than anyone or anything else in this world.

I don’t see the Locke of the comics as someone who would die for his child without the slightest hesitation, even after more skillful writers get a hold of him; I don’t see the fact that he does so unrealistic, but I honestly think the only reason he does it is because he can’t think of a way out of it. I mean, for fuck’s sake, shortly before doing so he was campaigning TO HAVE KNUCKLES KILLED. I think canon!Locke loves Knuckles in his own weird way, but I think his love for Knuckles comes second to his love for himself, and it always has. Canon!Locke is just simply too arrogant to think of someone else first, even his own child.

Locke the way I write him, however, was always ready to die so that Knuckles could live. It used to be because he felt Knuckles was too important to their people and needed to live to save them, but when all that baggage is lifted, Locke would still die for him simply because he loves him. He would die for him to make his life better, to free him from the prisons he’s been confined to both physically and mentally, to allow him to fully live. He’d die to save his son because he wants him to finally have the life he deserves -- that he always deserved. If the price of Knuckles being happy, healthy, and free is Locke giving up his life, there’d be no force on Mobius that could’ve kept him away from the Master Emerald to do it.

I don’t know if this is quite the sort of answer you were looking for, but again, this was the first impulse that came into my brain. It feels right to me, and probably would be worth exploring in a story sometime. Maybe someone could commission me for it or something, who knows. In the meantime, I hope this paints the picture as well as I’m seeing in my head.

[mashmaiden]

ngl densi all of a sudden deciding to try for a baby didn't feel like natural flowing storytelling like the rest of their milestones.... because they're clearly still at NCIS with no contingency plan of when to "leave" ... and it seems like that hasn't been addressed since s10? idk, does it hit differently for you? explain? also know i loveeee Densi, I'm just critical of the timeline they used for this particular thing.

I respectfully disagree on the timing thing. They’ve flirted with the idea for a while now, heck mentions of future kids go back to s3 (more serious convos from s7 on), but now they’ve been married for a year, it doesn’t seem fully surprising. And really, I think the bigger factor is that the characters themselves aren’t getting any younger, Deeks being 41 and Kensi 38. Not that people can’t have babies at their ages, but it gets a lot less likely the older they are (as Deeks said in Answers, “we’re not 30 anymore”).

As for the future career plans WITH kids, I think the writers kinda painted themselves into a corner. They started the “we’ll have kids and quit the dangerous job” line as a way to give them an out if the show ended or one of the actors left, but the longer it goes on with cast intact, the harder it becomes for them to continue that exact concept without now writing someone OUT of the show. Yes they gave Deeks the bar, and they could end each episode there, but it wouldn’t be the same if our crime-fighters weren’t fighting it most days. 

If I ran the show, I’d write them OUT of this corner by giving them another (more?) interactions with successful agents who ARE parents who show Kensi/Deeks that while dangerous, it’s still possible to do their work while being parents. FBI Agents Rand (she had an 11-year-old in S7) and Rush (had a newborn between her appearances in S11), and heck, even Detective Whiting (has an 8-year-old in s7) is an example. 

Alternatively, there’s even the option of one/both of them changing to a more office-based focus while remaining with NCIS. Way back in the beginnings of the show, Kensi used to help out with Eric in Ops, she could shift to a more Intelligence position like Nell does perhaps (Kensi does have a degree in Politics & International Studies according to her Agent Bio from Spoils of War). Or, for a woman who mentioned Presidential aspirations once upon a time (not that I think she wants that anymore), maybe SHE could be the one to officially take Hetty’s role, leading an elite division of a federal agency would be a great next step in that direction. As for Deeks, he has no shortage of options either. There’s either the bar full time, shifting to a higher/administrative position within LAPD (or at least a division with less “dangerous” type investigations), something in the legal route (with one of the Agencies or not), etc. 

Really though, nothing is going to work if they don’t shake something up in some way, either changing the flow of what these people do, or changing Densi’s opinion on kids. I really just don’t want them solely “talking about it” for another full season. We’ve been talking about it HEAVILY since season 9. I’d much rather hear discussions/arguments on diaper changes/preschools/the bar/anything else than just MORE discussion on the “if/when kids” topic. Not that it isn’t important, but this is a TV show, we don’t need to hear only that all the damn time. 

Not sure if this answered anything really, but have some rambling thoughts this Tuesday morning! 😜

[easilydistractedbyfanfic]

What do you think of the critics of murven being ableist (coming from a chronically ill person who considers it such)?

First of all, I think that we all bring a different perspective to fiction - and ships - based on our own experiences. So we have biases and preferences that sometimes we’re not even cognizant of with regard to what we are drawn to or what we are repulsed by. But I also think it’s important to listen to other perspectives, especially minority voices, and yes I do know that there are those who are strongly against the Murphy/Raven ship because they feel it discriminates or does carry an ableist attitude. And yes, I have read some of those takes out of a desire to understand it. 

Before I add my own opinion, let me start with two caveats. First, I am not disabled and I do get that because of that, my understanding (or lack thereof) of this topic is going to be influenced by my own dearth of personal experience/only having an outside view. Second, whether it matters or not, I did start shipping these two characters in 1x10, which is before Murphy shot Raven and she received her permanent injury from it. I don’t suggest this lets me off the hook for my opinions, and in fact I still clearly ship them even knowing Murphy DID cause this injury - I’m just pointing this out because I do happen to know the exact moment I got into this relationship and I am quite aware of why I like their dynamic and what draws me to them.

So that said - it happens to be my personal opinion that this relationship is not ableist from the way that it is portrayed in the show. And yes, I understand that what is ableist/not ableist to me, a non-disabled person, may certainly be different than what an actual disabled person may see. But this question seems to be seeking my justification for shipping this ship, so I am going to offer it under the cut. 

I think that t100 has done a great job with this particular storyline - portraying Raven as very adversarial and angry towards Murphy, both because of him shooting her, of course, but also because of her anger over the whole Finn/Trikru Village mess. Not long after he shoots her, Raven lures Murphy into a sort of trap with the intent to give Murphy to Trikru instead of Finn, and while I can’t say it’s fully revenge for her leg, nor is it fully just to save Finn either, IMHO. Both of these things influence her. Ultimately her plan doesn’t work, and it happens to be my opinion based on the scene that Raven is aware that she is doing wrong, but regardless of personal interpretation of this storyline, it is canon that Raven is angry at Murphy and this is ongoing from after he shoots her and well into S4. No one suggests that her anger is misplaced, no one pushes for her to “get over” him shooting her, and for the most part when they do interact (they had no scenes together in S3), Murphy mostly just takes her ire like it’s his due - he does not resist it or push back as he does with others, which to me always suggested that he felt like he deserved her anger - which he does. 

At the time that I was watching live, I was aware my interest in Raven/Murphy as a ship was far-fetched in 1x10 (when I first liked the idea of them), and I absolutely admit Murphy was still a jerk then, even before he shot her. I just liked the possibility of what I thought they could be, and I found Murphy far more interesting for Raven than Finn. After the shooting happened, I figured there was absolutely no chance of them ever getting together or being friends after that, especially with no interaction between them in S3. But then S4 happened and for me, possibilities were renewed. I could go rather in depth about it, but I think things started to change for RAVEN after Murphy stole that medicine for Adria. She was angry with him over it, even though in a way he took that burden off of her shoulders. She made the choice to say no medicine for Adria, with the odds being likely that it wouldn’t save the child but without 100% certainty. Murphy stealing it meant that the death of the child was no longer on Raven’s conscience. I don’t think Raven grasped this initially, but when they get to Becca’s Island in S4 and she is shown to still be angry with Murphy - calling him a dick, saying he shouldn’t have come - but then he helps her run from the drones when she can’t keep up, and canon portrays her as being perhaps surprised/shocked/perplexed by this because she didn’t expect it of him, but then she CHOOSES to thank him for it of her own volition. And when she is talking to Luna and trying to convince her to stay, Raven says that Adria was worth taking a chance for - which is a change in Raven’s initial perspective of not allowing the medicine for Adria. 

