#putting all these together to get it over with wrt this plot tbh

[laufire]

Max’s outfits – Episode III-VI

[Caption: four gifs from Black Sails. showing Max’s clothes during said episodes (rumpled stays and hair with red and white pearls while Jack accompanies her out of the cabin; a simply beige cloth with a cord around the waist and a knot tying it over the chest on the beach’s tent, one time with a braid; and that same cloth when she returns to the inn, now covered with a large scarf while she climbs the stairs).]

[lesbianmaxevans]

lmao ok I have soooooo many thoughts after the 3x07 reveal that jones is the dictator. liz-max-jones centric disorganized ramble-y thoughts & speculation under the cut lmao

first, this reveal tells us sooooooo much about max. max quite literally has no limits on his powers, except for bringing someone back from the dead. I remember this interview nathan & jeanine did back before s1 started airing where nathan said that max didn’t know what his limits were bc he’s just so scared of his alien abilities. and now we have confirmation that it rlly is just self-imposed limitations (like nathan even said in the interview lol). this also gives us the reason as to why the alighting wants max!

as we saw from isobel and michael’s attempt to stop jones, their abilities are no match for his. max is the only one who can possibly stop him. and that requires letting go of his self-loathing and fear. I hope this means some rosa & max bonding, as I think rosa giving max some kind of confirmation that she doesn’t hate him and doesn’t hold the cover-up against him will go a long way in him forgiving himself (also I’ve wanted rosa & max to be besties since 2x01 why have they not had a single one-on-one scene outside of rosa’s mindscape when he was dead 😩)

some jones thoughts: given his repeated insistence to max that they need each other and are stronger together, what if jones isn’t “complete” without max? as max is his clone, maybe he had to diminish his abilities for max to be created? so, what if booting him out of max’s body makes him weaker? and knowing the sword stores energy from jones’ kills also explains his personality! he’s cold and practically emotionless except for amusement and frustration/anger. we know that destruction and killing feels good for the aliens (see max’s manic state in 1x13 after killing noah lol) and there’s no way that amount of mass murder wouldn’t start to take it’s toll. (it’s also interesting to note that there’s an inherent instability to this power- we haven’t seen any other abilities cause an effect like this towards the aliens.)

3x07 also put way too much emphasis on liz’s alien science for it to not come into play at some point in taking down jones. given the repeated mention of severing connections, I think liz might figure out how to do so and break jones’ bond with maria before he has the chance to get the info he’s after. and even if liz doesn’t figure it out in time, I think severing the connection btwn jones and maria will be necessary to get her out of her coma.

I also think that getting rid of jones’ sword will be necessary in a one-on-one fight. my current theory is that liz will find a way to destroy it, which would be a nice way to tie-in her disarming that alien tech in 2x13 into this season’s A plot. (another way this could go is that max is able to gain control and he uses it over jones, but I’m personally hoping for the destroying it route lol.)

anyway all this rambling brings me to my big theory about where things are headed this season. so I’d been saying that jeanine’s comment of liz and max “making their final decision together” was hinting at a proposal. but as we’re about to be 8 episodes deep into a 13 episode season with very little movement wrt echo outside of liz apologizing for her experiments last season, I find it hard to see that happening organically. and with the stakes we have now- jones in maria’s mind, michael & isobel having no chance at taking down jones- the words “final decision” sound a bit darker to me.

so what if max is fighting jones and it looks like he’s going to lose, but liz refuses to leave him? what if max and liz are prepared to die together? it would demonstrate that they’re always going to choose each other and their unwillingness to be apart, and also just be some really good angst lmfaoooo. and tbh at this point I don’t think they’ll reunite romantically until after jones is gone (writers pls prove me wrong 🤞), so if they don’t have the chance to discuss their feelings before the inevitable max-jones fight, this would make it pretty clear to both of them how they feel lol. also love a good “can’t believe we survived” kiss and this would be the perfect opportunity for it!

[bthump]

What do you think about the point in the story we are at now? Would you say you like the direction Miura is going in or not? What are the things you dislike about Berserk as it is now?

lol this is hard to answer because it’s so heavily dependent on what happens next. I think we’re at a point where everything could start coming together in a way that really appeals to me or where everything could just fall apart and I’ll have to accept that this is no longer a story I’m particularly interested in.

Though I am slightly leaning towards the former right now, whether that’s based on real evidence or mostly blind optimism I’m not entirely sure lol.

