#dude this has been foreshadowed since BLANK POINTS what are you talking about?? | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

doom-dreaming · 5 years

Text

Big Sigh: aka my thoughts on BL3

Okay. It's 4 in the morning and I have managed to fuck my sleep schedule completely sideways and I've been reading people's complaints and criticisms for about an hour now so here's what I have to say about Borderlands 3. This is gonna get long, buckle up.

Borderlands 3 has potential that was never fully realized and it seems half-finished and underdeveloped.

Now, you might want to take this with a grain of salt because I haven't actually played it for myself yet, but I've been watching streams of whatever I can get my grabby little hands on and here are my impressions.

I agree with the majority of you who say it was a disappointment. I feel like we were overly hyped. Maybe it was just active imaginations and excitement and love for the series, but when my friends and I can come up with at least three different storylines for the twins alone that are (in our opinions) better than what actually happened?? Something went wrong, narratively.

You all know I could talk for hours about all the different visual aspects of just Troy and how we got answers for virtually none of them - but I won't fixate entirely on him this time around.

In general, there's some kind of disconnect between what we were expecting and what we got. Characters seem one-dimensional or just "off" in some way, and granted, it has been seven canonical years since BL2 (so about five since the events of Tales, if I remember my timeline correctly) and people do change. Seven years is longer than you think, especially in an environment where literally anything could happen.

But in order for that change to be believable, it needs to be backed up by canon. I'm not saying we should have gotten a bunch of side quests that detail the years between then and now for every single character, but even just a few lines here or there as we go about our missions would have been better than leaving a gaping hole. Too much of a hole is not "let the audience fill in the blanks," it's just bad writing.

Rhys and Vaughn? As far as I know, they barely acknowledge each other. I know a lot of people are displeased with Vaughn's development and while I like the feral Vaughn, it's just a single aspect of his character. In Tales, we got to see him transform from a nerdy, gun-shy dude into someone who embraced the danger of Pandora and learned how to roll with the punches. I'm glad to see how confident he's become in BL3, but again, I feel like they distilled his character down into just one basic part.

I was actually pleased with Rhys, to be honest. I think his voice acting captured the essence of Troy Baker's, and I think he retained more character fidelity than some of the others.

Fiona, Sasha? We don't necessarily need to see them (though I would have loved that), but even overhearing a conversation from some NPCs regarding "those grifters Rhys used to run with?" "Oh yeah, I hear they're Vault hunting now" would have been fine. Just something to acknowledge that they're out in the world doing something.

I've heard big complaints about Aurelia and while I haven't played TPS and don't have too much of a grasp on her character, I can see the frustration. From what I've gathered, she doesn't seem the type to go full bloodthirsty, full money-hungry like she was made out to be. Again, seven years can change a person, but if you're going to make a change that seems out-of-character without context, then give us that context. Once more, it seems like a distillation of character to further a plot that, frankly, would have been better and more interesting if they hadn't done it.

I'm going to briefly touch on the whole Aurelia/Troy thing again (weird jealousy aside) because I've found out why it rubs me the wrong way. The twins don't operate like that. From all other negotiations we see, it's either cunning diplomacy or brute force. Aurelia didn't need to fuck Troy to get him to torture Monty Jakobs for the Vault Key. He would've done it anyway. This whole thing seemed like an attempt at an obligatory sex joke that, again, needed context to make us believe it could reasonably happen. But instead we got nothing, just a weird scene that seemed out of place for both characters involved. The only thing it contributed was foreshadowing that "the sister always wins."

And speaking of the twins, here's the meat of the problem: wasted potential.

Let's look at what we've got. Sirens. Twin sirens, one male. Already a game-changer. These guys are a living, breathing anomaly in the rules of this universe. Add in the beautiful religious aesthetic and the mystical Great Vault and we've got ourselves some amazing options.

But what did we get? We got a lackluster sibling relationship (although it did have some gems, I'll admit). We got a half-hearted betrayal that ended up amounting to nothing. And in the end? We got our ultimate villain on a quest for more power. Y a w n.

Why doesn't Tyreen listen to her father as he pleads with her? Why does she hate him so much? Where's our context?! It seems like a lack of communication more than anything. Typhon never once refers to Tyreen as a monster, which is how they saw it growing up. In fact, she seems to be the favorite. He calls her "starlight." He begs her to listen, that the Great Vault won't give her the power she wants. He's remorseful of how he raised them, resigned to what they've become, but up until the end he's trying to convince her to stop until it reaches the point where he knows he can't anymore.

What got the twins from point A to point B? I get it, shitty parental behavior leaves lasting trauma, especially when there's a layer of bad communication on top of it. But show us this, somehow. Please Gearbox, give us context. The vulnerable moments we got from the twins and Typhon left me wanting so much more of that, in particular. The talk about their childhood, the stargazing, Troy's admission about their mother, all of it was just a hint at something deeper that I feel like we never got to fully explore.

I feel that way about the whole game. Everything was the tip of an iceberg and we never got to see the rest underneath.

Imagine if Ty wanted to find the Great Vault because it would allow Troy to live a healthy, self-sufficient life. What a plot, huh? Supportive villain siblings? How dare I. What if they'd realized their mistake before it was too late. What if something woke up anyway? Something more ancient and more dangerous than ever. Let the Eridians have their time to shine. They've been a background force this whole series; pull the biggest twist and tell us that not all of their civilization was lost after all. For God's sakes, tell us more about sirens. We learned jack about shit for all their promises of "sirens will play a big part." Do the twins count as one? How do the powers pick the person?

This is getting incredibly long, so here are my closing thoughts. It doesn't feel finished. It feels like they released a half-finished ending to a series. The final events wrap up cleanly, hardly giving a new opening for a sequel, and yet there are still holes and loose ends galore in the story. I know that we still have DLC to get through, but given all of this, I'm trying not to get my hopes up.

Give us more story, deeper story, deeper characters, and most importantly, context.

Anyway. You know where to find me if you want rewrites and fix-its.

#bl3 spoilers #in this essay i will-#ash rambles #ash rambles about her murder babes

37 notes · View notes

miraculous-rewrite · 5 years

Text

Miraculous Rewrite- Mirrormaker (a Reflektica rewrite)

Reflektica is another one of those episodes that was pretty alright on its own, but doesn’t quite mesh well with the story we’re trying to tell, so it had to go mostly into the burner. We’re including now a bit of foreshadowing, and something that we SHOULD be able to have in the grand year of 2019. Also it felt like a waste to the both of us to NOT have the token Goth’s Akuma be horror-themed.

We open on the school photo much like in canon, however you’ll note, of course, a few differences. Marinette, while still worrying about perhaps being in the same row as Adrien, or even worse, standing next to him, it’s played more as anxiety and Alya played as more comforting. Because god forbid Marinette’s feelings be validated in any episode ever. ( -COUGH- PUPPETEER 2 -COUGH COUGH-)

Another notable change is Juleka herself. While her ‘photo curse’ was an interesting angle to go from, it doesn’t really follow since the majority of her ‘curse proof’ is the actions of others, So we’re going a little more simple here, Juleka hates getting her picture taken because she believes herself to be the ugliest person in class and doesn’t like the idea of looking back on this horrible awkward phase with photographic evidence of how gross she is now. Rose tells her that’s she’s beautiful of course, that she’s being too hard on herself, and doesn’t her brother say that every time as well? Juleka shrugs and says neither Rose nor her brother count since they’re all too close. (Mod Aims - DON’T MAKE LUKA APPEAR OUT OF THE ETHER GOSH)

While the girls are talking, Juleka takes out her phone to show Marinette and Alya “proof” of how bad she looks in pictures. One of them includes this brother she and Rose mentioned. But the focus is on Juleka of course, and Most of the images feature her shying away from the camera itself, excepting those where she’s clearly been strongarmed into it.

The photographer is the same dude that usually photographs Adrien because that guy is too funny to not keep, and as is in canon he struggles with finding the right places for everyone. But this man photographs models, so it’s more than just making Ivan fit in frame. Everyone’s getting that micromanagerial treatment. Rose is told to straighten her blouse, Mylene to fix her bandana, Alya is told her glasses are crooked (“My ears are crooked sir”)

And of course, Juleka is told to get her bangs out of her face. Juleka pauses, checking herself in her little hand held mirror as she tries to shuffle her hair back while keeping it in her face. The photographer groans and walks up, muttering about how he’s not a hairdresser. He pushes the whole thing back from Juleka’s face, using a pin offered by Chloe to hold it back. Marinette gives Chloe a sharp look but she responds with honest confusion that she’s just helping with the picture.

Juleka, however, is not good with this. She holds a fake toothy smile for the photo and then, without warning or another word at all, runs off. The photographer asks confusedly about what the heck that was about, and Marinette says point blank that Juleka has self image issues and he just messed with her coping mechanism.

Rose gets up and follows after Juleka, and we follow her now, coming through the halls and rooms until she comes across the girl’s bathroom. Juleka curled up into a stall and hiding her face in her knees, her hands in her hair and muttering incoherently.

Rose asks her to look up and Juleka flinches, before slowly rising, she’s just as Juleka as she’s always looked, even with her hair pinned back. Tears running down her cheeks, face red in patches and eyes darted to the side so as to not Meet Rose’s eye.

“Juleka, you’re beautiful.”

“You have to say that, you’re my girlfriend.” (WE’RE DOING THIS! IT’S OUR REWRITE, WE CAN MAKE IT AS GAY AS WE WANT!)

Rose starts to speak further, but she’s cut off when, right before she could possibly get Juleka to feel a bit better, the Akuma hits her hairpin.

Juleka isn’t strong like Mlle Bustier, but she does look at Rose with her eyes screaming “get outta here” before the aura takes her over, and the petite girl books it, bumping into Marinette and Alya as the two were looking for them. Rose explains the situation as the friends share looks.

The door to the girl’s bathroom opens on its own, an eerie fog rushing out from the room, And out steps Juleka. Or rather, the Akuma that once was Juleka. Juleka’s outfit seems simple enough, a long white smock stained with water and mud, her black hair free from colored streaks, but unlike Samara Morgan her hair isn’t hanging in front of her face, it’s instead pinned back with an ornate hairpin, a black rose in the decoration. Her face is puffy and pale, like a victim of drowning, eyes milky and corpse like.

“No one looks how they feel, no one feels how they look.” She says cryptically, before taking the rose off of her hairpin, another grows in its place, but she throws the selected rose at Alya. It wraps around her wrist, and after a flash of light, Alya changes. Her eyes and glasses taking up most of her face, her mole enormous on her forehead, and a pair of buck teeth sticking out from her lips. “I am Mirrormaker, and today, you’ll all be as ugly as I am.”

Mirrormaker begins to stalk the school, throwing her black roses at rantom passers by, turning them into cruel, cartoonish reflections of their insecurities. Marinette has been trying to find a safe place to transform, but everyone’s began clustering together in an attempt to save themselves from a bad makeover. She’s found herself caught up in a throng with Rose, Kim, Mylene, Max, and Alix. Alya couldn’t even come with, as she’s using her new form to keep an eye on Mirrormaker, following her and keeping tabs on her locations since she can’t get got twice anyway.

Adrien on the other hand is trying to separate himself from Chloe. After seeing Alya follow the creepy Akuma through the school and coming to the conclusion that that’s what she’s doing to people, Chloe won’t leave Adrien’s side, no matter what schemes Nino tries to pull to get her away. She’s freaking out about all the effort she puts in her appearance going to waste. Pretty girls have it hard too after all!

Both of them doing their best despite the circumstances leads to some fun shenanigans from my angle on the matter. In a scene more befitting Scooby doo, Mirrormaker chases either of these groups through the halls, throwing rose after rose that just barely misses. The running through doors gag should be implemented in this scene. At some point Mirrormaker being replaced with Sabine holding a rolling pin.

But eventually Marinette and Adrien both make it to secluded areas, bonus points if it’s the bathrooms and they each come out transformed from the restrooms at the same time and just stare at each other for a hot second.

“Well My lady, it seems as though we go to the same school!”

“For all you know kitty, I came in through the window.”

The two of them make it onto the scene, just as Mirrormaker approaches either of their groups combined into one, Chloe hiding behind Kim as they’ve been cornered. Mirrormaker can only go after one person at a time so she makes her rose count and is able to land it directly onto Chloe. Chloe Shrieks and ducks behind Kim, even as the flash of light marks her change.

In this time Alix makes a break for it, but Mirrormaker was just a hair faster and got a rose around her ankle. Alix trips and after a flash of light, she’s shrunken to about toddler size, exempting her feet, which look almost clown-like in their size.

But just as she reels back, a close up on Kim revealing he’s the next target, Ladybug’s Yoyo comes out and knocks the rose from her hand. Mirrormaker turns, and of course is confronted with Ladybug and Chat Noir.

“Even superheroes can’t see themselves as perfect.” She mutters. Ladybug starts spinning her yoyo, and Chat flips his hair as he does the same with his staff. Jokingly saying that he knows he’s pretty, she can’t mess with what he’s already comfortable with.

“We’ll see about that.” She says quietly, before tapping the rose on her hairpin. Suddenly, Chloe and Alix from behind her stand up straight, eyes turned black. And robotically, they both move between Mirrormaker and Ladybug and Chat Noir. This is when we see Chloe’s transformation, and, ironically, it’s exactly how she really looks, but with her hair down and messy, a pair of ripped up and well-worn pajamas on in place of her normal outfit, and without a trace of makeup on her face.

