#justified 2x08

[fatum679]

2x08 H+A

The first scene between Aemond and Helaena 💔

I should say right away that I condemn what Aemond did and do not justify it. I will analyze his actions and reactions. The truth is, I would never dream of him hurting his sister. But I tried to analyze all this without blaming the writers, although we all know how mediocre they are.

Helaena is glad to see Aemond, but he came to her and speaks to her not as a sister, but as if she were a soldier, which makes her look at him in confusion. Helaena refuses to participate in the war, Aemond has a fit of anger.

Aemond is desperate because he knows he can't win this war against other adult dragons. Sunfyre and Tessarion are useless against adult dragons, even if Aemond hadn't hit Sunfyre he already had his wing crushed and his belly ripped open by Meleys, even if Sunfyre was healthy he still can't handle adult dragons. TG is initially at a disadvantage. Aemond understands all this and he only has Dreamfyre left because she is older than Vermithor and Silverwing, and Helain. He did not ask her to fight until he knew he could handle it himself, but now he can't do without her.

Aemond really cares about his family (except Aegon), he understands that they will all die if they lose. ! I do not condone Aemond's actions towards Helaena ! But we see that his whole family does not take the war seriously (Alicent and Aegon).

Alicent put Aegon on the throne, created a whole party, raised children with the thought that they would be killed (it's true) now she does not want to take responsibility for the situation created, she tells her party's plans and lets the enemy go. (If she wanted to see Rhaenyra as queen, then what were all the scenes in episodes 5, 6, 7 for?) Aegon, who accepted the crown, but spent time with his drinking buddies, was incompetent and decided to get drunk and attack Meleys.

I have no questions for Helaena, she does not want to participate in the war, it is her choice, she has the right to it. Aemond does not understand this decision and does not accept it. He expected that she would be happy to avenge her son, but Helaena is not like other Targaryens and no matter how much I want to see a piece of the conqueror in her, she will never be like Visenya and Rhaenys. She truly values ​​every life, so she takes care of the bugs and does not accept violence. I respect and admire Helaena.

In this scene, Aemond is angry not because he is losing power, as the antis believe, but because his family is about to die and he feels alone because no one takes it seriously. Aemond is truly a man of chaos and destruction, while Helaena is creation and order.

The second scene between Helaena and Aemond 💔

Aemond comes to their secret place for private meetings, he is desperate, his voice is shaking, there are tears in his eyes and he feels a strong sense of guilt because he hurt Helaena, he begs her for help, to be with him, but Helaena refuses. And this scene is beautiful, because Helaena is beautiful. She is truly sinless, she is not angry at Aemond for his cruelty, she looks at him without judgment. She wants him to admit his evil. She does not hate him, there is no hate in her. She wants Aemond to see himself, to see what he has become. We see how Aemond's heart breaks when Helaena asks him if he would do the same to her as he did to Aegon. Aemond ready to shield her with his body from the dragon's flame. Now Aemond answered Aegon's evil with his own evil.

Helaena does not want war and revenge, because she already knows what awaits them all and has accepted it. Helaena understands that they are all just grains of sand in the galaxy and the world will not stop if their lives are extinguished. Therefore, she resigned herself and accepted the death.

Helaena speaks of the future, her voice quieter and tears in her eyes, before she speaks of Aemond's death she pauses, her throat shaking with a spasm, but she delivers the sentence. Aemond thinks she is lying and threatening her like a small, frightened child. What it is like to realize that nothing made sense and life had no meaning because they were doomed. Helaena has lived her whole life knowing all this and now Aemond know.

We expected a kissing scene between Aemond and Healena, but we got a scene where they are both dressed, but completely naked to the bone. Aemond, who wanted to hug her, and cries in despair, like a 10-year-old child. Healena, as in her childhood, tells him about the inevitable, about his fate. She looks into his eyes, and it is really hard for her to talk about his death.

Wie gerne würden wir unser Schicksal kennen... wohin es uns führt. Doch die Wahrheit ist: Es gibt nur einen Weg durch alle Zeiten. Vorherbestimmt durch den Anfang und das Ende, was zugleich der Anfang ist.

There's a lot of pain and longing in this scene. The way Aemond instinctively reaches out to Helaena, as if they'd held hands all the time, like in Episode 9, but now he stops, afraid to touch her because he feels guilty. The way Aemond talks about their blood, like he used to talk about preserving dragon blood as a child. He came to their secret place. He came knowing Helaena would be there. And Helaena knew Aemond would come.

We didn't have a kissing scene or a passionate embrace, but we did have a scene where they both showed their bones. It was the most emotional and heartbreaking scene in two seasons.

[lemonsharkgirlfriend]

alicent, a woman who’s been stripped of all power and agency and has no sway or influence amongst the green council, should have concluded her liberation arc by… coming to the understand that her mistreatment within this patriarchal system pales in comparison to the love she holds for her sons (one of whom she’s disowned in 1x08, the other pre-2x01), and she should have used the power (that she doesn’t have) to continue to support the green claim (that she doesn’t believe in). she should have thrown away her own feelings of (freely chosen) love for rhaenyra, knowing these feelings ‘don’t actually matter’ (they do), and just, again, sacrifice her body, mind, and mouth for her sons (who she 1. doesn’t believe in and 2. knows do not have her own or helaena’s best interest in mind). the driftmark scene (that alicent verbally expresses regretting and which otto tries to manipulate her into believing was justified directly afterward) and alicent standing in front of meleys during aegon’s coronation (yet another example of alicent sacrificing her body to otto’s cause that she’s been manipulated into believing is her only purpose) are definitive proof that alicent should have become a scorched earth mama bear in season 2 that should have not have had any conflicted feelings about her sons’ unnecessary violence and total ineptitude at ruling the kingdom because… the ends (i.e., aegon being in the throne… which she doesn’t believe in) justify the means. alicent could have just used her voice (again, the one that she doesn’t have in this version of the story; let go of book!alicent) to sway her sons’ policy if they were trying to do something she didn’t agree with, and otherwise, she should have just let them do what they wanted to secure the green claim (that alicent doesn’t believe in). turning to rhaenyra (alicent’s only reference for freedom and chosen love) after concluding her liberation arc is out of character (it isn’t, alicent has chosen rhaenyra over her children several times) and doesn’t make sense (i’m just going to assume you weren’t paying attention to the plot, dialogue, set design, editing, costuming, etc., that suggested alicent was seeking out rhaenyra throughout the entire season, starting with her moving into rhaenyra’s childhood bedroom before the season even began). alicent is dumb (sure, i’ll give you that) for trusting rhaenyra (she can’t trust her own sons either, and arguably, to a greater extent). alicent should realize her love for rhaenyra is no longer relevant (it is and always will be, as expressed by the writers about… one million times) because she should care more about her sons (that she doesn’t support anymore and that she cannot control) than her own happiness and securing safety for helaena/jaehaera (her children/grandchildren that she’d like to see no harm come to). also, exploring alicent’s motherhood (alicent ‘switching sides’ still does this lol) would have been more interesting than exploring her repressed queerness/lesbianism (i mean idek know what to say to this bc how the hell do you think this isn’t interesting and novel and worth exploring). ultimately, i have another version of alicent in my head (book!alicent) that i wish had been adapted instead (totally valid opinion to have! though you ultimately shouldn’t project book!alicent onto show!alicent because they have been fundamentally different characters since the very beginning), so i’m going to pretend alicent going to rhaenyra in 2x08 is bad, unpredictable writing (instead of something those ‘annoying shippers’ had been theorizing about since before the season even began because the clues were literally there, even that early).