Basically I think it’ll depend on a) whether Moonlight Boy becomes a major motivational plot point or turns out to be more of a red herring or brief inciting factor in the shift to a new arc, and b) whether Guts and the rpg group overcome the imminent challenge they’ll face thanks to their personal growth and friendship or whether it’ll fuck them up.

But the reasons I’m feeling tentatively optimistic right now are:

all the foreshadowing re Guts losing himself to the armour and wreaking some havok, which has to happen at some point lbr

fetus as the focal point of Casca’s traumatic memories and symbolizing her thorn-covered heart, which to me screams sacrifice material, which would be the only thing that could make it time sharing Griffith’s body interesting to me (ie what happens to Griffith if it’s sacrificed?)

I’m gonna link this post because I’m still mostly feeling the basics of this theory, ie Skull Knight and Elfhelm in cahoots plotting to use the behelit to entrap the godhand, at Guts and Casca’s expense. Plus another possible way for Moonlight Boy to come to nothing is if it’s a manipulation of Danann’s.

I think Guts is purposefully being written as emotionally distanced from the rpg group, which is a good sign for the power of friendship not saving him yet, and there are also aspects of Guts+rpg group that parallel Griffith+Hawks in the golden age (eg Farnese’s feelings for Guts being paralleled to Casca’s feelings for Griffith, Guts gaining followers who compare him to fire, etc) which also gives me hope that tragedy will strike.

Miura’s little bait and switch wrt Guts and Casca’s relationship that honestly felt like gentle mockery of people who wanted them to immediately get together lol. Yk Casca getting sent out in a pretty dress to meet Guts complete with romantic double page spread and having a breakdown, then changing into pants and cutting her hair and saying how much better it is, and not being able to look at Guts now.

Also more recently, Guts at a loss now that he’s brought Casca’s sanity back and it didn’t actually solve any of his issues. “The hell do I do now?” “You have reached the end of your journey. It is not always a happy thing.” I’ve been worried for a while that Guts’ complex issues have been dropped and we’re meant to see him taking Casca to Elfhelm as him genuinely growing past them, and that one moment was such a huge relief when I read it lol. It really suggests to me that this sidequest was always about Guts trying to find a distraction to avoid dealing with his actual issues (fear/trauma, insecurity, love/hate feelings for Griffith, regret, etc), and those are going to make a return sooner rather than later.

Miura implying in interviews that we’re not all that close to the end, so there’ll probably be at least one more arc after Elfhelm, which gives me more hope that this whole rpg arc will lead to some amount of narrative-shaking tragedy and we’ll get some interesting stuff after.

this parallel with the climax of the Millenium Falcon arc and my firm belief that it has to come full circle.

other stuff like complex apostle characters, the lost chapter worldbuilding, schierke suggesting that her elemental guardians are holy see angels alongside implications that holy see angels are the godhand. Basically my hopes for worldbuilding that doesn’t boil down to good spirit world vs evil spirit world.

all the little suggestions that NGriff isn’t as emotionless as he’d like to be that have nothing to do with a demon fetus giving a shit about its parents

So I guess my answer is that I do like the direction I hope Miura’s going in, but there’s also enough counter evidence that I may be wrong about that direction.

So some of the things I dislike about Berserk now are:

Moonlight Boy and the Fear that he will derail everything and the plot will soon revolve around, idk, Guts and Casca trying to free their kid’s soul bringing them closer together or some awful shit like that.

Moonlight Boy and the Fear that Miura is actually going to ignore the absolutely incredible foundation he wrote in the Golden Age to support the hints of Griffith’s current capacity for emotion in favour of pinning it all on a magic baby.

I have some lowkey fears that Guts “bleeding” for Casca is gonna be a thing, largely based on me recently re-reading the scene where Farnese gets upset about everything Guts has done for her while bathing her. Like yk, maybe Casca will remember Guts saving her and warm up to him... tho in all honesty I can’t actually think of an example of Guts being the one to save her post-Eclipse lmao, he fucks it up every time. Maybe when he first put on the armour and killed an apostle in front of her or w/e, yk. Some shit like that. Like I can come up with 50 counter arguments but those only work if you accept the basic premise that Berserk will be good, yk?

The fear that we are meant to understand that Guts has overcome most of his flaws throughout the Millenium Falcon/Fantasia arcs and will get a big moment to demonstrate that and overcome the armour or save Casca or whatever.