“Keep them busy.” She says simply, and Chloe and Alix fall into fighting stances. They’re not zombies or minions, they just follow directions when asked.

But a fight scene is still a fight scene, and as Ladybug lifts Alix up by the scruff of her shirt she is scarily close to being kicked in the face by her giant feet. Chat struggles a bit more with Chloe, but she’s pretty easy to overwhelm all the same.

But of course just the time spent was enough for Mirrormaker to get away, the rest of the group having already been uglyfied excepting Rose, who remains herself, shivering in the corner.

The commands on Chloe and Alix break, and the two return to their normal selves (well… as normal as they can be in the situation) and Chloe begins to freak out, running toward the bathrooms and shouting for no one to look at her. Rose takes then to approach Ladybug and Chat Noir. Claiming that she saw Juleka at moment of impact. Her Akuma’s in the hairpin, and she’s always had body issues. She doesn’t quite know what’s going on, or why Juleka spared her, but she’s willing to use that to offer some help.

Cut back to Mirrormaker, she’s been stalking paris with a now black eyed Alya trailing behind her. Alya only comes to when Juleka un-taps her rose to throw it at people, usually those posing for a photograph, but anyone looking at themselves in a reflective surface is also a target. Mirrormaker isn’t much of a physical threat, so she’s keeping at least one minion on her at all times. This also explains how Alya is able to keep tabs on her. Snapping photos and posting them to the Ladyblog whenever she comes out of the stupor. For awhile we follow the two of them, Alya trying to draw information out of Mirrormaker, asking her (through a lisp provided by her new teeth) about her goals as an akuma besides getting the miraculous’, if there’s anyone in specific she’s looking for, and whatever else she can get out while she’s still conscious.

Then, after a buzz of electronics fills the air, television screens that were once at commercial breaks light up to see Nadja Chamak, wrinkles on her face and grey in her hair making her look well into her 90’s, talking in an old woman’s voice to Ladybug. Ladybug states very calmly that Mirrormaker works on a person’s insecurities regarding their body image at point of impact. And that it’s kind of a really rude power for Hawkmoth to give someone. Then going on to insult Hawkmoth himself, citing certain Akuma designs (bubbler likely) and wondering what sort of fashion disaster Hawkmoth would be. And it’d be really fun to see Mirrormaker show us how gross he is, wouldn’t it?

The butterfly halo lights up Mirrormaker’s face and Hawkmoth--sounding disproportionately angry--demands she goes to the TV station and make Ladybug pay for her slander. Mirrormaker herself wonders for a moment just what he WOULD look like under her abilities, but after twitches violently shrugs and says a quiet “just asking… geez.” before tapping her flower and putting Alya under again.

We then cut back to Ladybug and Chat Noir, Nadja’s eyes have also gone black, going into stasis until Mirrormaker can come in and command her into action. Chat asks if she thinks her bait will work, and Ladybug shrugs, saying that nobody likes getting mocked for their appearance. He offhandedly mutters that he knows what that’s like, before chuckling nervously and wondering out loud what’s stuck in his brain without him knowing it.

“Let’s hope we don’t find out kitty, I don’t want to have to fight you again.”

“Ah! My Lady you always know what to say!” She playfully shoves him a bit. Their antics cut off abruptly by a rose tossing through the air and hitting some hapless camera guy, his face swelling and legs turning to chicken legs.

Mirrormaker then comes on the scene, Alya, Nadja, and the new camera guy all shuffling behind her. She comments idly about how Hawkmoth didn’t appreciate the insinuation that he was some sort of ‘creepy suited cretin’ before wrinkling her nose and looking off to the side “his words not mine.”

But then she points to the two heroes and says “get them” quietly.

Nadja and Alya go for Chat Noir, while Ladybug is contending with the camera man. The fight scene is relatively short, neither are particularly overwhelmed, but that’s not what Mirrormaker was going for anyway. As the two of them are distracted she moves quickly, dropping her control on the three, drawing her rose, and shooting it at Ladybug. Chat shoves the Dazed Alya and Nadja aside, but the fight has drawn them too far away from each other for him to make it in time.

Chat Shouts for her, and Ladybug reacts just a moment too late to get her yoyo into ‘shield’ form. But just a fraction of a second before it hit her, Rose appears. The background showing that she’d been hiding in a supply closet, brooms and buckets lining her path from there to where she is now.

The back rose wraps around her throat, but even as Rose braces for impact, no flash of light. Nothing happens. There’s a moment of silence as Rose carefully pulls the flower off of her. “She can’t control people and launch her flowers at the same time.” she states simply before running for Mirrormaker herself. Every kid needs at least one moment of awesome after all, and Rose is far overdue.

Mirrormaker freaks out a little and taps her rose, calling Nadja over to intercept her. Taking the moment, Chat glances over at Ladybug and asks if she knows what the Lucky charm is for yet or not. Ladybug pulls out her lucky charm--summoned offscreen, it’s a rubber band--and glances around the room. A restrained Rose, Chat’s staff, the lights above them, and Alya, come to mind.

“Chat Noir, kill the lights!”

Though Mirrormaker sends the cameraman after him, he makes it to the lightswitch and turns the lights off. Pitch darkness covers the room, blinding all within.

Ladybug undoes the purifying part of her yoyo to act as a beacon. Mirrormaker sending Alya after her, but Ladybug uses one hand to keep Alya at bay, using the other to launch her yoyo to free Rose from Nadja. “Go after Juleka!” Rose, only illuminated faintly, nods and runs back into the pitch.

“Chat Noir, stay behind Rose!” Chat, who still has night vision, has no problems with this and starts to charge, mere steps behind Rose. Mirrormaker, just barely visible to Ladybug’s beacon, gets rid of her minions and starts throwing roses in every direction possible, Ladybug shielding herself with a still Dazed Alya, and flower after flower slipping off of Rose harmlessly. Chat then, instinctively, extends his staff to hit Mirrormaker to knock the pin out of her hair. It fails, but it knocks her into the light just enough for Ladybug to properly see the pin itself and launch her rubberband at her.

When the pin clatters to the ground Rose is in fact the closest to it and crushes it beneath her heel.

Ladybug purifies the Akuma and Chat Noir hits the lights. Miraculous Ladybug sweeps the city, but Rose crouches down to Juleka, whom still hasn’t quite changed back yet. She gently takes the horrible bloated Akuma’s shoulders and hugs her. Dark sticky hair falling over the both of them and water and mud stained dress soaking into Rose’s skirt. But this vanishes after the cloud of darkness leaves and Juleka is left in Mirrormaker’s place. She looks around, confused, but reflexively her arms go up to hug Rose back.

The next scene is the school at lunch, the photographer shuffling through his photos. Grumbling to himself irritably. After a long moment he cries out that someone tampered with his camera. M. Damocles asks what’s wrong and he shows him, somehow the photo for Mlle Bustier’s class was deleted. M. Damocles is just as perplexed as he is, but overhearing this around her sandwich, Marinette walks up and asks--mouth full and a bit mumbly if you want that joke angle-- if they have to take the photo again.

Neither of them look at her, so Tikki takes the opportunity to open her bag and shoot her a suspicious look. But the photographer sighs and says that it must be done. Marinette offers to tell the class, and as she walks to the lunch room she finally noticies Tikki’s glare. “What? It wasn’t me! You were with me this whole time!”

As Marinette approaches her classmates to inform them of the reshoot, Chloe turns her head to look over.

“Oh good, he saw.”

The entire class now turns to look at Chloe when she says this, but she only shrugs.

“The dumb photographer didn’t put me next to Adrien last time.” Everyone groans, but she glances at Juleka and Rose from the corner of her eye before darting her gaze downward.

The photo is instead now taken on the front steps of the school, The photographer rearranging people as he sees fit once again. But now with the sitting medium, it’s a less organized affair, and somehow Adrien ends up sandwiched between Chloe and Marinette. But in the center of the picture, of course, is Juleka with her hair still in her face, but Rose happily clinging to her arm.

Nino then raises his hand “Hey dude, since our picture was the only one that got messed with, can we do a silly one too?”

The photographer sighs and gives the okay. And immediately Nino pounces on Adrien from behind, Alya kicking her legs out and throwing them right into Chloe’s face. Chloe looks distressed, but does acquiesce to sticking her tongue out for the picture. Marinette lays down on her side and puts her legs in Adrien’s lap. Rose’s eyes are crossed and is making fish lips, and Juleka, for once, is laughing as the camera shutters.

#Miraculous Rewrite #Rewrite #Mod vega #Reflektica rewrite #Mirrormaker #miraculous ladybug

28 notes · View notes

wheremytwinwatches · 4 years

Text

[Where My Twin Watches]: PMMM Rebellion - Part 4

Y’know, it’s really interesting how well this movie is working as a Watch. I was worried that there wouldn’t really be good stopping points, but like q_3 said at the beginning it does feel like there are these climaxes every 15 minutes or so. I could definitely see this as a proper followup series to PMMM. Looking forward to where it goes next!

After her pronouncement that the setting is a Witch’s Labyrinth, Homura enters some sort of underground passage, expositing on what Witches are to whoever decided to watch this movie without seeing the show first. Honestly I’m not sure if they’d be any more confused than me by what’s going on now. Still so many unanswered questions: When is this taking place? How did the girls get trapped in this Labyrinth? When did Charlotte get so powerful?

Oh, an answer to the first question! Homura’s thinking that “it all ended when one girl sacrificed herself, breaking the cruel cycle of hope and despair. (Still in awe of Madoka's DM-Dethroning wish). But if this is the post-Goddess!Madoka world, then what’s going on? Why have all the girls lost their memories? Well, moreso than before. I mean, when Madoka Ascended Homura was the only one to remember her, everyone else forgot her, even her family. So…

So…

Madoka? What… Did you…

I’m… gonna table that thought for now.

Moving on, Homura’s thinking about how someone is trying to implant false memories. On that note, can I say I’m impressed with the idea of having this movie be set in a Labyrinth? As Homura’s been waking up, things have gotten more and more outlandish, it looks amazing to see Mitakihara City slowly morphing into this crazy architectural mishmash. Regardless of whoever is behind this, it’s going to lead to some stupendous scenes later on, I can tell.

Ah, the suspect! In Mami’s apartment, Charlotte is acting all cute, chowing on cheese while balancing a teacup on her head. Homura’s sitting quietly at the table, probably thinking about how the Witch she remembers for eating Mami is now acting as Mami’s familiar. Or staring at Madoka, that works too. So, is anyone going to comment on Homura’s makeover? No?

Hmm, Madoka’s commenting on how “Bebe” has been with Mami ever since she first met her. Shots of cutsey pictures of the two, it is chilling to see Mami so infatuated with this Witch. While everyone giggles at their antics, Homura asks how Bebe ended up staying with Mami. Silence, a closeup of Kyubey staring, and the Witch peeks over the table at Homura.

[“Bebe”]: “Homura, why you ask?”

After a pause, Mami talks about how when she was the only Magical Girl in Mitakihara City, the only one that supported and cheered her on was Bebe.

Urk. Mami’s talking about how without Bebe she might have given up a long time ago, that she puts up a false bravado to be seen as a reliable senior MG. But with Madoka and Sayaka growing stronger, and Homura and Kyoko as allies…

Damn. I wish that we could have watched this show, just the five of them fighting Nightmares and growing up. That- OH COME ON UROBUTCHER! Ugh, Mami’s tea just settled to show her upside down head. You don’t have to remind me dude, I remember.

CHARLOTTE. GO AWAY. GET OFF HER SHOULDER.

*Sigh* Mami’s saying that this kind of daily life is what she used to dream about in the old days. She’s happy, isn’t she?

Homura asks Mami for some more tea. She walks away- and Homura just pulled out her Soul Gem. Homura? You making a move against the Witch? Yep, she just did a quick Transform (much, much faster than the one from before), and readies her clock-shield.

[Homura]: “Sorry about this, Madoka.”

Timestop! Madoka looks a bit confused. Don’t worry, it’ll be over soon.

Homura grabs Charlotte by the head, unfreezing her and telling her to drop the act. She remembers. All the girls have had their memories rewritten, and are trapped in a Labyrinth. And the only one who could have done that is the Witch that she is holding right now. Charlotte continues to claim ignorance, nice little freezing effect there as Homura lets go and then grabs her by the neck.

Really digging this melancholy music as Homura opens the window and leaps out with Charlotte in tow, thinking about how her memories are flooding back. She remembers Mami. She may not have been very comfortable with her, thought that Mami pushed herself too hard despite having the softest heart. It felt cruel revealing the truth of the old world to her (that, and she didn’t have the best reaction to it).

Ooh, the backgrounds of the Labyrinth are showing a lot of Charlotte images now! Yeah, keep claiming that you don’t know and shucking blame, Witch. We’re on to you. Playing cute isn’t going to stop Homura. Enough of the cheese talk, you

OH CRAP RIBBON WHAT HOW

[Mami(!!!!)]: “I’d intended to wait and listen until I understood what the situation was. But I couldn’t stand by and watch you hurt Bebe any further.”