[raayllum]

the cube is just like

"This doesn't end well for you" / "It's the key of Aaravos, no good can come from it!"

Callum brings the cube in addition to the mirror, the latter of which he justifies because he thinks "it's related to the evil returning the world" in the exact same scene with ominous music playing

"Are you practicing magic or are you losing to Bait at a game of rolly-cubes?" / "We had to beat Aaravos at his own game." / "I fear Aaravos is toying with us."

Has a star sign that is almost always synonymous with Aaravos at this point

Is compared to the one ring from LOTR explicitly in that Callum wasn't able to cast it aside

Is in the Callum pawn intro just as a nod to the audience

"It's a toy. A piece from a children's game. I hope it was worth it to you, putting everyone's lives in danger."

Represents Callum's dark magic temptation in 2x08, and now we know more than ever why dark magic would be/is connected to Aaravos

By that measure it also represents a destiny he doesn't want in 2x08 that is likewise related to Aaravos ("you need to accept your destiny" / "destined to play right into my hands")

Bonus points for the red glow potentially linking back into the blood + star (deep) magic connection: "You can have unlimited power"

The cube lighting up bc of the moon opal on the bridge of darkness is what almost gets them all killed

Is used to foreshadow finding the prison in s5 (1x04 ocean rune with "you found it") and Callum's dark magic use (5x08 with ocean and moon runes on full display)

"Legends say it unlocks something of great power in Xadia" (2x06) / "Dark magic became the key that unlocked a place of power in Xadia for humanity" (TOX)

The key having secrets + the mystery of Aaravos

"You wait here, a minute, couple minutes - however long it takes, I'll go find a key."

and i'm sobbing into my hands

[fkevin073]

further ep 2x08 thoughts! *spoilers for fire and blood

here's my thing: did alicent just not know Aegon was awake? did she not go and see him? they went out of their way to show us her sitting by his bedside day and night, being terrified at the thought he was going to die, APOLOGIZING to her son, and then we get absolutely no pay off. nothing. zilch. she expresses no concern for him in the finale. does not go and see him or bring him to helaena or aemond.

and don't get me wrong - Aegon is FLAWED. I'm not trying to defend or excuse what happened with Dyana. Alicent's relationship with her kids is one of my favourite in the show. but the tragedy - as I saw it in s1 and how they portrayed it as - was that even though she doesn't like her children, even though she sometimes fears them, that alicent will ultimately always, always, love her kids more than rhaenyra. Alicent's fear that rhaenyra will have to execute her children to secure her succession will always outweigh the relationship and love they once had. at least that was the story they told in season 1. in season 2, this sudden shift where Alicent is willing to entirely abandon her sons feels very much like the writers taking THOUSANDS of steps backwards.

I don't think it's bad that she loves helaena more or tries to protect helaena more. That makes sense and I love the twist of a medieval mother valuing the life of her daughter over that of her son. my issue is with the writing.

aemond used to very clearly be Alicent's favourite. My issue is that they never showed the dissolution of that relationship. We only see the aftermath. we don't see alicent confront aemond for killing Luke. We don't see her cry and curse at him and beg him to tell her why. We barely get to explore Aemond's hurt that his mother has basically disowned him (however deserved or justified it is). we barely get to explore Alicent's inner conflict over Aemond's decisions and balancing her love for him as his mother against the cruelty of his actions. We just see her decry him at every turn and reach out to him once before declaring it a lost cause. No one even talks about how blood and cheese was a direct result of Aemond killing Lucerys. There is no exploration of Aemond's guilt or any resentment against him by Aegon or Helaena or Alicent as a result. there is sooo much missing information. key, important scenes.

if we were going to have alicent turn against aegon, his bad behaviour from last season should have been increased TENFOLD. but we didn't get that. this turn of Alicent's feels hollow because it is unearned. I think as a bookreader as well it feels like they've brought her final 'ending' a lot early. alicent ends the war grieving and wishing she had done things differently. that's fine! but let us have her be ambitious and angry (to at least some degree!) before we get there.