And less speculatively and more generally, like many people I’m not a fan of the current art style, I think the larger cast on Guts’ side is causing some poor writing and not helping the pacing issues (and tbh I think Berserk is paced fairly well up until the boat stuff), I don’t like the lighter more comedic tone right now bc I got into Berserk for the grimdark vibe and tragedy and characters succumbing to their fatal flaws and making huge mistakes and I miss that a lot. I’m not saying Berserk can’t be light and funny and campy but I prefer that Black Swordsman or Conviction Arc style where it’s offset by a lot of fucked up shit, or Golden Age style where there’s an underlying sense of dread bc we already know shit’s going to go wrong, yk? If shit does get dark soon I might end up being a lot less critical of the current tone on re-read tbf.

So basically to sum up:

hopes: tragedy, character flaws that haven’t been dealt with yet coming home to roost, Moonlight Boy becomes a non-issue.

fears: power of friendship staves off tragedy, slower gtsca romance, moonbaby affects plot and emotions, guts’ flaws get brushed under the rug instead of fucking him over

I can argue that the former makes a lot more sense than the latter, but I’ve been burned a lot in my life and I know a lot of fans would argue the latter makes more sense than the former so yk, everyone has their biases including me and idk how blinded I am by those biases lol.

Anyway ty for asking!

[lonelier-version-of-you]

What on Earth was that episode?

After a few weeks of pretty damn good scripts (the storylines still suck, but at least the scripts have been decent), tonight’s Holby returned to mediocrity. Hopefully this isn’t a long-term thing. I have no hope of the show going out on a high, but I want it to at least go out decently, and if the quality just slips back down right when it was finally improving a little bit... that’s not a good sign :/

The Evie storyline... ugh, ugh, ugh. It was actually being handled fairly well last week, but of course, the Holby writers can’t tell issue storylines without piling a load of sensationalist garbage on top (see also: Henrik’s CSA storyline, and the sickening racist stereotyping in it - among the many, many other issues that storyline had), so tonight they returned to form.

I’d ask what sick mind comes up with this stuff, but any of us who have seen any of Kate Oates’ work on other soaps knows the answer to that. This storyline is definitely her doing, and I highly suspect the Henrik storyline was as well. That woman has a weird obsession with writing the most horrible, exploitative rape/sexual abuse storylines possible. Why is she even allowed to work on these shows anymore??

This whole ridiculousness with Fletch punching Rich and Jeni letting Rich deteriorate so she can cover it up and keep pimping Evie out... it’s completely unnecessary, and just shoved in there for extra drama. Again, this is one of Kate Oates’ biggest problems as a storyteller - she doesn’t think issues like this are serious enough in themselves, she has to go and shove a bunch of extra drama in there to up the stakes. For god’s sake.

Also... if I’ve got this straight, Fletch does still think Evie and Rich are dating, right? Like, obviously he doesn’t know about the trafficking, but he does know Evie is “involved” with a much older man? If so, he got over his anger at Rich and concern for Evie remarkably quickly. To the point of snapping at Evie for “thinking a man that age would want anything more than to sleep with her” or whatever. Maybe I’m biased as a CSA survivor myself, but if I were a 40-something man whose 17-year-old daughter was apparently going out with a man around my age, I would be incredibly concerned, recognise that she was being groomed and do my best to help her out of the situation. RIP to Fletch, but I’m different.

Also also, that episode really needed a trigger warning. As did last week’s, tbh. I’m disappointed but not surprised, given there weren’t any trigger warnings for Henrik’s CSA storyline either.

Now I’m done talking about the main plot of the episode, let’s discuss what happened elsewhere:

The “should we let Cameron take part in the trial” debate is ridiculous, as it should logistically all be a moot point. There is NO WAY in a MILLION YEARS that Cameron would ever be treated at Holby. It just wouldn’t happen. Even if he had a medical emergency, like a heart attack or something, surely they would take him to St. James’s.

Chloe actually being asked to work her notice was a surprise. I doubt she’s actually leaving, but it’s nice they remembered that people do actually have to work their notice. I’m pretty sure the last time Holby remembered that was 9 years ago, when we saw Sahira for the final time (the supposed “return” doesn’t count, that character was Sahira in name only, otherwise her storyline had nothing to do with the real Sahira).

Anyway, we got Henrik and Eli in the same scene tonight, so that was nice. Two autistic icons together. *insert thumbs up emoji because I can’t be bothered to copy and paste one* Although, I don’t know what the hell Eli has been thinking WRT the Cameron situation. Or what Henrik is thinking, either, but then again that man is massively incompetent when it comes to handling serial killing doctors (*cough*Gaskell*cough*), so.