Ooooooh crap. Yellow ribbons are festooned across the frozen city, leading back to the brainwashed Mami. Somehow she tagged Homura before the timestop, meaning that she wasn’t frozen as- wait.

Ranubis said:The girls go flying, Mami grabbing Madoka and Homura with her ribbons before Homura timestops everything. But not the other girls? Oh, she’s tied to Madoka and Mami with the ribbon so the timestop doesn’t affect them, got it.

FORESHADOWING! Damn well done, Urobuchi.

Ok, this is serious. Homura now has to deal with brainwashed Mami. This is the Magical Girl who twice snared Homura with her ribbons to where she was helpless, the second time being the last timeline when Homura was at the peak of her power! Mami may have died in the third episode, but that was a fluke when she was distracted by future plans. Now she’s focused on Homura, who has lost the advantage of her power.

This is terrible. And awesome, I am bouncing up and down in my chair squeeing about the epic fight that is coming up, but gah this is heartwrenching. One friend fighting another who is being manipulated? Terrible. And awesome.

Homura tries to tell Mami that she’s being tricked by “Bebe”. Unfortunately, she’s trying to say that Mami is being tricked (by her long-time familiar), they aren’t in Mitakihara City (when Mami sees nothing wrong), and they have all been implanted with false memories (when Homura is the one who suddenly did a personality 180 from Mami’s perspective).

This is tragic, seeing how far Charlotte’s control goes. We see a ruined city, images of Charlotte everywhere. But that’s not what Mami sees.

Homura throws the Witch and tries to shoot quickly, but Mami ribbons her and pulls “Bebe” back, telling her to run. Another timestop, Homura tries shooting the ribbon holding her but it reforms. Alright, how to destroy that pesky piece of fabric?

[Homura]: “Do you mean to protect it, no matter what?”

[Mami]: “Give up on chasing her. If you don’t, you will have to fight me."

Homura leaps. Mami leaps. A guitar riffs. And the battle begins.

Awesome, looks like Homura still has her arsenal, pulls out an SMG to Mami’s muskets. But Mami has a lot of them, enough to match even Homura’s automatic fire. That is incre- no nevermind that, the fact that she is firing her musketballs with enough precision to collide with Homura’s shots is just… wow. The sky is riddled with frozen bullets and musketballs, until time resumes and tumble through the mini-fireworks in their battle. Homura’s still after Charlotte though, both she and Mami head towards her until Homura can timestop again, rounds tracing white lines through the frozen air.

This is an absolutely beautiful fight, I cannot say this enough. Both of these expert Magical Girls, masters of firepower, reading each other well enough to counter each and every round of their opponent. But there’s a question of endurance, which will run out first: Mami’s magic or Homura’s hammerspace?

Mami Ribbongirl’s her way to Homura and they clash their guns and is this yes it is they are doing Gun Kata now. These two magical girls are doing melee combat with guns, knocking the other’s weapons away and dodging point-blank shots. This is amazing. Eat your heart out, Equilibrium.

But now Homura’s fallen back, and Mami is in pursuit. Now it’s Freefalling Gun Kata, the firing lines spreading out like trees and lead and whatever-Mami’s-musketballs-are-made-of fly. Then they… stop? Oh! So many rounds have been fired in this timestop that the girls are utterly surrounded by them, both catching their breath as the camera pulls out a friggen Christmas Tree design made by the rounds. Until time resumes, and sparks fly.

My word. These girls, just standing there pointing their guns at each other, unflinching while their rounds whizz by and utterly obliterate the ruins…

*slow clap*

Well done, Studio Shaft. I don’t care if the rest of the movie turns out to be an elaborate Surprise Birthday Party for Homura, or she wakes up and has to hurry to her Geometry Exam, or just the scene of Mami’s head getting eaten on loop for an hour. This fight, this scene? Fantastic.

After the dust clears, the girls remain as they were. Homura is still bound by the ribbon, and Mami remarks that they aren’t getting anywhere they’re so evenly matched. Dunno, Homura’s done well this fight but you’re standing while she’s kneeling. Then Homura tosses her pistol aside and freezes time again?

Homura, after all the firepower you’ve used against Mami I don’t think that that dinky little pistol is going to wait what nO NO HOMURA WHAT Yes thank you Mami Homura just put the gun to her head Mami yanked her foot out to throw off her blood what homura no why wait

Oh. Oh my. Well done with that trick Homura but good MADOKA don’t scare me like that again!

*deep breath*

So Homura put a gun to her head knowing that Mami would have the same reaction I just did, when Mami pulled on the ribbon Homura grazed her head just enough to cause a blood splatter and distract Mami, as she used the ludicrous reflexes of a Magical Girl to pull the ribbon into the bullet and tear it, breaking Mami’s connection to her. Well done Homura! Although how did the bullet break the ribbon, shooting it before did nothing. Did Mami need to be distracted for it to be vulnerable?

Oh jeez maybe that was a little more than a “graze”, reminder that these are just meat puppets for the girls to control from their Soul Gems. Alright, well now that Mami’s frozen you can slip away and catch up to Homura what are you doing. Time is still frozen, use what you have left to get away not oh Madoka you’re aiming at her Soul Gem. Homura. Homura no!

Ok, still think that you should just run away and you don’t have to shoot, but at least it’ll just be a leg wound. Bullet freezes just above her leg, Homura looks away as time resumes wait what MOTHERFUCKING RIBBONS WHAT

Homura was… fighting a ribbon clone this entire time? Mami was indirectly fighting Homura, all of that was indirect, setting up this very trap? Holy carp Mami, you scary.

So 3 for 3, Homura is trapped by Mami’s ribbons, who lectures her about always thinking you have the upper hand. Homura pleads from her captivity, asking if Mami really doesn’t see that they’re in a ruined wasteland. Mami just notes that Homura didn’t shoot to kill (ok good I was really worried there for a sec MST), so why did she attack “Bebe”? She doesn’t remember anything about the Witches, after all. Her enemies are- wait.

[Mami]: “Our enemies are the Wraiths, right?”

YES. Come on Mami, fight off that brainwashing! You’ve been fighting Wraiths all this time (in Madoka’s world, at least). So what’s with the Nightmares?

Uh oh. The skyline just turned into an eye.

Think that, only more a mouth with eyelashes and a walnut for a pupil.

Charlotte is watching.

Wait, what? Fire extinguisher? Sword! Sayaka, where you been?! The white cloud from the pierced extinguisher fills the screen, Mami waves it away with her ribbon to show that Homura has been cut free and is gone. Well all right! So did Kyoko go and break Sayaka’s brainwashing then? That changes the score, we’ve got the Mysterious Transfer Student with Blue Paladin and Food Girl now knowing the truth, and Mami is at least questioning it. Although that leaves Madoka, who I guess is still back at the apartment wondering where the heck everyone is.

Mami’s looking around YOU. It’s the girl from the box art, the one I didn’t know! Eff off cutsey harp music, I know who that is! Mami listen you have to get away before Charlotte brainwashes you again, don’t listen… damn it. We’ve lost her.

AAAAAAHHHH you guys that fight good gravy that was beautiful, one of if not the most gorgeous fight scenes I have ever seen in anime, or any movie. Homura is rebelling against Charlotte and may have gotten Kyoko and Sayaka on her side now, unfortunately we’ve lost Bebe and next we can expect Charlotte to send Title Character Madoka against them. Is that a fight that Homura can even push herself to do? Yeesh. I’m also worrying that Homura lost too much of her arsenal against Mami, while it was almost entirely close combat towards the end I did note that Homura was just using pistols. Did she use all her heavy weaponry in that fight? If so that’ll make the next time they face off a mite more difficult.

#wmtw #where my twin watches #ranubis #pmmm #pmmm rebellion #puella magi madoka magica #pmmm rebellion 4

1 note · View note

jq37 · 5 years

Note

sooo.... what’s the tea on the new ep? :)

**spoilers for family in flames**

I have so much to say I’m not drafting this on tumblr lest it crash and I lose a soul-crushing amount of yelling into the void.

And, I gotta say, THIS episode is the reason I haven’t posted my adult rankings list yet. THIS RIGHT HERE. I KNEW some crap was gonna go down and force me to make some HUGE adjustments.

Also, We are feeling vindicated in this house today! But let’s start from the top and work our way down.

“Raise your hands if you really care about your parents.”

Fabian having to be like, “Look, your parents suck but don’t you have siblings?” (Kristen: Ugh, I guess)

Adaine pointing out that she cares about Gorgug’s parents.

Brennan listening to them argue about what to do like he doesn’t know they’re about to be arrested for a whole ass MONTH.

Fig wanting to method act while texting the phone, pretending to be scared.

So is the arcade owner (Frank Dunford) relevant? Brennan had the name on hand. But maybe it was just him being a good worldbuilder and anticipating the question. I feel like it’s probably that because this is late in the game to be introducing new people who are super relevant.

“Gilear’s got a little knife”

I KNEW those arcade prizes were gonna be gear they could pick up! ALWAYS RAID THE ROOM. Some of that stuff might have helped in the fight. I loved the group silently reading the cards and exchanging them to whoever they thought it would help most in the background as Brennan did the ID spell.

“This has been, if I may say so, the *best* use of the identify spell.”

I love that Adaine thanks everyone, including her inanimate spells. She’s just a good person.

OK so this episode addressed a LOT of questions I had about how these literal children were getting away with all of these murders and such. Apparently, the adventuring academy kids traditionally just get away with this stuff because of Arthur’s influence and the nature of adventurers.

Adaine coming in hot with the diplomatic immunity and then remembering, oh wait, we’re at war w/ Falinel.

Fig immediately starting smoking when she gets arrested.

I love the federal agent outsider with perspective coming in and being rightfully horrified by the absolute nonsense that’s been going on the past 15 episodes.

Is Riz’s mom the only competent cop at this station? Is there a one competent adult per location rule?

Bill Seacaster Upon Learning the Bad Kids are In Jail: Did you try to escape?

“How are things going?”/“I mean bad. I’m in jail.”

Fig upon offhandedly and indirectly being called a vigilante by Sklonda: Thank you.

Emily loses it whenever anything happens in Gilear’s orbit.

Wild that Adaine decided to spontaneously call Goldenhoard considering what happened later. Like, it wasn’t a completely out of nowhere decision and it was totally logical but they could have easily overlooked that decision.

Like, I know things happen later that make this kinda moot but I loved Goldenhoard’s conversation with Adaine in jail. “Don’t to talk to anyone without a lawyer and kill anyone you have to to get out. The school will pay for the rezzes.”/“That’s exactly what our plan was. God, I love this school.”

Although, sidenote, I feel like you can only easily rez someone within a minute? Like, I know there are other D&D spells that let you do it after a longer period of time but with the whole phoenix egg thing and the fact that they haven’t come up so far, I feel like Brennan isn’t using the in this setting for stakes reasons.

Man that whole conversation with Fig and her mom. Emily plays Fig so balls to the wall that I kinda forget sometimes that she’s actually an intelligent adult woman who knows what she’s doing with the character so I really shouldn’t be surprised with how well she stuck the emotional beats of this episode.

Gorthalax man! TyraWeWereAllRootingForYou.gif If he left, like, actually left and isn’t just held up somehow, then that’s gonna be really not great for Fig’s general psyche.

Kristen COMPLETELY undercutting the moment by point blank asking if they had sex.

No wonder Sandra-Lynn was so worried about Fig. She was totally Fig growing up. Which, lol, she’s not even half tiefling. She was just *like that*

Oh so Gilear has always been super lame. Good to know.

Fig: I think I have mommy issues./The Rest of the Party: You have all the issues.

Fabian: You’re trying to hook up with a 25 year old adult./Fig: What do you mean trying?I’m successfully kissing him once every couple weeks. (Which, lol but also I’m glad that’s as far as it got…you know if it has to go any amount forward).

They just let Bill into the cell?????

Lou when Zac rolls a 1 for perception on Bill Secaster and he knows what’s coming: Don’t fucking do this. (Everyone else: Already trying not to lose it)

Zac’s Gorgug being contemplative and also completely wrong face is so funny to me every time.

“Why would you kill me?”/“Why would you know that?”

Who is more insane? Gorgug for suggesting him and Fabian could be twins (aren’t they different ages????) or Bill for thinking he’s so awesome he could somehow do that?

Kristen trying to help FIg distract Bill by blurting out, “Have you ever had sex?” After the conversation where he said point blank he’s slept with 100s of orc women.

Fabian yelling at his dad is kinda undercut by continuing to call him papa in the most poncy accent.

I don’t think I’ve articulated this properly before but this episode really drove it home: Fabian and Bill have a *close* relationship but not an entirely healthy one. Like, better than Adaine and her parents by leaps and bounds but he wrestled his son in a jail cell while his friends just watched. Like, who does that?

Imagine if Riz had tried to get between Bill and Fabian.

Also imagine being the rest of the party just sitting there, watching that go down.

“We’ve spent so much of our lives obsessed with our dads and we’ve completely ignored our moms.”/“You’re just again talking about yourself.”

I can’t believe Fig’s suggestion spell would have worked if head boss in charge fed lady hadn’t been there. Speaking of her, as soon as she showed up I knew they weren’t going to be able to shenanigan their way out of this one (which is literally the word Emily used, hilariously). I don’t think even a nat 20 would have gotten them very far. Remember last week when I said that I was sure there was going to be a prom finale but I was also pretty sure there was still a good chunk of time before prom? As soon as they got arrested and the feds showed up I was like, “Oh they are not getting out until prom for sure.”