It was and is my interpretation of the show’s canon that this was something of a turning point in Raven’s head, a softening towards other people as more than just numbers or statistics. Raven has never been a cruel character but at the same time, often she previously showed empathy more towards someone she loved or knew, and tried to react with logic or without emotion when it came to others - understandable in order to make life or death decisions, sure, but often making her seem cold, like what Abby accused her of when Raven wouldn’t give the medicine. During their time on Becca’s Island in S4, Raven works together quite a bit with Murphy. They can be antagonistic, which is no surprise, but we also know that Raven is also being affected by Becca’s code still in her head. We see them working together - sometimes quite well or even joking - and we see Raven thank Murphy again for his help. We see Murphy taking steps to be the bigger person where Raven is concerned (ie after their big fight he’s actually trying to learn Luna’s words to calm Raven down and it’s Murphy that sucks it up and comes back to the lab after the fight). We are shown that Murphy does not fight back against Raven physically (just tries to protect/defend himself), shows concern for her well-being, and in his own way, tries to help. (I can cite examples here but this is already wordy). When Raven decides to die on her own terms, she shows this change of attitude again when she offers Murphy forgiveness when she tells him it’s not his fault. There was no pressure on Raven to do this, no outside influence other than her own CHOICE. Murphy did not beg or seem to expect forgiveness from her at any time in S4 (or prior), and is in fact really shell-shocked when she offers it. 

To me, THIS is why I don’t view the Murven ship as ableist. There is no subtext that suggests that Raven needs to or should forgive Murphy. There is no scenario where Murphy refutes or tries to justify what he did to her. Murphy is not put on some kind of redemption arc with regard to Raven or what he did to her, she’s not in a storyline where she is seeking to be “fixed” so much as she’s seeking to escape the pain, and we see her have an ongoing struggle with it so it’s not like it’s all just forgotten or water under the bridge for her. While Raven does seem to think the injury is something to overcome at first, we are told and shown that it won’t ever go away, and we do see her struggles as she comes to terms with this. The show doesn’t portray her as inferior because of her injury, though. Raven is always seen as a valuable member of the group by others even when she herself doubts her worth. In fact, people regularly try to save her at the risk of themselves. Raven as a character makes a personal choice - and we could certainly dive into the reasons for it; I love characterization stuff! - but she chooses to forgive Murphy and move forward and whatever Murphy does or does not do isn’t specifically what brings this about, I don’t think - to me it’s much more about what Raven wants for herself before she thinks she’s going to die. This is key for me because Raven never loses autonomy where Murphy is concerned - something in her wants to forgive him and for me, I can only respect this choice as something the character actively seeks. 

And if I dig a little further into it, I can add that after Raven forgives Murphy and then he is part of the group that comes back to rescue her/they go into space for 6 years together, at no time are we shown anything to suggest that they are anything other than friends. In fact we can infer that they’ve only gotten to be better friends, especially because Murphy not only decides to stay behind for her (and it’s made clear that it IS for her, because why should she always be the one to sacrifice), but he also isn’t shown raging and angry or blaming her when he finds out there’s no escape pod. He puts himself at risk multiple times in S5 & S6 for Raven and/or for Raven as part of his friend group, and she does the same for him. If there was still resentment here, we as an audience would know it and this isn’t what has been happening. In fact, in S6 I’d venture that Raven shows Murphy MORE understanding than she shows other people, which stems from not only the two of them being alike in some ways but also is evidence that she cares for him (you can read as romantic or as friends, either way they both care). 

Now all of the above isn’t to say that I can’t see how someone else could be turned off by this ship, and I can certainly agree that in real life, if someone shot me or someone I care about, it’s probably going to be impossible for me to get close to that person or want to spend time with them. However, the fictional world of The 100 is a very different sort of place. All of the characters have basically tried to kill each other or cause harm to each other at some point - even the ones who love each other (romantically and otherwise). I can think of tons of examples! Raven and Murphy got stuck on a spaceship for 6 years together - if they didn’t find a way to get along, think how horrible that would have been not only for themselves but for the other five people there. 

I don’t ship these two because I think it’s admirable that Raven forgave Murphy, or because I think some weird karma tie formed between them where he owes her some kind of life-debt or something. To me their dynamic (romantic or friendship) has grown far past him shooting her and that’s now a part of their past that is outweighed by what positive things they’ve built between them. Yes, part of why I think I can move past the shooting is because at the time, Murphy did not know he was shooting RAVEN - he thought it was Octavia. If he had wanted Raven specifically to die, maybe my shippy thoughts of them would have evaporated, I don’t know. But that’s not the story. The story is that Raven was an innocent bystander to Murphy’s rage, and they’ve both grown a lot since that happened. The overall story of The 100 spends a lot of time debating whether people can “do better”, whether we’re destined to repeat the same mistakes all the time, who is ‘worthy’ and who isn’t, and who matters to you and who doesn’t. I do have an understanding of forgiveness outside of this show, and why people choose to forgive to begin with. Often it’s for themselves - not for the person that caused them harm. I’m sure that perspective comes into play for me as well, with regards to why I don’t see this relationship as ableist - whether viewed as romantic or as a friendship. To me, this ship isn’t centered on the shooting. Maybe that in itself is where I’m going wrong from the perspective of those that disagree with me - because I don’t hold the shooting up as the sole important thing between them. It’s a part of their history, yes, and it’s not ever going to be forgotten, and I don’t suggest it should be. 

But to ME, intent comes into play, their history and present beyond the shooting matter too. And they’ve each learned a lot of lessons since then about love, loss, friendship and who they want to be - and who they don’t. And I’m super intrigued by all of that and lots, lots more. 

So per usual, this is lengthy even though I didn’t really touch on the parts of their dynamic that really got me into them. But I made an attempt to explain my own thoughts on the question and I hope that provided some insight, whether or not you or anyone else agree with my perspective. I am and always will be a proponent of “ship and let ship”, and I fully understand there are a lot of complexities to what we like and what we don’t. At this point, “I Am Become Death” 1x10 aired in May 2014. I’ve been shipping them ever since and I don’t expect that to change any time soon. Raven & Murphy as a romantic ship isn’t going to be everyone’s cup of tea and I get that. It just so happens that they are definitely mine. 

[aparticularbandit]

returning to myers-briggs discussions, i’d previously pegged rose as an intj (and hadn’t liked it because it fell into the general “your sociopath character is an intj” trope which i really don’t like - although fun fact, i don’t think hannibal is an intj. but also he’s technically not a sociopath or something that can be defined by psychology etc. whatever). but despite my efforts, it seemed to fit.

intj has the primary ni function and the secondary te function, which means the main function for self-saving is the subconscious aha! moment and the secondary function that deals with other people is graphs and bringing external order to thought.

i don’t necessarily think this is still accurate. mostly because i don’t think rose is a te. i think elena is a te, and i think the plan rose mentioned to luisa in episode fourteen was elena’s plan, not rose’s, and i think the primary reason rose decided to stop working with elena and kill her (and derek) instead was elena’s kidnapping of luisa. (if she didn’t leave her over being with emilio for five years and instead stuck to a plan that put her in a situation she hated, which may have made her want to leave but she didn’t, luisa becomes a primary factor here.)

however, i think my original reasoning for having rose be a te stemmed from s2 and her out-thinking and outmaneuvering elena, as well as keeping michael off of elena’s trail until he could put elena in prison where she wanted her, as well as allowing derek time to escape.

but this doesn’t necessarily have to be a te action.

and where we have very clear moments of luisa showing herself as an e, f, and p, we might have moments of that with rose as well. but rose, for me, is harder. ish. because we don’t see as much of rose, and as a character, that makes her more fluid and more open to interpretation, or more variable in interpretation. but there are some things that tend to stick, and that’s interesting to me, so.

