#friendship/relationship analysis

[diana-bookfairchild]

I love this scene so goddamn much.

Look at Arthur's face. Look at where he's looking. Not Aredian. Not Gaius.

But Merlin.

Expectantly. Tensely. He knows he's going to do something.

Look at how instantly he gets up when he sees Merlin charging forward - to him this is not surprising at all.

How well Arthur knows Merlin and how much he's willing to do for him isn't a blaring light in this episode - it's shown in small pieces like this, which is why I love this episode so much.

[loosescrewslefty]

I've seen a few people misinterpreting this scene, and thinking that Willow is saying that she WOULD invade Luz's privacy if it were her, and it's frustrated me to the point where I feel the need to say something, because that is 100% NOT what this scene is about.

Willow is NOT telling Amity to snoop in Luz's phone, or saying she would if it were her. Willow is setting healthy boundaries with Amity.

Willow is concerned about Amity here. And she understand why Amity is worried, and why Amity is tempted to snoop (because she IS tempted. They would not be having this conversation if Amity wasn't) but while she might not intend to do so, Amity is trying to push Willow into being her moral compass, to make a difficult choice FOR Amity, so Amity doesn't have to.

And instead of just telling Amity what SHE would do in her shoes, and taking the burden of deciding if it's right or wrong to look through Luz's phone off of Amity's shoulders, Willow goes for the neural ground. Not judging, not deciding for, but listening to and talking with Amity, so Amity can make HER decision about HER relationship with HER girlfriend, without Willow getting dragged into it more than she is comfortable with. This is the best thing someone could do for Amity at this stage, as she is a recovering abuse victim who still isn't used to deciding things for herself instead of following a predetermined path. Setting a boundary here keeps Amity from slipping into a bad habit and putting an unhealthy expectation on Willow as her friend. Because this is NOT Willow's circus, and these are NOT her monkeys.

This isn't the only time we see them show Willow's character possessing a strong interpersonal intelligence, either. We also see a few examples of Willow showing a keen ability of knowing when it's necessary for her to step in and help because someone she cares about is over their heads and spiraling or bit off more than they could chew;

And when she needs to step back, either to give others space to deal with their emotions or to let them manage things on their own, even if she wants to jump in and help.

This is an extremely difficult balance to strike in a character, but they manage it really well with Willow, making her one of the most level headed characters in the show who is willing and capable of helping others without compromising her own happiness and well being or taking on burdens that she should not be expected to bare.

[ltwharfy]

"The Amazing Rudy" and the Evolution of Rudy and Louise's Friendship (Long Post)

Rewatching "The Amazing Rudy" last night made me feel like I finally want to write a little (using the term loosely) analysis about why I love the final act of that story so much. (I thought about doing this during Roudise Week but was too busy with fics.) I think the ending of that story is so wonderful not just because it is sweet in itself but because it reflects one of the things that I love about Rudy and Louise's friendship- that it has grown and evolved over the course of the show.

A lot of stories begin with characters who are always friends, the origins of the friendships are unexplored or pretty simple ("they grew up next door to each other" etc.). Or you get stories where the characters go through one adventure together and are suddenly BFFs. Rudy and Louise's friendship isn't like either of those.

It seems pretty clear that the events of "Carpe Museum" are the first time they've interacted much- but they don't immediately become besties after it. In Rudy's next two speaking appearances ("The Unnatural" and "Bob and Deliver") he doesn't interact with Louise at all. And when the Belchers enter the juice caboose in "The Kids Rob A Train", Rudy introduces them to Beanbag by saying he knows them from school- not that they are his friends. And there are some moments in that episode that I think are really important for their friendship- in particular, the moment when Rudy tries to get Louise to give him the bag full of candy through the train window and she's convinced he'll take it and ditch her, and the moment at the end with Rudy's fake severe allergic reaction- and Louise's panicked response.

But I'm not interested in going through every moment in their friendship. (I mean, I am. Absolutely. But not in this particular post.) What I think is really interesting about Act 3 of "The Amazing Rudy" is looking at in relation to the two episodes where conflict between Louise and Rudy plays a big role- "House of 1,000 Bounces" and "Bridge Over Troubled Rudy". Looking at those episodes, you can see Louise learning how to better read and respond to her friend's emotions.

In "House of 1,000 Bounces", Louise leads the rest of the party guests in stealing the bounce house from Dahlia. Rudy mentions twice that he'd be happy just to do the spoon puppets, but nobody listens to him. And then he blows up at them in Ranger Jail. (And, I think it is interesting to note that he is not just mad at Louise, but at all his friends- "I didn't want to steal that bounce house, but none of you would listen!") Louise tries to make things right by organizing the play with office supplies- and Rudy thanks her for that. But she never apologizes to him for not listening to him earlier- and it seems like maybe she never even noticed he was unhappy until he blew up at her.