Siobhan trying not to laugh while Emily tries a ridiculous plan that might have worked in a different episode honestly.

Ally trying to Pirates of the Carribean her way out of the jail cell.

The cops didn’t even take their stuff in a month!

“I’m glad this is in my head and no one else can hear things like this.”

I love how Fabian rolls his eyes at Adaine for thanking her spells but he always thanks the Hangman.

Realistically the Hangman would have told Fabian the plan before it happened but the way it played out was soooo good.

The return of Mr. Cubby!!!! I was hoping it would be him but man! It was still so awesome to see happen. I wonder if Brennan introduced that family specifically in case the group ever needed to be busted out of jail (a likely need).

“Laws are threats made by the dominant socioeconomic ethnic group of a given nation.”

“You guys wanna make some bacon?”

“That was on fire the whole time? You’re so brave!” Adaine likes adults who aren’t her parents so much.

Riz being like uhhhhh my mom works here.

“To the AV club!”/“It’s been months!”

OK so they took a palimpsest from Bill in this episode. That was there to tip them off that he’s up to something I’m sure, but I feel like that could also turn out to be a Chekov’s gun for next ep. I’m sure the ability to trap someone’s should would be useful in the finale.

S/O to Brennan for his excellent foreshadowing throughout the episode and honestly the whole series.

Siobhan thinking to check the trash folder of his computer was a good move, even if it didn’t end up being the right one.

OK, strap in guys. This is where things get WILD.

Siobhan’s “Oh shit!” when she got halfway down the page of Watches and Wards and then that Harry Potter sounding sting in the background.

(Before I get any further, I love that Adaine’s first thought was well that means my sister isn’t Kal Vaxis because she thinks her sister is the root of all evil).

But WOW. After all the trash talking of the old oracle, it turns out Adaine is the new eleven oracle! And she has been since EPISODE ONE. I almost thought she was gonna be *that* elven oracle because of the questions the cast was asking but nope. It is, as Zac and Siobhan put it, a The Santa Clause situation where the last one dies and someone else gets the job.

Brennan’s faint amusement as they work through that is so good.

You know what’s kinda hilarious in hindsight about that? I said before that, so far, every person Adaine has pegged as trash has ended up being trash of the highest order and an enemy of the party and of course she’s been good at predicting things! She’s the literal oracle.

Am I reading this wrong or is the Religious Studies teacher name Yolanda Badgood?

Also the sheet says “Lunchlad (Official Title)” RIP dude.

Emily low key thinking this is going to be about pay disparity between the races.

Will putting the book back retroactively get rid of anything bad currently cast in school?

Brennan going, “Nothing happens.”/“You see an upside down waste paper basket.” Is such a GM mood. I had a session once where I spent half an hour just saying, “You’re looking at the door,” in various ways.

No one knows what Goldenhoard’s name actually is and it’s the second to last episode.

I feel like Brennan must have gotten forehead/cheek kissed a lot as a child because he’s constantly having NPCs do it.

Are elves in this setting actually immortal (barring being actually killed) or just long lived? Because Adaine talks like she’s immortal but I wasn’t sure. Anyway, newsflash Adaine. You’ve been mortal this whole campaign! Because apparently, the elven oracle always eventually dies.

I love that Adaine finally confronted the oracle about sinking on a ship and actually ended up kinda sympathizing with her. I can’t believe this is how that running joke ends.

Fabian at the ghost of the past eleven oracle who’s imparting wisdom on Adaine: Who are you?

Ally: Can I do something weird? (Dude, when do you not?)

Ally mumbling through an inspiring spell as Murph clues in to the paperwork discrepancy that blows the plot twist wide open. And then miming the whole thing in the background as the scene goes on.

“He was mean so I thought that meant he was a good guy.” More stern than mean really but yeah! Same Murph!

You know how you know things are about to get real? When the DM starts letting you do stuff like bust down doors without even rolling for it because there are bigger fish to fry.

The 69 glyphs of binding. Nice.

But in seriousness, Kal Vaxis (apparently it’s spelled Kalvaxus but I can’t be bothered to change that in this post) was apparently trapped by Arthur and bound to work at Aguefort (as Goldenhoard) because…he’s a wildcard I guess. Sidenote, can you imagine what this season might have looked like if Arthur hadn’t died? Or was that always the plan for him to die in some way? Like to resurrect an NPC maybe if the crew hadn’t lost 2 party members.

Man when he said last ep that the girls were going back to school I thought OK that makes sense because it’s the AV computer that Biz used or maybe it’s Penelope. But I totally overlooked teachers.

OK so the binding spell specifically says “as long as I live” and Arthur is dead. So….what does that mean exactly? And this plan seems to have been in motion from before Arthur died. What does that mean? Also, if that wording means he’s freed when Arthur dies, what was Arthur thinking killing himself???? Did he need Kristen to sneak him into heaven so he could talk to Sol and do some scheming or something? AHHHHH I have so many questions.

Also in the binding is a clause about tea. Now, first of all, Arthur, bro. Come on. Second of all, a lawyer really should have looked at that. “I will drink anything you give me”? I work at a law firm. I’m a lowly first year but even I know that’s a terrible thing to put in a contract. I’m sure y'all non lawyers know that too!

Karam-Kajam (the binding spell words) kinda looks like “magic maker” backwards. That doesn’t mean anything. I just wanted y'all to know I was freeze framing every thing that might be a clue.

OK ok ok, so I’ve been saying for a while now (in posts but mainly over chat) that all this bad stuff must be like connected to a central person in service of a central goal but the players were probably all unconnected wild cards acting in self interest. The one thing I couldn’t quite put together was what because these plots have been mainly unconnected. But now, we have it! All the weird things starting a war (by manipulating the harvestmen), getting 7 maidens (by manipulating Biz), and reinstating prom king/queen (by manipulating (?) Penelope and Dayne, also yes! my wild card guess was that prom king/queen was going to be part of a spell or curse or something. Guess it was prophecy but yes! vindication!) are parts of a prophecy on how to bring back Kalvaxis! (Along with him getting his “glittering treasure”?)

But yeah! No wonder it was so hard to put the pieces together! They all connected but only through a prophecy. Good job Bren!

“The sun shall fall from the heavens” is part of the prophecy which makes me think Sol or Helios might be involved in this somehow.

Ally: There are definitely going to be 7 virgins at prom. (That deserved a rim shot).

Good on Murph for making sure none of them were on the virgin list bc that would have been a pain in the ass to find out mid-fight. Also, I KNEW “Where are their bodies” was the question to ask last ep when Biz said they were going back to their bodies.

“Who told you that? An oracle?”

I hope Adaine just uses her oracle status to make sick one liners like, “I predict this is gonna hurt,” before she witchbolts someone. She never does her actual job.

Adaine who hates her family, righteously indignant: Between our houses and the world, you expect us to choose our houses?

The rest of the group who loves their family: BYEEEEE.

Well, no. Kristen also had reservations before she remembered her brothers existed.

Adaine texting her mom: You should probably leave.

Siobahn and Ally fistbumping over their mutual not caring about their parents.

OK so what’s up with the rat? What’s so important about the rat? And what’s up with Zayne? We still haven’t figured out what’s up with him.

Still not clear on if the crystals trap your physical body or just your spirit and leave your physical body dormant irl.

So that’s how they got rid of the adults for the fight. Nice job again Brennan.

As far as I can tell, Brennan made up this usage of the word palimpsest and I’d never heard of the word before and now I type it so much. Wild.

“I’m calling an Uber. You use the minute to go look at as much shit as you can. Jump in the Uber with me, come to my house. Look Rudolpho will be here in two minutes in a Honda Civic. Use one of those minutes. Go.”

A Knight to Remember.

They freaking Chitty Chitty Bang Bang to Kristen’s house.

I love how Uber Drivers in this world are still gunning for 5 stars.

OK, time for the most stressful 30 minutes of Fantasy High (so far).

I think the wagering mechanic Brennan used for the fights was brilliant. For each conflict a d20 was rolled. 1-6=epic fail. 7-14=bad but not awful. 15-20=favorable outcome. The twist was that if the person chose to help their family they could give up half their HP and 14 spell levels and he would roll with advantage.

Everyone quickly took that deal except Adaine who truly does not give a damn about her family (and also, reasonably, thought that they wouldn’t even be at home. Idk why they apparently were tbh).

When Emily said, “She’s a complex person and she’s allowed to be,” that was the moment I was like, “Oh yeah. She’s not actually Fig. IRL she knows what’s happening.”

Siobhan uses her divination roll of 18 to save Kristen’s family without having to risk anything but the Ally turns around and decides to take the deal to try and save Adaine’s family WHEN ADAINE DOESN’T EVEN CARE. But it makes sense that Kristen would.

Lou’s monolog as Brennan rolls about how nerve wracking and terrible it is to have no idea what’s going on.

“This is the worst thing I’ve been a part of.”

“I was wondering why my mom visited me and humanized herself and this is exactly why.”

Lou/Fabian: What if my fucking family dies? (F O R E S H A D O W I N G, albeit unknowingly)

Brennan (sagely): It couldn’t have been any other way./Siobhan: It could’ve been!

lol at Adaine trying to trigger that ice cream later wish at their darkest moment (so far). Also, not that I think Brennan ever forgot about it but now I’m for sure it’s gonna come up next ep bc if nothing else that would have reminded him.

OK first up, Fig and her mom.

“Dang they’re already organized with costumes?”

That was so boss, her mom getting revived and then IMMEDIATELY shooting two guys w/ her bow.

Emily LEGIT crying through that scene. The whole room was on an emotional tightrope. You can tell.

Where in the mountains Sandra-Lynn!? I want specifics Sandra-Lynn!!

I love the idea of her jumping out of a window onto a dope griffin’s back. Fig’s mom just bought herself a bunch of spots on my grown-up rankings list.

Ally: THAT WAS NUMBER ONE

Me: SAME.

Next Riz at Strongtower

I knew Sklonda was going to be in the secret room!

I love that apparently Riz can recognize his mom’s gun by hearing it.

I know it was in the promo but Riz’s mom being like, “I was so scared you were gonna ask me to prom” was hysterical.

You just know Sklonda and Agent Angela have been fighting like cats and dogs this past month.

Riz and his mom high fiving. They have the best relationship.

Gorgug and the Thistlesprings

lol, looks like his parents had the easiest time wrecking their intruders.

But based on how it was described as compared to everyone else (bar Fabian–we’re getting there), it sounds like he got pretty dang hurt.

And I guess they have a tank (which they usually use to mow the lawn) and a bomb chest? Wild.

Anyway, if anything had happened to them insert Rosa B99 meme.

“You come to the tree, you better be ready to never fucking leave, you understand?” So boss. (Also, is that a pun?)

Gorgug’s parents launched a satellite while Gorgug was in jail.

Kristen and co.

Kristen’s dad (who is the worst): You think these guys were illegals, what?

Kristen: I’m gonna take the car, byeeee.

Kristen and Adaine bonding over their terrible parents.

I’m Concerned about Kristen’s brothers.

Abernants

They poofed out. Idk why they were still there to begin with.

So the damage they took was supposed to represent the danger the took in their respective fights. Kristen got Adaine’s divination roll meaning her family was fine either way but she did take damage for Adaine’s family. But the fight was already over by the time they got there. So, in story, any injuries sustained must have been from the fight at her house, even though that wasn’t technically the deal.

Anyway, Adaine doesn’t care about her family so let’s not waste any time moving onto

Seacaster manor

Geez

OK, you guys. Let me tell you my buildup to the realization that Bill had to die.

In the first set of episodes, when tone was established, I said to myself, a parent is going to die. I don’t know who, but someone will.

Then, Bill gave them a training montage and I thought, curse of the mentor. He’s going to die. Besides, he’s one of the biggest parental figures and he’s larger than life–perfect for a fall.

Then Sklonda took down the Harvestmen and I briefly shifted my worry to her.

But then Fabian started clashing with Bill. And I remembered all the constant talk of his mortality.

And then, this ep, Brennan made him choose between his mom and dad and I was pretty sure. (sidenote: Fabian yelling at his mom the same ep Adaine said he has a great relationship with his mom. But, like, compared to her, maybe. Also, mean Brennan.)

And then Fabian lost an eye (with a description that still makes me wince) and I KNEW. Once he lost his eye, there was no way Bill could leave the fight alive, thematically.

Honestly, it was a wrap when Fabian played the video from his dad. I was worried he’d die before he got there.

(It was a low blow, and I credit you that.)

Why were there Harvestmen attacking Fabian’s house and no one elses?

Fabian’s mom just drinking while the house is being raided.

I was so sure the tuxed Harvestman who attacked Fabian was going to turn out to somehow be Daybreak or something. Anyway, it has to come up again. There’s no reason for that level of detail otherwise. And tux sounds like prom attire.

Lou rolls a nat 1 and then rerolls it because he has the lucky trait. What’s funny is just started listening to NADNDPod and Murph (who reminded Lou about the lucky thing) disallowed one of his players from rerolling a nat 1 even w/ the lucky in the last ep I listened to. I don’t remember if the circumstances were different though.