first and foremost, i tend to peg rose as a t. this gives a strong conflict to luisa’s f, which is good for story-telling and if you’re into mb for relational purposes, having the opposite here tends to be beneficial (although this is one where having the same is fine - relational best match mb isn’t something i tend to get into much, but it’s fun to look at. that said, an intj’s best match is enfp or entp, neither of which is luisa, although I suppose a case could be made for enfp if you make her ne instead of se, but that’s the brainstorming function that i really don’t think she has. anyway). i also think this is where a lot of the conflict we see in rose and luisa’s reactions to their external conflicts comes from, as exemplified with eileen and everything to do with raf in s3 (which, admittedly, i haven’t seen all of. i mostly skipped s3. don’t judge me).

rose threatens eileen because, logically, this works, this has worked, this should continue to work. rose doesn’t trust raf because, logically, she has no reason to do so. she is given evidence that he might be onto her, and raf has consistently worked with the police. logically, this makes sense.

luisa doesn’t like rose threatening eileen because you don’t treat people that way. luisa trusts raf because he is her brother and she sees no reason for him to lie to her. her thoughts and decisions are based in her emotional relation to eileen and raf. emotionally, this makes sense.

but the difference creates conflict between the two of them, one which we see both catering to when the need is pressing enough. luisa relies on rose’s logic when they leave, and rose relies on luisa’s emotions when they return.

but also rose outmaneuvering characters throughout s1 and s2 (and would have in s3 if she hadn’t returned with luisa) is a very t thing.

the main discrepancy with making rose a t is her actions in regards to luisa, which are very much heart-based, not head-based. and this is the interesting thing because rose, as a sociopath, lacks empathy. not as completely as a psychopath, but that aspect is still there. when she relies on luisa, she’s relying on luisa’s overabundance of what she lacks (in the same way that luisa does with rose, not in the form of intellect (because luisa is a genius) but in the form of logical common sense (which, notably, luisa does not have much of); it’s an interesting form of conflict and resolution).

anyway.

rose also tends to be an i to luisa’s e. again, this works well for conflict and compatibility. woo! but really, that shouldn’t be how you type a character. we also see rose clearly acting as an i throughout the series, most notably the submarine, which is a huge recharge moment for her (although i suppose the caymans could be considered one as well, we just don’t see that). rose keeps very much to herself, she doesn’t talk about herself, but then most of the time she isn’t herself. (that said, i think as emilio’s wife, the rose solano mask, rose had to appear more extroverted than she truly is.)

this is interesting, though, because clara, as i’ve been writing her, feels more extroverted. she likes being with people, she likes communal things because even though she can’t connect with people on an empathy level this allows her to connect on a mob mentality level (ish, i don’t like that term), but even then, she does pull away and is by herself frequently. it also looks like the introvert aspect is something that’s fairly well accepted, so sticking with that.

rose is definitely a j (again, conflict/compatibility bonus). i don’t think she’s a strong j, because her organization and scheduling (and keeping to the timeline)—

hm.

see, and this is interesting because although i do think rose is more of a j than luisa is (and fandom seems to also paint her as a j), i can see an ambivalence here. rose mentions a timeline and is organized, but that feels like elena’s influence more than natural rose. we see rose most in the moments where she steps out of that - when she kills emilio, when she sends luisa to the mental institute, when she kills tom the bellhop - all of which are antithesis to the timeline itself. this is even more poignant in relation to sleeping with heidi prior to the series (or even going to the girl bar where she met luisa), which were likely impulsive decisions made that could potentially have jeopardized whatever elena wanted her to do (particularly in regards to their argument overheard by heidi).

but perhaps that is more rebelliousness and a need to be herself than an indication of a p vibe. rose’s actions in s2 (and in s4, to some extent) show a very organized vibe (particularly in regards to having an escape plan provided luisa deposits the funds - this is a very j thing to do).

so still on the side of j vs. p.

now, this is more interesting, because in the side of n vs. s, i think rose might actually be an s, and it’s part of what makes her so interesting as a villain and as an opponent to elena (even though we don’t really see that). as i mentioned in luisa’s analysis, s is more concrete and n is more abstract, but s is also more little details and n is more big picture, and Rose excels at the small details. it’s the little details that cause her actions mentioned in the j vs. p discussion (killing emilio and tom, sending luisa to the mental institute), and it’s the little details she can catch that elena can’t that lead to her success. rose is able to set things up under elena’s nose - with derek, no less! - and get away with it because elena trusts her to take care of those details. and rose does until she doesn’t anymore. it’s the little details that make her suspicious of raf, the little things adding up to a bigger picture.

but it’s also a lack of the little details with susanna that get her caught by michael (and also a complete ignorance of them by buying powdered donuts when she left with luisa like seriously rose - but even then, that’s a little detail for luisa that she wanted, so).

the problem here is this: istj still leaves the te that i don’t think fits with rose, and the above examples of s that i give fit more with se than they do with si, which would be the istj function. further, if you read the description for the ti function, that fits fairly well with the s and t descriptions given - the actions rose takes during s1 are ones meant to make the least changes to their overall system.

but se/ti leads to istp or estp - in which case, i’d argue rose as an istp (ti to help herself (because making the smallest changes to keep the system in place would protect her from elena) and se to help others (very grounded in the present moment, etc.)) which leads to something interesting:

rose and luisa both have a crossover essential function, and that is that se function, that being grounded in the present. while comparatively rose is definitely more j than luisa is, she can be flexible and impulsive and spontaneous, and that’s complementary to luisa. but their main conflict, then, is that ti/fi conflict - the internal logic vs the internal feelings. (and where luisa uses her se to help herself, rose is using it to help others - interestingly enough they would both be using it for luisa and this grounding her.)

[seddm]

Hello, I found your blog as I was searching through the svtfoe tag. This is because i've been seeing svtfoe stuff online for a while, but haven't watched it because i haven't been too keen on watching anything lately for some odd reason. I know i could google "what is svtfoe" but i was wanting someone from the fandom to give me an overview on it and why people like it so much. (most of the stuff i've seen is tomco, and ill be honest its got me curious because i love demon looking characters)

Hard question, I suck at this kind of things. Well, trying to be as spoiler free as possible: SVTFOE is a show about a magic-wielding princess from another dimension who gets sent to Earth as an exchange student to train in a “safer environment” (and to limit the damages she’d do to her home kingdom). The show starts as a standard “adventure of the week” cartoon, featuring school and/or other dimensions’ based adventures and fight with monsters for its first part, with the titular character Star and her host and now best friend on Earth Marco Diaz. It starts getting a plot with a Bigger Threat by the end of S1, and the show’s world, lore and scopes grow bigger and bigger from then, focusing more on Star’s home dimension, her kingdom, the history of her family, and racism against monsters in her home dimension.

There are several reasons to like the show, but the main ones are the way it handles the friendship and relationships between characters - especially its two protagonists, Star and Marco, but other supporting cast too, and the way it’s not afraid to deeply change the status quo when something Big happens, without going back on its tracks, giving a real sense of growth not only for the characters, but for the story as a whole as well. Also, while there are clearly more “fillerish” and light hearted episodes, or episodes that otherwise don’t change anything about the story and plot, almost all of them (with just a handful of exceptions) still contribute to the emotional development of the characters, and this usually sticks by in visible way, with lessons rarely repeating themselves (even though some obviously take a whole season or more to be truly ingrained in the characters’ personalities).There is a demon-looking character, Tom, but he has very little screentime until S3, when he steps up on his role in the show & grows a lot as a character (one episode in S1, two episodes in S2, plus a cameo).He does not have romantic interests in Marco, despite the popularity of Tomco, but they surely have an interesting and somewhat complicated relationship, a “budding bromance”, if you will.