At the beginning of "Bridge Over Troubled Rudy", Rudy communicates pretty clearly to Louise that he's feeling stressed because he isn't going to be able to return to his dad's for two weeks; Louise acknowledges that, but then gets caught up in her excitement over the Blaster Bridge, leading to Rudy getting upset, her calling him a weenie, and him asking her to leave. It's pretty clear that Louise recognizes right off the bat that she screwed up- she's taken aback when he asks her to leave, and then there's the whole bit while walking back with Tina and Gene where she decides she can fix things (not that she can yet acknowledge that things need fixing) by moving the bridge. At the end of the episode when they are blowing up the bridge, Louise finally says the thing that she couldn't say earlier in the episode or in "House of 1,000 Bounces": "Yeah, well, I'm sorry I kept pushing you when you were stressed out. And I'm sorry I called you a weenie...And I'm sorry, I didn't just say sorry right away. I'm not great at that, maybe. And I'm glad we're friends." Admitting that she is not great at apologizing right away- or generally acknowledging others' feelings and when she's hurt them- is a big step for Louise.

I know some fans are kind of tired of "Louise learns a lesson" stories, of which "Bridge Over Troubled Rudy" is certainly one, but I don't mind them, if they are actually entertaining and if the lesson stays learned. After all, if a show is going to be on the air for over a decade, why not let the characters have some growth and development?

Act 3 of "The Amazing Rudy" shows that Louise did learn a lesson from "House of 1,000 Bounces" and "Bridge Over Troubled Rudy". In "The Amazing Rudy", without Rudy saying anything specific directly to her, Louise alone among the Belchers realizes just how stressed out Rudy is and why. There is some really great, subtle writing, voice acting, and especially animation, that shows that Louise understands that something is troubling Rudy more than he is willing to admit. After he slips up and talks about the food he ordered, you can hear her suspicion and concern when she asks: "What you ordered?" Then, in Act 3, when Bob is getting ready to drive Rudy back to the restaurant, you can see that Louise is paying attention to Rudy, keeping her eyes on him the whole time, while not saying anything until she proposes her idea about walking back to the restaurant with him. She is the only one of the Belchers to recognize what is truly bothering Rudy- which he may not even have been able to articulate himself: that he feels lonely.

Bob and Linda are clearly (and reasonably) looking at Rudy's situation from a concerned parent's perspective: everything will be okay if Rudy is back with his parents who are worried about him. in Act 3, Tina seems to be very much sitting at the adults' table (metaphorically)- worrying about Vicki's pants and if Bob has his keys. Gene's focus is primarily on getting back to his baked potato lasagna. None of this is to understate how kind the other Belchers are to Rudy in the episode- but at that moment, none of them are as focused on him as Louise is.

In "The Amazing Rudy" neither Rudy, nor any other character, says that he feels lonely or isolated- but its clear from the episode that that is one of his real sources of sadness in that story. He is a kid surrounded by adults who are kind of focused on their own stuff- the scene where they are waiting for their table is the best visual illustration of this but their are others- for example, the multiple conversations where he is in the backseat and his dad is in the front. And then when his parents and their partners are literally on the same level as him- when they are all sitting down for dinner, he feels that he has to be center of attention to make the situation less awkward. He has to perform as The Amazing Rudy (or Rudy the Illusionary Visionary).

What Rudy really needs throughout the story is a friend- and Louise recognizes this without him having to say it. And she not only recognizes the cause of his pain- she comes up with a way to address it, by going back to the restaurant with him.

From "House of 1,000 Bounces" to "The Amazing Rudy", Louise goes from ignoring-and perhaps not even noticing- that Rudy is upset because she took over his birthday party with her bounce house scheme to recognizing and coming up with a plan to address a pain Rudy is feeling that he does not (perhaps cannot) even articulate. And, to me, this doesn't seem unrealistic or out of the blue. Rather, it seems like a logical growth of their friendship, building on "Bridge Over Troubled Rudy", as well as other episodes, with plots or subplots about their friendship that I haven't really talked about ("The Hawkening"; "Bob Actually", among others) and other non-Rudy-focused episodes that show how Louise is developing to be a more emotionally aware person ("Flu-ouise", "Thelma and Louise Except Thelma is Linda", "Prank You For Being A Friend". etc.).

Rudy and Louise's friendship is not the focus of "Bob's Burgers". Not even close. I did the math once, and I think Rudy's in just over 10% of the show's episodes. But I still think that, with Rudy and Louise, the show has done one of the best jobs of developing a friendship on television- from classmates who didn't really know each other, to friends who are still learning about each other and figuring out how to communicate, to friends who can pickup on each other's nonverbal cues and know just the right thing to do.

And I love that.

(P.S.: Someday, I will be able to think about this episode without tearing up. That day is not today.)