Bill handcuffing himself up to keep fighting. Yikes.

Anyway, ugh that whole death scene. I would write more but this is closing in on 4k words and I’ve been working on this for hours. I just wanna say, that was a perfect way to go out for him. Killing 60 people and then getting stabbed by his son and exploding. So baller (as was Fabian jumping out the window onto his bike and catching Bill’s sword. He has so many cool swords now).

It’s a crime no one does animatics for this show.

We also got a piece of the puzzle. Bill was the one supplying the palimpsests (or at least one of the ones. who was doing it before?) not for an evil reason. Just a chaotic neutral reason of wanting to recapture the glory days. So now we know that.

I mentioned this before but…Fabian is Thor.

“I SHALL LEAP INTO HELL AND KILL THE DEVIL HIMSELF” and Bill Seacaster is dril apparently.

I love Fabian destroying the nice thing Bill said about him to preserve his legacy.

Ally: HE COULD HAVE SURVIVED.

I appreciate so much that Lou knew his character so well that without any hesitation he stabbed Bill and that was the right choice.

Whew, that was a lot.

Also, not that I don’t trust Brennan but it’s wild that Bill, the most thematically appropriate parent to die, was the only one who failed his roll apparently.

Aww at Zelda’s message to Gorgug. She made him a playlist! So 80’s high school. It gives him a bonus! Also I really wanna know what’s on the list. Like, is it all fantasy rock puns or actual songs? Yay for Brennan giving them cool items for good RPing.

Live band. Nice.

Emily and Zac both rolled 20’s for initiative for next week’s fight. Hopefully that’s a good omen. We have no way of knowing because THERE’S NO PROMO FOR NEXT WEEK.

AHHHHHHHHHHHH

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

This isn’t edited. This is more than 4000 words. This is so long my computer is about to die. Thank you and goodnight.

#fantasy high #fantasy high spoilers #spoilers #asks #anon #Anonymous

56 notes · View notes

twdmusicboxmystery · 5 years

Text

9x13: TTD Clues

Okay, so I said yesterday that TTD yielded some good stuff, and it did. This won’t be terribly long, but it’s very exciting.

We often get interesting details from the quiz questions because tptb often put questions in that emphasize details they want us to know, that we don’t necessarily pick up simply from watching the episode. That was definitely true of this past week.

One quiz question asked what was NOT in Connie’s emergency stash of supplies in the building they went into. The answer was flashlights. Of course lights and flashlights = Beth. We even had her majorly associated with a flashlight in Still. While there are a lot of parallels between her and Connie, there are also a few anti-parallels, so I’m kinda thinking no flashlights = no Beth.

The second question was better, though. It was merely some dialogue the Highwaymen used when they came to rescue Tara’s group, so that wasn’t anything huge. But after that, there was a quote from tptb saying that when they cast the leader of the Highwaymen, they were looking for a “pirate Santa Clause whose eyes are dangerous.”

That’s REALLY jumping out at us for a few reasons. First, because it’s kind of an odd description for this actor. Yeah, he’s got a beard, but I don’t think many people look at him and think Santa Clause. They might if his beard was white, but it’s not. Plenty of men on TWD have had full beards (Rick anyone?) and with the exception of Hershel, who specifically did have a white beard, none of them were really thought of as Santa Clause types.

But there’s another reason that’s leaping out at us. Do you now what it is yet? Remember Daryl’s “I Nevers” in Still. Most of them have since come true in some way on the show (Details HERE). And one of them was “I ain’t never got nothing from Santa Clause.” Because of the St. Nicholas/Pickle stories, where St. Nicholas resurrects 3 dead people, we’ve always assumed that the thing Daryl would get from Santa Clause would be Beth coming back to him.

Now tptb are calling this dude Santa Clause.

We already know from spoilers that we’ll probably see some snow at the end of the season, so there already might be a Christmas-type theme going on. And then there’s the fact that I mentioned yesterday that this dude wears a sheriff-type hat. So this is already promising. If “Santa” gives Daryl Beth for Christmas, I’m thinking this guy will be the one to tell him where she is.

And for the record, it doesn’t negate anything else we’ve thought about her coming through Negan or the Whisperers in some way. I still think her arc will be very entwined with both, but something about this guy and his Santa-ness will play into it too.

We can also read into the pirate theme (because “pirate Santa Clause”). Pirates suggest water and ship themes, and we’ve obviously seen a lot of those types of symbols around Beth as well.

Finally, did you notice in the same note above, his name is Ozzie? As in...the Wizard of Oz(zie)? If he actually represents the character of Oz, then he’s the one who knows how to get Beth--I mean Dorothy--home to her family. Just saying.

Oh, but that is not all concerning the Highwaymen. That is not all.

One of the behind-the-scenes notes, they said the note the Highwaymen sent to Carol and Ezekiel really did have a list of demands on it. It wasn’t just a blank sheet of paper or anything. (Again, they had to tell us this because we didn’t actually see what was written on the note in the episode.) Some of the things they said they wanted were “40 paperback books – fiction – no romance novels.” Um…ROMANCE NOVELS!!!

So yet another tie to Beth. And, if we’re being honest, also more evidence that Carzekiel has a similar arc coming soon. We’re not sure what the 40 represents. Someone in my group suggested it points back to S4, where the original “damn romance novel” line was heard, courtesy of Daryl. I also think it could be a biblical number. In the bible, 40 is a number showing a period of intense trials. The Children of Israel wandered in the wildness for 40 years. Christ was temped in the wilderness for 40 days, etc. So yeah. Pretty cool.

The final, major thing that happened on TTD is that they did ask Lauren Ridloff (who plays Connie) about all the talk of Daryl and Connie. She started out by joking about a shower scene between the two. I’m sure that encouraged some of the shippers, but you have to understand the context.

1. She said it with a huge grin on her face, but then said, “No, but seriously…” and then continued with the next part of what she said. Which means by definition, she wasn’t being serious about the shower scene.

2. This is at least the third time I can remember someone mentioning a shower scene when it comes to Daryl or Daryl’s love life. I can’t remember exactly which seasons or episodes it happened on, but it was always on TD. I want to say maybe the season finale of S7, but I’m not positive. And another time, maybe in conjunction with the idea of Daryl and Jesus. Every time, it was just a joke. It obviously didn’t happen those other times, and it won’t happen now with Connie either. It’s almost because their go-to line when talking about a possible love interest for Daryl.

But more importantly is what came after the “No, but seriously…” Lauren pretty much shut down the idea of Connie and Daryl, at least for the time being. She said the relationship is more like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

Feel free to look up the reference for more details if you aren’t familiar. It’s an American western about two outlaws who are best friends and partners in crime.

(Btw, the outlaw theme is huge right now on the show; we’ve been discussing it a lot in my group lately. Obviously the highwaymen are part of the outlaw theme. This reference by Lauren is too.)

Now, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance kid were both straight men, so obviously there was no romance there, which is part of what Lauren was trying to convey, I think. But more than that, the relationship is very much a sympatico, kumbaya type. Like they’re always of like minds and can practically read each other’s thoughts and will always have one another’s backs. That’s how Lauren is describing Daryl and Connie’s relationship, which I think is pretty accurate to what we’ve seen.

Could it change in the future? Technically, sure, but we know TWD plans WAY far ahead so they can foreshadow things, and we haven’t seen anything at all that foreshadows romance between these two.

I do want to mention that they did a poll asking who shipped Daryl and Connie and it ended up being 80% of those who took the poll. On the one hand, you could argue that those who took the poll aren’t representative of the entire fandom, but I don’t actually think it’s a problem for TD even if it do. Because I don’t think 80% are hardcore shippers specifically of Daryl with Connie. I think it shows that most people just genuinely want Daryl to have a love interest and to find happiness (which is sweet).

And I honestly think that number would rise higher, to 90% or 95%, if it’s Beth, because there’s ALREADY a history established there that people ALREADY shipped several seasons past.

Okay, I think that’s it for TTD. Exciting stuff! ;D

#beth greene #beth greene lives #beth is alive #beth is coming #td theory #td theories #team delusional #team defiance #beth is almost here #bethyl

10 notes · View notes

drunklander · 7 years

Text

Drunj!Der Yells About Outlander

Thoughts on Ep. 306

GUYS THEY’RE FINALLY BACK TOGETHER AND THE WHOLE POINT OF WATCHING THIS DAMN SHOW IS ACTUALLY ON MY TV AGAIN!

Like I feel like I’ve been waiting for this episode since the end of season one. I didn’t get sucked into the show because of the adventures du jour. I got sucked in because of the relationship between Jamie and Claire. Their intimacy. The intimacy they had even before the wedding. Yes, shenanigans need to happen around them or it’d just be a bunch of fluff, but watching how they go through the shenanigans *together* was kind of the whole point for me.

And the beginning of this season was obviously supposed to make the reunion feel earned, but with the lack of story on Claire’s side, it really kind of felt like a chore to slog through it at times.

But! This episode really was a great reminder of why I’ve stuck with the show with one glaring exception which I’m still salty about but not at all surprised by, and I *really* hope that they’re not going to treat it as a one and done.

Like in season one no matter what else was going on in the episodes, time was spent on building Jamie and Claire’s relationship before they got together and then time was spent figuring out what kind of couple they were going to be. *pretends the search doesn’t exist* Season two started with them dealing with Jamie’s rape, which it should have, but then when they came back together it was for like *a minute* before they basically then just started fighting over “saving” Frank. And then they lost Faith but the show skipped over them coming back together after that. Like suddenly they were just all ok and happy again, but literally for only one scene before going off to war. The investment in their relationship was put on the back burner and I think the show suffered because of it.

So now they’re *finally* back together and I *really* hope that this episode is just the jumping off point for showing them rebuilding their life together. Yes, I’m very much aware that they can’t spend every episode in a room together in various stages of undress. I’m not asking for that. I’m just hoping that the show goes back to the way they did things in season one. Where yes, stuff is happening and shenanigans ensue, but their relationship is still regularly given the attention it needs.

Anywho, that got longer than I meant it to... Sorry... Rambling nonsense and pterodactyl screeches are under the cut.

Apparently Jamie inherited his mother’s curse of having literally everyone fall in love with him or lust after him. Like are they trying to make it that Mme Jeanne is super into Jamie or something?

The music from Lallybroch as Jamie walks to work gives me life but also kind of makes me sad. Like he’s built a life for himself! He has his shop! He has shenanigans with Fergus! He’s content! But at the same time he’s living under a different name and his home at Lallybroch is no longer his home...

Although I’m glad I’m not the only one in this fandom who went straight to Beauty and the Beast as he’s walking through the street, tipping his hat to literally everyone. *group high five*

Him like polishing the sign with a finger and then being like nope, gotta go full arm makes me smile.

How did Hayes not get transported? Like it’s def the same dude from Ardsmuir, so how is he not in the Colonies with everyone else? Whatever. Not important... Treason is the point here, haha.

Geordie looks like Young Simon Fraser/Lovat so much it’s mildly distracting. And tbh, as much as he has a stick up his ass, I def feel him on wanting to know the required morning duties in advance.

Hai Bonnie! Who’s a good press. You are!

Ok holding the sheet up like that in the title card is cheesy? Idk. The second sheet just lying there worked for me though? But who cares. It’s a fucking title card. Moving on.

OMG SHE’S REAL AND HE’S REAL AND THEY’RE REAL IN THE SAME PLACE AND OMG GROUP HUG BECAUSE IT’S FINALLY HAPPENINGGG!

I wasn’t really a fan of the alepot thing in the book? Like it’s already awkward without Jamie needing to take off his pants?

OK BUT THEIR FACES THROUGH THIS WHOLE BIT WITH HIM LOOKING AT HER RING AND HER TELLING HIM HOW SHE NEVER TOOK IT OFF, I CANNOT HANDLE IT.

Asking if he can kiss her is my favorite. Except them kissing. That’s really my favorite. But consent, y’all. It’s sexy af.

BEAR WHY DON’T YOU MURDER ME WITH THE SWELL OF THEIR THEME YOU BEAUTIFUL BASTARD.

Jamie, this is a beautiful monologue, but she def touched you at Culloden. They literally had her touch him in ep. 301. But whatever, it was a vision, you can’t feel a vision. This isn’t the point. The point is OMG THEY’RE TOGETHER AND REALLY THERE AND MAKING OUT AND AHHHHHH.

Ok, I’m 1000% blanking. Was the “don’t be afraid, there’s the two of us now” line in the show before this? I can’t remember. Or is it just a thing for book people that we’re supposed to just accept was at some point a thing between them off-screen in the show? I’m really asking.

Oops, that distracted me from squeeing over how they like remember all their whatever the word is for an in-joke that’s not a joke and is actually something really romantic. Because squeee!

In Geordie’s spare time, he’s part of Edinburgh’s recreational cockblocking league. We’ll meet some of his teammates later on in the episode. No one really likes them. They’re basically the worst.

“Our child?” “Our daughter?” *has feelings*

LOOK HOW HAPPY CLAIRE IS TO TELL JAMIE ABOUT BREE! LOOK AT HER! SHE’S FUCKING BEAMING! SHE’S FUCKING GLOWING RIGHT THERE! I CANNOT REMEMBER THE LAST TIME I SAW FUCKING CLAIRE LOOKING THAT FUCKING HAPPY. IT’S A BEAUTIFUL FUCKING SIGHT.