[northbndtrain]

12 Monkeys / S4 / Episode 1: “The End” / Commentary

I meant to do this earlier in the week, not because I think a recap is needed but because I just wanted to put my thoughts down somewhere, but I was busier than I thought I was going to be. I also don’t know that I’ll be able to do this for 402 and 403, especially before the new episodes tonight, but here at least are my thoughts on the first episode of the premiere, including what I thought were highlights.

OPENING: The "serpent/demon" legend is told in voice-over as a group medieval soldiers chases down a group of robe-clad "heretics" and burns them alive for refusing to tell them where the "weapon" is. My favorite part of this sequence is that it features a young girl named "Chorus." Great name.

JONES RECAPS ALL OF THE HORRIBLE THINGS THAT HAPPENED LAST SEASON: Jones is close to death after being stabbed by Olivia in S3. As Hannah begs Cassie to save her, Jones flashes back to the events of the S3 finale, which is a really creative way of recapping exactly who killed whom, who saved whom, who has reason to be pissed at whom, etc. When Jones flat-lines, Cassie snaps out of her "eh, Jones deserves to die because she shot Athan" stupor and brings her back.

CASSIE/COLE SHOWDOWN: Cassie and Cole have a poignant discussion as Cassie packs her things in preparation for leaving. The scene is a good encapsulation of their different personalities and different reactions to the loss of Athan. Obviously, they're both grieving, but they're channeling that grief in different ways. Cole tries to comfort Cassie by reminding her that they did save Athan's soul, which is what he is choosing to focus on. For him -- I don't want to say that's "enough," because he's lost his son. Nothing would ever be "enough." But it's giving him something to hold onto at this point in time, and he needs that if he’s going to move forward with the mission, which is what he desperately wants to do. That mission, and Cassie, are all he has left.

But Cassie rightly points out that, yes, they saved Athan's soul, but that doesn't wave away the fact that something is now happening to her as a result of Athan's death -- she almost let Jones die, and as we will soon find out she is desperate to kill Olivia. She can’t focus on the mission or the increasingly nebulous idea of what “success” would mean because she’s self-aware enough to realize that she’s broken right now. Her reaction to Athan's death isn't necessarily "healthy" or "unhealthy,” or somehow “better” or “worse” than Cole’s reaction -- it is simply a fact. And nothing Cole can say can change it.

But neither can Cassie change Cole's desire to stop running so they can end this once and for all. For the moment, they're at an impasse. But it's not an artificial one dreamed up by the writers to create conflict. This is just who Cole and Cassie are.

DEACON'S NOT A HERO BUT SOMETIMES HE PLAYS ONE IN TITAN: Deacon (I LOVE HIM) is the one who has the idea to distract Olivia and her minions by blowing up one of Titan's towers, and then he's also the one to risk his life to execute the plan. Unfortunately, the explosion only convinces Olivia to use some of the other towers as nuclear weapons or something (”OLIVIA’S GOT HERSELF A DEATH STAR,” Deacon radios back to base), but it was nice to think that the team had a win for a moment, anyway.

THE FACILITY SPLINTERS: With Olivia about to incinerate Raritan with Titan's remaining towers, the gang prepares to splinter parts of the building and anyone inside those parts of the building at the time of departure. Of course, the minute it's revealed that anyone accidentally left outside the perimeter at the time of departure will be left behind, it's a given that at least one person will be. And that person, of course, is Deacon, because why not.

Things I liked about this sequence? Deacon's very human reaction when a desperate Cassie found him on the wrong side of the perimeter just before take-off. Instead of saying something self-sacrificing like, "It's okay, just go!" he quietly, brokenly, pleaded, "Don't leave me." Deacon's not a hero, really. He wants to survive. He clearly still cares about Cassie. In his mind, he went out into enemy territory to buy the gang more time, and now they're shoving off without him. So, yeah. He's got reasons to be so defeated in this moment, to say something almost nonsensical (his tone indicates he knows full well that they can't turn the perimeter off, but he begs anyway).

Things I didn't like about this sequence? That the last thing Deacon saw was Cole dragging Cassie away, because it seemed like an obvious way to try to increase Deacon's anger and resentment for whenever we next see him again. I just don't think that was necessary. But, then, I've always been uncomfortable with this "triangle" (as much as we can call it that), so any reminders of it put me off.

WHITLEY RIP: Whitley sacrificed himself to buy Jones time to fix the core so the team could splinter, and it was all extremely sad, especially when Jones sat next to him for the last time. I know there are a lot of characters on the show, but I wish we'd spent more time with him and he'd gotten more development.

MONTAGE TIME: Heartbreaking montage of Cassie, Cole, and the rest wandering around the desolate wasteland surrounding the Emerson Hotel, which is where they splintered. Everything about the sequence underscores the sadness of the team's situation: yes, they've survived, but for what purpose? Just to hide and mourn their losses and wait for Olivia to find them. As Cassie notes, they’re just running around in circles at this point.

FORTUNATELY, DR. ADLER IS STILL HERE: When Cole demands that Dr. Adler fix the core, Adler snarks, "We need another Adam Cell to kick-start it. To get one of those, you. need. a time machine!" Poor Cole. Every where he turns, there's another loop.

Adler isn't done. When Cole asks if Jones has any thoughts, the camera settles on Jones sitting off by herself and Adler replies, "None that she's willing to share."

JUST WHEN ALL HOPE SEEMS LOST: Great editing choices here, as we go from Cole trying and failing to rally the troops to action (he wants to fix the time machine and find Jennifer and figure out what the hell is up with these weird Ouroboros drawings that are now apparently a recurring feature in his life) -- a really miserable situation -- to...JENNIFER. A reminder that not all hope is lost.

A lot has been written elsewhere about this sequence, which follows Jennifer as she pretends to be the action hero she sees herself as in her head and steals the Ouroboros Puzzle from the museum. All I'll say is that I enjoyed it. I had seen the red-headed Jennifer in promo shots, and I just assumed it was another version of Jennifer from some other timeline. But the show managed to surprise me yet again. I LOVE WHEN THAT HAPPENS. And, fortunately, it happens a lot, because these writers are good.

Also, that shot of Jennifer turning away from the door to smile and laugh over her shoulder at the museum guard felt familiar to me, and I realized that it reminded me a lot of her first appearance in the pilot. I think it was even the same music cue.

(I also loved the museum guard declining to pursue Jennifer because the world is ending and he doesn't care enough to bother.)

COLE AND...HANNAH, APPARENTLY: The episode's cliffhanger is set up by a bit of weirdness, at least for me...Cole goes out exploring and he's joined by Hannah, who was apparently following him for some time before, not on anyone's orders, but because she wanted to make sure he didn't walk alone. And I just...find that weird? I didn't really know what to make of the scene. On another show, I would wonder if the writers were setting up Hannah having a crush on Cole, but this isn't that kind of series. The only other thing I can figure is that the writers simply want to build up this friendship (?) in preparation for Hannah playing a bigger role in this final season.

Anyway, there's not really time to dwell on that because the cliffhanger is Cole seeing his past self walking around with Ramse and realizing that the team has splintered to the final hours before his first splinter. And I was excited about that until I realized that this means the next episode will have Cole feeling guilty about Ramse. (I am over Ramse and over Cole's guilt. I realize that it makes sense for Cole's character to feel that guilt. I realize that this is the correct writing choice. But I am over Ramse. Period. Full stop.)

