#what is the point of this gifset? i'm not entirely sure

[khaotunq]

Ryu's Adventures In... laundry and breaking up with the emotional support himbos. First Kanaphan as Ryu (Wake Up Ladies: Very Complicated, 2020).

[asgardian--angels]

Izzy Discourse Masterpost

Hey all, given the amount of awful splintering and wank happening in ofmd fandom rn regarding Izzy's death, including the flat-out immature and unacceptable harassment of David Jenkins and Co, I wanted to just make this one all-encompassing post to address the various grievances and complaints I've seen (almost entirely on Twitter). If I've missed anything, please feel free to add on. I'm putting most of this under a read-more for length.

Please be aware, I say all of this as an Izzy fan. I've loved his character since season 1, and while I was sad to see him go, I completely understand and support David & Co's reasons for concluding his arc, and I think it was done respectfully in a way fitting to his character. So let's break down some of the takes I've seen. I am not referencing specific posts or people here, I just want to address the general themes that I keep seeing about why some people are upset.

Izzy's death served no narrative purpose.

Look, this is one that I'm sure fans will debate for the rest of the hiatus. It's completely within your right to disagree with this writing choice, but Izzy's death did serve a narrative purpose in the story that David Jenkins is telling - and he has spoken to this end in several interviews already. I can only summarize here, and fans may find other perspectives in time as well. What we need to remember is that Our Flag Means Death is, at the end of the day, Ed and Stede's love story. That has been made abundantly, explicitly clear. The show has been fantastic at fleshing out the other supporting characters, but that's what they are - supporting characters. They often have their own subplots but ultimately the narrative seeks to move Ed and Stede's story forward and they are tools to spur Ed and Stede's growth or mirror their struggles. Izzy has been a wonderfully complex, multifaceted character but we must remember that all characters are vessels through which stories are told, lessons are imparted, and metaphors are established. He's not a real person who 'deserves' any particular fate. David said he's always intended for Izzy to die at the end of his arc.

Firstly, Izzy (now canonically, through his own dying words) represents part of Blackbeard. He enabled and encouraged Ed's darker side, they were mutually toxic forces to each other. Ed is attempting to cope with and move on from this phase of his life, and like Stede in season 1, set out a free man, unshackled by expectations and loose ends of those he's hurt and been hurt by (though we realize this is an ongoing process that takes time). This lovely gifset sums it up nicely, with Izzy being the Mary parallel, and making s2 mirror s1. Blackbeard is both Ed and Izzy; Ed cannot be free of Blackbeard while Izzy is in his life, and when Izzy is gone he will never truly be Blackbeard again. They are each other's rotting leg!! Yet, they love each other - and David has said that for Ed, this has developed into a mentor and father relationship, and where Ed has previously despised his father figures (his actual father, Hornigold) he does not want to lose Izzy. This time, Izzy brings out Ed, not Blackbeard - and that's where we get the callback to 'there he is', bringing their impact on each other full circle, freeing Ed, getting approval of sorts that he never had, to be soft, to be loved (and there are parallels to Zheng and Auntie here as well that others have made) from that force that drove him to stay in line all this time. David has said in multiple interviews now that he was going for the idea of the mentor/father figure dying and the hero living on and trying to do justice to them.

From Izzy's side, Izzy cannot be free while Edward remains either (Mary cannot find peace while Stede remains). The scar never truly healed, the leg will always be a reminder. At this point the argument becomes 'yes, but why did he have to die? Why not just sail off with the crew of the Revenge?' David has stated that he feels they've done everything they can with, and for, Izzy; he's come leagues from season 1, he's found community, he's found hope, he's found new parts of himself, and he's made good memories. He's found worth outside of what he can be to others. That's more than most pirates could hope for. Where would his character go from there, when the Golden Age of Piracy he belongs to has burned to the ground? Would he stay around and whittle on the Revenge? If he were a real person, yes, that would be lovely, and he'd deserve all the quiet peaceful happiness in the world. But as I explain several points below, he's not interested in being a captain. He's not up for the hard physical labor of regular crew, and he's extremely overqualified for that besides. He has served his narrative purpose, and symbolically, to enter a new age, everything must go. He's connected to the old age of piracy, to the Republic of Pirates, that is now demolished. To him, fighting for what he believes in, for the family he's found, bringing down an army of British twats in the process, is how he should go. It's a pirate's death, and as Izzy's said, he's a pirate - unlike Blackbeard who's succeeding in breaking away from piracy, Izzy never wanted to stop being a pirate, throughout his arc. To me, that's why Izzy remains trapped in the narrative, trapped in history, whereas Ed and Stede will escape history. They leave piracy, and canon, behind, while Izzy was content to remain a pirate and face a pirate's fate.

Burying him on land, right next to Ed and Stede's beach house, shows that his sacrifice was not in vain - they start this new life together, thanks to Izzy's mentorship, his role in their lives that sometimes for worse, sometimes for better, made their love what it was and made their breakaway possible. The new age is built on the foundations of the old age, and is stronger for it.

As we're well aware by now, David tweeted that there's no version of ofmd without Izzy. Whether that's literal or not, symbolically it's true. Izzy's arc of growth affected everyone on the Revenge. Jim fondly remembered fighting for a time when life meant something on that ship; the crew helped give Izzy new meaning in life, and he helped them in return. When he dies, they mourn and have a funeral; that wouldn't have happened under Blackbeard's watch in episode 2. His life meant something to them. He influenced Ed and Stede immensely, and they will take that with them. As David's said, they're all a family, and Izzy was a part of that family, and his loss unites them and brings them closer to continue to fight for that family they've built. It's a tragic, sudden death of someone they've all grown to care for, and that steels their reserve to keep the torch lit. They literally sail off into the sunset to hunt down Ricky to avenge Izzy; he will always be a part of this show. And, of course, with the brief appearance of seagull Buttons, the door is left open for anything.

If this was The Izzy Show, then sure, we'd be content to see him simply engaged in shenanigans every episode. But the plot, and therefore the characters, need to keep moving forward, and Izzy got his growth and development. He got what he needed for his character to have closure, and he served his symbolic narrative purpose in Ed's (and Stede's) story. You may have your own ideas and perspectives, and that's great - that's what fandom is for. But we cannot say his death was pointless when David Jenkins and the writers clearly had a well-defined motive for pushing the narrative in this direction. I actually think the narrative around Ed and Izzy is the most well-developed in the entire show. I for one am so happy we got such an interesting and complex character, and had the brilliant Con O'Neill to portray him.

Izzy's growth & healing arc was rendered pointless by his death.

As this post so eloquently puts it, it's pretty bleak to have the outlook that taking steps to heal and find meaning in life is worthless if it's later lost. Seeking happiness and self-actualization is worthwhile for its own sake; no one knows what's down the road, and we all die eventually. Find meaning in life now. Would you rather have had Izzy not miss with his bullet in ep2? He was given the chance to experience joy, freedom, and hope for the first time in potentially a long time, and when he died he did so with those happy memories. As mentioned, Izzy's death was decided long beforehand given the narrative, and the point of storytelling is to make you feel emotions. We were given impetus to connect and relate to Izzy's character through his process of healing, so when he did die, we felt it keenly. That's how stories work actually! We felt what Ed felt. It moved us. It's not a bad thing that Izzy's arc made him more likeable to fans before his death. It's not a bad thing to lose a beloved character - guess what, it happens constantly in stories - and it's not bad to grieve over it either, but to say that it made his journey pointless is just not true. People saying that Con must be upset that they snatched his character away from him after getting to develop him so much - again I say, would you rather him have died in ep 2 before he had the chance to grow? Or how about in s1, when the crew tried to mutiny? How'd you feel when Stede killed him in his dream, in the very first scene of the season? I think Con's probably glad for the opportunity to have explored this character so much in season 2. Ask him if he thinks it was pointless.