[raayllum]

clicked for me upon reflection that a lot of the backlash towards callum's treatment of rayla being too forgiving in s4/s5 overall is just... coming from a lack of maturity when it comes to healthy long term relationships (romantic or otherwise). if you love your friend/partner, you should not want to punish them when they mess up - even before they admit that they have. even if you do want to punish them in some manner, because we're all human, you don't because that would damage the relationship and the trust you're supposed to both have in each other.

callum is not going to purposefully punish rayla about anything; rayla quite often holds herself accountable even when he let things go (if anything she sometimes dwells too much on what she's done wrong), but she's also learning to accept grace - and by extension, help (and a lack of accepting help is exactly what led to their main issues in the first place; that was and is on her).

sometimes what's required for relationship repair feels backwards because it can be the things that led to the breakdown in the first place (rayla prioritizing callum over herself in leaving and in S4, because she needs to accept the feelings he does express over her own feelings/wants; callum offering help in s5 even after she's hurt him, because her learning to accept his help is crucial in not having another ttm happening).

relationships are complex. repairing relationships is even more complex. often times our best traits and patterns with one another are also our worst traits and patterns with one another.

and i think it's very cool and refreshing just how well arc 2 rayllum shows that in both its beauty and its hurt and with quite a bit of realism/nuance to boot

[frankiebirds]

I love this scene a lot and it lives in my head rent-free. I can't really think of another way to interpret it other than that this is elle telling reid that the reason he can't get a date isn't because of something wrong with him that he needs to change but simply because he doesn't ask people out (or, more broadly, lacks confidence).

I have seen some spencelle shippers read this as elle saying "hey. ask me out" but i disagree, not because i don't ship spencelle (i sort of do, elaboration in the notes) but for the following reasons:

I think elle would have realised very early on that if she was going to wait for reid to ask her out, she would be waiting years

i don't think she gives enough of a fuck about gender roles to wait for The Man to ask her out

she generally seems confident

i lean more towards her being very new to the BAU in the early episodes. I don't recall right now if there's an official anti-fraternization policy or if that's a fanfiction trope, but even if there isn't, entering a relationship with a coworker that early on is an easy way to mess up her career.

i think she was waiting until she was more established to start anything, but then, well, everything happened, and she left before becoming established enough to feel comfortable taking a risk like that

[shslpookiebear]

the reason i love the izuru junko friendship so much is because of how it parallels the hajime chiaki friendship

chiaki and junko are both supposed to be representations of hope and despair. hajime and chiakis friendship is small subtle interactions fueled by pure appreciation of the others company. on the other hand izuru and junko are living in the apocalypse where theres nobody else that could even begin to understand the boredom they experience.

chiaki tries to break hajime out of the cycle of negative self talk, to lead him away from the path of nihilism. junko is attempting to bring izuru fully into despair, to have him become like her, an agent of the apocalypse.

because izuru and junko both operate on attempting to satiate their boredom, they are intimately aware of how the others brain works. this is something which chiaki and hajime were unable to achieve. hajime couldnt understand chiakis own insecurity and chiaki couldnt understand why hajime couldn’t find self acceptance.

junko and izuru are the mirror world version of hajime and chiaki but that twisted nature of it feeds into how doomed chiaki was. her friendship with hajime was cut off prematurely, and her life ended not soon after. only in the NWP is their friendship able to truly thrive, and even then its forced to end too soon.

i find it to be a very underrated FOIL and it happens to be one of my favorite subtleties to danganronpa as a whole

[terrence-silver]

What if John disapproved of beloved? Would Terry go as far as leaving them, Is he more loyal to him than to beloved?

---

Okay, I mean, to answer this, we got to research the supposed thirty something years of weird stalemate and absence John Kreese had in Terry's life and how Terry said, to quote, 'It's the best thing that's ever happened to him', which sounds like something someone embittered who had his heart broken by a close friend would more or less say anyway in the vein of 'You left!? Well, guess what!? It did me a world of good!' even though they're still hurting and reeling and probably will for the rest of their lives. Even their world actually collapsed when it happened.

I actually believe Terry Silver has a limit in patience. Perhaps not in devotion.

But, in patience? Yes.

Terry literally had the Cobra tattoo removed from his rib at some point or other and left a scarred maw behind because, well, yeah, if there's a brotherhood of two and one of the brothers leaves, there's no more brotherhood.

He's not a dog that can exactly be kicked without consequences.

You do it once and you wind up in jail under false charges, as witnessed with Kreese's case.

😬

I think his limit comes about when he tries everything --- and I do mean everything --- and nothing he throws at the wall for a person sticks or makes them happy. Truly content. Like in the case of John, Terry tortured a teenager for him, bribed referees, procured a champion, trained said champion, meanwhile, sent his depressed friend on a vacation, bought revenue locations for him all over town, offered him jobs time and time again, tried to bankroll his entire existence and ultimately, John still disappeared on him ---- or rather, made it clear he didn't want to be found. I think the fact Terry attempted so much and went truly and above and beyond for a friend only to still have that friend turn his back on him led to such a huge psychical shift and even breakdown for him that it shook Terry's existence and for a while, it is safe to say he indeed left John be for ages even though I'm convinced a man of his means undoubtedly knew exactly where the guy was; which means...Terry has the capacity to be loyal to himself and let the situation germinate untouched under extreme measures, and do so for thirty years. Ironically...it is still a form of devotion. If Johnny said, leave me be for the rest of my life, Terry could very well do it because it's anything Johnny says, always, for the rest of his life --- but I digress.