Ok but them being insecure about aging is fucking adorable and I love them so fucking much.

Ok so the pictures. I’m a bit torn about this sequence...

I hated that Jamie tells Claire he doesn’t like Bree’s name in the book and I hate that that’s his first reaction here. Like seriously, dude? This is your child. The child you sent your wife away to save. The child she raised without you because you made her go. And the first thing you’re going to tell Claire after she shows you the photos is that she picked an awful name? Wtf. I don’t care if he’s kidding around or whatever. It’s a fucking weird thing to say.

I *do* love that he brings up Faith and calls her Bree’s sister. Because she is and he hasn’t forgotten her and neither has Claire because how could they and it makes me want to hug them both.

“You’re a doctor now?” “Surgeon.” “You always were one. Now you have the title to go wi’ it.” Yaaas. I will always and forever love how much Jamie appreciates and respects Claire’s skills.

Ok for real they should have just cut the dog. I get it’s in the book. And they forced it into that other episode just so they could have it in the pictures. But like it seems like a weird, super not important thing to go out of their way to include? But whatever, who cares.

So the Willie stuff. I’m glad they’re getting it out of the way now. It always seemed super weird that Jamie never told Claire until almost the end of the book and it was weird that LJG was the one to tell her first. But the way they did it doesn’t work well for me. Like yes. Tell her up front. Tell her when you’re talking about your children. That makes sense. But the way they have it play just doesn’t work.

Like the whole time he’s looking at the photos of Bree, his child with the woman he loves more than anything, the child they were separated to save, he keeps his strong emotions in check. Like he’s clearly moved, dumbass comment about her name aside, but he’s restrained. And then he’s talking about Willie and he like becomes so animated and excited. Like I get that this is one of the only times he’s been able to talk openly about Willie being his son. And to share how much he loves him. But it definitely makes the two of them talking about Bree seem shortchanged.

I kind of wish he’d given Claire the gift of knowing that Willie was conceived under coercion or at least that it was a one time thing. Like no need to get into all the details, but just saying he’s a bastard doesn’t provide much context. Especially for someone whose husband had a longterm affair. Which he doesn’t know, but still...

Maybe they’re playing it this way so that in ep. 308 or whenever Claire finds out about Laoghaire and her girls, the Willie stuff might come back around in their fight? Maybe? Bueller? Guess we’ll find out in two weeks...

Same with how it was for Claire to be with Frank all those years? Like in this initial convo she gives the most watered down, BS description of her life with him so maybe that’ll come back around too? Because they didn’t really “make it work”? He was terrible to her and treated her like shit and she just endured it for the sake of Bree?

Really I’m just looking forward to that damn fight. Because they need to have the fight to get into the meaty work of coming back together.

HAI FERGUS! Fergus got hot. Fergus knows he got hot. It’s somehow endearing.

I’m so fucking glad they changed the hook to a wooden hand. So. Fucking. Glad.

This scene really makes me wish that we’d gotten something of Claire missing Fergus during her half of things in the earlier episodes. Like my kingdom for a scene of Claire telling Bree about her French Scottish pickpocket brother. I know technically Bree knows about Fergus because Claire told her the whole story, but like, they expanded that relationship so much last year that I wish he had come up at some point. *forces self to stop dwelling on my general dislike of how Claire’s story was handled*

They really doubled down on the book’s already not-at-all subtle foreshadowing that Jamie’s already married...

Wouldn’t Claire have given some thought to explaining where she’d been before she went back? Like she definitely knew if she found Jamie, she’d probably be running into some of the other people she knew also? Whatever. Wherever they said she ended up, it’s always going to be weird because like how would she have known where to find Jamie?

It kinda bugs me, and by kinda I mean it really bugs me, that Claire starts to say Randall when she’s introducing herself to Willoughby. Like yes, that’s the name she went by for the last 20 years. And she’s in the habit of saying it. But she literally just went back in time and found her husband and is like in the midst of a very emotional time where she is very aware of the identity she’s actively reclaiming. It would have worked better for me if she’d started to say Fraser. Like she’s excited she *finally* gets to say that again only to have Jamie cut her off and that leading to the same questions she has as it plays out now, but with like the added layer of emotion that comes with not being able to use the name she’s wanted to use for so long.

I’m cautiously optimistic about Willoughby? Like fuck him for cheating the hooker out of her money, but he can be a garbage person without being a racist caricature?

Cool so now we have treason, questionable marital status and smuggling drama for Jamie. Seems like plenty to set up the shit that’s going to hit the fan next week without a certain scene they decided to end the episode with...

Ok but with Jamie’s face and Willoughby’s grin, it’s super obvious he didn’t *just* say honorable wife, implying again that something’s up with Claire’s status as Jamie’s wife. But I’m glad they changed it to Chinese because the first wife thing in the book was like so on the nose that it was weird Claire never asked why he kept saying that.

For real though. They’re not being subtle at all...

I love that Claire calls him Yi Tien Cho as she says goodbye though. Yay for treating him like an actual person and not “Jamie’s pet” as he’s literally described in the book.

This introduction to the brothel is very Game of Thrones-y in terms of the randos banging everywhere.

I didn’t like Mme Jeanne being a bitch to Claire in the book and I’m not a fan of it here. Like the lady clearly has the hots for Jamie or whatever they decided to do for the show, but we already have one person who’s terrible to Claire because she wants Jamie and that person is about to come back so do we really need another? And I know that it’s partly so that Claire feels insecure or whatever and questions Jamie, but like I feel like the fact that he’s on friendly terms with Mme Jeanne and has a room in the brothel accomplishes the same thing well enough? Maybe it’s just me...

For real though the sex sounds from the other rooms is a bit much. Like we get it, show. It’s a brothel. And these two want to bang but they’re still a little awkward. The noises are more distracting than anything.

Ok but the look of like pain on Claire’s face when Jamie says he doesn’t know why she came back and then reduces (maybe the wrong word, but close enough) her to just the mother of his child. Like bro, it’s an important question. I know you want and deserve to know the answer. But I do feel for Claire a bit in how he chooses to word it.

“So I took a chance.” Understatement of the centuries, Claire.

Throw her a bone, Jamie! She took an impossible leap! Give her something!

Claire’s “do you want me to go?” breaks my heart a little. Like I 1000% know what Jamie’s getting at and why he wants and needs to know why Claire came back. But I really do feel for Claire here. She made the choice to risk everything to find him, and Jamie knows what it cost her. (*cough Bree cough* Remember her? You literally just looked at pictures of her.) Maybe lead with the fact that you’ve burned for her for so long, dude? And then bring up the knowing each other less now than at your wedding? Because it *is* a valid observation...

I know that basically everything in this room is like verbatim from the book, but I do kind of wish some of it had been tweaked.

BUT WHATEVER BECAUSE THEY’RE TOGETHER AGAIN.

OK BUT THE FLIRTY WAY CLAIRE SAYS THAT SHE MIGHT BE A HORRIBLE PERSON MAKES ME FEEL THINGS. LIKE SHE SPENT SO LONG BEING TREATED LIKE AND TOLD THAT SHE WAS ONE BUT HERE WITH JAMIE SHE KNOWS SHE ISN’T AND SHE’S JOKING AND SHE’S HAPPY AND SHE’S GETTING WHAT SHE’S DREAMED ABOUT FOR SO LONG AND I’M JUST SO HAPPY FOR YOU CLAIRE. ILY, LADY.

The recreational cockblocking league really should be disbanded. I feel like there are better options for extracurricular activities out there.

OK BUT JAMIE’S FACE WHEN HE LOCKS THE DOOR AND CLAIRE’S FACE WHEN JAMIE LOCKS THE DOOR. YOU’RE GOING TO DO IT, GUYS, YOU’RE GOING TO HAVE THE SECKS.

You know what would be better than this voiceover? Not this voiceover. I get that they wanted the parallel to the wedding voiceover about getting to know their new spouses for the first time, but I’m just not a fan of the majority of the voiceovers and was kind of hoping they were not going to use them as much this year...

I like the parallel to the wedding with them talking first, I just could have done with more actual talking and less VO about talking.

Also like Claire, we know you’re both thinking about banging. There’s no reason to VO the fact that you’re thinking about it.

OK BUT THE SASSY LITTLE WAY SHE PULLS OFF HIS STOCK OR WHATEVER IT’S CALLED. HERE. FOR. IT.

AND SHE OPENS HIS SHIRT LIKE SHE DID IN EP. 103 WHEN SHE WAS CHECKING HIS WOUND AND IT WAS HOT AF THERE AND IT’S HOT AF HERE.

AND HIM PULLING OFF HER SCARF THINGY AND IT GOES DOWN HER FRONT LIKE THE RIBBON DID IN THE WEDDING WHEN HE UNTIED HER LITTLE CHOKER THINGY.

MY KINGDOM FOR ONCE THEY’RE LIKE COMFORTABLY BACK TOGETHER AGAIN AND IT’S NOT LIKE 20 YEARS OF EMOTION BUILT UP FOR JAMIE TO JUST LOVE ZIPPING AND UNZIPPING CLAIRE’S CORSET THINGY AND HER LIKE PLAYFULLY SMACKING HIM UPSIDE THE HEAD.

THIS IS AWKWARD AND ADORABLE AND I LOVE IT AND YOU REALLY ARE BEAUTIFUL, CLAIRE.

Ok they held hands in the wedding episode at one point right before Claire cockblocked herself by asking about Jamie’s family, but the stuff about touching making things easier wasn’t actually in there, right? It’s just another book thing they’re putting in that we need to pretend happened off-screen? Which is fine, I’m just trying to keep the book and the show straight...

“Do you want me know?” “Oh, God, yes.” SO SAY WE ALL.

The subtitles say [both breathing heavily] and OMG SAME, SUBTITLES, SAME.

I KNOW IT’S FROM THE BOOK BUT I LOVE THEM BUMPING HEADS AND GIGGLING AND JAMIE KISSING HER ON THE NOSE AND THE LITTLE NOSE KISS IS MY EVERYTHING AND GUYS I HAVE SO MANY FEELINGS RIGHT NOW AND ALL OF THEM ARE WONDERFUL.

“Do it now. And don’t be gentle.” OK BUT THIS IS LIKE THE FIRST TIME IN LIKE 18 YEARS THAT CLAIRE IS WITH SOMEONE WHO ISN’T HER HAND AND SHE’S CALLING THE SHOTS AND YOU GET YOURS, CLAIRE. YAAAS.

Unpopular opinion, but I’ve never really been a fan of the “give me your mouth” line.

BUT WHO CARES BECAUSE THEY JUST DID THE SECKS. THEY JUST DID THE SECKS, GUYS!

GUYS THEY GET TO CUDDLE AND BE CUTE AND TOUCH EACH OTHER AND KISS AND BE SILLY. MY SKIN IS CLEAR AND MY CROPS ARE THRIVING.

Can we do a kickstarter for a NSFW webseries about learning new vocabulary? Or is that only cute with these two?

I CANNOT WITH ALL OF THEIR LITTLE KISSES AND CLAIRE JUST LIKE LOUNGING ON HIM AND HIM LIKE STROKING HER BACK AND I AM DED. I AM THOROUGHLY DECEASED.

Cool that we’re establishing all of this stuff about Jamie’s current situation with the law. So we know all of the stakes and shit already. So maybe there’s no fucking need to end the episode how they did just to get a cliffhanger.

“To find you again... And to lose you.” Like he has to know that he’s basically lying by omission about being married, right? Like Jamie isn’t perfect. If he was he’d be boring. He doesn’t tell Claire about Laoghaire because he’s scared to lose her again. Which I get, but like how did he think it was going to play out? He knows/fears how it’ll play out and we know that from this line. I’m not saying I wish he’d done anything differently. Because that’d be cramming too much into the episode and iron out a flaw that leads to one of my favorite parts of the book...

OK BUT I LOVE ROUND TWO BECAUSE LIKE OMG THEY JUST NEED TO BE TOUCHING EACH OTHER AND JUST BEING WITH EACH OTHER AND GUYS THEY’RE TOGETHER AGAIN AND I JUST WANT TO HUG THEM BOTH EXCEPT LATER BECAUSE I AM NOT PART OF THE RECREATIONAL COCKBLOCKING LEAGUE BECAUSE I’M NOT A MONSTER.

LOOK AT THESE BABIES FALLING ASLEEP ALL CUDDLY AND ADORABLE AND I JUST LOVE THEM SO MUCH.

“Maybe I’m a ghost.” Don’t get cute, show...

CASUAL WITH THE HAND SECKS WHILE RECALLING A CONVO THAT INVOLVED HAND SECKS THE FIRST TIME. I’M OK.

Thanks, Claire Bear, for not wanting to burst this perfect little bubble. We can definitely wait to hear about who Jamie may have gone to in blind need. No need to sully this episode with anything like that.

And high fives for understanding the difference between sex and love and yet omg I can’t wait for everything to blow up because they’re both human and emotions are messy and then for things to get better again in a wicked real way.

Ok is the recreational cockblocking league’s season over yet? Can’t Jamie ever finish his full English breakfast without someone trying to interrupt him? Wtf.

Lady boner for Claire’s little salute.

Lady boner for Jamie saying Jell-O.