[wittybyrd-blog]

I’ve been thinking about writing this all down for a while now. The end of S6 was so exhausting. I’m not real big with the sharing of personal feelings or emotions, but I have come a long way with it. Even so, people that know me would be shocked if they knew I was putting all of this out there for other people to judge. Deep down we are very insecure. However, I felt like I needed to put it out there in case someone shared this same type of devotion to the show for the way they handled bipolar Carrie over the years and now feel lost after all the shit that transpired in the last two seasons. I’ll put this out there knowing it is really just for me, but if someone is in despair and googles the right words, maybe they’ll find it. Plus, it is way easier for me to share with strangers and if they feel as much anguish about this show as I do, we could probably become the best of friends. :)

When I first heard that this show was in production, I was intrigued. I was given the bipolar diagnosis in my teens. I was anxious to see how they would portray a bipolar CIA agent. I’ve always felt connected to Carrie as a character for obvious reasons. I’ve defended her character over the years based on my own battles with emotional instability. I know some people thought it was unrealistic that Saul could be so close to her and not know, but it *is* possible. Many people that are bipolar could earn their own Emmy, me included. We can flip a switch and give quite the performance. I work with people who have no idea. As long as my medication is working effectively, I can keep my mood even enough to disguise any internal conflicts. I don’t have as many manic episodes anymore. Now I suffer more with all of the lows. Unfortunately, my norm is Eeyore and the lows go really low. But the mania is still there, and I still struggle daily.

I think they’ve done an excellent job incorporating (more than once) the detachment that tends to come pretty easily. There have been several times where significant time has passed without Carrie speaking to Saul. He calls. She doesn’t respond. I’ve been told before that it is like I’m on a moving train in one car and I simply unhook my train car from the rest of the train as I’m waving goodbye. Not exactly a compliment or a good quality to possess, but in retrospect, also not exactly unfounded. It is too easy for me to not look back. It is subtleties like this throughout the show that have made Carrie very relatable to me. I think the main thread that ties every aspect of her life together that is so relatable to so many bipolar people is the obsessive, addictive personality traits. Whether it is an unwavering focus on completing the “mission” or the crazy type of obsessive love for Brody, I get it all. Those are things I’ve had to control in my own life. She finally let this obsession turn the table, and she gave in. When she asked Brody why it hurt so much at the end of S2, he had that line about her giving it up to him completely. It was a perfect line. It almost destroyed her, because that’s what happens to us if we do “give it up.”

This addictive personality trait is pretty much at the core of all of her missteps when you look at the bigger picture. She wound up off her meds and in the hospital (fantastic, realistic depiction, btw) because of an obsession with Brody. After she was out, she couldn’t control her anger and blew an operation. However, the fact that she felt this rage at the surface and yet there was still this obsessive love underneath was so spot on. People who don’t suffer this way can’t comprehend an intelligent, independent woman seeking this sort of crazy need to be loved by this person. Carrie is determined and assertive. Claire Danes does a fantastic job showcasing those qualities in Carrie, all the while doing justice to this dynamic, vulnerable, and unstable side of her personality. Quinn told her that he’d want to rip Brody’s skin off if he were her, which would be the most normal response. But we aren’t “normal.” It takes years of therapy to try to trick yourself into a more appropriate response…believe me, I know. Carrie had many more responses like this that most people would think were inappropriate. Saul told Carrie that Quinn went to him with concerns after Sandy was pulled from the car. Carrie’s defensive response was that Quinn was the one upset by it, and Saul pointed out that would be the more appropriate reaction. This is one of the many reasons why I loved this show. They wrote stuff like this in that I feel is truly fundamental when portraying someone that is bipolar. When you are in this particular state, societal norms are not something you comprehend.  Your reactions can come across as callous and devoid of any real emotion. I am still amazed at how accurate it was through the first four plus seasons. 

When they first introduced Quinn into the story, it became clear to me that they were trying to find someone to fit into the role of a monitor. I knew he was going to be *that* person when he went to see Carrie in the hospital and told Saul he wasn’t okay with what they were doing to her. I happen to think it is a must to have someone like this in your corner if you want to fight the battle with this disease. There aren’t a lot of people who can take on that role and stick with it long-term. We can be incredibly hurtful and completely self-involved. But this is the shit we do when out of control…reckless abandon with no acceptance that there will be consequences in the end. That was basically S4 for Carrie.

It was hard for me to accept they were making Quinn that person, because I adored Quinn for totally separate reasons. I know the reality of what can happen to those relationships in the long run, so I actually felt sad for Quinn when I saw how deeply he cared for her. I know that sounds totally fucked up, but it typically doesn’t end well for someone with a heart of gold that tries to love you unless they’ve actually done their own research on how to love someone that is bipolar. It is actually a thing, trust me. They even have therapy groups for families and spouses, just like they do for someone who loves and cares for an alcoholic. Here Quinn is with this compassion and love, all the while fighting his own demons. Quinn isn’t a bad guy, even though he wrestles with that deeply and feels a pull to darkness. Carrie lives there all of the time. You can control it, but you know it is always there. It can easily pull you back in if you allow it. Sadly, Carrie still hasn’t dealt with the disease the way she needs to, and Quinn suffered because of it.

I thought they did an excellent job at the beginning of S4. I was worried they were going to show her having moved on easily after all that happened at the end of S3. That would have been totally unrealistic. The fact that she left Franny was not shocking to me at all. She was self-medicating even more with the drinking. That’s totally on point. Unfortunately, this is very common with bipolar disorder. If the answer to the question is drinking, then the question is, “How can I possibly make things worse?” Of course you don’t see it that way at the time. The bathtub scene was I’m sure horrifying for so many people, but it was actually quite realistic. In that moment, it seemed like the easy way out for Carrie. If you don’t keep your emotions in check and your head in the right place, you won’t be anything other than selfish. Her emotions were all over the place. That scene in the church at Sandy’s funeral laid that out pretty clearly. Like Quinn explained, it isn’t always about her. But in her world, it is. I was very much like that during different periods in my life. That’s why this show got to me. I had to relive the damage I’d done many years ago when it played out on the screen in front of me during S4. It was actually very therapeutic. I don’t ever want to forget the pain of realizing the hurt I caused, because I don’t ever want to be that person again. I asked myself quite often during S4 if I would have made those same questionable decisions Carrie was making.  The answer was always yes.

The truth is that Carrie never stood still after Brody’s death, moving quickly ahead to the next “mission.” It was inevitable that she would be reckless. Carrie was truly out of control in S4, even though some may not think it was as bad as the end of S1. It was, because it was basically this big long stretch of denial and manic behavior. She never truly came down. She was off the rails for most of the season, and that’s always where Quinn came in. It seemed like that was going to be his sole purpose for a while…try to be Carrie’s conscience. He had to fix the shit she fucked up or was about to fuck up, like having to shoot her. I was glad when they wrote in so much more for his character. I just want to cry every time I think about how her disease really destroyed him in the end. He deserved so much more. By the end of S5, I felt much more of his pain and found myself relating less and less to Carrie. I can’t imagine that was the intention of the writers since the show is about Carrie and by this point they clearly had no problem screwing over Quinn. But regardless of the intended outcome, I think most people longed for Quinn to find happiness and related more to him than Carrie…even those of us that are bipolar.

The end of S4 was truly heartbreaking for me. Even though a lot of people wonder if Carrie ever really loved Quinn, I know she did based on the one scene where she was really honest with him. Carrie is fucked up, but unless you’ve been there, it is very hard to comprehend the magnitude of it. She knows that they have this amazing bond/friendship along with this other attraction. Carrie does right by him in this episode. She acknowledges she will fuck it up, and it is legitimately inevitable at this stage. For one, I don’t think she has fully mourned Brody or truly dealt with what happened in Pakistan. Not only is she not emotionally available to Quinn at this point, she tries to make him understand that it isn’t about them just knowing each other’s shit. Truth be told, it really isn’t. She even says, “But you don’t have my condition.” It is very hard to explain to someone what it is like to be inside our head. Just because you’ve seen someone strapped to a gurney in a mental ward or being hauled off kicking and screaming doesn’t mean you’ve seen us at our worst. The worst is the selfishness, belligerence, promiscuity, and on and on. Medicine can help, but that is only part of it. Meds stop working and dosages have to be changed more frequently than most would think. Some people start feeling better and decide they don’t need medicine anymore, which can lead to suicide. That happened to my aunt. That’s why we need someone who gets us enough to know when there is trouble brewing and intervene before it is out of hand. Maggie played that role for Carrie when the show started, but that plot line sort of dissipated over the years.