[goodwhump-temp]

Rin Okumura Whump - Blue Exorcist

Yukio Okumura Whump Stupidity is contagious

Season 1 1x01 The Devil Resides in Human Souls - Bloody fist, face cut, held down 1x02 Gehenna Gate - Hunted, almost falls, trips, slapped, dragged, restrained, emotional 1x04 Garden of Amahara - Sobbing (reading Manga) 1x05 A Boy from the Cursed Temple - Flustered, chased, knocked down, almost bitten, almost shot inconspicuously 1x06 The Phantom Chef - Restrained multiple times, justified anger, dies (of horrible food), loopy, held, master chef battle against a pokemon, collapse, hurt feelings/crying, knocked back 1x07 A Flock of Plovers - Thrown, knocked down, choked 1x08 Now A Certain Man was Sick - Jumpscared, hits his head, slapped, dropped heavy rock on his foot, chased, thrown multiple times, knocked down 1x09 Memories - Targetted, hurt with holy water, squeezed, pain, stabbed, bleeding 1x10 Black Cat - Headbut, bloody nose 1x12 A Game of Tag - Smacked, knocked down, punched multiple times, feral, pinned, bloody face, knees collapse 1x13 Proof - Headlocked, sliced, impaled, bandaged, traumatic flashback 1x14 A Fun Camping Trip - Depressing high school flashbacks, panic, restrained 1x15 Act of Kindness - Knocked back, knocked to the ground, unconscious, reveals powers to friends, tail hurts, goes feral 1x16 The Wager - Feral, collapse, unconscious, targetted, imprisoned, nightmare of turning into a demon 1x17 Temptation - Moves while imprisoned, crystal prison broken, unconscious, squeezed, dazed, collapses unconscious, knife held to neck, confronted by ex-friends [insert season 2 here] 1x18 Hurricane - Face sliced, misunderstood, held at gunpoint, punched, stabbed, punched down, held by the head, exhausted 1x20 Mask - Targetted, sword to throat twice, held at gunpoint, shot with tranq, paralyzed, passes out, weak 1x21 The Secret Garden - Targetted, pinned to the ground, knocked down 1x22 Demon Hunting - Betrayed, held at gunpoint, thrown, unconscious, captured/imprisoned, chained as ritual sacrifice, extreme pain, bleeding 1x23 Truth - Bleeding profusely, extreme pain, unconscious, carried 1x24 Satan's Spawn - Punched, confronts Yukio, punched multiple times, bloody, weak, shot, collapse, bleeding profusely, emotional

Season 2: Kyoto Saga (This is loyal to the manga; when making season 1, the manga wasn't completed, so the studio came up with the rest)

2x01 Small Beginnings - Avoided, sad 2x02 Strange Bedfellows - Sad, not trusted, drunk, passed out/carried 2x03 Suspicion Will Raise Bogies - Hungover, tired as balls 2x04 Act of Treachery - Trying to prevent Bon from making the same mistakes as him and his father, emotional, leash tightened, pain, passes out 2x05 Mysterious Connections - Imprisoned 2x07 Like a Fire Burning Bright - Can't draw Kurakara (scared), no confidence, re-imprisoned, sentenced to death, friends worried, depressed, emotional x2 2x08 From Father to Son - Mental block 2x09 Through Thick and Thin - Mental block 2x10 Unbowed and Unbroken - Mental block broken, badass 2x11 Shine Bright as the Sun - Soloing the impure king, no confidence, emotional pain, badass, confronted by angry Yukio, punched, collapse, unconscious 2x12 Candid and Open - Flustered

[fallenrocket]

The thing I like best about Izzy's conversation with Ricky in 2x08 isn't actually the speech, even though it's definitely wonderful. No, my favorite part is that the speech is his response to Ricky's flattery.

I've always thought you were underrated. I mean, it's absurd, isn't it? Isn't it? That Blackbeard, he gets all this praise, when you are quite clearly the brains of this operation?

I don't think Izzy wouldn't quite characterized him and Ed that way in season 1. In 1x04, he admits how much he looked up to Ed and called him "the most brilliant sailor he had ever met." Even though he definitely thinks the shine has gone off the apple, it'd be wrong to think he'd say Blackbeard never deserved the credit he got.

But throughout season 1, Izzy definitely thinks of himself as Ed's keeper, or his handler or some other kind of gross, paternalistic role. He's the one who's "managed [Ed's] increasingly erratic moods" and "massaged" the concerned crew to reassure them. In his mind, he's the one holding this whole thing together, and Ed, "an insane, unpleasant shell of a man who's merely posing as Blackbeard," has lost the plot of what they're trying to do. Because this is how he sees himself, he can justify any action as being "for Ed's own good" (ugh.)

This isn't so different than what Ricky's offering him in this scene. Ed is overrated--you and I both know who's really keeping the ship afloat. (btw, side note: of course Ricky looks straight past the brilliant Indigenous tactician and makes the white dude his pirating blorbo.) I like that this is when Izzy makes his speech, because it really shows how he's changed. We can debate whether or not his arc is done well, but the man who was willing to cozy up to the British in season 1 to get Stede executed and Ed "remanded" into his custody (ick) likely would've warmed to this praise. But in season 2, Izzy doesn't bat an eye at Ricky's words. Instead, he stares him down and delivers a speech that just may be the show's thesis. For a man who was scowling in the background of the cozy, gorgeously-lit "Last Supper" tableau scene, this moment shows how thoroughly he's made his way into the fold.

[knowledgeabletrash]

I have so many feelings about the first Hunt and it’s aftermath from 2x08 & 09! Apologies for the word-vomit below this.

I never thought it would happen, but dare I say, Travis has become one of my favorite characters this season.

As an older sibling, I was right there with Travis these last two episodes. His guilt and grief in Storyteller hit very close to home for me and I just.

Right after the crash, everyone looked to Travis to take care of Javi, even when he was still trying to process the fact that he had just watched his father fall out of a fucking plane. He dug up his father’s rotting corpse in order to get a ring to help Javi grieve and remember their dad. He spent months walking 7 miles in every direction every day looking for Javi. And after all that, Javi still died. Not only did Travis lose his father, but now he’s lost his brother for the SECOND TIME. To make it worse, Javi was safe, he wasn’t picked! But then Travis decided to protect Natalie, and from the looks of it, he was ready to take her place; he threw himself in front of the door behind her and stood with a knife at his throat (for the second time oh my god these girls). I missed it before, but Travis looked to Javi and whispered his name after the Hunt went after Nat, he asked Javi to protect Natalie when he couldn’t. And doesn’t that make it so much worse? Up until then, Javi had been running away from the violence. Travis asked him to step up and take care of Natalie, someone they both grew to love. Javi became just like his big brother, and he died for it.

Side note: Travis is a better man than me because if that was my sister trust and believe I’d have done more than send them on a guilt trip, even if I was starving!! Not to soft quote Queen Ramonda here but HAS HE NOT GIVEN EVERYTHING?! His dad died while helping the girls put on their oxygen masks during the crash, Javi died so that the rest of them wouldn’t starve. His whole family died saving the Yellowjackets! Ben didn’t eat Jackie OR Javi and he’s still alive and kicking and burning down cabins, our girls SICK AND TWISTED (said with love). Even in the Donner Party, they made sure they ate in separate groups so that families would not have to eat each other or watch as their loved ones were eaten.