I’m trash for Claire calling Jamie soldier. Sorry not sorry.

And I love that it’s the same fucking shot of her very satisfied face as ep. 110.

Perfect Young Ian is perfect. And so is his pause before “woman.”

Glad they clear it up right away that Claire’s his aunt.

“Do you live in a dun?” Are you being sassy, Ian? Or are you legit asking about fairies? Please tell me you’re being sassy. (Either way, I love show!Young Ian.)

“Very please to meet you, Uncle Jamie’s wife.” I LOVE YOU, YOU AWKWARD GOOBER WHO IS APPARENTLY VERY BAD AT HIDING THE FACT THAT YOU’RE PROCESSING INFORMATION THAT WILL BECOME RELEVANT SOON.

Ok, tbh, I would have been fine if they ended the episode with Young Ian leaving. Like awesome. Set up Jamie and Claire cautiously and optimistically back together. Set up Jamie’s various things that can come up and pop their little bubble of innocent bliss. Reintroduced the Murrays. Cool. Done. End it. Roll the credits. Great ending is great.

Except...

I don’t love the whore’s brunch like some people do, but while I don’t think it’s necessary it is nice to see Claire interacting with the community around her. Like to see how at ease she is with these women even though they have nothing in common. Except, you know, having had sex the night before.

Nice little coda. Cool. Done. End it. Roll the credits. Ok ending is ok.

Except...

Ok I hate the last scene with my whole heart. Hate. It.

Why the fuck did they include this? Why the fuck couldn’t they just end the fucking episode on a hopeful note. With all the other shit like the treason and smuggling and questions about Jamie’s past few years all nice and set up so we know not everything will be smooth sailing?

What. The. Actual. Fuck.

Yes, in the book there’s a dude who shows up and manhandles Claire and thinks she’s a whore and flicks her boob while telling her there’s a reward in the form of a percentage of the seized contraband that’s being smuggled through the brothel. And I was hoping they’d change that in the show to like dial it back to just like him menacing over her or something instead of actually grabbing her and touching her boob. Because do we really need more sexual assault? No.

But apparently this fucking show thinks we do.

“Maybe if I fuck you, it’ll jar your memory.” *grabs Claire by the throat* Yep. Instead of even just sticking to the fucking book, they fucking take it up five notches.

Fuck whoever decided to end the episode like this. Fuuuuck them.

And don’t give me any bullshit like “oh it was needed to set up the next episode!” or “oh, but the 18th century is so dangerous, that’s just how things are!” No. Fuuuck that.

Not everything needs to be a fucking cliffhanger.

WE DO NOT NEED ANY MORE FUCKING ATTEMPTED RAPES.

We spent fucking two season with everyone and their brother getting raped and sexually assaulted. Claire knows it’s fucking dangerous. Claire has been assaulted more times than I care to count at the moment. She doesn’t need to fucking get nearly raped *again* within like fucking two days of being back in the past.

WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK, SHOW. WHY DO YOU INSIST ON MAKING ME HATE YOU.

But hey. They’re back together again. Woot.

Ok I tried, guys. I really did. But I really don’t care for the majority of A. Malcolm. Consider this a one time only sober!Der gets honest about Outlander...

I watched the episode four times. Not because I loved it, but because I thought watching it more would help me convince myself that I loved it. I watched it twice the night it came out, but I figured I was just like missing something because it was late and I was drunk and maybe it was actually really awesome? So I spent the next day reblogging smutty gifsets at the regatta I was working, thinking that would get me excited to go home and watch it again. And I did watch it again, and was like oh I must still be missing something because I’m sleep deprived and have been day-drinking. So I livetweeted and posted a recap with what I though were the requisite amount of squees and shouty caps so I wouldn’t be The Girl Who Didn’t Like The Reunion. Because I’m always the downer fan. And this was *The Episode*. So clearly I was just watching it wrong and I shouldn’t rain on everyone’s fangirl parade.

But I watched it again yesterday after work, sober and rested, and tried to watch it just as an episode and not like comparing it to the books or over-analyzing it or anything. And yeah, apparently I wasn’t watching it wrong. I just don’t care for a lot of it. So if I were to have written my 100% honest take on it without worrying about being a buzzkill, this would have been it:

I hate how they played Mme Jeanne. It was like they were forcing it and it just didn’t work for me. Seeing Jamie’s day before Claire shows up? Sure, ok, I’ll sit through it because I know what’s coming. But it should have been the only sidequest of the episode. And then Claire shows up and instead of getting sucked in and emotionally invested, I’m stuck watching Jamie take off his pants for no reason. It’s already awkward, there’s no need for that. And then they’re like oh hey remember this motto/catchphrase thing we shared that never happened on screen? Instead of playing like “aw, that’s sweet,” it just took me out of the moment because I was like “wait, when did that happen?” instead of being swept along. Like, there’s a difference between referencing something that happened off screen and doing what’s supposed to be a deliberate callback to a meaningful thing when that meaningful thing was never established. And then they’re interrupted for the first of what seemed like a fuckton of unnecessary times because lol nothing matters.

The scene with the pictures was just terrible. You can’t have Jamie basically be stoic while looking at the pictures of his daughter he sent away his wife to save, shit on the name his wife gave her and then wax poetic about how cool his other kid is. Wtf. I’m all for having him bring up Willie, but they completely fucked up the execution. Jamie barely showing emotion about Bree and then fangirling over Willie seems out of character and cruel to both Claire and Bree.

They needed to move locations so I was fine with meeting Fergus en route, but even that didn’t work as they played it. They built up the Claire and Fergus relationship so much last year but I felt like nothing at their reunion. It was a quick like oh where have you been? Oh cool. Btw, I need to talk business with Jamie. Because clearly that takes precedence over letting the emotional beat of a mother and son seeing each other for the first time in 20 years land. It just felt wicked rushed. I wish they had skipped everything at The World’s End. We already know Jamie’s doing treasonous stuff from the cold open and he’ll give Claire more details on his illegal activities and their potential consequences later in the episode. We didn’t need to meet Willoughby in this episode or the shady dude in the basement.

So then they get to the brothel and Jamie just like immediately starts interrogating Claire. Basically my biggest issue with the first half of the episode is Jamie. Like, can he at least pretend to be happy to see Claire? I get the shock and disbelief and stuff, but jfc dude. It’s like he doesn’t even want her there. They doubled down on his secret and it, for me, sort of ruined his half of their reunion. Like Claire has told him what going through the stones was like for her (we hear him ask her about it in ep. 111), and she literally just gave up her entire life and modern society to come back in time. Plus she left *their daughter* to come find him. I don’t know how many other fucking big red signs you need to tell you why she’s there, Jamie. Stop being an idiot. Like yes, he can and should be vulnerable. He can want to be sure she knows that he’s changed and be scared she might not want him for who he is now. But that’s not how it played. It played like he almost didn’t want her there and was questioning her motives rather than him being vulnerable and scared she might not want him. Putting it all on Claire with how they had Jamie question her wasn’t a good look for him.

I hated the voiceover while they ate. Just let them talk. Don’t VO that they’re talking. Have them actually talk. And sorry, but I really don’t think we needed to watch them silently undress for that long. They could have gotten the same emotions across with a shorter montage and leave more time for, you know, actually catching up after 20 years.

I did like the lead up to round one once they were naked and Claire was all adorable and insecure and Jamie finally acted like he wanted to be there. (Minus the second instance of attempting a meaningful callback to a thing that was never established.) And yeah, round one was going to be awkward. I know, it should be. But then round two wasn’t hot at all? Like they shot a rape scene in ep. 304 like soft-core porn but when the main couple gets back together it’s like awkward side-flopping? Yes, they need to touch each other and look into each other’s eyes and that’s all lovely and should happen, but like the way it was shot didn’t match what the scene should have felt like? Also, their wigs are terrible. Like distractingly terrible.

Them talking in between rounds one and two, and them talking after round two through round three until Jamie leaves I did like for the most part. And I was glad that I did, because I really did want to really like this episode and I feel like if there were important parts to like, it was those parts. And honestly what they talk about there was enough to set up that they weren’t going to stay in this little bubble for very long, so the World’s End stuff and the very not subtle convo with Jamie and Fergus and the stuff at the end seemed even more unnecessary.

I did like Young Ian. Because it’s Young Ian. And I heart that awkward goober. But everything after that, especially ending it on another fucking attempted rape, I could have done without.

So yeah. There were a couple scenes I liked, but as an overall episode? It just didn’t do it for me. And what I did like didn’t really drive me to full on fangirling. It was just like oh, this is better than those other parts. And with the way it ends, it left me feeling angry rather than happy that these characters are back together. Not a great aftertaste for what’s supposed to be like the biggest episode of the series.

And yes, I *know* that they can’t please everyone and that they aren’t making the show specifically for my exact tastes and vision. I’m well aware I’m a #BadFan. But I think I’m still allowed to be disappointed that the episode I was looking forward was kind of a let down for me.

Holy shit this got way longer than I thought it would. I meant to just write a short update and hide it in an old post so I didn’t get yelled at... Because for some reason, bullshitting about how I felt about this episode wasn’t sitting well with me. Whatever. Brevity has never been my strong suit...

Here’s hoping ep. 307 is amazing...

#*#drunj!der yells about outlander #outlander starz #outlander 3x06

113 notes · View notes

tremolux · 7 years

Text

Darkness Rising

Over the past two years, many of you have asked if I would ever write a followup to my original Lucas theory, Uber A: What’s in a Name?

Well my friends, the wait is over.

The end is near.

The darkness is upon us.

Darkside/Lightside

Grunwald: I've never considered the content of dreams to be important; it's the impressions they leave that affect me... In this case, the dream left me quite unsettled. The sense was strong enough that I felt compelled to come here.

Hanna: The sense of what?

Grunwald: A darkness, around you and Caleb.

Those of you who have already ventured down the rabbit hole of my original Lucas theory will remember a very literal interpretation of one of Mrs. Grunwald’s impressions that singled out Lucas as “the one Alison fears the most.”

My interpretation of that scene has not changed since it was written. Not only was Grunwald speaking in reference to Lucas back then, but she still is now.

In 7x08, Mrs. Grunwald returns to Rosewood with an ominous message about "a darkness" around Hanna and Caleb. Several factors make that statement particularly interesting. Not only are they standing in Lucas’ apartment when she says it, but the idea that “the darkness” lingers specifically around Hanna and Caleb as opposed to the others seems to point towards Lucas. After all, Hanna and Caleb seem to be Lucas' only friends in Rosewood, as far as we can tell.

Aria: It’s no coincidence that he turned dark after the masquerade ball.

Spencer: Well, Jenna has that effect on people.

Aria: Yeah, but she’s been gone all summer, and he’s still ‘Boo Radley.’

Have a look at 3x01, the episode that Marlene King called "the return of Uber A" when it initially aired, and watch for when the liars observe Lucas in the cafeteria. Aria calls Lucas "dark," point blank, and then says that he's been that way since the masquerade ball, which is when he started hanging around with Jenna. The Boo Radley reference is also a play on words, foreshadowing Lucas’ suspiciously skulking about at Radley later in the third season.

Lucas is "dark" + Hanna & Caleb his only friends = "darkness" around Hanna & Caleb

Hanna lives in Lucas’ loft. Caleb is there all the time. Caleb is an investor in Lucas’ business. Hanna is doing business with Lucas.

Lucas is the "darkness," just as much as he is "the one Alison fears the most!"

The Grunwald strikes again! Just like in the previous theory, the profile fits Lucas like a custom tailored suit.

Having studied Latin, I'm well aware that the name Lucas is rooted on the Latin word lux (lucis), meaning light. "Bringer of light" is the meaning typically attached to the name Lucas. What a perfect synchronicity for a character described as one who “turned dark!”

Interestingly enough, the "bringer of light” meaning is equally applicable to Lucifer, a fallen angel commonly associated with Satan.

Stunningly, this recent message seems to allude to a fallen condition:

Embrace your darkness, Em. I’ve had to. That’s how you win the game. A.D.

What’s fascinating is how A.D. seems to offer a glimpse of something personal here, as if speaking from experience as someone who “had to” embrace their own darkness.

Why did they have to, I wonder?

Perhaps in order to win a game in which A.D. was an actual participant. A player, as opposed to the conductor.

Or maybe the oppressed, rather than the oppressor. Sound familiar?

Lucas is someone who took a dark turn, just like Aria pointed out. Maybe he felt that going dark was the only way to win the game he had been dragged into, as in Mona’s original A-game.

It’d be kind of a Batman move to do so, wouldn’t it? Kind of a Dark Knight feel to it?

For Love of the Game

When Lucas returns to Rosewood (post time jump), he’s shady from the get go. He’s barely been in town five minutes before he bumps into Hanna, which comes across as planned. Heavy stalker vibes. He immediately makes it known that he’s extremely rich, as if he’s been patiently waiting for the moment to impress Hanna with the fact that he drives a Jaguar and owns houses all around the world.

Later on, Hanna asks him to be her alibi for the night that Charlotte was murdered, and Lucas has no qualms about lying to the police, even though he’s terrible at it (or purposely flubbing the story.) That’s shady enough as it is, but it’s not long after that when the first message arrives, stating “you know who did it and I’m going to make you talk.”