Point is; Terry Silver has limits.

Which means...if John didn't approve of beloved...and if it went to some really excessive measures where beloved's very existence could endanger their friendship, Terry Silver might just break away...but only ever if he himself considered beloved worthy enough for it. Very important to note.

He won't do this for just anyone. If for anyone.

Because I think Terry's self aware; like, don't figure he's gonna mess up half a lifetime of knowing John Kreese over someone he's randomly fucking or someone who's company he's effectively sponsoring, for example --- if John said he didn't like someone who has temporary written all over them, Terry could be very easily influenced by his Captain to leave such a person --- I mean, he very clearly leaves Cheyenne without a word and nobody can tell me it's, among others, not because it was blatantly obvious John didn't like her. So happened Terry internally agreed, cut his losses and moved on because he just about knew this would be the result of the relationship sooner than later anyway. You don't invest your stocks into a sinking ship; it's just basic business and Terry Silver's a businessman, first and foremost.

What if his relationship wasn't a sinking ship?

What if it was sturdy? Durable? Meant to last?

I think Terry would be heartbroken he has to do this, that he has to choose, that his hand is pushed like this, but he and John would have a huge fallout and it wouldn't be easy. It would be messy. Unhinged. Volatile. It would just about be the hardest decision Terry probably had to make where his connection to someone is concerned; he'd feel controlled. Ripped out of his own roots. Forced to choose. Lacking choices and authority, which he'd undoubtedly despise. He'd feel cornered --- and when a beast is cornered, it bites. It would leave behind this huge, gaping wound behind and Terry would try time and time again to make it work, but ultimately, if it didn't, he'd let John go and that would possibly just shatter his mind for a long while because here he was, attached at the hip with John since they were effectively boys in uniform and they were meant to die for each other, if need be, and here John was, leaving over something as offensive as Terry finding true love. John had his shot fair and square, Terry would be convinced --- with Betsy and Terry was happy for him when it happened ages ago, and now, when the opposite is true, John can't be happy for him!?

Terry Silver would be crestfallen and the distancing that takes place between him and John after this is probably the most sordid, complicated, layered and harrowing instance of two old friends falling apart imaginable to the degree if he ever had children with beloved he'd STILL downright name at least one of them John in spite of everything that happened because if the original had to be cut loose, Terry will create a new one literally out of his own flesh and blood mingled with beloved's and raise one that'll be so much a part of him he'll never leave or be able to because that's his child. His legacy. He'll have the upper hand this time. He'll ensure everything's under control. Everything will be as Terry Silver imagined it.

He'll have his own John. He'll fix the course of history this time around.

He'll have a second shot.

Terry's patience has a limit...but his devotion does not.

How's that for meta?

[tenebrius-excellium]

Thinking about Httyd...hot and perhaps too personal take: To me, Httyd was more than anything else a movie about emotional starvation. And Forbidden Friendship was the sweetest, briefest celebration of relief from that.

Afterwards, everybody basically told Hiccup to man up “because that’s just life” and I will never forgive Httyd2 and Httyd3 for that.

[palettehao]

I will never get over the fact that in the pitch they said Lucas was Mike's best friend and even stressed it in season one with Dustin's whole conversation about Lucas being jealous of El because he's Mike's best friend and he felt left out essentially, and then Mike argues all three of them are his best friend's, I think this conversation is kinda weird since I don't think they needed to establish the main party view each other as best friends, but they did anyway even if no one questioned it in the first place.

But given the rest of the context we get in show about Will and Mike's relationship it's easy to assume those two are best friends and given their history it's quite obvious. They carefully build Will and Mike's as they do with say Mike and Lucas, we see each of these pairs argue and we see them work together in tough situations, and see them hang out all together to show how they interact, but only one of them is shown to be so much more than meets the eye.

Will and Mike have so many scenes together that no other friends get, and the difference is uncanny. Sure Mike and Lucas have their fight in S1 but compare it to Byler rain fight, look at how Mike hangs off Will in S2 the same way he does El in S3, yet he isn't that touchy with any of his other friends. They are shown to have such a deeper connection and it's hard to ignore in the narrative when they are so obvious about it, constantly, to the point where now in the story Will and Mike are also aware of their relationship being something different, something they don't feel with their other best friends.

Basically my question is if we are only supposed to see Will and Mike as best friends, which Lucas originally had the title of for Mike, then why go the extra miles in their relationship?

If we aren't supposed to see Will as Mike's best friend originally then what are we supposed to see him as?

[kaltacore]

unconditional devotion is fun and all but i love when you have to work on your relationships with characters in rpgs. it's so much fun when they openly question mc's decisions if they are not aligned with their morals. when they object and start an argument and must be convinced to do something. when they don't join mc in the final fight if you don't trust each other enough.

the payoff hits so much harder this way. if you're a dick to them they will not put you above their principles and stances because why would they? but if you helped them if you proved yourself to be trustworthy if you were good to them they will stand beside you even if they're conflicted and have to sacrifice something for that. and it's so cathartic when you know they could leave but at the end of the day they didn't! because them and your character are besties! friendship and love are hard to earn but you did it and now it helped you win!