Anyway, I’ve seen a lot of people harping on Travis for telling Van that they should all be ashamed of what they did, and god it makes me so upset. Y’all can excuse hunting your friends and cannibalism but not a grieving teenage boy lashing out after the murder of his little brother??!! Like, the first thing Travis did when he saw his brother’s body was try to untie his hands because he’s not an animal he’s just a kid, and then cradled him like a baby, only to have his body taken from him moments later to be dismembered and butchered.

As the youngest of the survivors, Javi was someone who, by normal conventions, should have been protected by the rest of the group. Of course Travis needs them to be ashamed of what they did, he blames himself for Javi’s death just as much as he does then, if not more!! Travis was supposed to protect him and he failed him!!

I understand that Travis is not a fan favorite by a long shot and Van is one of the most popular characters in the show, which might be skewing the perception of this scene a bit, but I think the people who are dunking on Travis here are missing the point a little? Yes, Van gave him some brutal honesty and was well within her rights to do so. However!! Travis also gets to be pissed at the Yellowjackets. The fact is: they absolutely SHOULD be ashamed, but they’re not. They fully COULD HAVE saved Javi, but they didn’t. Javi was not the one who drew the card, but he died anyway. Why was Javi’s life worth less than Lottie’s, who might have died on her own? Because they liked her more? Because he was more expendable? No matter how much you justify it, Javi did not NEED to die. None of it was fair. That’s the point, that’s the tragedy of it all!

Lottie Matthews really dropped the thesis of the show: “Is there a difference?”

It doesn’t matter if there was some supernatural entity out there who “chose” Javi to die, it would have happened anyway. It’s much easier to stand by and watch a boy drown than to do the killing yourself. They were starving, he was there. Even if the Wilderness chose, the Yellowjackets chose, too.

Circling back a bit, I also want to talk about the difference between the two instances of cannibalism on this show: how they’re similar and different.

When Shauna and Travis discover their loved ones bodies (both frozen might I add), they assume very similar positions, kneeling by their heads and touching their faces. Both of their death’s were caused by the collective inaction of the rest of the group. The person who takes the first bite was the person who loved them most, thus giving permission to the others to eat and spurring on the feeding frenzy.

Jackie was an accident, Javi was on purpose. When Shauna found Jackie, she screamed and was in denial, trying to shake her awake. Travis was almost completely silent, only whispering “I’m sorry” and cradling Javi’s head in his lap. They held onto Jackie’s frozen corpse for months so Shauna could grieve her, but they took Javi away from Travis after what couldn’t have been more than a few minutes. They ate Jackie whole like vultures, but they butchered Javi like an animal. The process of eating Jackie took a long time, almost three months from her death to consumption. Hell, she was slow roasted. With Javi though, “it all happened so fast” he was dead, cleaned, and eaten all within a few hours.

Shauna ate Jackie’s ear first. Jackie was driven into the cold by Shauna’s words. Travis ate Javi’s heart first. Javi went after Natalie because Travis loved her and because he loved Travis.

I’ve seen people say that the progression to the Hunt was too sudden and a result of bad writing but I’m going to have to disagree! Just from the parallels between Jackie and Javi’s deaths alone you can tell these writers know their shit. The Hunt has been teased since Doomcoming back in S1, the bloodthirsty side to the Yellowjackets has long been set up (Not!Tai eating Jackie’s face, Misty pushing Crystal, Shauna beating up Lottie). All season, we have seen various characters talking about eating another person multiple times (Misty and Crystal with the bone broth, Gen and Melissa about Crystal’s body, Mari and Misty both threatening Coach Ben), so they’ve had cannibalism on the brain for a while before they decided to Hunt. I’d go so far as to say the first signs of the Hunt were back in 1x01 with the girls icing out Allie for the greater good so they could win nationals. Them shunning Jackie solidified that the Yellowjackets were more than comfortable singling out and dehumanising one of their own, so long as the rest of the group deemed it necessary.

Cannibalism also is probably one of those things that gets easier the more you do it? Like they definitely would have Hunted and eaten Travis during Doomcoming if they had already taken the first step into cannibalism before then. Once they ate Jackie, all bets were off. The Wilderness “refusing” to let Lottie die was just a convenient excuse, they were hurdling headfirst into hunting their friends for sport looooong before then.

All this to say the Season 2 finale destroyed me and these are only Some of my thoughts about it. I’m not even TOUCHING the Natalie stuff yet.

[alicentflorent]

These are the facts: Daemon had Jaehaerys beheaded, leaving Helaena vulnerable and traumatised. Rhaenyra never punished him, instead she welcomes him back with open arms. She also still demands Aegon’s head claiming “a son for a son”, wants Aemond dead because he’s the one who killed Luke and will probably go after Daeron too as he’s a threat to Jace.

Is it cruel? Yes. Should Rhaenyra care that it’s cruel? No.

Rhaenyra’s proved she’ll let Daemon get away with kinslaying, and doesn’t give a crap about Helaena’s trauma. So how does Alicent benefit from this one sided deal?

She’s not going to let Alicent leave with her daughter and grandchild, they’re too valuable as hostages. Now that she’s been branded a traitor she has no one to defend her from Rhaenyra’s wrath and Daemon’s brutality.

Nothing about 2x08 can be justified as politically intelligent on Alicent’s part: she’s signed the death warrant for the men, and left the women at the mercy of a Queen who has no qualms with her husband killing children.

!!!

even if Rhaenyra (who technically has not agreed) did let Alicent, Helaena (who I guess the show thinks will just be fine with all her male relatives dying) and Jaehaera did manage to escape they don't know how to live a simple life the likely options wherever they end up is being taken hostage and held for ransom as they've made an enemy of both factions of the war, sold into sexual slavery, robbed and/or raped (especially during a war, commoners are already being raped and killed), maybe even working in a brothel out of desperation because they'd be starving, probably homeless and a sex work is sadly the only "work" they'd be qualified to do. It would really be a dark, miserable existence and I don't think the writers understand what running off to live an "unremarkable" life would actually mean, especially for two noble ladies out there alone.

