#i was still shocked that he wasn't shown at all even in the last episode

[mashleverse]

Mashle Anime will come back next year in January

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And so is Lance. 🤭🤭🤭

[apatheticlexicographer]

i think i finally understand the exact reasoning behind how both will and mike's sexualities are presented, and how those presentations flatter each other.

will is barely queercoded from a subtextual perspective because there's no need to queercode him. the writers verbally establish in season one episode one that people percieve this kid as gay, so you're immediately guided to see him through the same lens, at least subconsciously. people continue to refer to him as gay and he continues to "act" gay, and most of the audience is able to see this for what it is very easily without the need for heavy symbolism. will being gay is simply treated as a fact from the start by both the characters around him and the writers themselves, for better or for worse.

MIKE, on the other hand, is so heavily queercoded it's barely even funny. he's the one with the queer imagery, the blocking, the set design, the lighting. he's never explicitly referred to as queer, it isn't so much as suggested verbally, but the sheer amount of incredibly blatant subtextual material that surrounds him is insane. none of the characters within the show have the slightest clue that mike is gay. there's a good chance that mike himself doesn't know, or has only begun to realize very recently. even the writers do their damn best to make it appear like they themselves don't know. still, the fact remains that he is, it just isn't expressed in a way that the homophobic masses both within and outside the show are capable of picking up on. when he comes out it will be a shock to the characters and the majority heterosexual audience, but not to the queer people who pick up instinctually on the signalling. basically, you only know mike is gay if you have a genuinely functioning gaydar.

in this way they're so strongly representative of two very different gay experiences, both of which are important and both of which are treated respectfully by the writers, despite the setting.

will is the kid who never really gets the luxury of choosing whether to come out to people, because everybody has had him pegged from the start. even his own family: jonathan tells will he accepts him before will can even hint toward the topic himself. however as much as we're told that he "seems" gay to other people, all we are shown subtextually is a totally normal child who happens to have feelings for another boy. this is important because it subverts the trope of making "being gay" the "obviously gay" character's sole or core trait.

mike is the kid who people would never in a million years guess was queer. it's not just that he gets the luxury of choosing when to come out of the closet; he's so deep in it that he's drowning in winter coats. he's the "twist queer character," except he's not. his subtextual queercoding has been there beneath the surface for just as long as will has been textually referred to as queer on a surface level. this makes it clear that him being gay isn't some kind of last minute decision and the subtlety of his presentation wasn't an accident. if you don't knkw mike is gay now before it's revealed then you aren't supposed to.

they're foils like that. they're the archetypal queers, and i think it's kind of beautiful.

(and if anybody tries to argue that one expression of Queer Experience is more important than another then i'm coming for their kneecaps. having both experiences not only represented but thoroughly explored is so rare, although there are people all over the world who resonate with each.)

[miami-lolz]

In hindsight, this quote hits a lot harder considering “Mortyest Morty” isn’t even his Morty. And he’s not the “Rickest Rick”.

Does not include any spoilers for Season 7.

I feel like this quote is slept on a lot because it makes you wonder if he was even aware of the implications of what he said or if he said it knowing Morty wouldn’t understand. I don’t even think he would want to admit it, but he’s not “The Rickest Rick” mainly because he cares. Specifically, he gives a shit about a Morty that isn’t even his.

It’s shown subtlety throughout the show, like in the Season 1 Finale, Ricksy Business, when Rick got teary-eyed over a slide show showing Morty throughout his life. In A Rickle in Time, where Rick is willing to let himself die to save Morty, his last wish is for Morty to grow up better than him. As jaded and backward as he may show it, Rick definitely cares. Rick has had to switch to multiple universes and watch various versions of his family including his original Diana and Beth die throughout the show. Morty was his only constant, though, and he’s grabbed onto that. But for as much as he cares, Rick has a habit of pushing away, which comes into effect in the later seasons. Morty tries to help and relate to Rick to an extend. He constatly extends a branch to Rick, who almost always puts him down.

However, the more Rick pushes away, the more frustrated Morty gets. He starts calling out Rick on his BS and has even cussed him out several times. He’s threatened to stop going with Rick in the early season, but those were practically mute. Rick could easily force him or make him forget he started refusing. Rick only started taking Morty seriously when he began acting out. The more that Rick pushes back, the more the Prime part of Morty comes out, usually at the expense of anyone around him. I think that is the straw that broke the proverbial camel's back and pushed him to leave in Forgetting Sarick Mortshall with the two crows thing. Something that still upsets Morty if someone mentions it in season 7.

It also makes you think that the reason Morty has gotten progressively more aggressive and violent over these past couple of seasons is that the Prime part of him is getting more prominent. For example, in Edge of Tomorty: Rick Die Rickpeat, Morty got so obsessive over a future that he didn't brutally die; he quickly brushed off Ricks's death. It's somewhat out of character for him, though. He also attacked other soldiers and the general populace, just for him to find out it wasn't really worth much. Rick is getting more combative because he sees that part of Prime in Morty, which scares him. The episode Looks Who’s Purging Now was the starting point for his volatile behavior; Rick seems genuinely shocked and somewhat horrified as Morty's anger problems get the better of him, and he lashes out, killing many people even when they are hiding. Rick lied to Morty because he didn’t want him to know what he could do. Near the end of The Whirly Dirly Conspiracy, Morty threatens Ethan with the machine Summer used after he ghosted her and messed with her body issues. In the after credit scene, we see a deformed Ethan stumbling in pain, implying Morty used the machine on him.

In Promortyus, Morty also showed little remorse for killing off all the aliens and went out of his way to cause damage, though he regretted it once he had to come back. A Rickconvenient Mort, Jerry was genuinely disturbed to hear Morty admit he murdered the Tina-Teers. And during the scene, Morty was extremely brutal. Its not the first time Morty has committed some diabolical crimes for someone he's interested in or generally cares about. In the episode Mort Dinner Rick Andre, his violent streak hits its crescendo. Once he got fed up with the Narnia people, he committed mass genocide out of frustration, and by the end, he didn't show much remorse.

I think the most damning evidence is the episode Rickshank Redemption, where during a stand-off, Morty is so fed up with Rick yelling at him during a standoff that he shoots Rick in the head. Not an arm or leg but in the forehead. He absolutely shot to kill. And yeah, you could say it was a spur-of-the-moment action based on frustration and impulse, but I think that was put in the episode not just a funny bit but a glimpse of what Morty is capable of. It was Morty basically saying "If were all going to die, Ive earned the right to be the one to take you out." There’s something symbolical about Morty killing both his best friend and the person that’s hurt him for years.

Its an interesting dichotomy as Rick seems to be mellowing out; Morty is slowly getting more comfortable with violence and generally more confident with himself. Rick is someone who gives off the bravado of a uncaring, cold hearted galactic criminal. However, the truth is Rick is someone who cares deeply for the people he's close to, and gets no enjoyment out of violence. Morty, on the other hand, is someone who tries to be caring, mercy full and forgiving. That being said, deep down he wants to stop having to constantly take the high road and give back all the pain and abuse he gets from others. These personality traits between the two constantly clash and the longer the live together, the more you see their original persona's corrode.