Killing off Izzy was bad for queer rep/burying your gays/"Izzy was the queer heart of the show"

I'm putting 'bury your gays' on the top shelf so people can't use it when it doesn't actually apply. Most of the main cast of characters in this show are queer, and it's a show about pirates with a good amount of violence. Ergo, chances are a queer character will die in the course of Things Happening In Stories. Izzy didn't die because he was queer, and he wasn't the token queer rep. Please turn your attention to the boatloads (literally) of queer characters that are happy and thriving (how about the LuPete wedding immediately afterwards??). As for Izzy being the "queer heart of the show," this is literally the Ed and Stede show. You know, the two queer leads whose queer love the show revolves around, per David Jenkins himself. I'm glad folks connected with and derived joy from Izzy's growth and especially his performance in Calypso's birthday, but he is not the main character of the show. The queer heart of the show is in fact, the entire show, all of their characters and the community & found family they create aboard the Revenge. Not to mention the fan community as well. Izzy was never carrying the show's representation on his back, and frankly that's an absurdly wild take to have (esp when he spent most of s1 actively working against the main queer relationships in the show, attempting to maintain the oppressive status quo of pirate society).

It was bad and irresponsible to have a suicidal character die

Are we forgetting the entire first half of the season where Ed, who was suicidal, kept trying to passively kill himself because he felt he was an unlovable monster, only to be shown that he is in fact loved unconditionally and it gives him the strength to fight for life and triumph against his own self-doubt? The show has spent quite a lot of effort telling viewers that despite feeling damaged or broken you are worthy of love and that you are loved even if it may be hard to see it when you're in a bad place. That you don't need to be fully healed to deserve love and care, and that love and support will help you along your journey. It's incredibly wild to disregard this major plot point and fundamental message of s2 to try and spin this the opposite way for Izzy's character.

Secondly, where are people getting 'Izzy is suicidal' from? Are we going back all the way to episode 2, when he's at his lowest point and fails at his suicide attempt, only to be figuratively reborn after removing the metaphorical rotten leg? By the time of the finale he's shown to be in a good place, thanks to the arc of healing and growth he's gotten, through the support of the Revenge crew and his 'breakup' with Blackbeard allowing him to find his own way in life, realizing he doesn't need a purpose to have value and enjoying his time on the Revenge and the bonds he's made with Stede and the crew. He is, in the words of Ivan, "the most open and available I've ever seen him" by the finale. To take episode 2 as evidence he's suicidal is to erase his whole season of growth, which is an ironic thing to do in the context of these arguments. There's no canon evidence Izzy Hands was suicidal post-'Fun and Games'.

As for 'irresponsible,' once again I say, David Jenkins is not your therapist, he's not 'Dad,' and has no responsibility to tell his story any other way than he intended to tell it. Please find media that gives you what you want or need, and if the death of a fictional character causes you this much distress please seek help. I mean this kindly but seriously.

Killing off Izzy was ableist/bad for disability rep.

I point once again to the rest of the characters, several of which are disabled in varied ways. There are literally multiple other amputee characters specifically. It's not good storytelling to wholly avoid killing off any character that is disabled/queer/poc/female or [insert marginalized group here], especially when a) it makes sense narratively, and b) there's plenty of representation of these groups in the media in question. The answer isn't making such characters invincible and immortal, it's increasing the number of these characters in shows so it's not devastating when some do die in the course of natural storytelling.

OFMD was my comfort show/safe space show, now it's ruined for me

I am not trying to be insensitive here when I say that's a problem that is yours and nobody else's. David Jenkins created this show with a three-season vision and a story in mind, and he is telling that story to the best of his ability the way he wants to. It's already been said that he and the crew did not anticipate the fandom becoming as large and passionate as it has. The plot of the show was never intended to be 'fan service,' and it's ironic that there were people complaining this season that there's been too many fanservice tropes, up until David and the rest of the writers room made a narrative decision they did not like, then the complaints changed to not coddling the fans enough.

We as viewers can derive joy from this show, it can be a comfort to us, it can be important to us. But it was not designed specifically for that purpose, therefore it cannot fail in that respect. We do not have the right to harass writers for not steering the ship in the direction we want - it's their work of art, and we can choose to either come along for the ride or not. It's rare to see creators actually given the chance to tell their story the way they intend (budget cuts aside), so let him do that. He should not cater to fans, or cave and change the story to appease us. Respect his right to create his art, and remember you have the right to create your own. That's what fanfiction is for - write fix-its to your heart's content, but keep these realms separate. David Jenkins and Co hold zero, and I mean zero, responsibility to you. He could not please everyone no matter what he did, it would be fruitless to try, and it would certainly compromise the quality of the story he set out to tell.

You are absolutely allowed to dislike choices made in any show. Curate your media experience. If this show no longer brings you joy, stop watching. But it was never David's purpose nor responsibility to juggle the mental health of millions of fans. Trying to put that on him will only make him less enthusiastic about interacting with fans or continuing to make this show. This isn't rocket science. You're responsible for yourself, not this guy you call 'Dad' that you've developed a parasocial-therapist relationship with.

Izzy should have become captain of the Revenge.

Really?? Firstly, we did actually get that already in s1. He was tyrannical and the crew mutinied. But even if you think 'well after his character arc he'd be better suited to it,' it goes against the point of this arc. He's found value in not having a distinct role or purpose on the ship, decoupling his worth from the job he's expected to perform. He's found his place amongst the crew, not commanding it. There's no narrative reason to put him in charge when he's expressed no further interest in slotting himself back into a role full of pressure and expectations.

Con O'Neill was only told halfway through filming, it's cruel to just kill off the character he loves so much.

Guys, he's an actor. More than that, an actor with a theater background. I think he's used to characters dying. You don't need to look out for him. Con and David spoke one on one about it at length so they were on the same page, and David even said that Con took it well. I'm sure Con had input, just as other members of the cast have influenced their characters' stories, costumes, backstories, etc. Do you really think David Jenkins hurt Con's feelings or something? The writers (remember, it's not just David, it's a whole team of hard-working people coming up with these ideas) gave Con such a chance to shine this season, really developing Izzy beyond what he was given in s1 and letting Con show off his full acting range. Why are you only focusing on the destination rather than the journey? Sure, Con's probably sad to see Izzy go, but please do not project your distress onto him or try and accuse David & Co of being 'cruel' to their cast. That's really ridiculous. It's constantly evident how close they all are.

More importantly, do you actually, seriously think that Con O'Neill would want fans to harass each other or the writers over his character? The man who preaches being kind above all? There is no better way to make an actor uncomfortable about a show and its fanbase than to start treating fictional characters like they're more important than real people. He would not want you to bully people over Izzy Hands, and it's mind-boggling that some of you have convinced yourself otherwise.

Lastly, I just want to talk about the fact that some people are holding OFMD to absurdly high expectations.

Our Flag Means Death has been a pioneer series for its diverse representation, earnest storytelling, and themes of hope, community, and love. It's fine to discuss aspects of the show with a critical eye, but so much of the discourse has truly felt like folks are trying to find fault in a show that is leagues ahead of the average tv series that we still enjoy. How many fan favorites are killed off all the time? How many plotlines are scrapped, or drawn out without closure, or contradicted the very next season? How many shows are indifferent or actively hostile towards their fanbase? How many have any queer characters, or actually do bury them? The bar's so low, and OFMD has risen above to give us so much. Some are holding the show to astronomical expectations, waiting for it to fall from the pedestal it's been placed on. If something you don't like happens in the show, it's not suddenly ruined or demoted to being ~just as bad as those other shows~. Give them some breathing room, have some perspective on how progressive the show is, and that perfection is impossible, especially meeting every single viewer's idea of it. This is basically a repeat of the recent Good Omens drama, with an absurd number of people harassing Neil Gaiman for breaking up Aziraphale and Crowley and leaving the second of three acts on a very predictable cliffhanger. Let stories be told, let them unfold as they may, and you are free to leave anytime. It's so wonderful that more queer love stories are becoming popular and even mainstream, but let's not shoot ourselves in the foot by tearing them down when they don't go exactly the way you want it, which often seems to mean no drama, no character deaths, and therefore no conflict or even plot!