[markantonys]

hi there! i'm wondering, what is your take on perrin and dain bornhald? i know those two have like five-ish minutes of screentime all season with about 30 seconds of that in the finale, but i can't get them out of my head. they have such an interesting dynamic and now that it's more complex than in the books (perrin did actually kill dain's father and dain sees it) i'm fascinated to see them reunite.

(also i know you probably don't take requests but it would be fun to see a gifset of them too. for...reasons.)

my take is that it is TASTY!!!! it is DELICIOUS!!! when dain's casting was announced i was like "i bet simple-minded cretins will ship him with perrin now that they are BOTH hot boys in the show, but you won't catch ME shipping anybody with whitecloaks, let ALONE poor perrin!" and now joke's on me, i'm a simple-minded cretin and i am shipping them HARD! but mostly in an "i love mess" type of way rather than an "i legitimately think they should and want them to get together" type of way. although i would not be opposed to a post-last-battle scenario of dain saying "fuck the whitecloaks" and leaving to become perrin's househusband in the two rivers! okay, faile probably wouldn't be into polyamory, but there WAS also that time in TSR when she was like "perrin why don't you go into rand's bedroom alone in the middle of the night and i'll see you in the morning and you can tell me all about it ;)" so maybe she would be down as long as the other person isn't berelain jfkgh

anyway! there were Vibes in their like 4 scenes. mostly on dain's end, just going around calling perrin by a cute nickname okay sir you want to fuck him we get it. dain is gay and homophobic and has a giant crush on perrin that he doesn't know how to deal with, and perrin is oblivious that any of this is happening. and then they had a brief Battle Couple moment in ep8 and i was like

(genuinely i'm pretty sure i did clap my hand to my forehead because i could FEEL myself succumbing fully to the ship in that moment haha it was a powerful moment!)

and THEN!!!! perrin violently (and SO justifiably, not that dain knows or would believe it) murders dain's dad right in front of him!! and dain fucking loses it!! has to be dragged away while screaming for perrin's blood!! TASTY!! DELICIOUS!!!! move over rand/gawyn, we've got a new "you killed my parent and i will not rest until i run you through with my sword in every sense of the phrase because i also want to fuck you so bad it makes me look stupid" ship in town. and i can't WAIT to see what goes down between them in season 3!

and finally, you're in luck because i already was leaning towards making a gifset of them haha it was floating kinda far down on the to-gif list 2x08 gave me but now that you've gotten me thinking about their dynamic again it's bumped up towards the top, so i might possibly do it tomorrow!

[shinelikethunder]

SPN Brain Rot Tasting Menu

this is not a viewing guide. (the only SPN viewing guide i'll sign off on is "bomb your way through the first 3 to 5 seasons in order, then decide whether you want to watch the direct-to-VHS sequel eras.") this is a "someone near you caught SPN brain rot and you're trying to decide whether to join them in hell" tasting menu, based on what piqued my personal interest when i was still on the fence about continuing with the show.

criteria: basically, "ideal episodes to catch by wandering through the room with no context while a roommate is watching SPN." so, skewed towards self-contained, less-spoilery, solid episodes that don't make me want to fistfight them in the denny's parking lot, but did made something in my subconscious sit up like it had been slapped.

okay, shine, what the fuck is this show's deal: 2x16 Roadkill. god's perfect little self-contained one-off ep. nothing spectacular, just a solidly-executed ghost story set on a lonely mountain highway. fairly representative of how SPN monster-of-the-week episodes roll, requires zero prior investment in the characters to be good, and i'm fond of it because this is basically the point where i buckled in and committed to watching the rest of the show. but also, quietly, almost covertly, a thesis statement for some of the core underpinnings of the whole thing.

shut up and give me the sickos-haha-yes.jpg: 1x06 Skin. what if you thought you were in an X-File but ended up getting erotically tortured by a shapeshifter in the guise of your codependent brother? what if you fuckers were so repressed that this was the only way the show could bring itself to air the dirty laundry of your sibling dynamics. what if the monster was all the parts of yourself you could never quite bury deep enough. what then, huh.

tell me more about the childhood trauma AND/OR c'mon gimme more sick shit: 1x18 Something Wicked. still obsessed with how fractally disturbing this episode is. there's a monster that preys on children at night in their beds and the only way to stop it is to catch it in the act. if SPN were a show with anything to say about morality it could eat itself alive chewing on the question of using children as predator bait, but it's not. it's a show about The Horrors + the shit that couldn't be buried deep enough + family as the first and most inescapable hell + the ways it intertwines damage with salvation. also there's lots of Winchester family flashback content in this one if you want to get invested in these assholes and their daddy issues.

under the cut: duos and trios of episodes on specific themes, including some spoilery ones

fine, get me invested in these assholes and their daddy issues (low-spoiler Lite Edition) AND/OR gimme those Americana aesthetics: 1x11 Scarecrow + 1x12 Faith + 1x16 Shadow. 1x11: SPN does "small town that sacrifices people to the harvest gods" and the brothers have their first big fight (guess who precipitates it). 1x12: SPN does "faith healer with some shit going on" and we get our first go-round with both Sam's belief in a higher power and Dean cheating Totally Certain Death No For Serious You Guys. 1x16: SPN starts in on the relentless pilfering of world mythology and the construction of its own demon lore, and we finally get to meet dad in person, which will exacerbate the mental illness of zero overly-enmeshed twenty-somethings.