The season six finale, Ricktional Mortpoon's Rickmas Mortcation, adds to this as Rick compares Morty to a “suicide bomber” because he was reckless and says he gets that from Prime. But C-137 is the only constant in Morty's life. He’s been through multiple universes and timelines but has had the same Rick for most of his life. Most of Morty's issues stem from things he had done or witnessed with Rick C-137. For example, the Vat of Acid Episode is what I would consider Rick at his absolute lowest. It's almost the kinda behavoir you would expect Prime to pull. Messing with Morty's head and killing a bunch of other Mortys just to say, "I told you so." Even going as far as gaslighting him by saying he COULD have listened to Rick tell him how it worked, even though Rick probably wouldn't have told him either way. It caused communication between these two to break down. At that point, you can tell Morty doesn't have much trust or faith in him, and when Rick replaces himself with a robot that treats him just a little bit better, Morty immediately notices. He even thought Rick was messing with him and brought up the vat of acid episode. This is another example of how the Ricks action leaves permeate consequences and effects on Morty. Don't get me wrong, Morty is far from perfect and flawed, but so is Rick. They have real emotions and conflict, and it's these factors that separate them from Prime (at least from the glimpses of him that we have seen)

However, Morty does exhibit certain traits unlike what we've been lead to believe is normal "Morty" behavior. In Rickmurai Jack, Morty tries to lie to Rick and even goes as far as to age himself nearly 40 years to get him to come back. Another example is in The Whirly Dirly Conspiracy, Where Morty coaxes Rick into going on an adventure with Jerry to keep him from committing seppuku, though there's a good chance it was just to get a break from adventures. Rick can’t really blame most of Morty's behavior on Prime because any behavior he picks up past season one is from him and him alone. But even then I don’t doubt that there are behavioral similarities between him and Rick Prime. The Prime universe was everyone’s personality amplified.

Rick almost likes to pretend his the top dog, the Rickest Rick but as few others, including Bird Person and the toxic version of himself, has pointed out, he’s not. He’s highly capable but he’s also vulnerable. Season 6 ended with Rick getting Morty more involved in the search for Prime, forcing him to face the truth of Mortys origin. But regardless one thing is for certain, Morty is really the Mortyest Morty in the finite central curve, and that scares C-137.

[jedi-enthusiast]

Ok, here's the post I promised detailing why I take issue with Ahsoka's decision to send Kanan to find Rex in Rebels.

Disclaimer: This is not me "hating" on Ahsoka, this is just me being critical of a couple of her decisions.

To start off: Ahsoka knows that Kanan is a Republic Era Jedi, and common sense tells us that if someone was a Jedi during that time, they were almost 100% certain to have faced the clones during Order 66. Ahsoka may make stupid decisions sometimes, but she is not stupid. It was not lost on her that Kanan, only old enough to have been a padawan at the time (if she didn't recognize him from around the Temple), probably saw his master get brutally murdered.

Now, she might not know the details like we do, but it's made very clear that Kanan has definitely not healed from Order 66. Grand Inquisitor literally spells it out for us by taunting Kanan about his master's death and talking about Kanan having nightmares because of it, with Kanan being near tears and clearly blaming himself when he says that her last words to him were "run."

It is still very much an open wound for him and Ahsoka knows this, even if she isn't clear on the details.

"How does Ahsoka know this?" You might ask.

"You must trust him." - Ahsoka repeats this phrase over and over to Kanan in the beginning of the episode. She offers no other explanation or information except "hey this droid can track my friend" and "trust my friend." Nothing else.

Why would she say that, unless she knew that Kanan was going to react badly?

Now, even if Kanan was absolutely the only person possible who could've done this mission (which he wasn't), my main issue is that Ahsoka didn't give Kanan the informed choice of whether he wanted to go on the mission or not. She withheld information from Kanan so that he would go on the mission without a fuss, knowing that he would probably change his mind if he knew that her "friends" were clones.

"How would she know that?" - You don't withhold information like that for no good reason. If she didn't think Kanan would put up a fuss, or if she actually cared about giving him a choice on whether or not to face the men that helped murder his family, then she would have given him the full story and not just some vague message of "trust him."

("But Jedi-Enthusiast, the clones didn't want to kill the Jedi, they were forced to!" - Yes, we--as the audience--know that and so does Ahsoka, but Kanan clearly doesn't. It's shown in the episode that he obviously thinks the inhibitor chips were an excuse, but not the actual reason.)

Ahsoka's decision to withhold this information is not just shitty, but it's also really stupid.

What if Kanan's PTSD manifested like Wolffe's did?

Wolffe's first instinct upon seeing a Jedi was to kill first, ask questions later, until Rex managed to ground him.

What if Kanan's first instinct upon seeing clones was the same? Or, better yet, what if he wanted revenge for his master's death and decided to just kill them anyway?

She was lucky that Kanan's first response to seeing clones was shock, fear, anger, defensive position and not shock, fear, anger, violent response to seeing his family's murderers.

Overall, I just think she should've given him all of the information and allowed him to make an informed choice about whether or not to go instead of just letting him blindly walk into a situation that would remind him of his trauma.

[brsb4hls]

Thank you for your reply! I’m going to try to have low expectations while also being a little optimistic. A few comments of Rolin and other writers give me some hope, but I was disappointed after the lack of fallout after s02e05. I was hoping it would result in some interesting dynamics changes and more character stuff for all invoked (outside of DM as well). The last few episodes felt a bit overstuffed and packed to me, even as it concerned Louis and Armand which was a shame. I’m happy they prioritised Claudia’s story though - even though it broke my heart!

Honestly, if there isn’t anything interesting in regard to DM, or Daniel, Louis and Armand separately I’ll probably stop watching. I’m definitely in the minority on here, which is good, but I just don’t find Lestat interesting. Not for any moralizing reason or anything, I just don’t vibe with him. Happy for his fans though who have been waiting, and who knows maybe I’ll be won over?

I’m hoping that Rolin saying years ago that DM fans shouldn’t worry means that he does understand to some extent that people want to see something personal and screwed-up between them. Cause we haven’t yet, if we are being real. I felt disheartened when they skipped the turning and Rolin describing that mere fact as DM. Cause if nothing else DM is the chemistry/dynamic/interactions between those two characters. So yeah, I’ll have low expectations but try to be carefully optimistic. And yes, I’m happy so many are creating fun fan works! Thanks for hearing me out!

Well, I know I'm more on the negative side, I can't help it, I'm a virgo ;).

But who knows, maybe I'll eat my words.

You are not alone in not being into Lestat, I've seen quite some posts already, but there is no way around him in this franchise, since he is the chronicle's main character basically.

I get not being too exited about watching, I was actually a bit bored by season 1, but I wasn't too impressed with the first book either.

Adding Armand this early and prominently was what kept me watching and the shift in tone in season 3 really works for me personally (I like the show better when it's outright clowning.)

So far the show was quite good with giving the ensemble cast decent storylines and recognition, so even if Lestat is the main focus, Daniel will still be there and Armand has yet to get into unginged gremlin mode.

I think we will get at least crumbs there.

And maybe they will revisit the turning with a surprise.

Daniel's vamp reveal was a classic horror movie shock thingy, that wouldn't have worked if we saw the turning. So that was the reason it wasn't shown.

If they revisit it will depend on the dynamic of seasn 3 tho.