[rainbowsuitcase]

i get obsessed with boybands and movie casts. i love watching the interviews and bloopers and behind the scenes and compilations of them just interacting. and i don't know if it's really about the people.

am i watching captain america gag reels because i really love captain america and i really want to watch chris evans forget a line or am i watching it because they're all laughing? because when this big shot actor fucks up it's not a bad thing but it's funny? because everyone is happy and getting along and joking around?

i don't really care whether anthony mackie knows what sebastian stan's couch looks like or not. they're friends. they joke around and support each other and they're good.

some days i want to start a band. some days i want to get into acting. and maybe it's not really about any sort of passion, maybe it's just about wanting that kind of comfortable and good friendship with someone and i don't know to make it happen unless we're forced by circumstances to spend time together.

i don't want to see you once a month for coffee to catch up, i want to see you every friday for a movie night. i want to spend so much time with you that i forget what loneliness feels like.

but i don't know how. i can't- i can't.

[missgalindaaa]

“I was thinking, I was gonna get you ramen, like we used to eat. But you probably eat, like, fancy ramen now with, like, figs in it! I don’t know, man. You love me too much, Schmidt, and you picked the wrong guy! When are you gonna get that through that giant head of yours? I’m just gonna let you down, man.”

SOME THINGS I LOVE: [5/10] Friendships [1/1] Undefinable Bond Winston Schmidt and Nick Miller, NEW GIRL (2013-2018)

[gritsandbrits]

A friendship built on mockery, jealousy, envy and belittling everyone, is not a friendship at all.

[ID: sparkly green background with the following paragraphs written in light-green cursive font:

I feel that Optimus's hero arc in TFA would not be complete without ending his friendship with Sentinel to show that you aren't responsible for fixing broken envious people esp. If they refuse to do their part in mending the relationship/their own selves.

In the show Sentinel tries to bring Optimus down either by mocking him for his failures or undermining his agency/talents. Even in the last episode he was jealous Optimus got praises for saving Cybertron.

At first Optimus tolerates mistreatment cuz he and Sentinel went thru the same tragedy and were friends for the longest time. Over the course of the show Optimus gradually begins to stand up for himself. It helps that he has a truer set of friends in his crewmates and time on Earth unlearning toxic ideals of his homeworld.

Optimus learns that he is allowed to take up space, move on from his mistakes and grow. Acts of heroism and interacting with different characters help him gain better self esteem and perspective. To where he easily returns barbs to Sentinel if he tries to mess with him again.

What does this have to do with jealousy? Well, Sentinel typically regarded Optimus for his bad qualities and assumes he doesn't deserve good things. He tries to put him down to make himself look better in comparison. He thinks Optimus being a maintenance man means treating him like his personal punching bag. Only to be proven wrong.

Optimus's compassionate nature earns him friends and eventually the respect of Cybertron. Optimus makes good with what he has WITH EVERYTHING he got, flaws included. Optimus hasn't sacrificed the whole sum of himself, unlike Sentinel who hardened his spark for materialistic wealth.

Optimus helped others on the show; learning to reinforce his needs and boundaries could've shown how he become his own hero too. That being a hero doesn't mean letting people walk all over you or take advantage of your kindness.

If Sentinel refused to see Optimus for what he is then he (Optimus) is not obligated to stay. Some folks are just walls.

It's hard & painful. But just cause you know a person for years doesn't mean you should stay friends with them. Sometimes cutting off toxic people is one of the bravest things you can do.

TFA did a good job showing the exhausting reality of toxic friendships/people, the importance of standing up for yourself, and the value of having true friends who support you no matter what./end ID]

[mclennonlgbt]

How did Paul react to John's rejection with songs?

Whether or not traditional Beatles scholars like it, John and Paul didn’t lose their bond in 1968. Their emotions were still hot, albeit more complex, and they reacted to each other. And since they were musicians, the best way was to write songs. John reacting to Paul's behavior with songs is a known case (see: I'm so tired, Jealous guy, Instant Karma ect.). However, little is said about the fact that Paul also responded with music to John's behavior. Today I wanted to focus on how McCartney reacted to Lennon's rejection (not always romantic) because that seems particularly interesting to me.

JUNK

It had been perfectly described by Better than looking at the mirror HERE. Let's look at the 1968 Lennon/McCartney timeline: Mid-February - The Beatles arrive in India. 26th March - Paul leaves. 12th April - John leaves. After that, he's absolutely mentally devastated and overuses drugs. Certainly, there are a lot of reasons for that, the most important being John's mental disorders which are not treated properly. But also, his relationship with Paul seems to be a significant factor. Something wrong happened between them in India. There are quite a few theories. The most popular is Lennon declaring his romantic and/or sexual affection to Paul and Paul rejecting him (and in a way, John himself suggested erotic tension between them). I think it's possible and I name the second thing: Paul leaving India so early. John was in a terrible mental state, he even wanted to kill himself. And most likely McCartney didn't support him, which left Lennon heartbroken and dissapointed (perfectly valid). However, we are also uncertain whether John made it clear to Paul that he needed help. Probably not, because he believed he and Paul were telepathically connected and knew all about each other.