The best part of the episode was by far the Jac and Carole stuff. Whoever thought to intertwine their storylines and parallel them like this is a genius. Rosie Marcel and Julia Deakin are both incredible actresses, putting them in a scene together creates utter brilliance. It was lovely seeing Jac show her softer side with Carole, too.

Oh, and I did like Kylie setting up a makeshift prom for her patient and his crush. That was very sweet. Mel’s a bitch for taking the credit though. Damn it Louis, just break up with Mel and get with Kylie already!

[bekahdoesnerdshit]

tis a day late BUT 23, 24, 25, and 27 from the romance asks for raini (wrt ecstasy); the first two are about how messy they might be and the second two are about how deep she's refusing to admit she is :3

23. Do they apologize to their partner even if it wasn’t their fault? Laughable! An absolutely laughable question to pose. Raini doesn’t even apologize for shit that actually is her fault, can you imagine her even considering swallowing her pride enough to apologize for something she didn’t even do? To Ecstasy specifically, who would be insufferably smug about it for the rest of time?? FUCK that! Has Raini, in theory, apologized to Ecstasy for something at some point. Probably. Was it an experience she is eager in any way to repeat? No!!!! This has, of course, resulted in weeks long silent treatment campaigns, until they both just decide they’re over whatever it was (usually when they next get to see each other in person) and move on with their lives. ohohoh except I am thinking about the post campaign reunion, which I do think I’ll leave as a Tasteful Surprise for when we get there and I :3 Alex hmu if you want the details tho since you’re not in the campaign 👀

24. Will they lie for the sake of their significant other’s happiness? Yes absolutely. We may not admit those are our motivations, but they’re there. Like tbh the first interaction they had in campaign was Raini lying her ass off about why she needed Ecstasy to tell her her life story. Was it partially to avoid putting herself in a position of weakness with this person who was all but a stranger to her? Yes. But also, like. She’d watched the Cylthia/Iris reunion, and the Glade/Lent reunion, and even though she’s not like Great at recognizing and interpreting emotions it would have been impossible to miss the fact that. Hey? This shit is clearly Devastating. And while a girlfriend isn’t an (almost) fiancee or husband, that, uh. That’s not. Raini didn’t? Want? To be responsible for that look on someone’s face?? Especially and perhaps exclusively not someone who’s face tugs at something in her chest like Ecstasy’s does? So if she could get around it, if Ecstasy didn’t need to know what was going on, why should Raini have to tell her? And if she cloaks her motivations as entirely selfish, she can get away with it without anyone poking their nose into her business. 

25. If they could choose their partner again, would they choose the same person? I would argue!! This is the b plot of the campaign!! Which I as a player think is very very sweet and temo. So, with that context in mind, yes. Like, how the hell is she supposed to downgrade to anyone else after experiencing everything Ecstasy has to offer behind closed doors? And in front of them? She just couldn’t do it, folks. Nor should she be expected to imo.  Joking aside, nothing about what attracted Raini to Ecstasy the first time -both superficially and later on- has changed, and Raini is still, fundamentally, Raini. Ecstasy is still hot and confident and competent and takes initiative and commands attention, and Raini is still attracted to every bit of that (as much as she hates to admit it sometimes) Plus, and maybe this is just because I’m gay, but something about that existing connection tugging and drawing you to another person.....how can you resist? I think if anything -and Morgan hop in here if I’m Totally Mistaken- Ecstasy would be the one to pull back right now, for a variety of fun and devastating reasons. We talked about it in our dms, and like. Ms. North is Not taking this shit super great. If Morgan’s okay with it I might tack some screenshots from our dms onto a reblog here because oof. 

27. Have they had dreams about their partner/the person they are courting? Yes! In several fun and distinct flavors, such as: - Boy I haven’t gotten laid in Weeks and now my brain is cycling through attractive people I’ve met to have a star for some steamy dreams, and for some reason it keeps circling back to this asshole pirate we met a couple months ago. Sure hope this doesn’t awaken anything in me. - Oh no it awakened something in me. - I’ve been “seeing” this pirate for a while now and she took me to meet her parents and now I’m having dreams where we’re just sitting and talking and she’s laughing? And I can’t remember what either of us say but I can feel how warm my chest and face are? Certainly this won’t awaken anything else in me. - Uh oh. - We’re somewhere indistinct but decidedly Safe curled up together and I can feel her hand in my hair and resting on the small of my back and I’ve never been more comfortable in my life and I’m dozing off in my dream getting the best sleep of my life and  - Last but not least! I’m a divination wizard and occasionally have dreams related to that! Sure hope I don’t see anything Bad happening to the pirate I definitely do Not like!! 