(early SPN demon lore fucks incredibly hard, btw, and goes some creepy-ass Twin Peaks places towards the end of the season, which the show later doubles down on just when demonic possession is at risk of devolving into a plot device. this doesn't prevent it from devolving into a plot device, but it does retroactively justify some wild gothic-horror readings of s1.)

the I DON'T CARE ABOUT SPOILERS AND I'M FINE GOING IN WITHOUT CONTEXT menu

get me invested in these assholes and their daddy issues (spoiler-tastic speedrun): 2x08 Crossroad Blues (+ 2x11 Playthings) + 2x14 Born Under a Bad Sign. 2x08: a banger of an episode based on some classic "earthly success by selling your soul at a crossroads" folklore; gains twelve extra layers of crazymaking if you end up finishing the season. 2x11 (optional): a "haunted gothic mansion" monster of the week with some fun stuff between Extremely Normal Siblings. 2x14: more quality sickos-yes content a la 1x06 Skin, with a "woke up covered in someone else's blood with no memory of the past week" setup that goes even further off the rails from there.

i want to study Dean Winchester like a bug: 2x18 Hollywood Babylon + 2x19 Folsom Prison Blues + 3x10 Dream a Little Dream of Me. no comment. no fucking comment. don't look at me. we're not going to talk about it.

ok but tell me about the angel content: 2x13 Houses of the Holy + 4x01 Lazarus Rising. you HAVE to get down in the crunchy details of how SPN has been treating the entire concept of god and angels to get the full effect of 4x01, which is one of the show's banger episodes of all time. 2x13 is great, self-contained, and surprisingly low on spoilers, but 4x01 of course contains massive ones for season 3, my stealth favorite of all SPN seasons.

people keep talking about SPN's goofy and/or meta episodes, what's that about?: 3x11 Mystery Spot + 4x18 The Monster at the End of This Book. both casually spoilery. 3x11 is the beloved "yesterday was Tuesday, but today is Tuesday too" time loop episode where Sam watches Dean die approximately 8908234 times (and then shit gets dark). the arc-plotty parts of 4x18 require head-spinning amounts of context, but this is the one where the show exists in-universe as a series of trashy pulp novels by a guy named Chuck, and it flies impressively close to the sun of some kind of meta-storytelling singularity.

i am a masochist who loves fun side characters whom the show will end up mistreating horribly: 3x12 Jus in Bello. contains all three of my problematic(ally treated) faves: Bela Talbot, a shameless con artist and dealer in supernatural artifacts who's just enough of a Dean parallel to drive him batshit cuckoo-bananas insane with hatred for her; Victor Henriksen, the cocky ambitious FBI agent assigned to investigate the Winchesters' multi-state crime spree; and Ruby, a demon who shows up claiming to be a defector from hell and tries to befriend Sam. this is SUCH a well-constructed base-under-siege ep with SO many moving parts, forcing Henriksen and the Winchesters and eventually Ruby into a great reluctant team-up. it's also my big exception to "no recommending episodes that blow my socks off AND make me want to hunt the writers for sport." mostly because its Big Bullshit is an unnecessary sucker-punch inserted after the main plot wraps up, so i can just cross it out with my mental red pen and go "it's fine, they're lying, all my faves are alive and well and in witness protection." if you've made it this far, you need a warning shot anyway about what this show is going to do to you.

notable omissions that also rot my brain like a compost heap: the last 3 eps of s1 for being best viewed with a whole season's worth of intricate rituals as context; fully half of s4 for being incomprehensible without a ten-minute spoiler reel; 2x17, 3x06, and all the Gordon eps, among others, for being simultaneously incredible and enraging. (notable omissions that are important and have their moments but put me off watching the show for over a decade: the pilot and its 2-for-1 special on women in refrigerators.) do NOT @ me for leaving out other Core Brainrot Episodes. i laid out my criteria already.

[raayllum]

Hey! I was wondering what your thoughts are on Viren's dark magic dreams (your posts on plot points are always really interesting to read, so I'd love to hear your opinion!)

Especially in perspective with Callum's dark magic dream. Callum and Viren have close arcs and I'm sure their dreams must have some linking ideas (like the door/key?)

First of all, thank you for your kind words and sorry this ask is so late!! I will do my best to answer <3

Viren's dark magic dreams are tricky since some of them reference things (specifically Kpp'Ar and Soren's illness) that we just don't have total context for, largely:

Why and how, exactly, Soren became ill. If it was a randomized illness, as sometimes unfortunately happens, vs Soren got sick because of exposure to dark magic or something adjacent to it, those will paint Viren's desperation/decisions to save him in very different lights accordingly (both sympathetic, I think, but the latter concept adds to the idea that the bloodprice will just keep growing, y'know? Unintended consequences and all that)

On that note, what, exactly, Viren did to save him, although I have my theories here regarding what ingredient might've been crucial, and why I think star magic was involved.

Potential (likely) differences between dream/nightmare Kpp'Ar vs real life Kpp'Ar, as we see the way both Viren's wish fulfilment and guilt twists the scene he shares with Harrow. And of course what Viren wanted to do that was so terrible Kpp'Ar 1) revoked dark magic, 2) couldn't justify and 3) got in Viren's way enough that Viren coined him.

The rest of the dreams are, I think, overall, fairly straight forward, mostly because we have the context to decode them:

Harrow scene because that was the main relationship at the time keeping Viren on remotely the 'right' path and the deterioration of it clearly devastated him. Also ties into Viren's S4 + S5 arc of realizing he wants to, and should have, prioritized meaningful relationships > power and status when it came to how he wanted to matter

The twin peaks reference scenes are well, references, as well as exploring Viren's wish fulfilment (Kpp'Ar as his high mage, Viren as king) but also how that pursuit for power destroyed him, hence why he's only free once he removes and throws off the crown

The Claudia scenes are about his fear and regret regarding what his death and Aaravos has forced Claudia into becoming, as well as the path Viren was leading her down for much longer, bringing the idea of "She is not an asset, she is my daughter" and his nightmare memory of it from S4 nicely and tragically to fruition

Viren speaking with his past self through the mirror re-contextualizes why he was so confident it was Important, object wise, and serves to spell certain things out for us as an audience (ideas of paths and choices and freedoms)

There aren't a ton but there are some parallels between his and Callum's dreams (because you'd have to purposefully try to find something they don't have something parallels wise on show wise, at this point) in as follows

The most obvious is the conversations with their mirror selves.

For Callum this is a reflection void of the mirror, and for Viren, this is a reflection in the mirror (whether his past or present self is the one imprisoned could go either way). For present Viren, he's the corrupted one, who has to acknowledge his younger, less corrupted self, as well as that he had more agency than he wanted to admit. For Callum, he rejected his corrupted self, but obviously S5 both complicated and pulled on that set up (2x08 dark magic Callum's rune cube displaying the Ocean and Moon runes most prominantly, and Callum did dark magic in S5 ocean for his moon gf / doing dark magic again and the emotional journey there let him understand the ocean arcanum)

This is also juxtaposed with Callum's dreams about the dark magic being in confronting what he's done VS Viren's dreams being about confronting what he's done, yes - but mostly about confronting his justifications for what he did, which is an interesting difference, I think.