Just, please be civil human beings, and while this seems to be a difficult thing for so many fandoms to do, just keep your fan opinions in the fan space. Never bring your grievances to the writers, never bully them and persecute them for telling a story that you opted into viewing. That's something that goes entirely against everything this show, and this cast and crew, have imparted onto us - the importance of kindness, support, community, and love. I'll say it again because it bears repeating: the fate of a fictional character is never more important than how you treat real people. Just be kind in real life, which includes the internet. Thanks.

Now please, let's work together to ensure we get a season 3. There's so much more story to be told, and if you want to see Izzy back, whether that's as flashbacks, as a ghost haunting the inn, or in the gravy basket, we'll need more episodes! #RenewAsACrew

[galedekarios]

seeing @mercymaker's own post about the "apology" made me feel confident enough to air my own feelings about it now that i have had a night to think it over and not internalise it anymore.

i'm not going to further belabour the point again how this "apology" is not an apology at all, but a statement where he doubles down on everything, omitting important facts, twisting truths, dancing around the issue at heart, and so much more.

it's frankly exhausting at this point.

i want to address one thing specifically however since he thought it was prudent to dedicate an entire paragraph to it in his "apology".

the fact that he wrote this:

"Truthfully I am not sure when or if I’ll begin creating again but I will continue to ask for permission to credit/use someone’s works if I feel like I’m inspired like I honestly had been doing following the late March situation. I do not expect any forgiveness or positive reactions to come out of this tbh, I just know an apology was warranted and deserved. This time I’m actually taking a step back to evaluate it."

after he just said this:

"To one gifset in particular, the hands set, that gifset was honestly a pure coincidence/accident. I truthfully had no idea that the blog had done something similar first. Hands are a common theme in Gales romance that I picked up on and I had no idea a similar set was done prior. I can say this about other sets too but it was this one in particular that I can honestly say was an honest coincidence/accident. And I couldn’t have known that those scenes/themes bore any special significance to that blog. Also I want to acknowledge I was never seeking “mutualship” but more so I enjoyed them as a creator and most likely had tumblr technical issues. I’m sorry if my actions ever made you feel unsafe, that’s the last thing I’d want to make someone feel :/"

it's just... absolutely vile to me.

first off, i have to ask: which is it? are you "apologising" or are you still trying to pretend that the concepts gifs i created and you stole are "common" things that you "picked up on" and "had no idea a similar set was done prior", which you could "say about other sets too"?

i'm confused at this point...

i'm being facetious here. i'm not. he's not sorry. he's sorry he got caught. again. and that, this time, it reached other parts of the fandom that it previously didn't, where he couldn't lie anymore about how all of this is just a case of people bullying him, of people being exclusive and clique-y.

i don't understand why he singled that set out in his "apology", however, other than that he must know by at this point that it's the one gifset that most upset me. not only because he stole it twice, but because it is so meaningful to me.

so... let's look at the facts here:

he followed me from early on, ever since my blog got traction in the bg3 fandom after the full release of the game

he engaged with me via messages and comments at around this time

there was no talk abt this theme specifically in relation to gale until after my meta and gifset gained traction, despite being a set containing an original character, which generally does worse in terms of engagement

he stole several other of my concept gifsets that i posted around this period in time (gale + missing waterdeep, gale + saying i love you, gale of waterdeep vs gale dekarios, one of my oc compilation sets)

he contacted me to remake a gifset in particular that was an older set as well, just like the hands set

i showed side by comparisons in my original post (same scenes, same frames, same framing, same caption) and it was so blatant to the point of where several people reached out to me, confused if the copy is actually my set or reblogging it, thinking it was mine

i think it's pretty obvious what actually happened, considering the context and, to be honest, at this point i don't think even he believes his own lies anymore.

all i can say is that this was not about apologising - none of this was - it was about trying to save face and doubling down.

[goemon-fan]

I initially meant for this just to be a gifset, but after having watched this episode again, Goemon behaved in a very autistic manner.

Goemon has a cartoonish view of what a casino really is, to the point where Jigen even wonders if he actually understands. Although Goemon grew up sheltered, he is now aware of what a casino is, yet still has a fantastical view of this real establishment. He is making a dice throwing motion, but does not actually know how to play dice games, which makes it seem as if he has a rough idea of what a casino is but still does not understand exactly what it is. It seems that without a proper explanation of rules and how things work, Goemon simply doesn't understand standard societal norms or certain experiences.

Goemon is upset that he couldn't see his failure at the slot machines ahead of time, and mentions his emotions in a very neutral manner: "This is not good. I need to calm down." He is upset this game does not have a clear goal for him to work towards, or a clear method of winning that he could use. He also uses his mantra "Be free from all distracting thoughts," which, while commonly attributed to his meditation and training sessions, seems in this gif to be something he says and reminds himself of during certain emotional reactions and towards certain uncomfortable stimuli.

Goemon views the slot machine as an enemy to be defeated, and humanizes this inanimate object. He also mistakenly believes that a slot machine is a typical game that can be won with effort, rather than understanding this is an entirely different kind of game based on chance alone.

He does not know how to deal with his loss to the slot machine; he knows that in samurai combat it would be expected for him to commit seppuku, however does not understand that this is not appropriate behavior for a casino, nor does he understand that the slot machine is not a traditional enemy and that it is not fighting him, but is simply a machine with precalculated odds.

Lupin has to explain to him that it is not appropriate or necessary to kill oneself in response to a casino loss, and Goemon is completely oblivious towards unspoken societal norms such as how a casino operates and how to conduct oneself within one.

Goemon rationalizes his loss with a previously studied platitude (I don't know about anyone reading this, but I absolutely have found philosophy tremendously helpful in navigating social contexts, and it seems Goemon is the same way). He is detached from typical emotions that would be evoked towards a loss such as the one in this episode, and only knows how to conduct himself in accordance with philosophical guidelines of behavior. He is once again unaffected by social norms, and thinks and behaves in a somewhat-calculated and preplanned manner.

I just think that the Lupin gang has to regularly explain things to Goemon in a clear manner because he just doesn't understand unspoken rules, and I'm sure he finds himself in a lot of silly situations because of it

[desidarling123]

SAB Scene Breakdown: Inej's Hallucination

OK, so I had actually been meaning to write and publish some meta on this particular scene (and just tons of SAB S2 meta, in general) in the weeks after the second season of the show came out. But life has been crazy recently, so I truly never found the time.

However, I reblogged a certain gifset a few days/weeks ago, slapped some tags on it, and realized there might indeed be some interest in some more #detailed thoughts.

The analysis that follows is at a pretty minute level of detail (and all of course based on MY views) so... take that with a grain of salt.

Also - fair warning - it's long as hell 😂 but entertaining, I hope!

I find this whole sequence in general super fascinating - it's one of my favorite scenes in the second season, and one that's also arguably subject to the absolute worst takes in fandom (iykyk... and if you don't, well, you're about to find out.)

So, let's get into it:

We start off strong with a very specific choice, made early on: it's not Inej seducing Kaz; rather, it's Kaz who's drawing Inej into this vision.

I get a bit more into the broader implications of that a bit later, but it's definitely important that it's done this way, rather than the other way around.

It's also, very notably, an inverse of this scene from a few episodes earlier:

What's unique about that previous scene is that in that moment, he's deliberately pushing her away (for reasons, mind you, that she's not entirely privy to, but definitely hurt her regardless - even if she pretends not to care about it to his face later on).

This is different. Instead of pushing her away, he is asking her to stay.

The choice of words is specific too: the word 'disappear' most obviously references her status as his spider. But it might also be an apt description of her own personal trappings, of 'disappearing' when in the throes of trauma-induced pressure.

Some atmospheric details I love:

Their IRL confrontation was in his office-cum-bedroom (👀shutup), a tiny, crammed space that matched the tension of that scene. This is the opposite of that - the room has a more open layout, imbuing the whole sequence with a more relaxed vibe. We can even see his cane chilling on the table behind him, just in reaching distance.

The DeKappel painting which they jointly stole in the books (and presumably on the show as well) is behind them.