May 11th to May 16th - John and Paul are in New York to promote the Beatles new company, Apple. There are a lot of audio and video footage of them: they gave the interview to US press on 13th May, they appear on Tonight Show, on Apple press conference, and gave the radio interview to Mitchelle Krause which was later aired on the program „Newsfront” (all 4 meetings happened on May 14th). IMO the negative tension between Lennon and McCartney in palpable. John in frustrated and annoyed and Paul seems evasive and like knowing he somehow fucked up. What's more, on the radio interview John seems to be giving a hint about "forbidden love" for which the public is not ready, and we can hear Paul feeling uncomfortable about it. During their stay McCartney meets Linda Eastman, a photographer he talked a year earlier with. On the final day, he invites Linda to go with him and John to the airport. She does it and takes a few photos of them. John later (in 1970) expressed he felt very uncomfortable with Linda's presence.

May 19th - depressed John consumes LSD, has a bad trip and gets together with Yoko (who helps him to "rebuild his ego"): they spend their first night in John's house and record their first avantgarde album. 3 days later they make their 1st public appearance as a couple. 30th is the 1st day of White Album sessions. And it this gap between 16th and 30th May Paul completed "Junk" (which can be heard on Esher demos). As Paul said about the lyrics: "Sounds like one lover saying “bye, bye” and the other plaintively asking “why, why”, even as the junk in the yard demands an explanation for the urge to acquire something – or somebody – new". It's easy to see that Macca was putting his current emotions into a song. With John commiting to a new lover - who he valued so high that they appear publicly, despite having a wife - Paul might feel like a discarded "Junk" and expressed it. I'm not saying it was the only reason for his low frame of mind at the time but clearly one of the most important.

GOODBYE (here's the official version)

The track, written by Paul and performed by Mary Hopkin, was released at March 28th, 1969. As we can read on Wikipedia, "[the song] was written in a great hurry to capitalise on Hopkin's popularity". It means that Paul wrote in probably in March 1969. And you know what also happened in March 1969? Lennon and McCartney's weddings. Paul and Linda got married at March 12th and John and Yoko at March 20th. If someone read Paul's feeling towards John as purely platonic, they would think that Macca started a new family and it had nothing to do with Lennon. But that's not my opinion. And it's not a coincidence that John decided to got married right after Paul (he organised wedding in a hurry). Both men ended the month with a thought: "We have new life partners now". I'm not implying John and Paul were physical lovers (I don't exclude that option tho) but there certainly was some romantic tension and a hope to push their relationship further, at least from John's side, and I suppose partially from Paul's (sometimes I think differently, let's leave that lol). But it didn't happen. So McCartney is writing a farewell song. "Goodbye, my love, goodbye". I linked a demo of this tune, performed by Paul, and it's interesting to hear him singing: "Far away my lover sings a lonely song and calls me to his side".

DEAR FRIEND and LITTLE LAMB DRAGONFLY

In December 1970 John gave an interview to „Rolling Stone” journalist Jan Wenner; the interview later appeared as the book "Lennon Remembers". John spoke in an unpleasant, even brutal way. It’s worth noting that he was then under the influence of Arthur Janov's primal scream therapy. Janov was a homophobe and John took over his language, insulting with homophobic terms e.g. Mick Jagger and Brian Epstein. What’s more, John harshly criticizes Paul and the Beatles (calling them a „myth”). He says that Paul’s  first solo album is „rubbish” and claims that McCartney during Beatle years was a conformist and cared only about the commercial side of songs. Lennon’s complaints are also about Paul being controlling and egoistic.

We can imagine how hurt Paul felt after reading this interview. He was judged very severely: his flaws were exaggerated, and his contribution to the development of the Beatles (e.g. interesting John in the avant-garde or the use of tape loops on "Tomorrow Never Knows") was not even mentioned. It must have been terrible wound and massive rejection of his talent and creativity.

Paul, as usual, poured his emotions into songs. In response to John's poisonous comments, he wrote „Dear Friend”. It’s likely he also wrote "Little Lamb Dragonfly" at the same time (late 1970). Interestingly, Paul decides not to attack Lennon.

In „Dear Friend”, he tries to approach him with understanding. As John's closest friend for many years, Paul knows his insecurities perfectly. He asks: „Are you afraid, or is it true?”. The most interesting line is: „Dear friend, throw the wine, I’m in love with a friend of mine”. It is very puzzling and unclear. Why does Paul use the word "friend" two more times? Maybe he assures John that he is still in love with him? Or maybe there are two friends – John („Dear friend, throw the wine”) and Linda („I’m in love with a friend of mine”)? If the latter interpretation is true, Paul is delicately trying to reassure John that he genuinely loves Linda and his family, so he’s not going to abandon them for John, but they can still be friends. Maybe this is: "We are both happily married and we can maintain platonic relationship”?