The drowning / water as danger parallel, only Viren literally sinks through water and is trying to save someone else (Claudia) from drowning vs Callum himself was metaphorically to literally drowning

Being guided by the dead in a lot of ways, since for Callum he has both of his parents (outside of Villads) and Viren is forced to confront people he's driven away (Kpp'Ar / Soren), versions of people that no longer exist (young Soren and Harrow) if they ever did, and Claudia carrying on his path to become a walking corpse (because dark magic in a lot of ways equals death)

The keys vs doors, for sure, although Callum is more overtly tethered to freedom through the keys / Harrow's chains, whereas with Viren it's a bit more metaphorical (he clasps his wrist in 5x03 in a similar manner that Callum does later to mimic chains in 5x08) and through dialogue mostly than dialogue and symbolism

This is super random but the tree when Viren is having his nice scene with young Soren always stands out to me as well, mostly cause it doesn't need to be there, and makes me think of the tree Claudia nearly walks into in 1x01 / the tree on the star chart map but like. Super vague and probably nothing? Still a thought though <3

If you're interested in more Callum-Viren post-S5 thoughts, I'd recommend these posts: What did Viren and what does Callum want?, How Callum and Viren sacrifice (written post-S4 but updated with S5 screencaps), Why ramp up the foiling? and general celebration that they are, indeed, switching foils, which is exactly what I was hoping for / banking on

[clockworkcheetah]

couple of theories as to why amanda was okay with todd in her life

these are just theories/headcanons i dont think these are necessarily canon

only had vogel as company for two months (i love vogel but i cant imagine amanda was thriving with just him as her company)

to add to that- two months of being heavily isolated again- she clearly prefers being social and interacting with people

once again two months alone- lots of time to think and reflect

in 1x08 she was already seeing todd try and be better (with saving lydia)

in 2x08- she basically admitted she wants todd back- like she doesnt wanna hate him/be angry at him (i dont think shell ever forgive him for what happened but you can not forgive someone but still want them around- also cutting off someone completely for slighting you isnt always the healthiest mindset)

she also saw todd doing better

she probably realised shes always gonna be conncted to dirks cases and todds always gonna be there- no point staying angry constantly

in wendimoor the whole thing really is messy fucked up family dynamics- like she may of had some perspective on things

she herself almost died- you do a lot of reflecting in those moments

in 2x10 when suzie showed up- todd straight up was gonna self sacrifice himself for her- aka being selfless which is what she wants him to be

he nearly died in front of her- she doesnt want him to die

she saw what suzie had become- a miserable hateful angry person and probably doesnt want to become that

and finally- its a tv show... if they prolonged it the general audience probably wouldve gotten annoyed at her still being angry even if shes justified

[lvebug]

HOLDING ONTO HOPE — 911 VERSE

"we all lose hope sometimes. when the world gets dark and we lose sight of those around us, when it feels like we're alone with no one to believe in us, and we get lost in that darkness… it can be hard to find the light on your own. but sometimes, all it takes to re-ignite that spark is someone to reach out with a hand to hold… a voice to guide you with a promise that you're not alone. that bit of hope can be all the strength needed to lift oneself out of the dark and into the light. everyone, at one point, will need that voice—that promise—that says 'you never have to face the dangers of this world alone'. so reach out for that hand, call out to that voice, hold onto hope. because help will always come when you call out to it." - andie eliot, 9-1-1 2x08

andie joins the los angles emergency call center at 20 years old, something she was inspired to do by her uncle tommy kinard, a firefighter at the 118. only a few years later tommy switches stations and his role is filled by new recruit evan buckley.

if there's a bad day, chances are she works it: the 7.1 earthquake? she's on the phones. the tsunami? there. the ucla lab explosion, the horrible ladder truck incident, the call center getting held hostage? she's hears it all.

she likes it, likes helping people—is drawn to helping people. but, she's often pulled to do more than she can from behind a desk and miles away. every chance she can, she reaches out to her connections in the field to check up on as many calls as she can.

the distance from across the phone line that she can never breach gets harder and harder to justify. eventually, andie switches course: she signs up to become a paramedic and after her training, gets transferred to the 118 as an emt.

[aroldpdl]

i guess i still haven't gotten over the chorus of people on that one post saying that louis is pathologically incapable of seeing other people's perspective because he 1) didn't reciprocate armand's feelings (!!!) 2) didn't want to join the coven. like tags and tags of people saying he kinda maybe had it coming a little bit. that armand kept warning him (about…? what he was going to do? we've seen 2x08 right?).

i guess what triggered me personally and set me on an angry path was the reciprocation/feelings/coldness thing. i just can't believe so many people, without any pushback, were claiming louis was doing something wrong, or malicious, like he could turn his feelings on and off and deny them to armand purposefully. the implication that armand would be justified in being angry because of lack of appropriate reciprocation. like, maybe i'm overreacting but that's like. scary. to me. that in a proper context progressive, consent-respecting people can fall into this kind of thinking

[lestitty]

thoughts on 2x08

(ignore these y'all, i treat this blog like a private journal)

not 100% happy with the loustat reunion. on one hand i get what louis was apologizing for, i've been there before, but i'm not sure it was the right time for that. i know they were trying to close louis' arc, but they could have led up to this point better in previous chapters. like louis addressing how his own misery and lestat's lack of understanding shaped his behaviour in those decades

not sure i like how they changed armand saving louis to lestat saving louis. like, the fact that armand did that and louis still left and chose lestat in the end does a whole lot for me in terms of showing how obsessive loustat is. i won't criticise it too much yet though because it could be an interesting angle to explore armand's issues, the way he's completely passive though he's one of the most powerful vampires. i mean louis calls him arun and that man folds! i wouldn't be surprised if the coven managed to strong-arm him into directing the play and believing he could do nothing to save louis by exploiting this side of armand

hate hate HATE how ppl talk about armand as if he's the villain of all villains, like he's some moustache-twirling cartoon villain. i need s3 to fix that YESTERDAY!