Fire burning as a symbol for latent passion is not exactly groundbreaking imagery, but don't fix what ain't broke, amirite? :P

Malina, very notably, gets the same fire imagery treatment in their own love scene as well:

Will it show up again in a future season for kanej? Between that and, well, the recurring church imagery, we're in for a tossup, folks

But anyways. Back to the scene at hand.

You'll notice Inej goes back to a formal stance, hands behind her back, like she's preparing for a debrief or for an assignment. It's for a few seconds, if that, but it shows that she's grasping at some semblance of normalcy in this decidedly not-normal vision.

That facade lasts for all of, two seconds, tops, when he does this:

It's sexy! It's intimate! There's knives involved!

Okay, but seriously, for the sake of time I actually will not get into a deeper discussion of the ~implications~ because I'm sure it's been done a zilllion times before and it's also fairly obvious lol

Now, the one thing I *do* want to pivot to here is that by this point, both Inej and the audience understand that there is something very subtly yet fundamentally different about hallucination!Kaz.

But what is it?

Speaking on this scene, Freddy Carter had a quote (that I cannot be arsed to find rn) where he basically said that he deferred to Amita when playing hallucination!Kaz because "she (Amita) knows better (than I do) what it is that Inej likes about Kaz"

And what is it, exactly, that she likes about him? The next few gifs tell all, using actions rather than words.

This is her reaction to him pulling her knives from her. And what I find so interesting is that she is so (rightfully) startled....

But that is absolutely NOT the expression on his face at all.

In fact, he's remarkably self-assured.

And THAT, I think, is the crux of 'what it is she likes about him', as Frreddy said.

She likes his decisiveness, the single-minded precision with which he operates.

She's seen him apply it to every last scheme, every seemingly-hopeless situation... to damn near everything in the world, really, but her.

But here, in the depths of her hallucination, he does.

There are none of his usual hangups, none of their typically frustrating back-and-forths.

No. Here, he doesn't hesitate. He wants her, and he makes it known.

Striking, sexy stuff, to say least.

Let's go on:

Nothing to add here except that I'm obsessed with the way their heads turn at the same time here.

It's funny, because for all their personal hang-ups when it comes to physical intimacy, these two are SURPRISINGLY physically attuned to each other.

Goes to show, really, how much both of their problems are in their heads (obviously) -- and how, when they're actually ready to heal, relying on their intuition may be a better approach than getting too cerebral about it.

Again, Kaz does not break eye contact with her here, and it's such a contrast to what he might have instead done if this were happening in real life - in fact, does happen, in real life, though I'd argue that isn't exactly his fault.

I love that we get a moment where Inej looks down and sees his hand hovering near her waist, just so that it's made explicitly clear what he's asking for and what the ~implications~ are.

And then, she says yes! Enthusiastically, I might add.

Not but seriously the sheer want, the little touch of eagerness on her face kills me here. She's never had this experience before - has only ever known men violating her in the most horrible way possible - and yet this tiny little thing, of Kaz asking her for consent, means so much.

Oh my God Kaz is so sexy here sorry no words anyway carrying on.

Now even after she said yes you can see this sudden little beat of hesitation on her face, like she's maybe not sure what's going to happen or if Kaz is going to do what she asked. For her it's a moment of incredible vulnerability, even though Kaz is the one sort of making the advances on her - because this one time, she actually gets to say yes.

I think that shot of his arm going around her waist is so gorgeous and so sensual - but as we pan up we can see that maybe all isn't well.

Now, Amita also really does a fantastic job at portraying the turbulence of Inej's emotions -- she goes from clearly wanting it and saying 'yes', to visibly panicking once he acts on it. We see her shift around in his grip and even swallow nervously, blink-blink-blinking herself back into the moment.

Her response is reminiscent of this passage from the books:

But what might have happened if he'd spoken that night? If he had willingly offered her some part of his heart? What if he had come to her, laid his gloves aside, drawn her to him, kissed her mouth? Would she have pulled him closer, kissed him back? Could she have been herself in such a moment, or would she have broken apart and vanished, a doll in his arms, a girl who could never quite be whole?

You can see the very beginning of that sort of panic start to set in, here. This is completely uncharted territory for Inej - her own desire, the shame and baggage that comes with it, is all getting uncovered for the first time in what is arguably the 'safest' way possible - within the confines of her own mind - and yet, she's still panicking.

More on that in a bit. Let's keep going.

Anyways well Freddy's got a huge hand sorry anyway 

I love the way she closes her eyes here. And you can see again it's not without effort - like there's still conflict within her, you can see all of those different emotions warring within her - but she is trying to let herself have this moment. She's trying to take comfort in this touch that she so desperately wants and yet hasn't had any sort of good connotations with in recent history. 

She also opens her eyes just as he starts to lean in and I think that was a great, deliberate choice on Amita and Freddy's part.

It's that precise moment, really, when it becomes super super clear to her what's about to happen.

No notes, I just really love this forehead lean, it's that little bit of tenderness and intimacy that she's been subconsciously craving.

 Again, it's fascinating to me that we can see all of Inej's nervous tics coming into play here, but for hallucination!Kaz there's absolutely no hesitation at any point whatsoever.

It looks like, for all intents and purposes, he is going to kiss her.

And then at the very very last second you see him move back, ever-so-slightly --

and then she moves all the way back and delivers her line:

Ouch. Like a punch to the gut. True, but still ouch.

Now one could probably ask, in hypotheticals: why didn't he actually kiss her at this moment? And the answer to that simply is: this is her hallucination, you know? Even though she's not conscious of it (she's dying lol), she's the one with all the power, here.

And truthfully, whether she knows it or not, nothing is going to happen in her hallucination if she doesn't want it to.

But wait, you might say. Doesn't she want to kiss Kaz?

Like that original excerpt from the book indicates, it's complicated. Everything pertaining to desire generally will be, for her.

Not that her subconscious doesn't put up a good ol' fight. Hallucination!Kaz, you have to remember, isn't so much Kaz as he is a very precise amalgamation of her own memories and desires.

And boy, does he make a good argument:

The word want, again, spoken so directly here - it's that sort of straightforward speech that neither party is actually really capable of (at this point) in their arcs, not when it comes to each other.

Again, Kaz is behaving perfectly in the prescribed character of his hallucination persona - direct, confident, not rattled in the slightest.

It's interesting also that he doesn't say: this is real. He isn't able to lie to her in her own fantasy, but he does instead tell her exactly what she wants to hear, which is arguably even more dangerous.

And what I feel so terrible about is you can see this tiny little spark this little bit of hope on her face that she has.

She wants to believe this so so badly. She wants it, damn it!

So this time, she actually moves closer, crosses that distance between them. 

You can't see it super well in this gif, but you can see a little tiny muscle twitch in her jaw, a nervous swallow as she's bracing for him to kiss her the second time. And once again, Kaz isn't hesitating, there isn't any note of that discordant thing that they have in real life from his end.

Now another thing that drives me crazy is people claiming that they did kiss in the scene like bro. Bro. Freddy and Amita did not shoot this scene at no less three separate angles for you to tell us that they kissed!! They didn't kiss, they make it incredibly obvious that they did not kiss, and if you're the one person on planet Earth whose definition of a kiss is front lips brushing for .0000000002 seconds then I'm sorry, you belong to a different category, okay?

And again, that was on purpose! It totally would have defeated the purpose of this particular sequence if they had (and would've given detractors of this scene a real leg to stand on - again, more on that at the very end.)

But as it stands, they don't kiss, and that's also kind of critically why this isn't just a sexy scene to watch back.

AND THEN (I'm out of allowed images HAHA) she pulls away. And she says the words that end it all - This isn't real. This is the poison.

The premise of the hallucination is completely shattered, and she looks so heartbroken, but she's finally able to articulate what she's really known this whole time, and that is that nothing she's seeing is real. It is a lie being fed to her by her poison-addled brain as her body slowly succumbs and dies (dark).

But you know, she does get out of it through sheer willpower, and we love her for that - but oh man but what cost?