[1ddiscourseoftheday]

Wed 27 Feb

Two Of Us T-8 DAYS

Today at dotd we give thanks for, above all, my convenient fucking time zone wrt the rise of King Louis, thank the gods above for that. I can't tell you every little thing it's TOO MUCH but some highlights of today's barrage of lontent in roughly chronological order... Louis Instagram and twitter profile pics changed, there was a very clever tweet that you had to retweet to unlock the ToU cover art so yeah, boom, trending immediately, followed shortly after by Two Of Us official art and presave links and release date posted (Mar 7! It's moved up a day!) across every platform known to the modern world, trick tweet deleted, Louis' spotify instantly crashed under the weight of people trying to presave and stayed intermittently crashed for like an hour, Louis' website and twitter and everything else updated with the new art theme featuring Louis' handwriting for everything, a handwritten letter emailed out, label and team and colleagues all publicly showing up to support... then a lull. We relaxed, and appreciated the truly astonishing amount of very fast fanart that posted. But then! House of Solo new issue with Louis cover! Presales up for about two minutes, immediately taken down and put back up at a higher price due to demand (:/)(but also now available internationally), sold out, restocked, sold out again, restocked again, idek now go check for yourself. And then! Sun exclusive with preview material from the House of Solo interview- quotes about the song being about Jay! It's Louis, talking about the music!! THE LYRICS OF THE CHORUS. Then more pics from the HoS shoot like every half hour, THEN people discovered a bts photo from that shoot that had been sitting on ig, tagged and everything, since EARLY DEC! Then Louis popped into a Twitter chat ("Thank you for being such a loyal fan base...lots of love") good god I would die. Louis trending for like the third time today. Louis employee Jessie Martin out there liking memes about record labels screwing over clients, lol.

Takeaways and discourses in brief- Jordan Green says Louis was very involved in all the creative and more importantly that this is the "first single of the new campaign" NICE. The release date being moved from Fri to Thurs, which worried some as Fridays are the traditional release day for chart action but Billboard tells us "Thurs is the new Fri" for getting lots of attention. Twitter bio updated but the '1/4 of One Direction' still there, aww. Biggest takeaway of the day though, team Louis is KILLING IT, promo is ON POINT and we are absolutely living for it!!! And, possibly we're about to fucking die of it, this is a lot. Still to come probably in the next few days, Line of Best Fit interview or tease, MeRCh??, more video snippets? They've posted starting at exactly 5 pm GMT the last couple days, it seems totally possible that's going to continue all week so clear your schedules and brace yourselves!

In two of the HoS photos we've seen Louis is wearing a very distinctive shirt that was also worn by Rami Malek to the premier of Papillon, in which he played the character of Louis. Papillon, of course, is the story of two men, Henri and Louis, who are locked up by tptb and plotting to escape together: the 1973 Steve McQueen version of the movie was the inspiration for many of Harry and Louis' tattoos, including the butterfly and the card suits. Maybe it's unrelated! But I personally really hope he wore it as a coded message cause tbh wtf is that shirt, it looks like a 90s lesbian sitcom character promo photo top. Yeah yeah I know y'all love that I'M SORRY I just CANNOT

Some discourse about appropriate things to post about this very personal song/topic which I absolutely do not have space to cover but everyone seems to agree that we should tag for death and grief warnings and some are already having a hard time, so let's go with that?

Phew okay. Listen Niall's really out there making a bid for headlining these updates but dude, this is Not the time for your antics! Not till after the 7th! Sheesh. Still, props, getting drunk and getting papped being ridiculously handsy with your PA is a damn good bid for attention, I'm listening... So, "oops I was drunk and getting sloppy with a pal?" Cynical bid for media coverage on the heels of the recent "mystery girl" articles about them being papped so much together? Trying to tell us he's actually dating his employee? This seems the least likely scenario but Niall is a dark fucking horse, who the hell knows. Anyway to be fair he was also being handsy af with some blond dude, covering all the bases?

And finally Harry was spotted lunching in London. I don't know what this fandom's coming to when Harry news is the most relaxing and straightforward part of it, honestly. Again, get it together Niall - that's supposed to be you! I don't even know which way is up anymore I swear.