I don't wanna rain on anyone's parade really, I just like to speculate and personally have a bit of love/hate relationship with the show.

I love parts and I dislike parts.

But I'm still exited about how three will turn out.

Let's hope there's something for everybody.

And if there isn't, we will at least have tons of memes.

[guiltycorp]

Not that i mind but i wonder if some changes to the shown dynamic were purposeful? The ending especially showed a lot of Gojo's regard for Geto, it was very cute (although I did think that Geto's depressive state in it would influence anime-onlys to see him as this typical brooding teenager who is annoyed by Gojo... and also im still certain that Geto showing middle finger in the group photo wasn't really in character for him). The lyrics of the opening and ending also add a lot of context for sure!

Then in the last episode they did a great job of adapting Gojo's emotional reaction, going even further with the excellent voice acting, erratic movements and bleeding from clenching his fist too hard... And of course the ambiguous redness under his visible eye after the dream, i'm sure we aren't going to get any confirmation whether it's from tiredness or tears (or allergies, or artstyle) but the implication alone is enough.

But!! At the same time in that final episode they chose to downplay the scenes where Geto mentioned Gojo before defection. And they didn't erase those moments but instead chose not to show his face fully.

It's like... His last hidden warmth towards Gojo, only shown to the manga readers. I'm not sure what the animation team's intent might have been with this, but I have to say - to me the manga had felt more ambiguous in regards to their relationship, their emotional states and feelings remained mostly subtextual (and i don't only mean the romantic overtones but just specifically Gojo's attitude towards Geto in the backstory). Meanwhile the anime chooses to focus a little more on Gojo's appreciation for Geto, clarifying a lot of things on his end but leaving Geto's side of things a biiiit less apparent? Which might in the end be for the best in order to make the sealing moment unambiguous. As it is, it was easy to interpret Gojo's fatal hesitation as an understandable shock at seeing a person from his past that he had killed. One could imagine him reacting the same way to Toji, for example. This way, however, Gojo's feelings will be clear. Also, I do remember how before s2 a lot of people claimed that Gojo didn't care whatsoever, citing that as the reason he had missed all the signs and why he 'had no problem' killing Geto in jjk0 (as if he hadn't avoided it to the last possible moment). So I believe it's very important for the audience to see that Gojo absolutely did care, and their sincere friendship just wasn't enough to overpower the messed up world they were living in, at least not without Gojo understanding that the system required change (which he didn't fully get until after Geto snapped, and even then... haha...). This in my view makes for a more complex narrative than just Gojo being a narcissistic person without personal attachments? It wasn't a one-sided narrative, both of them really were friends and liked each other outside of just going on missions together, it just wasn't enough. Anyway yeah, it feels like the anime showed a bit less of Geto's POV when it came specifically to Gojo, but we got more of Gojo's emotions in return, so yay!

[darlingdivasworld]

SPOILERS FOR EPISODES 20, 21 AND 22 OF SEASON 9

Remember when I said that Episode 14 was the worst of the season? I still mean it is but there were parts of these Internationals episodes that made me compare to that atrocious episode or Season 7. There are definitely good aspects of it (Anthony and Adele, fan favourites returning, Freya's song, the outfits) but overall could've been better.

1) Internationals...at home

I could already sense that Internationals would be underwhelming since we were staying at home but seeing it in real time was just worse. I don't know how it could've been salvaged but I don't like how they handle it. Everything and everyone is at TNS so Internationals feels very local. There's no tension or suspense in the competition because we don't see other countries dancing whatsoever.

Twists or revelations aren't given time to be dramatic or shocking because everything is cramped together. For example, Ebby is made the alternate because she recorded the Internationals duet (accidently) but she only reacts in her talking head. No one on A-Troupe reacts to this either and Ebby is subsequently ignored for the rest of the episode. I also feel like everyone's storylines weren't wrapped up properly.

2) Grace

I remember starting Season 9 and thinking Grace's motivations for trying to take down TNS were ridiculous but as time went on, I just accepted it and credited Grace for her unfaltering determination. And with her plans succeeding more than failing allowed me to respect her as a ridiculous yet amusing antagonist. Even at Internationals, she's still plotting and scheming. Sorry, I meant was because the TNS writers decided to give her a redemption arc. WHY? Even after screwing with Ariana at Internationals, she looks so satisfied with herself...until suddenly she's not.

Apparently, Grace is secretly jealous of Ariana because she's all alone and Ariana has friends and a girlfriend. Redeeming Grace this late is just cheap. I know she's still a child but she's just so much more dynamic and entertaining when she's being evil. Even when she double crosses Maria, I'm just sitting there thinking, "I wonder what song Maria had chosen for A-Troupe."

I guess she realised that after spending time with Maria, she would be her future self if she continued scheming, but Grace's guilt wasn't highlighted enough throughout the whole season. Outside Internationals, the only moment I can think of is when Daisy glares at her during her audition. No build up=no pay off, and I wasn't for it.

3) The ending

Okay, this IS the worst part of Internationals. Eldon and Michelle walk up to Nick and claim they want to buy the studio. Together. Yes, that's right, they FORCED Theldon to break up so Micheldon could return to the open arms of no one.

It's so insulting on so many levels it's infuriating. Last time we saw Michelle and Eldon together, Michelle claims that, "Their time has passed." Until it hasn't for convenience. These 2 haven't shown romantic interest in each other for a decade until the TNS writers decide Micheldon should be endgame. Not to mention the egregious claim of having "Emily's blessing". Last time I checked Michelle, Emily is your wife and Emily wouldn't be in an open relationship. There's no reason for Michelle to be romantically attracted to a bum like Eldon. Last time I checked, he broke up with you after losing a dance battle and ghosting you. And you can't even make the argument that he's matured because a month ago, he was bullying children because his girlfriend broke up with him. No one wanted this and I'm honestly baffled by how tone deaf the TNS writers are.

Like, who's side should I be on? As much as I love Nick, he is practically a wallet due to his absurd neglect of the studio and practically forced Kenzie to be studio head whilst being a teenager. Rival that with immature man child and his god-like girlfriend. No thanks.

In summary, they could've done better and I'm really disappointed overall. The season started off with a lot of promise but the second half depleted in quality and that cliffhanger ending makes me strictly against a Season 10. Now why would I (or anyone) want to see Michelle and Eldon in love, running the studio?

[epickiya722]

I do not know if it was you, or another blogger that made a character analysis of Gojo that made me like the character and discover more about him through the manga.

While I never read the manga before or watched the anime, I had been exposed to it by my friends and some BNHA bloggers. Back then, I found Gojo to be overhyped (discount Kakashi) while liking the animation(?) style, bit still no interest.

BNHA and its Endeavour Redemption arc in the doing was tiring me to the point that I stopped reading it and manga altogether. For mayne six months or so, until now, at least. I randomly found your blog last week , and it got me a new hyper fixation 😃. You got me to start reading JJK (Megan cos playing also helps).

I bought Number 0 and Number 1 of the mangas. Only to remember midway in Number 0 that Walmart Kakashi will be snapped in two like a Kit Kat🥲. I saw that leak in one of the BNHA blogs, and I didn't mind it back then since I wasn't in the fandom, but Lord, now it sucks.

Anyways, all this long rant to say that I like reading your posts.