This particular sequence is definitely a catalyst for her changed behavior going forward. I do actually wish it had been a little better handled in the show (as in, better supported by dialogue in scenes before and after this one) but regardless - this scene is a Big Tipping Point and starts what is essentially a pseudo-regression arc for Inej (paraphrasing Amita directly, bc that's truly the most apt description of Inej's behavior for the rest of the season.)

It's really bad timing, unfortunately, because it happens just as Kaz is starting to open up like never before. He's starting to see the world in a completely different light while she's doing the exact opposite -- she is shutting down her own dreams and desires when it comes to him, because she's come to the conclusion that it's simply not going to happen.

And you know what, she's not entirely wrong for that assumption, but I do have beef with some of the particulars of how it was executed in the show. But that's a discussion for another day.

Now, onto a brief rant that I alluded to at the very start of this post - my single biggest grievance with fandom is that someone on the internet decided that this scene somehow ‘erased’ Inej’s trauma, when in fact that exact trauma is what underpins the whole damn thing.

The fact that this scene more or less parallels the passage from the books beat for beat, shows, in my opinion, that book fans who make these claims of 'erasure' must have deliberately chosen to ignore this passage from the books, or never even read it in the first place.

Because frankly? Once you take that passage into consideration, the intent of this sequence couldn't have been more obvious!

Just to underscore my point, I want to ask anyone who's reading this to please compare and contrast Inej’s hallucination with Matthias’ dream. If the intent, as many so often like to claim, was simply to make this moment in Inej’s mind a sexy, titillating scene, well then, it would have been shot a lot more closely to the way Matthias’ dream was shot: there's no lack of kissing and even implied penetration (!) which is crazy, because of course, Matthias and Nina have gotten nowhere near that in real life.

There's a sexual aspect to her dream, for sure, but it's not a stereotypically-passionate 'sex dream' so much as it is a thinly-veiled reading into her own desires and the inner turmoil that comes with it.

There's also a very subtle undercurrent here that I picked up on and explore in my ongoing fic , which is that Kaz, in these fantasies, is really always the one taking the lead, so to speak. Inej is not pulling him close or asking to kiss him - and we see that even when she consents to the act, she looks like she's bracing herself for it, rather than excited that it'll happen.

That is fueled no doubt by 1) her realizing it isn't real but also 2) the fact that she is still very much in the middle of her own trauma (having been freed like what? mere days ago? if that?)

Any concept of her own independent desire is still saddled with IMMENSE baggage - and this sequence showcases it perfectly.

I think after the fact, she's consciously aware of 1) but not yet aware of 2) which is beating around in her subconscious and is probably gonna cause her WAYY more problems going forward lol

TLDR; Inej doesn't know it just yet, but she's got loads of her own issues to work through, and until she does, she's going to be stuck in this weird purgatory of being a voyeur to/of her own desires.

[eddiegettingshot]

i'm sorry this is so long😭 i saw something and got annoyed lol

i feel mean saying it but some of the gifsets i'm seeing compiling all the convos from s6 about buck having to figure out whether he's at ease, having to find answers about happiness on his own, not knowing what he's looking for, feeling different after the lightning strike and not knowing how to act, etc. then framing the kiss and buck saying he's free as the resolution is almost comical to me. jumping into a new relationship is not gonna help any of that regardless of the person's gender! finding and defining what happiness means to you and what your identity is can certainly be related to exploring your sexuality but it's not a magic solution to all of your problems, esp when buck seems to have had no fucking clue he even wanted that until tommy kissed him. he's literally just running w something new and shiny atp. the fact that he spent an entire episode w literally no clue what was happening in his own head which culminated in acting like an idiot to the point of physically hurting his closest friend then uncharacteristically avoiding the issue entirely is also not a good sign in terms of him being at all closer to figuring any of this out for himself. god ppl recognized this immediately w natalia but are blind to it now - it's nice that ppl are excited and it was a good kiss but it's not a magic solution, it's buck continuing to avoid his problems.

no, you’re so right lmao. and like don’t get me wrong i understand why people are saying this, i understand the emotional connection, and i even understand that for some reason the show/writers want us to think that it is a magic solution…? i can’t fault anyone for feeling happy about this, i’m not interested in doing that.

but, like… if the question we’re focusing on for this season (which, whether i think this was the right question or not is a different story) is, why can’t buck keep a long-term romantic relationship? his sexuality is probably part of the answer, but it is far from the primary reason, which is closer to what you pointed out - buck has genuinely no fucking idea what he wants until someone decides for him, and that hasn’t changed at all. in fact, it’s gotten worse, because at least before his struggle to understand his own emotions didn’t end up with a loved one hurt.

there’s this weird narrative about tommy where everyone thinks he’s gonna heal buck or otherwise save buck from himself. but like, at this point, buck has zero agency in his relationships. he has zero interest in taking any agency in his relationships. tommy soothing his inner child is not gonna change that. literally nothing tommy has done has been different from anything that’s come before. i’m sure that they’ll say this is Different for the sake of the plot, but i maintain that buck should have been doing some self-reflection on his own. my ideal outcome is that after a few episodes, he comes to the conclusion that he had a good time, but he’s not ready to be in a relationship again (keep in mind he JUST broke up with natalia!!!) and tells tommy as much 🤷🏾‍♀️

[flufftober]

I'm really sorry to point this out but if you are not pro-ship then you really should not put "open to all fandoms and all content creators" in the bio. That's quite misleading.

Hey there, thanks for your ask.

We're honestly not sure what you mean or how that could be misleading. We are open to all fandoms and all content creators, be it fanfic, podfic, traditional art, digital art, videos, mood boards, gifsets, stitch work, and, and, and. That list could go on forever. We're not entirely sure what you mean or how our restrictions on certain ships have anything to do with that part.

We would also like to point out that for this year, this will be the last time we will answer asks in this direction. We're more than happy to help with motivation or questions or to clarify rules - but we also think that our stance on ships has now been sufficiently discussed and is made more than clear in our rules. We will never allow bashing of any kind of ship, we also all have different stances on different kinds of ships, but as a group and as a blog, we've made this decision and we stand by it. We would kindly ask you all to respect this decision.

[opinated-user]

Lily’s last few asks are SUCH obvious sock puppets oh my god. ravenetteclockwork-blog is blank except for 3 likes (two of which are from 2019) and whoanellymay is completely blank. I can’t believe I didn’t notice how often she does this until I followed you.

the writing style is also the same. the blatant ass kissing.

their likes are: one random post about how much importance is given to 9/11 even in countries where it didn't happen (specifically Canada, i'm sure it's just a coincidence/S), pearl fusion fanart, Elsa gifset and a comic about that girl everyone shipped with Elsa when the trailers of Frozen 2 came out. LO never liked Frozen, anon, so obviously it couldn't be her./s

(two things: "if i had molested my sister, that only means something else is going on and therefore she doesn't have any right to be traumatized by it." cool, so another confession. literally no innocent person says this about anything they did. "even if i had killed the president, that was only because i had bigger issues to deal with, members of the jury". you still did it. no matter for what reasons, you did it. and that hurt someone so deeply that they're reacting to the abuse you inflicted on them, because, again, that's what reactive abuse means. Courtney claims that the molestation started at 7 and until you were 15. that it only stopped at all because Courtney bough a lock to keep you outside of her room, something you later fictionalized in your pokemon webcomic... the portion of that awful arc that you still keep in the blog at least. you can't blame whatever happened to you for that, LO. at some point you knew what you were doing. and if you still want to argue that you didn't, what is your excuse now, as a 31 year old woman, to erase even the abuse that had nothing to do with you? is that too a trauma response? isn't convenient too how trauma is meant to explain all your actions, no matter how hurtful and painful they were for someone else, but that never works the other way around?) anyway, indeed, that blog is entirely empty. you could also tell that it was a sock puppet account because besides one "fool", LO is actually pretty neutral about the ask itself and doesn't try to attack them directly. this is just an excuse to keep ranting about Courtney.