[falinscloaca]

RTD Doctor Who:

+ character-facing storytelling with a strong heart. can’t really say more

+ occasionally fantastic writing

+ camp 

+ Donna was excellent

+ Martha was alright and the fact she felt like a grown woman was good

+ generally liberal in terms of politics which is something at least, it kept up with the general spiritual grounding of the classic series pretty well (regrettably for good and for bad but. well i mention the whole deal with mickey in the “-“s section down there)

+ actually got Moffat to write some decent material

+ really interesting aliens amoungst the random animal people, especially on its rare off-earth-trips

+ actually mostly resolves story lines in a way that at least has a sense of internal logic

+ Donna’s grandpa was excellent too

+ when the series did decide to ramp up emotional stakes in an actually mature way it was outright brilliant (see: Dalek, Silence in the Library/Forest of the Damned, Midnight, Turn Left, the conclusion of Waters of Mars wrt mortal causality and the doctors arrogant betrayal thereof, etc)

+ his era’s dalek designs were fuckin excellent

+ i even have a lot of intellectually stimulating things to say about its negatives

- Skeletor long-jumping lighting-hands speed-eating low-rent-riddler-impersonator master who has none of his classic-who dignity (even in sound of drums) and whose story implies him being just an outright abuser just to make it so that someone besides the doctor or one of the main cast has to shoot him uwu 

- the “he will knock four times” foreshadowing thing was fine in itself but a) it should’ve found actually omniscient beings with a reasonable explanation why to parrot it instead of just a human turning out to be psychic and the ood being inexplicably advanced

- it often forgets how time travel works (the doctor rushing into his tardis so he isn’t late to an even that happeneds thousands of years before and hopefully stops it before it already happens, for instance) 

- Rose sucks, i can’t quite put it into words but i don’t like her. also the arc of her and the doctor falling in luv is fucking gross since its equivalent to bestiality in a broad sense. also russel expecting me to feel sad about it three-and-a-wierd-specials-season in a row? L . what did the doctor even see in her. 

-the way mickey is depicted is racist and the fact that after a few seasons of not being around very much he and martha are suddenly a couple for The End of Time. when martha was already IN a relationship with another guy and the only explanation Russel gave as to why was that the guy was abusive off-screen. also martha and mickey never interacted much. so russel invokes abuse just to pair the only major black protagonists from his run together even though they hardly interacted and don’t even have chemistry? i don’t think i’m qualified to even explain the ways this sucks but G-d its awful

-the slitheen are fucking stupid and walking fart jokes. also their plan relies on literally everyone else being stupid too. Boom Town was alright though. 

- Rassilon went from “omnipotent time-god who was imprisoned in eternal slumber in this weird hunting ground-y hell-reminiscent-kinda place called the Death Zone (and even though he was asleep he could still petrify people instantly if he wants and is very much conscious so like. if he was awake he’d probably be in complete control of the universe as those in the story know it)” to “impotent angry supervillain fashy man who rules the time lords and needs a glove to disintegrate one person at a time and gets fucking owned by a hungry skeletor with stubble” and there isn’t even an explanation WHY

- the doctor tended to be a smug prick 

- this is petty but the doctor was too young/conventionally attractive 

- honestly most importantly the doctors hardline stance against killing of any kind is fucking disgusting. people bring up Batman as the primo “oh no uwu i cant kill this man who’s killed hundreds bc it’ll make me feel bad uwu” but the doctor REFUSES TO KILL SOMEONE WHO’S A LEGITIMATE DANGER TO ALL LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE AND MASS MURDERER OF ENTIRE POPULATIONS AND EVEN HAS THE FUCKING GALL TO HUG HIM AND SAY “ I FORGIVE YOU” ONCE HES WON AND THE MASTER WOULD OTHERWISE BE GOOD AS DEAD. DOES BATMAN HUG THE JOKER WHILE THE JOKER’S KNIFE IS STILL BLOODIED?! NO!!

- also the series hypes up the doctor as way more important in the grand scheme than he really should be. its hard to feel invested when the protagonist is space jesus

- the plot arcs it does hardly connect within themselves by any actual logic (this is mostly about bad wolf and the doctors regen though tbh) 

- tonally it was all over the place

- also it relied on old who aliens too much for finales

~Most importantly, and this is weirdly also kinda a positive since its a direct complement to the showrunner, given his actual writing skill its obvious Russel was dumbing everything down for mass appeal when he absolutely did not need to 

i was originally just going to write both russel’s and moffat’s runs but tbh i’m fucking tired expect part 2 where i rip moffat into small bloody chunks even worse than i did here to russel eventually maybe

[laufire]

Roswell NM 2x08

This episode was... boring. As usual I spent most of the time wanting more Rosa LOL. I was spoiled about her subplot being a hallucination, so I don’t know what I would’ve thought otherwise. I liked that Iris was sort of... what Rosa dreams she could have been, in another life (escaping the black hole that is Roswell, returning and helping another teens, etc.). And I felt her frustration and her despair, about having to pretend to be someone else, about failing. My baby. She’s so adorable too (I loved the “You think I need a mirror?” line, d’aw).