it would also have been nice to clarify that louis apology doesn't mean lestat was right! situations like this are complicated, but when it comes to louis relationship with lestat from 1910-1949 louis was very much either the victim and (imo) the most justifiable of the two in his destructive coping mechanisms

i wish lestat and louis would have had a moment of just shared grief and pain rather than one of forgiveness. there's a lot that lestat has yet to account for but i understand if louis was bewitched by his wet kitten looks and his homemade plank-piano (would be nice to explore that blindness that comes with lestat/love/nostalgia/need)

i loooved lestat realizing that he's never been a father to claudia because he did not behave as one. he behaved as his father did (both human and vampire), but that is not what a father is. i would looove for the show to explore the whole patriarch vs father in s3

not sure i liked louis telling lestat that claudia's death is not on him... like ??? as far as louis (and the audience) knows, he very much was part of the rehearsal and trial. not too upset yet bc s3 might deal with this. it could also be explored in regards to louis not being perfect and putting claudia second always, or maybe in his tendency to always be attached to a fucked up guy (lestast, armand, lestat again), or (and this is my fave possibility) him having the need to move past the misery so badly that he said whatever would give himself peace of mind

i'm obsessed with how the story closed for louis tho. he owns the night!!!!!!

i needed a little more drama and feeling from louis and armand's divorce. i get it that their relationship was in shambles already, but i still wanted more

rolin better show me daniel's transformation >:(

[causewhywouldnti]

My thoughts as I’m watching 24 seasons of law & order svu: (and oc)

Season 23

23x01, fantasizing about Elliot, good way to start the season. New Squad room, not my fave.

23x02, sorry to see Tamin and Garland go.

23x03, at least Stabler didn't get set up by Phoebe. Benson and Stabler bickering. I just really enjoy the two of them in interrogation. Stabler is not doing a good job of earning Benson's trust back.

23x04, I do not like McGrath, not even a little bit, does he get any better?

23x06, season 1 flashback, nice! Amaro is back. Warner!! (I’m much more excited about her than Amaro) At least we know one thing, both Benson and Stabler have terrible instincts when it comes to choosing romantic partners. Cragen!!! Baby Benson and Stabler (makes up for her terrible decisions). The shaky camera work is not my fave.

23x07, creepy! That interrogation was well done by Benson.

23x09, I liked Barba during his run, but I will always take Stabler over him. I also don’t really get his point, they are not framing him, considering he did it. Benson wasn't really called on the scene though, she happened to be there by chance, no? Stabler lost it on the stand, I do however appreciate him bringing up Liv as one of the victims too.

23x10, Murphy looks so different.

23x11, poor Noah.

23x13, people actually having a conversation about their relationship is new, I like it.

23x18, Benson giving credit to Fin and Rollins was sweet.

23x20, I always find it hard to watch when people talk about committing a crime and justify it bay saying it was "god’s plan". So weird that they cut the scene of Stabler meeting Noah on the platforms.

23x22, so Lindstrom tells Benson to either dump Stabler or take a chance on him, yet one season later, and we are still at the same point… She should take Rollins advice… Barba is back.

OC 2x01, bald Elliot. Regie's Mom, that’s a question we all want to know the answer to.

OC 2x02, I didn't need to see an ear being bitten off… nor the rest of the torture. I like Bernie. Seeing Stabler make out with some 30-year-old is just wrong. He is drugged out of his mind, how did he even make it to Benson's apartment in that state? And how does he know where she lives?

OC 2x03, the letter scene. Stabler being subtly insulted by saying the perp has hair and was way younger. I really like Jet!

OC 2x04, no, don’t delete the message, Elliot. Did he have to kiss her, though?!?

OC 2x05, jealous Benson is always fun to watch. Benson and Bernie should be in more scenes together.

OC 2x06, Stabler getting invested in his fake kid. This show does not shy down from showing some violence.

OC 2x07, that court reporter was just stupid.

OC 2x08, why is Stabler going in there on his own, when there is a whole team already up there?

OC 2x09, there was no need for Stabler to call Benson to pick up Eli, but I’m glad he did, considering we got handholding out of it. The cop on the bridge did a good job. Benson being mistaken twice as Eli’s mom is funny. Also, Stabler focusing on whether Benson dated instead of anything else, is typical. Stabler's invitation for Christmas was really sweet. He was so excited about the Benson's showing up, and then they didn't.

OC 2x11, I just want to point out, that Stabler is a really good detective. He also doesn't know when to shut up. I like the hacker Malachi.

OC 2x12, I’m sorry, but I thought the way Wheatley threatened Angela was just funny.

OC 2x13, Ayanna called Stabler out!

OC 2x14, the meeting with Wheatley and his son worked out just as I expected. Poor Bernie. On the bright side, we get a lot of background on Stabler thanks to his walk to the city hall. We all learned something about Jet…

OC 2x15, Benson helping out, and another hallway talk. At least Stabler tries to spend time with Benson.

OC 2x17, Cragen!

OC 2x18, the end scene with Bernie and Stabler was really sweet.

OC 2x20, a Benson and Stabler interrogation. Benson/Stabler still not listening to their orders when it comes to protecting someone. The looks the two of them share in their last scene in the car! This episode brings back all the feels from the first 12 seasons. Definitely my favorite episode this season (on both shows).

OC 2x21, Jet’s hug was really sweet!

OC 2x22, Cragen showed up to Elliot getting the Combat Cross (and Benson didn't). Poor Ayanna.

Both finales were just sad. I really enjoyed the OC season, though, probably because that’s where most of the Benson/Stabler interactions were. I especially liked 2x20!

Favorite Episodes: 23x05, OC 2x13, 2x14, 2x20

Favorite Lines:

"But in a parallel universe it will always be you and I" Stabler in his letter, OC 2x03

"You’re gonna have to get yourself a scarecrow." "Yeah, or you could just move back home." Stabler and Bernie, OC 2x05

"How about we call it a friendship? How’s that for now?" Benson to Stabler, OC 2x09

"You’re in his official personnel file, I’m in his DMs. We are not the same." Jet, OC 2x15

"What do you say, partner?" Benson to Stabler OC 2x20

"It’s always good to work with you, Liv." Stabler OC 2x20

"You deserve happiness, Olivia Benson" Lindstrom 23x22