[knickynoo]

Back to the Future: The Animated Series, s01ep11 "Gone Fishin'" Review and Commentary

Previous episodes linked HERE

In this episode: Marty, Jules, and Verne try to undo one of Doc's deep-seated childhood traumas, only to end up sending his life wildly off course.

I shall preface this by letting anyone reading know that Tumblr has been messing up my gifsets and pictures in my previous posts. Gifs and pics that should be side by side end up enlarged and stacked vertically when viewed on the dashboard through a desktop. I've been unable to figure out how to fix it and have no clue why it's doing this to me. It is a source of great frustration and makes me not want to do these reviews anymore. But I'm trudging along. Just wanted to let people know in case it looked wonky. It's not on purpose!

Alrighty, let's dive in.

Okay, so this episode has my favorite live-action opening segment in the series thus far. We begin with black-and-white footage of Doc, accompanied by him doing a voice-over where he explains that he was visiting the 1920s. As he's doing the voice-over, the Doc on screen is just waving at the camera the entire time, and it is delightful. He becomes increasingly frantic as the waving goes on.

Doc goes on to explain that he'd been in the 1920s to meet Thomas Edison and get him to autograph a very large lightbulb, which we then see as we return to the "present day." Doc immediately drops and shatters it as he's showing it to us.

Quickly moving on from the tragedy (he says he'll make a return trip to get extra bulbs autographed) Doc goes on to talk about the '20s—silent films in particular.

"I'm sure you've all heard of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton," he says, "but only the real film historians among you recall Daredevil Brown. Talk about a Hollywood success story."

Hmm...well, that's an intriguing little piece of info, isn't it? Who is this Daredevil Brown?? Doc leads us into the cartoon to hear the full story. "It all began with a fishing trip," he tells us with a haunted expression.

We shall find out the reason for this expression shortly. Into the cartoon, we go!

While working in his lab, Doc is approached by Verne, who hands him a flyer for the upcoming "Father and Son Big Mouth Bass Off." It's apparently an annual Hill Valley event, and Verne really wants to go with his dad. Doc, however, reacts with immediate terror, crumples up the flyer, and quite literally begins convulsing as he tries to tell his son that he can't go. He then stumbles into the living room and collapses on the couch, still in an agitated state.

Jules decides to show Doc his new invention—a helmet that allows you to watch TV without disturbing others in the room with the images/sounds, and Doc figures trying it will be a good way to get his mind off of the terror he just experienced. Unfortunately, it's a rerun of The Andy Griffith Show, which, if you're familiar with it, has an opening sequence of the main character going fishing with his son. Doc rips off the device and runs straight into the wall.

I don't know about all of you, but I think Doc might have experienced some fishing-related trauma?? I mean. Just a guess.

Also, I would like to point out that throughout much of these opening scenes, Doc's eyes randomly turn blue, which is the second instance I've noticed of a character's eye color changing mid-scene (the first was in Swing Low, Sweet Chariot Race). And I'd really like to know why this was happening. Whoever was in charge of character eye color, you dropped the ball here. You probably didn't think anyone would be scrutinizing this series closely enough to notice 30+ years later, but you were wrong.

Getting back on track here, Jules and Verne sneak into their parents' bedroom that night with a plan to figure out what's going on with their father. Jules has invented a device consisting of an in-ear piece connected to a screen that allows someone to view the wearer's thoughts. Y'all, Jules is 10-years-old, and he's incomprehensibly brilliant. He just whipped up an invention to see a person's thoughts. This is something that can be put to horrible use if it falls into the wrong hands.

As they use the device, miniature versions of Jules and Verne appear on the screen and "travel" through Doc's brain. They pass a "brainstorm," a long pathway containing his "library of knowledge," and then come to a huge wall.

Whoever was in charge of spelling, you dropped the ball here, too. Admittance is spelled incorrectly.

I sincerely am curious as to how these mistakes slipped by and made it into the completed versions of the episodes. In a way, though, it kind of adds to the fun.

Jules gets a readout on the screen that says: "Memory block, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, August 5, 1926." With this information, the boys now know that something significant enough happened to their dad on this date that a gigantic wall was erected in his brain to block the whole thing out. The mini versions of Jules and Verne on the screen get out pickaxes and chip away at the block until they break through and can see the memory.

In a show so centered around time travel, I must remind myself to suspend my disbelief in these absolutely absurd and impossible moments.

Anyway, Jules and Verne access the hidden away memory and see their four-year-old father fishing. As he casts his line, he falls into the water, nearly drowns, and is terrorized by various sea creatures.

Nobody is around to run to his aid as he splashes around and calls for help. Jules and Verne feel it's their duty to travel back to that date and stop Doc from having this terrible, scarring experience.

As they sneak the DeLorean out of the garage, they're caught by Marty, who has decided it is of the utmost importance that he make a visit to Doc's house at 11:30 at night to get his hoverboard. Jules explains their plan, to which Marty replies, "Milwaukee? That must have been when Doc stayed with his oddball Uncle Oliver." And I must say that I like that Marty knows this little bit of Doc Brown trivia and that Doc has obviously told Marty at least this one story about his childhood.

Marty agrees to not tattle on the boys if they let him tag along? He tells them he wants to travel to a time when he'll be smarter than Doc. Off they go to 1926.

"How much can a little kid know?" Marty asks as they approach Little Doc, whom I will just refer to as Emmett from here on out. Everybody look at him, please.

As Marty immediately discovers, he is not smarter than this four-year-old version of his friend. After jokingly asking Emmett what he knows, Emmett replies, "Several languages, the Periodic Table, the constellations of the Northern Hemisphere, and the Encyclopedia from 'A' to 'Grrr.'" (He hasn't made his way through the FULL encyclopedia yet, evidently.)

While I know that this cartoon can hardly be considered canon to the world set up in the trilogy, I love that Emmett can speak multiple languages and wouldn't mind at all incorporating that into my general Doc Brown headcanons. I just wish he'd mentioned which ones he spoke. German is likely one, but I'm not sure about the others.

Emmett tells his new friends that he's waiting for his Uncle Oliver to take him fishing "like he promised" and then directs their gazes up to where Uncle Oliver is—wayyy up in the air—attempting to break the record for flagpole-sitting.

We quickly learn that Uncle Oliver is obsessed with trying to set records, perform wild acts, and become famous. Marty tries to persuade him to take his nephew fishing, but Uncle Oliver isn't that interested in Emmett—a trait that seems to be common amongst the Brown men. I am looking at you, Erhardt! >:(

Marty, Jules, and Verne opt to just take Emmett themselves, and Jules is able to get his future father to stand in a spot where he won't fall into the water. Instead, Marty falls in, lol.

While teaching him how to properly cast, Emmett ends up getting his line hooked to the underside of a small biplane and carried away.

The plane is part of a nearby stunt show, and Emmett gets taken along for the ride as it does loops and tricks in the air. Everyone watching from the stands is impressed by this young performer, and he quickly wins lots of adoring fans. When he's approached by a camera man who asks if he wants to be a star, Uncle Oliver's eyes turn into dollar signs, and he jumps at the chance to be Emmett's manager.

"All I wanted was to go fishing," Emmett points out. Too bad, buddy, you're about to be exploited by your uncle for fame and fortune. Uncle Oliver signs a contract with a famous producer who says he'll make Emmett a star. Marty and Verne are psyched by this development, but Jules (the only one with a brain) points out that they've seriously altered their father's life. The boys decide they have to monitor the situation closely.

From there, we go to Hollywood, where Emmett is quickly thrust into stardom. We see a clip of a silent film he's in, which includes a scene of him dangling from a very high clocktower by his suspenders, falling and bouncing around on a building's awnings, and landing in a fountain. He's dubbed "Daredevil Emmett" and quickly garners many fans.

Little Emmett's amazing feats capture the entire country, and he's soon got his own line of comics, a drink named after him, and multiple other products. He's on the radio, in the newspapers, and is being talked about all over.

Emmett is less than enthusiastic about the whole ordeal, but Uncle Oliver doesn't see any issue with it. He's loving living vicariously through his nephew and brushes off Marty's concern that all this daredevil stuff isn't good for Emmett. We then see the very lavish life that Emmett and Uncle Oliver are living.