IMO "Little Lamb Dragonfly" has darker lyrics and expresses disappointment. „I have no answer to you, little lamb, I can help you out, but I cannot help you in”. Paul sees John as trapped by his negative emotions. As long as he doesn't want to change his attitude, no one else will help him. However, Paul admits that he loves John: „My heart is breaking for you, little lamb”; „Since you’ve gone, I never know, I go on, but I miss you so”. What’s more, McCartney still hopes he and his best friend can reconnect: „You and I still have a way to go”. But for that to happen, both sides have to want it!

„Dear Friend” was released on „Wild Life” album in December 1971. Probably the song influenced John's feelings. Later that month, Paul, Linda, John and Yoko met and agreed that they would no longer argue in public. "Little Lamb Dragonfly" appeared on "Red Rose Speedway" album in April 1973. And that time, John and Paul had a good relationship again.

CALL ME BACK AGAIN

It’s a well-known fact that during „Lost weekend” (John and Yoko’s separation, which covered 18 months between 1973 and 1975) John and Paul re-developed their friendship. They had a jam session in March 1974. Lennon even seriously considered writing songs again with his former partner. Paul also missed his best friend. When John, May Pang, Paul and Linda met in New York in 1975, Macca revealed they are going to New Orleans to record. „We’d like to meet us there”, he told Lennon. John, of course, wanted to go there. He was very excited and wrote the song "Howling at the Moon". Unfortunately, before John and Paul could reconnect, Yoko called and told her husband he could go home now.

It’s obvious that „Call me back again” – a song which appeared on 1975 Wings „Venus and Mars” album – is about that situation. Paul recalls growing up together with John. "Well when I, when I was just a little baby boy / Every night I would call, your number brought me joy" - quite an obvious reference to the teenage years, when John and Paul spent every free moment with each other and loved to talk to each other.

But this song is not nostalgic nor joyful. It expresses desperation and pain.

"I called your house, every night since then / But I ain't never, no no never heard you calling me" - probably a reference to the fact that Yoko was controlling John's contacts with his friends and whenever Paul, Mick Jagger or some other acquaintance tried to contact John by phone, she lied that her husband couldn't come over now. And then, of course, she didn't say anything to him.

"Come on and call me / Ooh boo boo boo babe" - Paul missed John so much! At some concerts, Paul would quietly pronounce his name during the song.

Interestingly, "Call me back again" contains a mellotron that sounds like flutes. Maybe Paul is referring to „Strawberry Fields Forever” intro here???

I know I have only touched on the topic a bit here. I’m aware I have very briefly described the Lennon-McCartney dynamics. Treat this post as a stimulus to your own research! <3

[spicyicymeloncat]

Headcanon/theory: Kai had no friends pre-pilots and suggestion: all his arcs are focused around his dynamics in the team and honestly should have got more focus.

So Kai’s arc in the pilots show him having to learn to work in a group dynamic. He takes up a lancer/loner type role who has to learn to put aside his own first impulses and work with the team to tackle the problem. His true potential in s1, is also about him putting aside his own ambition to be the green ninja to fulfil his role in the team as one of the teachers and protectors of the green ninja.

What would’ve been a great arc for Kai in s4 would’ve been him having more of a role in getting the team back together. I mean s4 was framed like a Kai season, it was about the team getting back together, the start of the season highlighted Kai’s reoccurring character flaw of feeling like he’s on his own or he’s the one (when he says it should’ve been him to be sacrificed to the overlord and Lloyd tells him that he’s only thinking about himself - I’m reading that scene as not Kai being selfish per say but Kai only being able to consider himself in the picture, he doesn’t think about relying on his friends or being there later for the rest of his friends, and that he thinks he can solve things on his own, idk if this makes sense lol), we even get a revisit of Kai’s green ninja gripes, and ofc Chen perfectly foils Kai’s togetherness arc by being the guy who drives people apart.

And then we have s5 where Kai promises to protect Lloyd (in place of Garmadon) which kinda shows how far Kai’s come in terms of his relationship specifically with Lloyd. I will say in general also but I know someone’s going to say that Kai already does this with Nya so it’s not like this is new or proof of character growth. I think this is character growth tho, and I don’t think he was as idk parental of Nya in a sense that he had to take care of her and was put in a position of authority over her because idk they’re what, two years apart (also they had a babysitter who looked after them, so like Kai didn’t just parent her at age 4 yknow)? And apart from the pilots, in which she got kidnapped, Kai hasn’t really needed to be protective or really, parental with Nya. He’s very chill when he finds out she’s Samurai X, in the first few seasons she kinda acts like she’s older just because she’s a little more put together (I mean, she studied engineering in her free time). In fact I’m pretty sure Nya had more friends than Kai, since she mentions knowing people in s2, where as Kai’s character arc seems to be him getting friends and dealing with it. And when Kai promises to watch over Lloyd, he mentions how Nya watched over him, not the other way round. So to sum up that side tangent, Kai’s dynamic with Lloyd is definitely different to his dynamic with Nya, and that Kai is only starting his nurturing and guiding brotherly nature in s5. Although I think s5 is supposed to conclude Kai’s teamwork arc, since I don’t think it’s all that relevant in the rest of the show.