Gojo, rest in pain, I guess?

Probably was someone else, I don't write much analysis posts about Gojo. I think once or twice I did, I can't recall. Probably reblogged one though you saw!

I don't know, they're really just two different characters to me. Also... I was never really an active reader or watcher of Naruto like that (just very familiar) so when I first saw Gojo, Kakashi didn't register to me at all.

Like, I did not get similar vibes at all. And it actually annoys me that people will be like "He copied Kakashi's flow"! Kakashi ain't the only white haired, face covering character out there with magical eyes, y'all stop. 😆

Even funnier when, by this point, Gojo has probably been unmasked more than he has been wearing something on his face and switches up what he puts on his face. Kakashi been wearing the same mask for...? Also, didn't it take years for Kakashi's whole face to be shown or something? Took like seven episodes for Gojo to show that face.

**

I always been a fan of Megan's music and then when I found out she was into anime I was like "YYYYYEEEEEAAAAH". She cosplayed as Miruko one Halloween and it made my year. I am a former believer that Miruko would vibe to her music.

Just seeing other Black women being unapologetic fans of anime (or anything) does wonders for me and I hate it when people act as if it's such a foreign idea to understand. Honey, we can have interests, too, like everyone else. It's normal.

**

I always try to be careful about spoilers for anything I'm into. Like, I can talk about a chapter that happened two years ago, but I'll still mark as a spoiler because I know some people don't read Mangas or even if they do haven't caught up to that specific part.

That actually what set me off when Usher cosplayed as Gojo because he literally put "rest in peace, Gojo" or something along those lines and the amount of people who weren't even aware of 236... like bro, come on.

I knew it just had to be a marketing tactic because I know damn well Usher ain't seen JJK a day in his life and how convenient it is he comes out with that cosplay around the time when "Daddy's Home" becomes a fairly popular song used in Gojo's edits. I can't go watching one video on YouTube without hearing that song play when Gojo pops up. And even if he has... WHY WOULD YOU TAG IT LIKE THAT?!

Oh, but Megan definitely doesn't know any of the characters she be cosplaying, alright... okay... 🙄

I'm just going off on a whole tangent here, I apologize for that. I've been sick for like three days and just woke up from a nap. 😅

**

Also, thank you! Glad you enjoy my posts!! Anytime anyone says they like reading my posts, I still get shocked. They're really are just random thoughts I been having and really I'm still learning grasping the characters and story myself. And this is just for any. I don't even for them to get read, let alone for anyone to actually agree with me. I guess because, at the end of the day, I really just needed to throw a thought out there before I lose it or keep rethinking about it over and over.

[felidacy]

The effects of Tim's blood consumption and consequences

Tim scars

Tim compared to every other vigilante in the family has the least amount of scars, but makes up with it in the fact that the ones he has are the most gruesome. The batfamily always wonders how that is possible when in too many cases they saw him getting very badly hurt or almost dying, yet far too quickly he seemed fine again to them. And even when Alfred -- ever strict -- performs check-ups on him, there is truly nothing wrong.

The blood consumption and healing cycle system is nothing complicated. The more fatal a wound is, the more blood he needs to take in. The longer he waits with consuming blood, the slower the healing effect is. It is simple with some handicaps that he learned down the line through trial and errors and causes the dilemma of Tim needing to know when he is safe to drink blood. This is all so Tim has some edge to himself and may seem powerful, but in actuality because of his fears and desire to belong he chooses to hide it away instead. As such, Tim is still a quite human-ish vigilante.

A few examples from the story and what scars he should have

Like in many of my AUs, one headcanon of mine is that the Joker Junior case with Tim is happening here as well. While the joker serum certainly had an affect on Tim, he was also kidnapped for days and hungry. Starved he was more on edge and lost more of his rationality, which is why he shot the joker and nearly killed him. (Jason won't know for a while that both his siblings in fact did kill that awful name and he still pulled through. That even Bruce tried even when he doesn't want to acknowledge it) This causes some new tension with Bruce again, but that gets blamed on the Joker serum later on though Bruce in typical fashion holds that against Tim at times anyway. It gets better with time but Bruce is awful with emotions and a hypocrite. While kidnapped Tim was heavily tortured and with the lack of blood to heal him, I believe that Tim has muscle spasms because of the electro shocks at times and Glasgow smile scars in the face.

Like stated in the previous post, after the attack of Jason and because of the Pit blood Tim will have a scar left on his throat. It took his body a while to get every last remnant of the Pit out of his body again (Vampire metabolism works different than humans one, which is why Jason needed to learn to adapt around the Pit even years later.) and as such it takes Tim longer to heal. It were the months after the attack that got to Tim, not even the attack itself unlike many believe.

When Tim was gutted, he took higher responsibility in saving Pru than to even consider drinking blood from Z or Owen. Honestly, it was because Tim always refused to drink blood from people that he cared about that he didn't (he was called stupid for it by Pru, but they both knew that Tim would have accidentally kill the person then just because he wouldn't be able to stop.) As such, the gruesome scar remained there.

Handicaps

The spleen + Pit Water effect

When Tim became Red Robin and therefore more distant from the family in an act of more independence, he rarely let Alfred check up on him anymore or even just shown much of his body any longer. Or that is at least what the family believes, in reality is far less of the suspected teen angst.

At the time when Tim lost his spleen he wasn't put in the Pit to be revived, however Ra's at that point had an unhealthy obsession with the teen (like in canon but worse because Ra's was able to tell Tim wasn't quite human) and did not want to lose such an interesting new asset. As such a little amount of the Pit was put into Tim.

This does not give Tim any rage-episodes or just in general higher aggression/bloodlust, however because of that Tim does need to consume more blood than before and if he doesn't drink enough, that puts Tim in great pain just like if he were to drink Pit infested blood itself.

Pit infested blood

Tim's invulnerability isn't perfect as stated through hints. Jasons blood has changed because of the pit and at best only puts Tim in more pain. The slowing down of the bloodflow and cauterization that takes place is a high risk play, seen as -- if he can't get blood quick enough the effect sinks drastically.

Blood of the dead

Drinking blood of the ones that are already dead, no matter how long ago that occurred, is never a good idea. It doesn't put Tim in pain or heats his unnaturally cold body up, however it has the similar effect of sickness. Tim is unable to consume blood of any kind then for a long while because his body will violently reject it.

Now, one would think that is easy to avoid especially after Tim learned that. Funnily enough it happens a lot though. (It isn't really that funny, but his siblings would taunt him for that if they knew.) A vampire easily slips into a haze and when animalistic instincts take over it becomes significantly harder to distinguish between the living and the dead, as bizarre and easy that sounds.

[sarnai4]

Ever The Chief

I think an underrated skill of Dagur's is his leadership.

Something I love was Dagur's interaction with the Riders in the episode "Gold Rush." Easily, he could have just acted like a side character and gone along with whatever they wanted to do, but that's not what happened. Immediately, Dagur goes into leader mode. They get on the island and he says they should split up to cover more ground. When they try to take down the structure that's actually the gold, he is up with an idea again. The same thing goes on when the Riders (minus Fishlegs and Heather) get captured. I like that he's not pushy though. Dagur isn't trying to force his idea on anybody, but he knows that it could work and mentions it again when what they tried before failed. This makes a lot of sense to me because he's the only one there who is officially a leader. Note the word "officially." Hiccup might lead the Riders, but Dagur is a chief and that shows here. A consistent thing with Dagur is that he's never been afraid to take charge.