The conversations between Quinn and Carrie were never about why she was acting a certain way. Was she taking her meds? Do they maybe need to be adjusted? That was never the story that played out between them. She never truly opened up to him about the illness other than to warn him off. Part of me believes she didn’t want to burden him with her demons when she knew he struggled with some of his own. I do believe she knew deep down she’d end up destroying him and the bond they had. She had finally just let someone in, really in, for the first time. It’s a little hard for her to distance herself from the outcome of that relationship. The problem is that she doesn’t trust that he will still love her if he sees all of it. We tend to feel very unworthy at the core, and definitely fear rejection from those we let in. It is easier to just tell him she will fuck it up than be honest about how scary it would be for her to really let him see what is under the surface. It is easier for her if he believes she is just manic and crazy. The hysteria only masks the vulnerability and insecurity that is deeply ingrained. Bipolar individuals tend to make the outer shell seem bulletproof and impenetrable. It often makes us come across as callous and unsympathetic. For those of us that finally come to terms with the fact that meds alone can’t fix our problems, those traits disappear and you get to see the good stuff. When Carrie says she always thought being bipolar meant you can’t be with people, she’s not wrong. I think it is one of the best lines in the show. If you’re in denial and unable to step back and see you aren’t actively doing anything to try to help yourself, then you can’t truly be with someone. At that point, you truly aren’t good for anyone. She’s exactly right.

Quinn is obviously gone by the time she calls him after having seen her mother, but the truth we don’t see is her relief. As we know, Carrie’s obsessive tendencies make her unrelenting when there is an end game for her. Do you think if she wanted to find Quinn that anything would have stopped her? I’m not buying it. She would have pressed the issue, hunting down the poor guy that was held back with the letters to find out where the plane was headed. If Carrie really believed she could be with Quinn at the end of S4, she would have made it happen. She did love him in the only way she knows how at this point in her life, which is to let him move on.  

Nothing was more fitting than seeing that Carrie had moved on with her life at the start of S5, away from all reminders of her past. She’s now in a superficial relationship with someone “safe.” She’s convinced herself she’s better off now, but I don’t buy that she really believed that. Claire Danes said in an interview that Carrie was “happy” now. You will very rarely ever hear someone bipolar describe their life as “happy.” Most of us don’t even know what that means. When she went off her meds, she didn’t even tell him. When she finally did, she had to try to explain to him the signs he should look for, etc. Had they been together this long and never really talked about what could happen at any point in their life together without much warning? That tells me she wasn’t terribly invested, so “happy” was a projection. When you have someone who loves you unconditionally, you tend to drive them away. It is easier to be in a safe relationship where you never really let that person in.

From a bipolar standpoint, S5 was kind of a mess. There were parts that stayed true to our “brand” of bipolar. The truths of bipolar were well done in those first episodes. The superficial relationships, the scenes with the insults, great sex, and paranoia when she went off the meds, the brilliantly inserted scene in the last episode that couldn’t be more bipolar…all fantastic writing.  She tries to self-medicate with sex in one of the most inappropriate life situations instead of owning her emotional instability in the wake of everything that just transpired. It’s what we do…a sad symptom for someone to actually acknowledge fully.

The rest of S5 was a total bipolar disaster. At first I thought they were going to have Carrie finally face her demons in a way that she needs to. I wasn’t surprised she didn’t tell Quinn that she was going to say yes when he left two years ago. I think a lot of people wanted that because Quinn deserved to know she loved him, but she is just too fucked up to say it. But then the writers went totally off the rails with Carrie’s behavior from that point forward. He’s back in her life to try to save her *AGAIN*, and he ends up walking away to go die somewhere so she will be free. Okay, Carrie. It is time to cut the bullshit and face your feelings for him, regardless of how that ends. She is flat out asked if it registers that Quinn is going to bleed to death trying to protect her. I’m thinking, okay, maybe this will be her wake-up call. But no, of course not. The next time we see her she is asking Otto to help her get out of town. What? Hello? Remember how Quinn is bleeding somewhere? The guy who keeps risking everything for you? Then she finally says it out loud. “I am the problem. I bring down everyone.” For a bipolar person to finally own this and actually say it out loud to someone else, this is rock bottom much like an alcoholic. This is the crash and burn part of the program, except that it wasn’t. The writers took Carrie somewhere else for the purpose of the story. Okay, I get that. The show’s focus was never bipolar disorder. But when you’ve done such a great job of writing up to this point, don’t go and fuck it all up. Carrie would have never uttered those words and then gone about selfishly like she had been. “I am the problem,” oh, and by the way, I haven’t seen Quinn for like nine days so I should probably go look for him. What the fuck? I don’t care if someone was trying to kill her. She wouldn’t admit to destroying everyone and then leave Quinn out there to maybe live or maybe die, especially after she just said she didn’t take care of him the way she should have. Here’s an idea. How about starting now? The whole sequence was infuriating…total bullshit. Like I said, don’t do a fantastic job writing in all of the small aspects of being bipolar just to blow it to bits in just a few episodes. I’m always the first to defend Carrie because I “get” her in ways that others can’t, whether I like to admit that or not. I just can’t defend this shit because it makes zero sense to me. 

Would I have risked Quinn’s life by waking him up for information he might not even have? I don’t think so. I did personally understand Carrie on this, though. Her addictive personality doesn’t allow her to leave things unfinished, and in her mind, she has to stop the attack at any cost. Knowing the decisions that Carrie has already made in the past, was anyone really surprised? I was more surprised that she struggled with the decision at all based on the fact that she left Quinn out there bleeding to death in the first place. If the writers hadn’t just subjected us to that shit sandwich, I might have believed she was torn. But they did, so I figured she’d do whatever it took to stop the terrorists. In her defense, she would want Quinn and Saul to wake her if the roles were reversed. She has to complete the mission. She also was right about what Saul wanted when he was captured. Quinn obviously stopped her and seemed a little surprised when he found out that Saul really did want her to make that call. There was that scene in S4 about it being incomprehensible that saving someone’s life could be the wrong choice. I thought about that scene quite a bit when they were making this decision about Quinn. I say “they” because it seems like everyone has forgotten that Saul was pushing for the doctors to wake him up even more than Carrie. She’s the one that was having doubts. 

I’ve been off social media for the last few years because of this show. I couldn’t take the hatred out there about Carrie, because through the first four seasons, that hatred could have easily been towards me at one point in my life. I’m pretty much watching all of my mistakes, bad behavior, and personality traits play out on screen right in front of me. It’s kind of surreal. After the finale this year, I wanted to see what people were saying. S6 was just awful, and I was curious about the reaction. Plus, I can no longer relate to Carrie. They have her using her bipolar disorder now as an excuse, a crutch. I feel like they are now misrepresenting the condition entirely. It’s sort of hard to explain.

As for S6, what a clusterfuck of epic proportion. It is hard to even describe the disappointment. So has Carrie been miraculously cured? You’d never know she struggles with being bipolar. After what happened to Quinn and having read that letter (no words for that, btw), there was no dark pit of anguish unearthed? I call bullshit, especially after her supposed epiphany in S5 about actually being the problem. Now they’re writing her like she never loved Quinn the way I know she did. They put all of these signs in there about how much she did love him, and they were especially recognizable for someone who is bipolar. It was like they made a U-turn and hoped we would forget all of that. If she had truly believed the things she said to Otto, there is no way she wouldn’t have been honest with Quinn. She would have told him they woke him from the coma and why they made that decision. It wouldn’t have been this dark cloud overhead that causes a catastrophic storm, leaving pieces of Quinn’s heart in its wake. Quinn finding out later from Dar, who is clearly trying to spin the narrative, was such a cruel story arc. All that accomplished was to shine an even bigger spotlight on Carrie’s selfish behavior. It appeared to me that the writers were trying to suggest that she was more worried about him never forgiving her and losing him for good instead of just laying it out for him and dealing with the consequences, whatever they may be. Quinn would have been devastated regardless, but I think it would have been less about her making the choice she made and more about the fact that she was able to follow through with it. Let’s face it. Even knowing it is what Carrie would have wanted had the roles been reversed, does anyone really believe Quinn could have actually gone through with it? Knowing that one of the risks was death, he would’ve never made that call. He loved her too much. She was able to make that call, though. Quinn having to come to terms with that is just heartbreaking. 