One of my problems with this show is that so much I would’ve liked to see is glossed over to pay attention to shit I don’t care about LMAO. Not even JAIME CLAYTON got me interested in Cameron’s story, sns. And I just... feel nothing for Forrest --he feels so... convenient. Which yeah, it’s the point. As a person I like him better than Steph, but at least she feels *distinctive*, iykwim--, very little for Alex, or for them together tbh *shrugs*.

Like why the hell couldn’t we have a scene where MARIA gives the necklace to Rosa, in person? I idn’t appreciate that her plot was hijacked by Isobel either, tbh (appreciated her even less in Rosa’s room, with Rosa’s clothes, in Rosa’s space. Seriously, I find that dynamic so fucking creepy. Stay the fuck away Isobel. The “dress for the life you want!” speech was so punchable lmao. Also: that asshole racist blonde girl that insulted Rosa felt exactly like a mini Isobel, jsyk. BTW, I’ve decided I’m going to be nice and assume she did ask Maria for permission before invading her mind, despite the terrible precedent :)))

I did enjoy what little we saw of Maria herself, period. But yeah, very little. Even less of her and Michael, and the conflict caused by Maria’s double edged powers. But I did love the part where she got to the heart of it: reasuring him she’s not going to leave him. AKA, his true concern and fear here. Her scene with Max was cute too.

Another frustration: the neglect of Rosa & Kyle’s relationship. Actually Rosa & Valentis in general. It feels like that’s been pushed because it separates her more from the pod squad circle of influence, tbh (since they’ve completely slithered their way inside the Ortecho’s family --well, just the Evans twins; in all fairness, at least Michael hasn’t tried to be all friendly with Arturo while lying to his face about his daughter’s death, having put a target on his back, and/or invading his mind! Kudos to Michael for meeting the bare amount of decency with that poor man --still on my shitlist for joking about desecrating Rosa’s corpse in Liz’s face though, not that she seemed to care much. Or for clearly not feeling he needs to apologize for anything regarding Rosa’s death--; *sighs* whenever I think I’ve stopped feeling bitter about that storyline...).

Random aside, but I was thinking that I’m still disappointed at how short the supposedly ~Dark!Max plot lasted lol. Like. You put Rosa (and others okay but I know what I’m about) through THAT and then?? Okay.

At one point in the show, I would love it if they went hard for a Sketchy Scientist Liz Ortecho storyline LMFAO. Seriously. It’s my favourite part of her. There were hints about her career this episode that made me curious, like with Michael’s distrust, Max gently pushing her to go back to ask for grants (that in this case, would be about non-alien related science), and Charlie positioning Liz’s relationship as an obstacle.

I’ve liked Michael’s boss since his intro, when he told Michael about how trading favours back and forth only gets you stuck with someone xD. Back then it felt like a veiled reference to Miluca (because they definitely have that type of dynamic, d’aw), but now it obviously takes a new meaning: it might not be the case, but the actor played it as he new what Michael was talking about IMO. So I think he knew who he was hiring.

Wrt next week’s promo: LMFAO at Kyle’s frustrated “Max did kill Noah!”. Lying (and yeah, fucking gaslighinig) one’s mother takes its tall, huh? I truly hope Michelle finds out the truth soon.

[laufire]

@rosyrosalie, if you don’t mind, I’m going to reply on a new post, because the original one was getting long and I don’t want to derail op’s point even further than I already have xD. And because my reply is probably going to be... controversial.

So, just as a disclaimer, because I know how tumblr works xD: what I’m about to say doesn’t reflect my values, or what I think the show Should Be or Must Be, but a perspective on what I think is going on with the show, based in part in my experience with other canons.

Yeah I agree with all of this.

& just to be clear: my ref to the Epic Love Story was what I’ve seen B/C fans literally describe it as, it’s not my own view! Lol.

TBH I’d say the writers already lost respect for Bellamy during S6. Like the fandom, it was very much ‘All About Clarke’. Or so it seemed on screen. So who knows. But tbh I’d be just as disappointed and grossed out if they had Bellamy die for her in the end.