Honestly, I think that Dagur is one of the best leaders in the series. Now, I will 100% admit that he made a load of mistakes and wasn't a leader I would want when he was evil. So, I'm specifically saying post-redemption Dagur is ne of the best. That said, I do feel like he really wasn't even the worst bosses of the villains. Compare him with Viggo and Krogan. One of the Hunters literally had to steal money for food. The Berserkers haven't gone hungry. Dagur was even shocked to hear that the Hunters were deserting them and that Viggo considered his people expendable. Krogan is just as bad and even kills one of his people who decides to leave (not to mention when a bunch of people died trying to get the Dragon Eye and he couldn't have cared less). It's made clear that Dagur doesn't feel this way.

As a hero, we see Dagur help protect his people against their enemies and there's another fun moment in the last two episodes. Dagur is shown to jump into his leadership position again when the Flyers and Hunters are approaching. He's got an idea I think is deceptively clever. The chief's plan is to wait for the Flyers to get close and then fire the catapults. The other Berserkers think he's crazy (which is funny, sad, and a bit nice when he just acknowledges that they're right), but he still goes through with it. At first glance, if you don't think it's a dumb plan, you might think it's a simple one. Despite that, it involves a lot. By waiting, it uses the information Dagur already has: that dragons can't fly close to the island. Why attack the ships when the Singetails are in the way? They'll either blast the boulders, saving the ships, or get hurt which would be bad since they're innocent in this. So, Dagur waits. Waiting fixes two problems. It gets the dragons close enough to get discombobulated AND allows easy access to sink the ships.

I wish we got to see more of his leadership in the show. I absolutely adore it, but there's just not a lot. Still, I enjoy the little that we do get. (Not even going to lie...I think good Dagur is a better leader than Hiccup. One of the two DIDN'T lose all his island's gold, not search relentlessly to find it, and have all his Vikings evacuate their home of 400+ years for a relatively minor threat compared to what they're used to..just sayin'.)

[itsclydebitches]

Anyone else find it odd that we got this whole table of the dead deal when, really, just Penny would have sufficed? Putting aside the fact that Neo shouldn't know half of what happened to these characters (she's reading from the same script that let Oscar know the wording of Weiss' wish), more than half of this group means nothing to Ruby:

Lionheart she met twice, the second time when he was trying to kill her and her friends. Ruby didn't even fight him personally. He dies in another room, out of sight, and last we hear of him it's through Yang's fury that Ozpin didn't rat him out as a traitor to the whole world - an anger Ruby isn't shown to disagree with.

Roman is an enemy from six Volumes ago. Though Ruby was (understandably) shocked when he was eaten in front of her, the trauma of that has had zero impact on her and, as she points out to Neo in this very scene, she recognizes that she wasn't at fault for his death.

Ruby never had a relationship with Clover. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. They might have as team leaders, but they didn't. Ruby sat with him in a truck once, not talking to him, and then she didn't fight him at the end of the Volume because he was busy dying off in the tundra. Does Ruby know he was killed pre-Fall of Atlas? She shouldn't.

Ozpin, technically speaking, isn't dead. Or rather, I should say Ozma isn't. I'd better understand the choice to have him here if we'd learned anything about Ozpin himself - meaning, Ozma's host pre-Oscar - but we haven't. More importantly, I likewise would have bought his presence if Ruby had maintained her wholesome student-teacher relationship with him (RIP I miss those days. Oh my god I miss them!! I might have to write some moreRWBY fic just to have that again 😭), but now Ozpin is just the lying manipulator she only speaks to for exposition.

Ironwood is, you know... the villain? The guy we were supposed to despise by Volume's end because he was a crazy dictator hell-bent on bombing a city? The scene even keeps his ~evil~ prosthetic arm, emphasizing that this is villain!Ironwood, not ally!Ironwood. Ruby lied to him the second they landed, said 'fuck you' over the call to Penny, sent her friends to jump him while she made a wish, and didn't look back as she dropped a city on top of him. Oh, and then Yang reminded her that only #bad people re-think their choices. So, why is he someone whose death she'd feel guilt over?

The ONLY people who make sense here are Penny and Pyrrha, with Penny taking center stage as the death Ruby just found out about. She alone would have been enough: a magical, semblance Penny who reams Ruby out for letting her die, again, too busy getting her ass kicked by Cinder to be of any use. We might have even done something interesting with Penny's sword. You know, the real one Ruby had for all of ten episode minutes before she let a bratty Prince throw it away? Give me Ruby wielding her dead friend's weapon - because clearly the show wasn't willing to commit to a Crescent Rose aversion. Just have it be lost all Volume. Why was this armorer introduced again? Shouldn't she have done something with a lost weapon?? - until fake!Penny horrifically calls her out on it. How dare you use that? How dare you use it against me? Give me an actual battle where Ruby is torn between defending herself against something she knows isn't real and flinching from hurting the friend she just lost, taking hits she would have been able to block if she was putting forth her all, a bloody, Maiden battle that goes on long enough that it makes sense when her semblance breaks.

Then, suddenly, Penny grows kind... it's okay, Ruby... if you just let go, drink the tea, we can be together again. Wouldn't that be nice?

The issue of this suicide metaphor aside, we could have gotten something legitimately impactful. Instead I'm scratching my head over this suddenly using Crescent Rose again, fiery "If you're looking for an apology, you've wasted your time!" still a prodigy, didn't fight in the last battle, didn't even walk very far Ruby collapsing because she fell from a chandelier. Meanwhile, the emotional kicker is that she's getting beat up by... people she hates? Who she barely knew? Who aren't even technically dead? Oh no, I've slashed Oscar, who I KNOW is back in Remnant, presumably safe in Vacuo. I know Ruby is at her breaking point, but the combination of 'Come fight me, Neo, I'm perfectly able to see that I'm not responsible for Roman's death!' and the lack of connection between her and 5/7s of the guilt crew really falls flat. Either give me a Ruby who illogically, but honestly believes that her presence makes everything worse - 'You're right, Neo... I could have saved Torchwick... done something, but I just sat there...' - or a Ruby who is still able to distinguish between reality and guilt... up until the copy of her newly dead friend drags her to emotional hell and back. Now that I've been able to think about it for a bit, what we got feels downright weird to me - an excuse to bring back characters/get them in the new engine, rather than any compelling reasons for why they're there.

[bloomfish]

My controversial and long-winded Willow/Tara thoughts

I honestly don't mind, narratively speaking, that Tara was killed. Obviously I love Tara with all my heart and was devastated when she died but I keep trying to see another way forward for Willow's arc and... I can't? Honestly I think this would have been Oz's fate had he not been written off because Seth Green had to leave.

I also think that nowadays we're very conscious of the "bury your gays" trope and there's obviously a lot to criticise about this when it's gratuitous. But especially given what Willow and Tara represented at the time... It was a different world in terms of LGBT representation. It's common knowledge that they had to fight for the onscreen kiss in The Body, the fact that a main character was even portrayed in a lesbian relationship at all on a show like Buffy was groundbreaking. All that being said, I personally don't think Tara's death was gratuitous.