I feel the writers seemed to be trying very hard to make us believe that Carrie really was taking care of him out of guilt and not love. With what played out in S5, she would have answered honestly as to why she saved him. But they’re writing her as running scared all of a sudden, and a bipolar individual is only scared when they’ve made the decision to actually face it all. She’s still acting selfishly, and that is the time you would be the most unselfish. The writing was so contradictory and inconsistent with each new episode. Again, Homeland was never meant to be a show about bipolar. I totally get that, but the way it was woven in through the first four seasons was masterful and accurate. Thank you, Meredith Stiehm. If you don’t want that to be a point of focus throughout the entire run of the show, don’t introduce it at all.

As for my love for Quinn as this beautiful, unselfish human being, it only grew stronger from S5 on. He believed he was flawed, but he also owned it. Even though he had this hard shell and didn’t let a lot of people in, he loved Carrie and tried to be a moral compass for her. I do think the writers did a disservice by showcasing Carrie as somewhat immoral and not ever really letting Quinn in on the real reasons why. Most bipolar people aren’t immoral at the core. They’re actually quite compassionate because they feel so deeply and their emotions run so strong. But when the disease isn’t in check, they make completely irrational and snap decisions that can lead them down that rabbit hole. The brain’s complexity is a wonderland to most of us. Quinn was owed a happy ending by this disaster of a show. What was the point of bringing Astrid back only to have her murdered in a way that would lead to Quinn feeling responsible? How tragic for Quinn to finally realize this woman loves him in the way he loves Carrie before she dies. I just don’t understand what happened to this show that I once loved so much.

I’m not sure how much of the show was rewritten to be relevant (whatever the fuck that actually means), but I’m surprised that Claire was okay with how this was written for Carrie. She’s a producer, after all. I know she did a lot of research when she took on this role, so she had to know that this arc would not be received well by most of the bipolar community. It would have been better for Quinn to have died at the end of S5 and start S6 with her finally owning her demons and trying to come to terms with everything she’d done. When you’re still in the denial phase as to the depths of the selfishness this disease can cause, the only people you truly hurt are the people that deeply love and care for you. That’s why the narrative was so off in S5. If you believe you bring everyone around you down so much that you’ve decided the only solution is to go away for good and take all of your problems with you, the rest of S5 would have played out very differently. I know I keep going back to that, but as someone who truly knows the effects of this disease, the train flew off the tracks for me in S5. I remember Claire saying back in ’13 or ’14 that she was always monitoring the depiction of her condition because she wanted to do right by those with this disorder. She never wanted it to be a convenient gimmick. I’m really surprised based on those comments that is has become just that.

Due to the horrific writing, I would understand if Rupert Friend had some hard feelings. He wants to play a character he’s proud of. I did see some people unhappy with Rupert’s comments about Carrie after the finale. I’m sure much of that was because they wanted a happy ending for them, but that was honestly a pipe dream. I think they could have been together under a certain set of circumstances in the future, but Carrie would have had to evolve a lot before that ever happened. I didn’t have a problem with his comments at all. He readily admits he never actually watched the show, so he never saw it put together the way we did. When he speaks about Quinn, you can tell how much he loved him. I think that is very endearing. He did write the letter himself, after all. As far as he’s concerned, it was Carrie alone that forced the doctors to wake him up. Quinn doesn’t know she struggled with the decision or that Saul was a big part of it. Quinn doesn’t know a lot of things about Carrie that we know from being on the outside looking in at the bigger picture. He finds it tragic that Quinn died thinking he was never really loved, and why wouldn’t he? He did research for his character, not Claire’s character. The real effect of bipolar disorder on intimate relationships was never addressed. Carrie loved him deeply, but she would have never been able to love him the way he deserved until she really dealt with her shit. Rupert Friend isn’t viewing Carrie through a bipolar prism like I am, so his comments seemed quite fair to me. In the end, I didn’t see Carrie through that prism either. The writers destroyed that for me in S5. I felt deeply for Quinn, not Carrie.

I would like to pretend there was no S6. They did a disservice not only to the bipolar community but to veterans physically wounded and suffering from PTSD. Why bring Rupert back to tell that story if you weren’t going to do it long-term? What a fucked up mess. Rupert was fantastic…Claire, I don’t know what to think. I think she should have realized this season would make Carrie someone many of us don’t even want to root for anymore. Believe me, I have always been Carrie’s biggest advocate. I understood her behavior, especially in S4 when many people didn’t. About the only bipolar thing Carrie did in S6 was get defensive with Saul about Quinn’s death and apparently never grieved for Quinn the way she should have. “Maybe I didn’t know him as well as you think.” Yeah, okay then. This really means I’m going to be defensive and deflect because I’m unable to react to this like a “normal” person. If I stand still for even a second, I’m going to lose it (the way she should have realistically already lost it). It’s a real thing. It doesn’t have to be about facing reality or mourning death. It can be as simple as working 60 hour weeks for a few months. A “normal” person would crash for a while, get some sleep, and move on. We become unreasonable, belligerent, and defensive when we’ve hit that wall. A MAJOR downward spiral occurs that isn’t easy to climb out of. If they want to be real next season, she will finally stand still and hit that wall. With everything that’s happened, I hope for her sake that it is THE wall. The wall that has to be taken apart painstakingly and slowly, brick by brick, so that you can finally walk through and face all of it with the realization and desire of knowing you don’t ever want to end up back on the other side. 

I was so pleased with the writers in the beginning for adding in so many of the more minor aspects of Carrie’s personality that I could relate to. I realize every person suffers in different ways. If it sounds like I’m making generalizations that ALL individuals with bipolar have certain tendencies, that is not my intention. However, there were many things *I* found quite relatable. I believe that self-reflection is a necessity, but it is scary as hell and the fear can paralyze you. There’s a reason Carrie is such an asset to the agency. It isn’t just the addictive and obsessive personality. She also isn’t afraid of putting herself in incredibly dangerous situations to get the information she needs. We aren’t afraid of death. Hell, many of us try to take our own lives. It isn’t death a bipolar person fears. It is the reflection in the mirror when you’ve been in denial. Who am I and what damage have I done? When you finally become self-aware enough to deal with that person looking back at you, that’s when you truly crash and burn and start to rebuild. She clearly isn’t there. “I can’t lose another one” translates to this is still all about me and my selfish needs. I don’t know if the writers will ever really go there. If they don’t, there won’t be a realistic happy ending that so many want for Carrie, including Claire. It just isn’t possible. And that would be a tragic way to end a show that was once so brilliantly written…

[afishtrap]

I have questions.

These have been bugging me. Maybe I’ll get lucky and someone (koff @caramelcheese koff) has an explanation.

1. Shiro’s in prison for a year. Yet he doesn’t end up with a beard to his chest, and his hair is still neatly cut. The leaked shots from S3 of Matt look like Matt’s hair has grown, though. How could Shiro stay neatly pressed (at least from the shoulders up) while Matt’s the one who can’t find scissors?

2a. Why are none of the paladins ever strapped in? It’s like the animators are thinking the cats are just big cars, and everything’s operating on a linear, horizontal plane. When the five first find the blue lion and it proceeds to scamper in mid-air (including twists), all of them should’ve ended up splattered across the interior. Including Lance. (I’ve been in a van that rolled off the road and over a 30′ drop. Think frog in a mixer and you’re pretty close to the results.)