The first point first: yeah, don’t worry, I get that’s what you meant about the Epic Love Story, I just always held that opinion that BC just can’t be one, because of how it was constructed from its very beginnings, so I wanted to get that point across xD

Now, wrt the rest. Here’s where we get to the controversial (and frankly, gross and misogynistic) stuff and what I’m sure is an UO when it comes to season six, but: in my opinion, what the the body-snatch plot did, ultimately, was getting Clarke to lose control over, and owe, her very own body to Bellamy. I think even the mouth-to-mouth that for some reason people call “kiss” despite how ridiculous it was xDD was part of it.

In my experience, what a male lead needs to succeed (by which I mean, get his Triumphant Endgame, which varies from lead to lead) is to control every other character in the narrative, especially the female characters, one way or another. If a female character ever gets a step outside his circle of influence, especially if she gets another male character in her corner, she puts his position at risk.

(the rest under a cut because it got long, and because there are people that’ll want to avoid it lol)

That’s what happened to Finn: Octavia showed some shallow attraction towards him in the pilot, but otherwise was completely outside his influence. Raven stepped out with the one male character who could challenge him. Clarke lost more and more respect for him and now doesn’t even seem to remember him much, and she was his One Tru Wuv. Just a few episodes after he died, Murphy and Emori, two characters that weren’t initially supposed to go far, got their own Epic Love Story. Etc., etc.

OTOH, Bellamy’s had a pretty good run at this. He was presented as His Sister’s Caretaker, protecting her was his one goal. And he did it despite what she wanted, violating her autonomy in more than one occassion (even poisoning her in s5). They made a point of showing us his ~sexual prowess from the beginning. He has romantic entanglements (to put it more bluntly, he’s had sex) with two of the most important women in the story atm, Raven and Echo.

He leads spacekru-- even Memori’s breakup ties to this because by separating them they got to “prove” their loyalty to the group beyond just each other: Emori getting them to Earth, Murphy supporting Raven, etc., before getting back together. And Monty and Harper were closer to Clarke’s area of influence (Delinquents) than Bellamy... and they died. He got Madi to put on the chip (i.e. influenced her hoices over her own body). He physically fought Indra and Gaia and ~earned their respect. Abby allied with him over her own daughter in s4 to save Marcus. And so on and so forth.

The one that was really left... Clarke. The way I see it, there are two opposing narratives in The 100: Clarke’s (and whatever little remains of Finn’s values), and Bellamy’s. That’s why they always come against each other almost every season. It’s why Clarke repeatedly ~gets involved~ (and fails) at plots that would kill Octavia. Why Bellamy volunteers to brave Praimfaya for Raven but then leaves Clarke behind on Earth. Why they fought over their respective families in s5, etc.

Sooner or later (more likely later. There’s a reason I keep saying s7 is going to break it or make it for me), one of these narratives will conquer the other. And I think the body-snatch played into that. I think that’s why s6 is the one season where Bellamy and Clarke are on the same side from beginning to end.

It’s also related to how it was Murphy, Bellamy’s Right Hand Man, who contributed to Clarke’s lose of autonomy. To how Memori got even stronger. Maybe to how Echo Leveled Up and Madi Leveled Down, or to why the show went to its “roots” with Bellamy and Octavia, his core relationship. Or to how Clarke lost Abby, the only semi-support she had fully on her corner, or that Raven never had to “apologize” or feel bad about her bodysnatching, as much as the fandom wanted. All corners of Bellamy’s side of things were ~protected and nurtured, and the ones in Clarke’s were under attack. And for the later, the narrative did need to give more focus to Clarke, so I don’t really hold that against it lol.

I’m unsure about how the narrative will go after this; for all I know, it was a miscalculation and it might end up ruining Bellamy (I just hope, in that case, he can take her down with him). And I think there’s a posibility the writers might think the body snatch was not “enough” and THAT is why they might give in and, despite their own preferences, put BC together, though even then I doubt it’ll be in a satisfying way for any shipper. I hope not lmao, but it could be that they think that’s what he needs to fully “win” over her side of the story. And that would put him even MORE at risk, the way I see it.

So, yeah. That’s my take on Bellamy’s s6 plot. I don’t like Bellamy as much for himself as for what his role does for my faves (Echo, Raven, Murphy, Emori, Octavia), but I do root for him to win this one in s7 lol.

And just so we’re clear, again: I think that the fact that narratives work like this is limiting and gross and uncomfortable (though I have to admit in this occassion, it works in my faves’ favour, so I’m not as FURIOUS about it as I’ve been in other cases), and I try to actively go against it when *I* am in charge of writing a story... but I’ve consumed a lot of stories, and my brain loves noticing patterns between them. And once I see them I can’t unsee them, and this one jumped straight at my vision as I was watching season six.