The only other permadeath of a Scooby love interest until the finale is Jenny Calendar, and you can definitely make a case here for the "killing off a female love interest for manpain" trope but where would S2 be without Jenny's death? Like it just doesn't make sense without it. Passions is the moment where the stakes of the series as a whole suddenly explode into astronomical new levels. Sure, Giles could have been a woman and Jenny a man, but that also undercuts many of the themes and ideas behind the Giles+Buffy relationship and the Watchers in general.

Similarly, from the moment Willow's use of magic was introduced, EVERYTHING in her arc was leading up to Dark Willow. We got a taste of it in S5 but if the show had ended there it would never have actually reached a true conclusion. She's not punished for her Dark Moment, she's rewarded. It would have gone unresolved, and the looming threat of Willow turning to the dark side would have been hanging over the heads of the surviving Scoobies forever. Tara being mind sucked by Glory feels like a sort of... idk hasty first attempt at killing her thematically (an idea that was obviously in the works) except that her death in S5 would undercut those of Joyce and Buffy. So it's natural to resolve this in S6.

The reason I think Tara had to die for Dark Willow to emerge is that we're shown that Willow needs a grounding presence to keep her from losing control. Her 'darkest moments' almost all occur when she feels abandoned. When Oz cheats on her in S4 she tries to curse him and Veronica, when he leaves Something Blue ensues. When Tara is mind-sucked she goes apeshit on Glory. When Buffy dies she does the resurrection spell. When she and Tara fight in S6 she uses magic to make her forget, the subsequent breakup causes her to spiral. Like this is a HUGE pattern for Willow.

Oz and Tara function fairly similarly in that they are stabilising presences that pull Willow back from the brink, and so nothing short of the complete, permanent removal of Tara could force her to completely go over the edge. She couldn't have "just left" because that leaves the glimmer of hope that, like Oz, she will return. She had to die and Willow had to try and fail to bring her back.

Obviously it's not a pleasant thing. But it's just... Idk, it's narratively cohesive for me. It's so far from being even close to the worst moral failing of the writers in that single episode, let alone the series as a whole. The reason it stings so much is because Tara's death wasn't just shock value, she was a character that made a lasting impact on the show and had visible effects on characters outside of Willow (mostly Dawn and Buffy but still) so even though she was doomed from the start I don't think it's a case of a lesbian character being gratuitously killed off for angst. I get that it's a touchy subject but I also don't think it's accurate to paint every single instance of a gay character dying as 'bury your gays' when it's not necessarily so.

Anyway. There's a lot to criticise about Buffy but this isn't a personal gripe of mine- even as someone for whom Tara and her relationship with Willow was deeply and personally important at the time.

[citrusazalea]

Geneson Analysis from Regular Show

📄Warning: This is a very long read, made by 2 neurodivergent sisters (Citrus and Sparkz @luminesparkz )

1️⃣Prankless - S3 E36

Gene and Benson are clearly rivals. They also have a history of Prank Wars between both of their parks. But it seems Gene is the one who commonly antagonizes Benson. He attacks Benson's park as soon as their prank master (Muscle Man) leaves. He has quite a fun time teasing and picking on Benson and his workers while also vandalizing their entire park.

2️⃣The Christmas Special - S4 E11-12

In this episode, Gene goes "I though the Prank Wars were over, but here you come to pull some sort of lame Yuletide prank!" He claims that since Muscle Man's return and fighting back, the Prank Wars are over. And they are neutral.

However, Benson and his crew beg Gene to let them into the cave on his park in order to save Christmas. And they convince him to think of his own family, softening his outlook.

When Benson and his crew actually enter the cave, Gene smiles and shakes Benson's hand, surprising Benson. They seem to be on a little above neutral terms after these events.

3️⃣ Dodge This - S5 E17

Gene makes a small cameo here, unfortunately. But here we have Benson, taking dodge ball way too seriously and putting a lot of faith in the best player on his team, Mordecai. He hits Gene with a dodge ball, knocking him down on his back. They still seem to have a competition outside of pranking each other.

4️⃣Thomas Fights Back - S5 E37

This episode breaks their neutrality. Gene is at it again, pranking Benson by embarking in his annual "steal the park statue" pranking. Benson and his crew have to infiltrate Gene's park in order to steal it back. In their first attempt, they use Rigby's idea of dressing in cheap alien costumes, which fails immediately.

In this episode, Gene is shown to be friendly towards Thomas, who is disguised as an intern, perhaps showing that he treats his employees nicely. He also seems to trust his employees quickly if they listen well and follow orders, giving away deep secrets about the park quickly.

He is also very recognized, attending a Park Manager's Formal, which makes Benson pretty jealous that he wasn't invited as he gets little to no recognition. He is shown in this episode to let his guard down a lot. This might be from his high ego and underestimation of Benson and his crew. It's also kinda weird that as a married man, he is shown dancing with another woman.

5️⃣Park Manager's Lunch - S6 E14

I wish there was more lore behind why this episode happens, but Gene suddenly wants to invite Benson into the Park Manager's Lodge, a community of park managers that partake in different events. This is shocking especially given that the last thing Gene did was steal the statue of the founder of the park in the previously mentioned episode. This could be Gene's moment where he recognizes the potential of Benson and his crew. Anyway, Gene invites Benson to lunch at Chicken and Waffles, which Benson's crew sees as a set-up for Gene to prank Benson. Benson, however, is finally happy to see someone recognize his hard work, and doesn't think about pranks in this regard. In fact, Benson gets defensive when his coworkers try to tell Benson it COULD be a prank as Gene has only pranked Benson throughout his life. As Benson approaches Gene, he fails miserably at trying to impress him. It is not normal behavior for one man to impress another man by showing off his strong forearms from being a former drummer. He also holds his arm around Benson throughout the episode. You would have to feel very comfortable with someone to do that, at least in my opinion. Not even my closest friends nor myself would feel comfortable enough to do that.

It's important to note that Gene is a laugher. He laughs a LOT throughout all the episodes he appears in. He seems pretty fond of Benson's jokes as he is seen slapping Benson's back and laughing hard. Benson is far too focused on impressing Gene, that he keeps watching his reactions to whatever he says, not really regarding the other two. This may show that Benson has a high regard for how Gene thinks of him. He also gets extremely angry when his crew tries to "save" Benson inside the restaurant.

After their lunch, Gene seems to handle Benson roughly, almost seeming as if he is kidnapping him, however, this seems to be part of the lodge entrance "ritual". Benson's crew does everything in their power to "rescue" him. But Gene tries to stop him and take Benson back.

In the end, it was another test for Benson's employees and their respect for on another. Benson is more than happy to join Gene's Park Manager's Lodge.

6️⃣Men In Uniform - S6 E24

In this episode, Benson's park is in trouble. The park doesn't get anywhere near the amount of visitors East Pines gets. After getting completely wasted on wings, Benson and his crew end up in East Pines Park, in their gazebo. Benson thinks that the secret to Gene's success is in the uniforms, another bit of proof of Benson really admiring Gene and how well he does and wanting to be as recognized at him.