Of course Lucas should have suspected their involvement from the moment Hanna approached him for a fake alibi. But he questioned nothing and carried on with a foolish looking white knight act. Of course, you have to consider that he’d really have no need to press Hanna for answers if he could do it more effectively (and anonymously) as Uber ‘A’.

But by far the most important thing to take away from Lucas’ arrival is that he mentions he’s a highly successful game app developer. Not just software, but specifically games; which is exactly the skill set one would require to create such a monstrosity that combines aspects of a traditional board game with modern technology and real life consequences. The centerpiece is of course an iPhone running a custom designed app.

It simply can’t get any more on target for clues that Lucas is Uber A. Considering this game has to be his greatest creation to date, his masterpiece, then the very execution of the game becomes a motive in itself.

There was a brief time (before the messages were signed as ‘A.D.’) when they referred to the sender as “the techie.” Uber A’s work space has been shown full of stray PC boards, disk drives, wire, soldering gear, and electronic test equipment. Definitely “techie” stuff, but the only legit “techies” we know are Lucas and Caleb.

There’s literally no wiggle room here, folks: it’s either Lucas behind this game, or some new techno-wiz character we haven’t been introduced to yet. It’s getting to the point where it’s impossible to deny that Lucas is involved. Caleb might have the technical skills, but he certainly lacks the specialized game design experience that Lucas has.

Furthermore, the level of personal detail involved in this game means that the creator has to know everything about the players, the rules, how it’s all supposed to work together, and the game’s ultimate purpose. So there's no chance of pleading ignorance or passing the buck when the nerd finally gets caught.

Revenge of the Nerd

Please excuse the brief rant, but this needs to be said:

Good luck to Marlene King if she thinks she can pass off this dude as Alison’s twin, or Spencer’s twin, or some other physically impossible, equally nonsensical garbage. It just doesn’t work in any way, shape, or form. And the devil’s advocate argument that “A has all kinds of helpers” gets tiresome and annoying, because it’s pointless and anticlimactic to have an uber villain who never actually gets their hands dirty.

On the other hand, Lucas has about the right height and build, and the capacity for explosive anger. The sadism and latent misogyny inherent in the cattle prodding of Hanna comes across when this guy beats the pulp out of Ali. I would wager that once Lucas found out Alison covered up the death of her own husband, it enraged him. He saw the perfect opportunity to terrorize her, and he seized it.

Lucas was low-key happy when he heard Alison was in the hospital after her fall, and I’m sure he’d be thrilled to send her back to the emergency room for a second visit.

From the very beginning, A’s style and attitude has been an intentional mimicry and mockery of Alison DiLaurentis. Now we have ‘A.D.’ as a new incarnation of the same old patterns. Could it be that Uber A’s endgame strategy is the ultimate set up: to pit Alison’s friends completely against one another, turn them to the “dark side,” and then pin the blame for everything on Alison “A.D.” DiLaurentis? Is that not a brilliant method of destroying Alison once and for all?

“It's not whether you win or lose, it's how you place the blame.” -Oscar Wilde

Back in high school, Lucas swore that one day Alison would one day “get what’s coming to her.” An old saying goes that living well is the best revenge, and Lucas certainly lives well, but there’s always the chance that maybe that’s not enough for him. As another saying goes, revenge is a dish best served cold. And seven years after high school is certainly a cold dish.

Never underestimate a patient nerd who harbors a long term grudge.

Uber ‘A’, Ubergeek

Since the time jump, the Lucas clues have been dropping so frequently that it's hard to even keep track of them all. Lots of people have noted how comic references like The Wrath of Kahn (Star Trek) and The DArkest Knight (DC Comics, Batman) could be a nod towards Lucas and Uber A’s ubergeek status. His bedroom during high school contained several Batman figurines on display.

Most recently, Emily mentioned the exam that A.D. passed for her; a situation that serves as a reminder how Lucas was known for selling test answers in high school.

And then there are more subtle hints, like Jenna saying "we have an Uber waiting for us," which seems a cheeky double meaning of an Uber driver and Uber 'A', and recalls the season six prom when the Liars saw Lucas and Jenna together, and Spencer remarked that "she probably thinks he Uber'd her there."

That’s all cute, but the important point is:

Nobody doubts that Jenna and Uber ‘A’ are connected.

Everyone associated with Jenna turns out to be bad news.

Lucas has been connected to Jenna since the masquerade ball, yet he's managed to dodge suspicion thus far. How? Why? Just because he seems nice and friendly? Because he let them use his apartment? It doesn’t matter how secure their phones are if they’re always hanging out in an apartment that’s wired with secret microphones and cameras.

The fact that Lucas has consistently been involved in sketchy situations since the very first season, but somehow stayed off the radar, makes me confident that he’s not simply a red herring.

Noel Kahn was the latest of Jenna’s long time co-conspirators to be exposed and brought down. And although the narrative hinted towards him being the one who tortured Hanna in the barn, he died before we could get proper resolution on that.

However, this leaves the door open for a hideous and shocking betrayal when the curtain is finally pulled back on Lucas, and reveals that he was the one who stripped Hanna down to her underwear, hosed her down with cold water, and sadistically tortured her with a cattle prod.

Now that’s what I call dark.

The very idea that this superficially nice and friendly guy would do this to his friend, business partner, and long time crush will send shock waves throughout the fandom, and blow the minds of those who never saw it coming.

Lucas will be exposed as the one behind the masks, and the one behind the game. And then like a broken dam, the truth will come rushing forth, concerning everything he’s done since day one of playing the game with Mona.

Lucas is the darkness.

Lucas is “the one Alison fears the most.”

Lucas is the genius behind the game.

Lucas is Uber ‘A’.

#pll theories #pll theory #lucas is a #lucas gottesman #pll #my theories #uber a #lucas is uber a #lucas is a.d.#pll theories 7B

435 notes · View notes

bbcmyhero · 7 years

Text

Old Man Riverdance

Episode 5, here we go.

First up, George’s mistake in ruining the movie shoot gets him the most Southern “Bless Your Heart” I can offer. (For those not in the know, that’s the shadiest thing you can say about a person, but occasionally it can also be a little fond.) Also, in his own ridiculous way, he’s got a point about his height on tv vs his height as a toy.

Did Tyler hallucinate Godzilla, or did he have some sort of memory slip?

I’m loving the world building and normalization of all the alien weirdness with the talk of the retirement home for superheroes. But, if George’s dad was the first Thermoman, and stationed on Earth, why is George so continually clueless? It makes for funny fish-out-of-water moments, but doesn’t always make much sense.

And I have made that same conversational mistake, thinking the person was building off my last sentence when they were asking about something three sentences back.

Three seconds late for visiting, and George is very sternly reprimanded for it. And, as we see, Seamus is prone to criticizing and picking apart every little thing George does until he starts to screw up all his rescues. I know the overly-strict thing is just the Ultron way, but it’s interesting to see that all the parents we know about were terrible, and the different ways everyone turned out because of it.

Mrs Raven had a literally criminally insane mother, who she actually fears, and is clearly an abusive mother in her own right despite mentioning on several occasions that she fears her children. Going by their headstart at a life of crime, and the fact that mother later on is “just released” from somewhere, Mrs Raven may be the only one of the lot to be living anything remotely like an honest life. And that’s not saying a lot considering all her schemes and fond reminiscence about being the school bully.

Janet had a domineering mother and a henpecked father who made each other miserable, but nonetheless turned out a caring mother. Thanks, I’m sure, to having at least one parent who was more prone to doting and spoiling than criticizing. But, interestingly enough, despite the fact that Janet has a very complicated love/hate relationship with her mother, and did fantasize about poisoning her in the pilot episode (which we know her father does constantly, though Janet wasn’t aware of it. Funny how Ella drove two people to that.) you can still see a softer version of the Ella/Stanley dynamic playing out with Janet/George, despite their by and large supportive relationship. And, yet, just the opposite happens in the extremely creepy alternate timeline with Stepford Janet married to Piers. More on that when I get to that episode.

George is from a place so misogynistic they sew women’s mouths shut and even believe men do a better job of having babies, has an incredibly domineering father and the picture painted of his mother makes her seem incredibly subservient. It’s little wonder, then, later. when Piers starts an MRA group that George is so easily swayed into being a complete creep. He may have been on Earth long enough to know better, but what Piers was saying made perfect sense to someone with an Ultronian upbringing.

And Piers, from what we know, had an almost militantly strict father whom he could never please. His mother is a bit more of a blank slate since her only mention is doting on his brother and ignoring Piers, but given his overall attitude of being a sad, misogynistic little muffin, I’m gonna go out on a limb and say emotionally -possibly physically- abused society matron. We already know that Piers was definitely subjected to both. Also, there are mentions of two careers that he gave up to be a doctor: violinist (which was forced out of him at a presumably young age) and professional cricket player (and if he was as good as all that, then it was something he was at least allowed to do, probably because it looked good to their family friends, until he liked it better than what he was supposed to be doing). We also know he had to tweak his A Levels to get into medical school in the first place, a thing that at first glance indicates just one more way he’s slimy and dishonest. Later viewings, it smacks of a last ditch effort to please his parents. His brother, on the other hand, was clearly the favorite. This brother, then, probably fell in line and went along with whatever career pleased father, did and said all the right things without any real thought of what might make himself happy, instead, and mother gravitated to him in the interest of keeping the peace and herself out of trouble. He is also the only character with mentioned parents that we never see even one of. Even if they’re both dead, it’s doubtful his brother is. The only family we see is non-immediate, which means he has absolutely no relationship with the people he grew up with.

Now back to the episode I’m actually on.

“I never use the F word.” Well, Janet, that makes one of us.

Every time Piers says he’s always here, I want to tell him to stop trying to make “fetch” happen.

I like how casually Mrs Raven suckered him in this time. “I’ve got one,” aaaaand hooked.

Yet another mention of Piers not being as great as he thinks he is. He’s in trouble with higher ups in the medical profession, Avril told him her mother, one of his patients, can’t stand him (granted, she didn’t know who she was talking to, but that doesn’t change what was said) and now we see his television career is in danger of flopping. Just a wild guess, but it probably has something to do with the fact that he’s entirely lacking in actual charm and the superficial sort he uses only appeals to a certain kind of -usually unpleasant- person.

This ear-licking thing George’s dad does is pretty disgusting. I could practically feel a hairy, waxy ear on my tongue when they did it. Yuck.

Earth women smell like dead sheep. In retrospect, that makes George saying she smells prettier than a cinnamon and apple pie less cheesy and more incredibly sweet.

“Where I come from, you don’t ever argue with your dad. His word is law.” You and Piers should be friends, dude. You can have a Breakfast Club moment. “Your old man and my old man should get together and go bowling.”

And his brother was imprisoned for five years for not eating his dinner. Does this mean George was the favorite of his overbearing father? They seem pretty close, so I’m gonna go with yes.

Things I now need:

1) To have seen Piers interact with his brother onscreen, or at least have been given more mention of their relationship

2) To meet George’s brother

3) To have both sets of siblings and their fathers all interact for some reason, just to see how it all plays out

Oooh, nice foreshadowing there, with the “if we had kids,” but not a very PC joke about their projected intelligence level.

Why, exactly, does Mrs Raven keep punching her dates? Are they all creeps or does she just overreact to any perceived little offense? We know she’s abusive to Arnie, but he, weirdly, likes it.

And the con begins in earnest. Wish I knew someone I could con into giving me a new tv.

Please go away, Avril.

Tyler recognizes the first Thermoman who sees nothing odd in that and, in fact, doesn’t even blink when he mentions going to Neptune. Did he recognize Tyler, in turn?

Lava is apparently the only thing that can harm an Ultronian because I think, in general, they age slowly and don’t actually die.

George sticking his tongue out behind his dad’s back speaks to me on a very deep level.

We literally get no mention of Arnie’s parents, but a tiny clue that he had a slightly more relaxed upbringing. He calls Seamus a dictator in a way that implies that even by Ultronian standards he was too strict.

(Pink shirt! That is an extremely ugly tie, but the man wears pink well. The wardrobe improves markedly, later.)

Mrs Raven playing fast and loose with the truth. Watched the show, doesn’t actually have a box. Half points for honesty?

George was way more affected by Titanic than I was. I cried over the old couple. I cried over the mother and children. I got teary-eyed at the band. Little Leonardo’s icy blue face just had me rolling my eyes, as did the rest of the “romance.”

I just realized, that very boring white shirt/green tie matches the color scheme of George and Janet’s building. No wonder I hate it, I’ve been subconsciously relating it to an ugly paint job.

So, Ella and Stanley both lived in fear of at least one parent, as did Janet, presumably, and yet she managed to get a little rebellious streak from somewhere. Maybe because Stanley managed to get an overindulgent streak from somewhere?

Also, now I want a gathering of everyone’s parents. It would be interesting to see what they had to say about their children, but also incredibly depressing.

I have an absolute terror of heights, so George’s plane trick gave me pretty bad anxiety up until the reveal. Well-played, though, on not only getting his father off his back but giving Janet a chance to show that she was not keeping him from his work.

Not sure how Janet reminds Seamus in any way of his wife, unless it’s physically, since from everything we’ve heard she was more of the quite, non-rebellious sort.

#my hero #george sunday #thermoman #ardal o'hanlon #emily joyce #bbc's my hero #piers crispin #janet dawkins

0 notes