...how long have Marty and the boys been in the '20s for all of this to be happening?? I mean, this all started with taking Emmett fishing, and now they're living in Hollywood; Emmett has become a movie star, has a line of products named after him, and has moved into a massive mansion with his uncle. Have they been in 1926 for months?

While Marty, Jules, and Verne are having fun in the pool, Emmett asks if he can swim with them, to which Uncle Oliver says no. He doesn't want to risk Emmett getting hurt, which would hurt his career. Emmett storms off angrily. Marty once again voices his concern for Emmett's well-being. This time, Oliver almost listens, but then he receives a phone call with an offer for Emmett to go over a waterfall while he's inside a barrel, and Oliver can't turn it down.

On the day of the stunt, Marty and the boys discover that the man behind the idea is D. W. Tannen. When Emmett expresses concern about the safety of everything, D. W. assures him he won't actually be going over the falls; a dummy will be in the barrel, and people will just think it's Emmett. Except, surprise! D. W. is lying, and he has no intention of switching a dummy into the barrel. He wants this to be real, and that means sending a four-year-old child over the edge of a waterfall. Nice guy.

Thankfully, Marty, Jules, and Verne, overhear D. W. talking, and Jules forms a plan to save his father. Marty's evidently a key part of the plan, and he and Jules have this exchange, which makes me laugh.

Jules's plan is to have Marty serve as a tightrope walker in the opening act—complete with gum stuck to the bottom of his shoes to keep him from slipping. While the crowd is distracted by Marty, Jules will stick a mini, spare flux capacitor to the barrel (which will have Verne in it, not Emmett) and transport the barrel someplace else.

Oliver, who is not in on the plan, actually gets a chance to redeem himself as he sees the barrel start to go toward the waterfall. Thinking his nephew is actually inside, he dives into the water to try to save him, finally coming to his senses about how money-hungry he'd become. Marty pulls Oliver out of the water, the barrel goes over the falls, and it's transported out of harm's way via the flux capacitor.. Back on the dock, Oliver and Emmett are reunited, and Oliver takes his nephew fishing.

With everything set back to normal, the boys return home, where they discover that Doc is now eager to join the father-and-son fishing tournament. The end!

Back in Real Doc's lab, he teaches us about gravity.

He also ends up dropping that bowling ball on his foot.

And that's the end of the episode. This one is a lot of fun, and I LOVED seeing the young version of Doc. He's adorable. I'm glad Uncle Oliver saw the error of his ways, but it took thinking his nephew was about to die going over a waterfall to change him. I wonder if Doc has any male family members who weren't terrible??

Anyway, good episode. Join me next time to watch Doc spiral into an existential crisis after thinking he's used up all his brainpower.

[khaotunq]

Beloved Esme @itsallaboutbl tagged me (her post so u can see it done right) :))) thank you <3

Most popular / personal favs gifsets

I have published 222 gifsets this year, which is fun and possibly a bit insane. I've made gratuitous use of the archive feature so I've linked that on the weird chance anyone but me is interested in every set I've posted. (December link, and then scrolling down will take you back month by month)

As usual, I've done this entirely differently to how I imagine it's supposed to have been done (nobody else is doing numbers, for example), but I have no self control at all and I'm currently really fucking low so I'm concentrating on this to keep from The Thoughts :)

21 in January Most popular: the first of my First Kanaphan as Ryu in Wake Up Ladies sets, by a bit of a landslide. This did nothing until about summertime, at which point the notes went from about 150 to 700, lmao Personal fav: Akk (Eclipse): there's one dog that won't get to see me smile (immediately smiles) because that smile will always kill me (Honourable mention to this Ryu set because my own tags make me laugh, and this set that nobody liked but I can still hear)

17 in February Most popular: 2023 is the year of our Lord, Mark Pakin Personal fav: Jimbo, AKA: Moonlight Chicken's main character and there was also this because I'm a funny fuck

13 in March Most popular: Obnoxiously long real-to-me kiss gifset (Eclipse) Personal fav: Honestly probably the same as above, but perhaps S101: Tall being dragged by Tiny, and also Akk's hair looks excellent in those.

14 in April Most popular: S101: Do a barrel roll!Ayan Personal fav: wet Khaotung but also this progression of shots that nobody else liked (also, also this one because THE HUG ok i'm never ok about it)

10 in May (20 posts show up, but 10 of them are gifs/gifsets I sent in asks to Chiara) Most popular: Your World, My World Personal fav: Navigate edit because I'm still so pleased with it, though I think the 3rd gif's text should be brighter and I probably should've made the twinkling stars more obvious, and also the One Life edit for Akk I did because it's important to me and I spent so long making the text work... and I'm still not sure it does.

14 in June (16 show up for June but 2 are tutorially/gif process things) Most popular: Bold Gays: Ayan Personal fav: Enneagram Type 8: Sean but honestly all the Enneagrams were my favs they were fun, and I keep meaning to revisit the idea

23 in July (24 show up but one's a gif explanation) Most popular: Ray from the Only Friends official trailer Personal fav: Khaotung Thanawat personally coming for my throat or my continued slow breakdown over Sean or the first OFTS/SandRay edit I did with the original teaser trailer orrrrrrrrr Ayan being unable to keep his hands to himself

28 in August (hello, Only Friends and Eclipse Anniversary, lol) Most popular: Sand being a whole mood Personal fav: Ray mad in a car because it's still funny and also First Kanaphan's personal character arc

27 in September Most popular: Only Friends / Bad Buddy parallel that got me the most glorious threats &lt;3 Personal fav: I can't pick. There's Ray's naa-ing, this single gif that lives in my head forever, the Brotherhood of the Travelling Bruise, and Sand AM/PM because thiiighs

17 in October Most popular: K H A O A L A (which is still the funniest thing I've ever said) Personal fav: SandRay calendar because I'm fucking proud of it, even if there are a thousand things I'd change about it now, but honestly all my sets for October were personal favs I enjoy all of them immensely. I really loved my SandRay Kesha edit. Mostly the first gif, but the rest were fun and only mostly maddening to make.

16 in November Most popular: Yok & Mond and their shared braincell Personal fav: Boston and Meredith Brooks

22 in December Most popular: Twins characters/tag yourself meme/still haven't figured out what my intent was behind this set but I'm glad everyone's having fun with it Personal fav: Bold Gays: Yok even though the yellow one makes me mad and I want to redo it, and also Alan because kfdsjkhgfdh

Tagging! As ever, feel free to ignore: @raypakorn @sollucets @chinzhilla @theedorksinlove @chickenstrangers @5racha @khaotungsfirst

[cinematicnomad]

What made you really like interested in the Terror?

the terror is a show that i remember being vaguely aware of existing when it came out, but i had no real idea of how or where to watch it. i knew it starred jared harris, who i'd loved in mad men and chernobyl, so i definitely WANTED to watch it. i had a vague understanding that it had some sort of eldritch horror thing going on, which appealed to me since i was into the magnus archives at the time. but it was just one of those shows that like, i'd occasionally see a gifset for on tumblr or see mentioned on twitter and would go, "oh yeah, i still want to watch that."

anyway, then last like, august 2022?? i was in a weird mood, was watching a bunch of different videos about mysterious histories, and watched a video about the dyatlov pass incident. it happened in russia so i rewatched chernobyl, but it ALSO happened in winter and the combination of the story taking place in winter, the unknown horror elements that people grip onto, and my own rewatch of chernobyl which put jared harris at the forefront of my mind, reminded me of the existence of the terror and i googled where to stream it and lucked out that i happened to look when it was on hulu. i decided to give it a shot, put on the first episode, and then promptly binged the entire season in a single night.

as for why it gripped me so much and why i'm here giffing it daily 1.5 years later? definitely the inherent tragedy of it all. the what-if's that live rent free in my mind. the tuunbaq aspect of it is probably the least interesting to me—i like the added horror elements, but really i'm more preoccupied/interested in the human horror.

i tried reading the book but gave up about halfway through—around the point when fitzjames died? but really i think i gave up on it when i decided that i preferred the show's version of carnivale—the inherent horror of stanley setting himself and the tent on fire as this act of murder/suicide, this demented attempt at saving them all from a fate much worse, the guilt that fitzjames feels for it all...so much more interesting to me than the book's version of tuunbaq showing up to fuck shit up.

fitzier is definitely appealing to me and i've read a good number of amazing fics about them. the fandom itself is wonderful, and i LOVE reading the tags on all the gifsets i post and the ones i reblog from others. i'm not sure if i would have gone out of my way to gif the terror myself if a RL friend hadn't found out i was recently obsessed with it and offered to send me his copies, but i'm v glad he did. it's been fun v slowly re-watching the show while giffing almost every single frame of the season. i also just really appreciate that this is a finite story told in a single season.