7️⃣ The Parkie Awards - S7 E2

Benson, still a bit jealous of Gene's constant success, witnesses Gene's awards at the Parky awards. Gene clearly has a high ego but not in a way where he means bad. He is oblivious to the fact that Benson isn't recognized, which is unfortunate but true. But at the end he tells Benson "I'll see you at the next lodge meeting" which means he still has a nice friendship with Benson. Gene doesn't know struggle as a park manager.

8️⃣Chili Cook Off - S7 E23

Benson, being part of the lodge now, enters a Chili Cook Off introduced by Gene, the leader of the lodge. Despite everyone saying he can't win against Gene, he still participates. When Benson wants to taste Gene's chili during one of the first rounds, he can't do it himself. He asks Rigby and Mordecai to go get him a bowl to sample. He is, however, surprisingly friendly to them. This, again, further establishes that he merely has an ego problem, not being a "bad person" intentionally.

When Benson does try his chili, he admits is amazing but detects the hint of the Jade Phantom Pepper, a pepper he knows is extremely expensive. Out of anger of Gene's possible cheating, he throws it to the floor, shattering the bowl and ruining the chili. Benson is so strung on proving that Gene is lying about his ingredients being under $50 that he not only sneaks into Gene's house through his window, but he is also oblivious to the obvious fact that Gene was behind the entire dome experiment and is acquainted with Mr. Maellard in the process.

Now, there is something interesting shown here that is most likely an animation error or just laziness, but Gene's family looks a bit different than what is shown The Christmas Special (S4 E11-12). Instead of being red, she is a blue-green color. Either this man got divorced and married someone new or the animators were too lazy to make sure she was accurate. His connection with his wife is and child is not at all described or shown in the show.

The best part of this episode is that, when Benson added hot wings to his chili and ended up winning against Gene, he congratulated Benson instead of fighting or some other method. He was genuinely happy for Benson and even pushed a chair under him when the crowd carried him. This further establishes the idea that Gene is a friend of Benson's and pushes aside competition to be happy for him.

9️⃣Welcome to Space - S8 E1

The last seen footage of Gene: he is sent to the Space Tree along with Benson's park and hundreds of others. We don't know anything about his life past this episode and in the future, shown at the end of the show.

Conclusion

Gene and Benson have an interesting relationship that we think goes from rivals to perhaps something more. This is further established with the personal lore created by us about Gene's family (Wife and child). That is all we have left to say on the subject. LOL. Geneson.

This is prone o being edited. Thank you if you stuck around this far lol.

[anderscim]

If you're taking er.....'requests' for theories about characters, I want to discuss something peculiar about David <- being a simp

I'm going to sound like the biggest David apologist ever, but....I have reason to believe that he wasn't lying about his family depression secret. Not in the sense that he actually has it, but him legitimately believing that was his motive secret. When he walked into the dining hall in episode 4, he was getting frustrated and stressed from all the fighting and you can even see the stars going out in his eyes. His distress and annoyance felt more to himself since his body language also helps to see that he was doing his best to block out the fight. The first CG looks like he was trying to think of something to stop it, and the second one looks like he was just growing more and more stressed until he finally stepped. What I'm trying to say is, his family depression secret feels more blurted out than actually thought out. Yet, it was highlighted in yellow, so it's worth considering. Not to mention, he has shown signs of being depressed since day one

You can also see when Arei was going to confront him, she started off by flat out saying "Why did you lie about your secret?" after she found David. David was still shocked at her question. If you knew you were caught red handed lying about your secret, yeah you would still try to deny it. But the first thing that comes to mind, in this situation, is that "Oh shit, Arei must've gotten my secret,". It was also hinted that David thought this way when Arei told him she wanted to talk about his 'secret' until Teruko and Eden walked in. So why would David still try to 'play dumb' when he knew he was done for with the person he presumed had his secret?

My guess is that he genuinely thought his family depression was legit his secret. You can even see his sprite when Arei reveals what it actually is. He's......shocked. He stutters a bit until he asked Arei if she was the one that got his secret, and then just....completely shuts off. He even goes to see the secrets being revealed the next day (keep in mind, he KNOWS what his real secret is) and when Teruko asked him which one is really his, he uses a similar sprite to the ones he used when Arei was grilling him. They all look like he's on the brink of a panic attack, almost triggering him. It's a whole another can of worms than what I'm going on about, but opening the lid a little bit.....David looks....triggered by being called manipulative. It makes me think that this whole act is a breakdown of his and he's just playing along with a last minute act he made up cause no one is going to believe anything he says cause they're convinced he's just this horrible person with no context behind it. You can even see Arturo was triggered when his secret was brought up. If I was planning a killing game and this was the secret I was working with, I would care more about getting underneath the skin of the participants than making these secrets accurate. Not saying one secret is wrong and the others are right, but you can't deny they're worded in a really unfavorable manner

Also, ngl, even if you are aware you are manipulative, how can anyone guess their secret is "You were born only to manipulate others"?

Sorry I went off on a tangent, but yeah :)

don’t worry about going on a tangent, you’re not the only one lol. if someone mentions david in front of me, i will start talking about him and never shut up ( ´ ▽ ` )

(take what i’m about to say with a grain of salt)

and actually, i think i touched on this a little bit once! i highly doubt david was aware that his secret was about manipulation, at least not until arei revealed it to him in private.

i’ve mentioned this before but david’s motive secret is the most “up to interpretation” out of the rest of the cast, and there’s no specific factual details in there like the other secrets:

“the thing is, everyone else’s secret, though written in a way that took out crucial context and painted them in a bad light, was at least somewhat based on an actual occurrence, portion of their identity, and real information. david’s secret is the most vague and was written in a way to attack his purpose and what he personally (secretly) believes his actions to entail. but, unlike everyone else, there’s no concrete occurrence, action that he’s done, or any specific detail in that secret that connects him to manipulation. additionally, his is the most open-ended.”

overall, his secret is really ambiguous, which makes it difficult to guess in the first place. 

given that it’s heavily implied that he at least struggles with his mental health, it makes significantly more sense (for david) to think his secret was about depression. 

but the thing is—david’s pretty smart, so i’m sure he’s aware that these secrets were tailored to “get underneath the skin of the participants” like what you said. but not only that, they’re also written in a way that diminishes the reputation of that person from an outside perspective.  i mean, even the secret he received (which is probably teruko’s) is worded in that way—it’s incredibly difficult to take something like “this killing game is your fault” at face value without proper background information. these secrets are almost written in a way to be accusatory, and it’s difficult to derive any outside context about them without directly asking the person themselves.

but in that case, which would be more tarnishing towards the reputation of the “Ultimate Inspirational Speaker” — the fact that your family has a history of depression, or the fact that you’re still struggling with depression yourself?

my personal theory is that david actually thought that his secret was about his own depression (despite his optimistic persona), and his wording of a “family history of depression” was a half-hearted attempt to dance around that fact. but like you said, it was blurted out, so i feel like it was more a rushed attempt than anything else. though it’s heavily likely that the family history of depression is still true, it’s still intriguing that he decides to use this exact wording—and personally, i see it as him refusing to directly admit he has depression himself. (but i do think david genuinely believed his secret was related to depression)

about the part with him possibly being triggered by the word “manipulation,” i think that’s a really good theory. like you said, his sprites (and that shaky breath the VA put in) during his conversation with arei look like he’s genuinely shutting down. not just that, the same exact sprites are used right before his breakdown in the ch2 trial, when his motive secret is officially confirmed (and when everyone else is reacting to it). it makes total sense if he was spiraling during that time, and i personally believe that to be the case. if you couldn’t already tell from my previous posts lol /lh

thank you for the ask lexi ^^ sorry this is kind of short though, i wrote this while on a car trip so it was kinda rushed

and like i said before, my inbox is currently open so feel free to send in other things you guys are curious about as well!