So yeah I think it makes sense that Kai didn’t really have friends pre pilots, as a lot of his arcs can be seen as him working on that area of his life and getting used to being with other people. His character arc was becoming friend shaped.

[apatheticlexicographer]

semi-continuation to my last post.

this is very long but believe it or not i've already condensed it a lot from my first draft lmao. i've divvied it up season by season. this is basically a summary of mike and el's respective friendships, as well as their friendship with each other. i've tried to be as objective as possible.

season 1: mike is fiercely loyal to all his friends, and considering how strained his family situation is they're probably the people in the world he holds closest. he's shown to be willing to do just about anything for his friends, throwing hinself off a cliff for dustin and sneaking out in a storm to look for will, and they're his clear priority. when he brings el in he offers her his friendship in return for her help in finding will. she has never had a friend before, so she contextualizes what a friendship is supposed to be entirely from what he shows her. despite bonding a little, they can't communicate in much depth and ultimately know little about each other, although mike shares much more than el. most of mike's positive feelings about el are based on awe about her powers, and most of el's positive feelings about mike are based on gratitude.

overall, el and mike are tentatively friends, but don't know each other well.

season 2: mike is upset about el being gone, and while he has hope that she's still out there he doesn't really act on it like he did with will, although to be fair it's been almost a year and he saw her "die". this season mike yet again revolves around his friends. he's constantly looking out for will, but doesn't treat him too differently. they continue the trend of being the most honest with each other, which was softly established in the first season, and carries through the rest of the show. mike is jealous of max when she first appears, as she captures lucas and dustin's attention. by the end of the season, though, he comes around to her. el doesn't make any new friends of her own this season. she watches mike, but can't talk to him, furthering the gap between them as el has effectively known mike for a year but mike has really only known her for a week. she meets kali, but doesn't spend long with her and doesn't connect with her gang. el is also jealous of max simply because she sees her getting along with mike. when they reunite mike is understandably furious that they were kept apart, but they don't interact much.

overall, while they don't really speak, mike and el seem set up for their relationship to deepen in the gap between seasons 2 and 3

season 3: despite seeing each other frequently for 6 months, mike and el don't seem to interact much outside of kissing. they also still don't seem to know much about each other, and mike can't even begin to think of what el would like as a gift. mike does still hang out with lucas, will, and max, but he barely sees dustin even after he gets back from summer camp. he spends most of his friendship time with lucas, but even this centres around advice on getting el back. will is mad that mike isn't prioritising his friends anymore, and when he snaps mike lashes out before immediately apologising. the damage has been done, however. el finally makes her first friend of her own free will when she starts to talk to max. despite having had 6 months they somehow haven't bonded properly before. within only a few days of friendship, el is already much more emotionally open than she is with her boyfriend of 6 months. el tries to bring emotional honesty into her relationship with mike, but mike dodges it awkwardly, even as she's leaving hawkins indefinitely.

overall, despite having had ample time before and during the season, el and mike fail to actually strengthen their friendship at all. they aren't quite strangers, but even though they met a year and a half ago they've barely progressed past acquaintances.

season 4: mike's friendships are all over the place, as are his motives. he is still very close with dustin, and has newly befriended eddie and at least gets along with the rest of hellfire. his friendship with lucas is suffering due to mike's resentment over lucas joining the basketball team. max has distanced herself from the group, but mike still pays attention to her. meanwhile, he and will have barely spoken since the end of s3 and their relationship is severely damaged. mike finally apologises to him, and by the end of the season their friendship is mended enough that will comes to him about his feelings on vecna. el, meanwhile, has made no new friends, despite trying. this is clearly deeply affecting her, and she feels the need to lie about it to mike. she has will now, and while we can assume they're fairly close we don't see them talk beyond a line or two. we don't see mike's letters to el but we know that he's still avoiding emotional honesty with el. he won't tell her he loves her even when she breaks down and begs him, and it takes will sacrificing his own love confession to el and then prompting mike for him to finally say it. even then, he's not exactly saying it to her face as she can't reply. ultimately el's concern for max, who is still her closest friend despite an unknown amount of contact between the seasons, is what prompts her to break free. el and mike do have a sweet scene before mike's confession, where they behave more like friends than they have since season 1. after his confession, though, el starts avoiding him, and mike seems unusually unbothered by it.

overall, their friendship has only grown more strained, as it has been filtered through lies and intentional distancing. when they do start to platonically bond, el seems to cut mike off after his confession.

in conclusion: while they were building a frienship in the first couple of seasons, ever since they started dating this began to stagnate. they are each substantially closer with their friends than they are with each other. they are increasingly dishonest with each other, worsening as the seasons continue, despite the fact that the first thing mike taught el about friendship was that friends don't lie. if they stay together, there's absolutely nothing indicating that their friendship will ever recover or develop.