(okay so yeah I come from the Gundam and Macross worlds for mecha, and I’ve done my time in Yukikaze and Sidonia no Kishi which are more real-world jet-pilot SF influenced than super-mecha, but still, strapping in is pretty much mandatory. If the animators didn’t want belts, they could still have gone with the pilot getting suctioned in, like S2 Gundam 00 or Escaflowne. but really, all five floating out of their seats? and no additional seats/straps for passengers? this isn’t a mini-van, people, it’s a big box that can go in any direction at any time and this bugs the crap out of me)

2b. Clearly none of the animators have actually done anything that requires wearing a helmet. Like, say, riding a motorcycle (or piloting a plane). Shiro’s helmet coming off ‘cause he’s rolling down a hill... that could happen with a bike helmet, but if it happens with a full helmet style like the paladin’s, then something is seriously wrong. I can’t watch that bit w/out wincing. A helmet that style coming off is bad news. Really bad. Like, not possibly not making it out alive and/or brain-crushed bad.

3a. Am I the only one giving the side-eye every time Allura protests (mostly in S1) about how the Alteans were a great and wonderful people, her father was a great man and a great father, etc etc? Zarkon can’t have always been pure evil if Alfor worked with him, which raises the question of whether Alfor was so pristine and perfect, too. Plus, Alfor agreeing that he’d made a mistake (in sending the lions away) squeaks the door open, at least for me, to the chance that Alfor made a few other mistakes, too.

3b. I mean, people just don’t up and go to war for no reason, unless the motivations here are so flat and boring as to be that Zarkon just woke up one morning pure evil. This is fiction: it’s supposed to make sense, so there must be another side to this story we’re not getting told. Something makes me wonder if “the dark history of the Paladins” isn’t just the fact that Zarkon was one of them.

4a. Yes, Zarkon is apparently an imperialist -- expanding his military borders constantly -- and definitely participating in some old-school colonialism (ie the Balmora). But there also seems to be an extended part of his empire that’s going about its business, ie the space mall. If he held supreme power, why go to all the effort to build super-secret galaxy stations that only his military can find? He’d just hand out some reason for that military base, people would shrug, call it the cost of peace, and carry on. The only reason to hide that would be if he has someone to hide it from. Which might just be ‘to make it more difficult for our main characters to find’ plotholey, or it might be a signal of greater powers beyond Zarkon.

4b. Zarkon’s destructive power seems to have escalated exactly as Voltron shows up. From the way Haggar talks, it’s been a long time of R&D and she’s only just achieved robeast technology. The planet-sucking energy thing is also a new development. Granted, the bigger an empire grows (hello, America) the larger its military force must be, to police both its country and its colonies, so the scope of Zarkon’s military force doesn’t surprise me. But it does seem like those forces (other than the few conquering new worlds/colonies) must’ve mostly been in relatively peaceful backwaters, doing little but patrolling.

4c. If Zarkon’s forces are so immensely advanced, why only advance to the edge of Earth’s solar system, to the farthest outside planet, and take three people? Why stop there? From Allura’s comments about Zarkon’s advance across the universe, Earth may be a backwater but there’s nothing indicating a reason Zarkon wouldn’t be as interested in it as he is anywhere else. So why show up only long enough to kidnap three people, and then take off? But I guess that ties into @smolsarcasticraspberry‘s theories about Shiro having Altaen abilities or history, if he’s the real reason the Galra swung through.

5a. That is one seriously massive castle for only three people. No one else ever appears in Allura’s memories. She has no pictures (mental or otherwise) of anyone. She mourns her father, but no one else. No mother or mother-substitute, no friends, no peers, no siblings, no extended family, not even people she must’ve known and seen every day who also lived in the castle. Unless it really was just she, Coran, and her father? Just one big empty castle where three people rattled around in miles of empty halls and rooms. Kinda depressing. 

5b. It feels almost like Altea is this vast gap, where no one ever resided. And it makes it really hard for me to sympathize with any loss of Altea, because the only loss Allura mourns is her father, and anything else is kind of abstract. It’s like Altea itself was just a construct, one big empty field with flowers.

5c. Semi-related to that, in S2 Allura says her people were diplomats and travellers, so in hindsight it’s weird that she woke up, learned Altea’s been destroyed, and that’s that. Why assume that all Alteans were on Altea and were killed when the planet was destroyed? She makes no attempt to look for anyone; there’s no mention of Altean communities that might have survived elsewhere. Immigrants tend to cluster together, often for generations, just like you can still find a preponderance of Swedish or Norwegian surnames in parts of the American upper midwest. Yet neither she nor Coran even raise that chance, let alone chase it. Why not?

6a. The Altaen cuisine is unbelievably stupid. Food goo? Raise your hands if you’d eat the equivalent of anything, day in, day out, with no variation, and not find yourself sick of it. (If you do raise your hand, you’re like .01% of the human population because humans do not do well on unchanging diets; it’s why NASA and the military work hard to make a variety of packaged meals.) No matter how much protein a single food substance might provide, it being the only sustenance is just incomprehensible. Cuisine is a huge part of culture, and conveys so much about our history, our people, our beliefs, and our rituals. If in every other significant way the non-human cultures reflect this human value system (even the Balmorans seem to have some variety in their food), how can the Altaens possibly see green food goo (and that single bad-tasting alternate) as adequate?

6b. Okay so maybe the writers were just thinking it’s funny that the only Altaen alcoholic beverage tastes like old athletic socks (or however Lance put it), but it’s that they know it tastes horrible. What kind of people would subject themselves to bland food and foul-tasting drinks when they supposedly have the entire universe at their fingertips? Every diplomatic and military family I’ve known brings back bits and pieces of the cuisines from lands where they’ve been stationed. You sit down at their table, and it’s often an incredible mix of different cultures. So the complete lack of non-Atlean cultural elements in food and drink strikes me as just plain bizarre.

7. At some point, someone’s got to point out to Hunk that it’s time to stop calling everyone else ‘aliens’, right? It’s like being American, travelling to France, and calling every French person a foreigner. Hunk et al are the aliens, now. It just strikes me as a very human-centric view of things, and a rather myopic one, too, given other ways the writers do so well.

8. On that note, once or twice from Lance of flirting with Allura should’ve been enough. And fine, some guys are jerks, unwilling to take a girl’s disinterest for what it is. But not only does he keep doing it, no one else calls him out on it. Kieth, Hunk and Coran seem to ignore it; Shiro reels Lance in once or twice, but that’s not the same as hauling Lance aside and telling him to quit that, full stop. It’s disrespectful, it’s rude, and it’s attention Allura doesn’t like, and treating Lance’s insistent flirtation like a joke is rape culture hallmark, and quietly undermining any of the good done in letting Allura be her own character. 

(If you’re thinking to yourself that Lance being pushy is just Lance being Lance, and you’ve found it funny despite Allura’s clearly irritated reactions, that’s 'cause rape culture has taught you that Lance’s behavior is okay. newsflash: it’s not.)

9a. Coming back around to Shiro: rewatching the point where Allura talks about the different lions, and her line about the Black Lion: “a pilot who is in control at all times”. I’ve rewatched a few times now, and every time, that line feels like a kick to the gut. Shiro hears those instructions at a point where he’s only just returned (and is almost immediately whisked away again), and has barely had a chance to process his escape, let alone the entirety of his trauma. And now he’s being told that he must take up a role where the requirement is ‘being in control at all times’?

9b. @i-love-voltron-stuff​ has a meta about Shiro planning his departure, but my suspicion is that this seemingly throwaway line could be the cause. From Sendak, to Haggar, to the Black Lion, to dealing with Slav, Shiro is cracking at all the seams. If Allura’s words felt like an edict, then it’s possible Shiro is certain that he cannot pilot, nor be the leader, so long as he can’t stay in control, and by the end of S2, he’s got to be aware his headspace is pretty bad. My guess is that while he wasn’t planning on disappearing from the cockpit quite like that, he was probably expecting a short shelf life, mentally. Too many cracks, no more control, and thus no longer fit to be the Black Lion’s pilot.

to be continued (of course)