[princeescaluswords]

Random question, Prince. Do you think Lydia had any banshee experiences before Peter bit her? Maybe little incidents she kind of shrugged off?

I think it's most likely that she was slowly beginning to experience manifestations of her power. After all, Lorraine foresaw her need for supernatural protection. Peter's bite was simply "the spark that lit [her] fire" earlier than it might have happened naturally. For evidence, I want to look at three scenes from the show that indicated Lydia having supernatural insight before Formality (1x11).

The first is a flashback happening all the way in Season 5's Required Reading (5x06). Now, since it is a flashback, there is an air of unreality to it, but I'll argue that, while the details could have been different, the event still happened.

We know that Lorraine Martin was a patient at Eichen House, where she was in the care and ultimately murdered by Brunski. There was at least one situation where Natalie was called into the mental health facility. In the flashback, Lorraine had drilled a hole in her head. What exactly happened can be up to interpretation; it could have been Lydia's powers trying to warn her of what Valack was going to do to her. But we do know that Lydia found her way to the scene, only for Natalie to yell at her "I told you to stay in the car!"

Why did Lydia go in there? How was she able to infiltrate Eichen House, which as dingy and horrific as it was, still seemed to have formidable security? I would argue that Lydia got in the same way Meredith seemed to be able to get out when the other banshee felt like she needed to do so: her powers. Lydia needed to see what had happened to her grandmother, so -- much like her fugue states later on when she became a teenager -- she went where she needed to be in order for that to happen.

Now, the reason I think this really occurred and it wasn't a novel-induced nightmare were two separate scenes -- the first is in The Last Chimera (5x11) where a psychically traumatized Lydia warns her mother by repeating that phrase "I told you to stay in the car!" and Lydia's later reaction to Jackson's insistence that she stay in the car in Night School (1x07). Just it is possible that the traumatized Lydia was trying to warn her mother not to let Valack/Fenris take her to Eichen House, Lydia subconsciously sensed that something dangerous was going to happen to people she cared about (at the time, Allison and Jackson) inside the school. Her insistence on going inside could be instinctual, as she had no problem waiting in the car earlier that season, in The Tell (1x05).

That is also the scene which I believe is the third pre-Formality manifestation of Lydia's powers. She did not get a flash of insight in front of the Videos 2C, but she did scream. I would argue that this is the first scene where particular attention was paid to not only Lydia screaming, but on her face and her mouth while she was screaming. It was not just out of shock -- she had no idea that there was a dead body and Jackson had been attacked -- it was a reaction to Peter's presence and what he meant for her and all the people she cared about. The show wanted us to think the scream as noteworthy.

Because so does Peter. When the Sheriff shows Deaton the footage from the security camera in front of Videos 2C, they see Peter change from alpha-monster to human form a few feet behind the car in which Lydia is in. Why? In previous episodes, Peter hasn't shown any trouble staying in that form, so why take human form where he could be seen? My head canon is that he heard something in Lydia's scream, something that shocked him before leading him to realize that she would be perfect for his "back-up plan." Peter demonstrates throughout the show a wider knowledge of the esoteric than Derek does (the ritual to heal Cora, True Alphas, berserkers, even nogitsunes). I suspect he either recognized a banshee's wail the same way the Darach did or he was interested enough to do a little research in that laptop he transferred all of the Hale family files to a few weeks after he got out of the coma.

[chevelleneech]

The Acolyte ep7: The Bad…

Not to act as if I know more than professional writers and show runners, but I must say… episode seven was not my favorite. For the exact reason I assumed they’d do half and half. The flashback did not hold enough shock to be dragged out for an entire ep, and should have taken up ten, maybe fifteen minutes at most.

Viewers already guessed the Jedi killed the coven, so it’s not that we needed something shockingly different, but something worth the flashback being the full runtime would have made more sense. Now, I will not pretend like I am not gagged at Sol choosing to kill Mae to save Osha just because he wanted a Padawan, and Indara killing the entire coven just to not have to kill Kelnacca. They both made extremely selfish choices, but again… it could have played out in about a dozen minutes.

They could have shown us the four Jedi on the planet scouting, shown Sol find the girls and tell Indara, then jumped to the scene when Osha reveals herself and Mae to the Jedi. Following that, their Jedi tests as quick clips so we’d see Mae tell them about the sacrifice, then skip to Osha telling Aniseya she wants. Next we’d see Torbin realize the twins were the proof of vergence and skirt off to play captain save a hoe, capped off with Korril telling Mae to stop Osha (but skip all the door smashing and Korril talking to the other witches). We’d also need to see Mae realize she started the fire and try to stop it, and after that they could have proceeded with Sol killing Aniseya which sparks the fight.

We did not need all the filler beforehand, we didn’t even need to see council saying no to the twins. A better justification for the Jedi team lying, would have actually been them acting without knowing if the council wanted the twins or not. That way once back on the ship with just Osha, Indara could tell Sol and Torbin: “The council wanted both twins, so now we must figure out what to say as to why they’re only getting one.” or “The council only wants one twin, so I guess you got what you want.”

Both to me hold more weight, because no matter what, they went in there and caused chaos and death when they didn’t have to. And the reason this episode wasn't able to carry that gravity imo, is because they took too long to tell us and didn’t end with a single drop of emotion.

The episode should have went back to present day and had Mae crying and furious. Or even better, use the fact that they just told us the twins are literally the same person in separate bodies, as a way to unblock Osha’s connection to the Force. Imagine us going into such a big reveal, knowing it was being told to Mae, only for the episode to end with Osha pulling off the helmet and being pissed, because Mae’s emotions allowed her to unknowingly tap into a shared consciousness with Osha. So now Osha knows the truth as well, since she was in a state of complete sensory deprivation when Mae found out.

Again, I’m not trying to dog on the show or act like I know better, but I don’t feel this episode hit it’s mark as well as it could have. Because at the very least, we should have seen present day Mae’s reaction so that episode eight could focus either fully on Osha finding out somehow, or on Mae getting away from Sol and hunting down Osha herself. It doesn’t make sense that we’re going to have to dedicate even a minute of ep8 to Mae’s reaction, when it is the last episode and should be reserved for chaos and calamity, the way ep5 was the fallout of ep4.

Anyway, if you read this post, please stay tuned for my positive thoughts in another. I’ll come back and link it, but yeah. I still am enjoying the show quite a lot, but this episode was not what I was hoping for. I wanted a bigger reveal or a reaction to the reveal, and we got neither. Which tells me the finale won’t be handling what it needs to handle, because we still have to wrap up Osha and Mae’s reactions, Sol and Mae likely confronting Osha and Qimir or Vernestra, Qimir’s plans for Osha, and Osha’s decision on what she’ll choose with Qimir. Too many moving parts, not enough time.