✨anonymously ask me one thing you want to know about me✨

[lavellenchanted]

this is not really a request or suggestion (unless you want it to be lol) but more just a stray fandom observation, but I am surprised I have not seen any gifsets of the trials from the temple (aerith's and barret's especially tbh) I don't know if it's because it's harder to gif something that is broken up by gameplay and is kind of long or if it's because fandom tends to be very... ship oriented in it's content creation but I found them to be impactful scenes and was surprised to not see them on here when I finally was able to go into the edit tags (along with plenty of other scenes I have to see any content for) I feel like fandom being so ship focused makes people overlook a lot of other good story and character moments, i'm not sure if it's because of a lack of interest on the giffers part or because they assume it won't do well since it's not ship-y and are therefore less motivated to go through the effort (which, fair enough) This is something that is likely in every fandom but I have noticed it particularly with rebirth, idk if it's because of the never ending ship discourse sort of coloring everyones experience with the game (something i found to be way more aggressive/hard to avoid with rebirth's release in comparison to remake) or it's just the nature of tumblr/fandom in general to veer towards ship content I don't really have any point to make, people should do what they like! But just something i thought you'd potentially have a perspective on as someone who does make gifs

I can't speak for every gifmaker in the fandom, obviously, but I think it's a mix of factors.

Fandom and tumblr definitely do tend to veer towards ship content, that's true, and I think that is likely what's going to be uppermost in people's minds. Obviously for me as a Clerith shipper, the end of the game was a veritable feast of ship content so as much as I loved the entire game and each individual character that's what I was focusing on after finishing - and this fandom does unfortunately have a lot of discourse around the notorious LTD so that might also affect where people want to put energy.

Looking back at the trials, they are more complicated some of the cut scenes to gif - they're very long and being a mixture of gameplay and cut scene it is going to take more work to figure out and create a gifset that enscapsulates the entire narrative of each scene, though obviously there are smaller moments that could be giffed within them and honestly I'm surprised they haven't been.

Then there's questions of what footage people have access to and whether they want to go back and replay the necessary parts to get the footage they don't have or go trawling through the internet to find scene packs.

For me personally as well, I tend to prefer giffing the happier and more uplifting scenes, because I have to watch them multiple times to get the right parts, crop and colour them, make sure the speed's right etc. I agree that Aerith and Barret's trials were very impactful - I was full on sobbing by the time I finished Aerith's - and watching them again to make gifs would be tough.

That said, I do have footage of the cutscenes from Aerith's trial (though not Barret's, unfortunately) so if there is something from that you'd like to see, I'm happy to put something together.

[gothamstreetcat]

You can take Wesley and Lilah and spin them off as leads of their own show post... I dunno, mid-S4, let's say (maybe Wesley and Lilah leave L.A. after the Beast attacks W&H, you can decide exactly when they leave).

Are there any other buffyverse characters, major or minor or just one-episode characters that would be significant characters on this spin-off as well? What would the general premise be?

Okay, I've decided I'm going to answer this instead of finishing my little gifset (which has literally been talking over my mind all day). I don't know if this was the initial intention of "you can take Wesley and Lilah and spin them off as leads of their own show..." but I really think I read it wrong as took it as a compliment? <3 I really need to came down, lol I swear that is all I ever do. They're the leads of my blog FOR SURE.

(I'm going to put it under the cut because I know it's going to be long and embarrassing)

It's actually funny you should propose this because ever since I was little some bit of my brain decided they did run away together?? I wasn't even really over the beast but they did end up together in my little childhood brain and have been together ever since. Just doing whatever they want and being in love. But honestly, as I have gotten back on the Weslah train I have thought a lot more deeply about this.

I think leaving after the beasts attack is obviously ideal but I also think it is possible after everything has happened. Even though they are dead and serving W&H, who is to to say they can't just fuck-off and leave anyway leading their best undead lives???? I also think they would travel a lot and just be normal about things? Like have a normal life; breakfast in the morning, going to the movies, late night drives on Wesley's motorcycle. I even would want them to be married, nothing big or anything - just at a courthouse and I think Linsey would send Lilah an anonymous note congratulating her (I swear to god I am only sappy and dumb for them, okay?)

It sounds silly and so plain but I just want them to have it all and that would be enough for me. I also think Virginia would be part of it too because I have this little idea in my head that she and Wesley had been in touch and writing letters back and forth. I would want everyone in the buffyverse to be part of it in some way, just to see how far the pair of them have come. And at some point Faith shows up at their door and crashes with them for a few years.

I also have it in my mind that Cordelia bargained with the Powers and everyone got a do-over (because I am a sucker for the early seasons where everyone was alive and together and happy). And at one point the group is trying to figure out where Wesley is and what happened to him, and they go to his house and see him and Lilah cooking breakfast and they see how happy they are together so they just leave him be (but at some point, they all do come together again even if things still are not the same (because I literally have an entire inner workings of Wesley and his trauma and my trauma and even if everything is good it will just not be the same, you know?) But Wesley still helps out from time to time with cases and everyone does get together for major holidays or whatever.

I may or may not be making any sense right now and I know this is becoming very long.

I feel like I should be really embarrassed for what I'm about to say (as I also proceed to tell you with nothing but a NORMAL amount of joy in my heart), but there are also two other scenes I play in my mind constantly and I definitely put myself in them.

The first scene is a court hearing against Wesley/Lilah, W&H, and the Powers; where Wes and Lie have to fight for themselves to be free of their contracts and to be able to be together (on the count of that dumb and pesky good/evil thing). I am literally the star witness in this scenario literally just so I can talk about how in love they are and I would have a huge binder compiled of various blog posts and novel texts, show moments as proof. And I would show my gifs, and go on a huge tangent about Wesley and how he saved Lilah (love saved her) from the beast and how he tried to free her from her contract and it should have worked. And then I would tell Eve that she looks like the person who should be getting everyone's coffee and that she's just jealous because Wesley's given Lilah more orgasms in one night then she's had in her entire life. In my mind and in the scenario I think this is so fucking funny.

Also, when I was a kid I didn't really have friends so I got super fixated on my favorite characters from tv shows and they were my friends. Of course I was so fixated on Wesley and Lilah so they were my friends and we were close, so in this last scenario I imagine us being apart for my years (and somehow not because my ban be from watching the show) and somehow W&H tries to trap Lilah into coming back and I'm going to be used as some virginal sacrifice (which is so silly and weird but it is honestly one of the few things I am good for). But things get worked out and Lilah saves the day (as my hero) because she is a strong and independent woman who doesn't need a job that treats her badly - she is literally stronger and smarter then everyone at W&H. And at one point in this scenario she fights the people of W&H off with a sword because she is a badass baddie and I will forever be in love with that picture of her holding the axe (it's a real crime she didn't get to use it).

I also wanted to add, though, I'm sure you have read it already: the tough get going (out of town) by thinlizzy2 is literally a perfect Wesley/Lilah run away fanfic. I read it a lot and I say it so many time but I get so emotional about the bit with the horses and towards the end where Wesley tells Lilah he loves her ("as his heart fills with pride in her for so many reasons") It is literally one of my TOP Wesley/Lilah fanfics, maybe third. Almost cannon ending because my top fic is til break of day and in continuity of things, that's my cannon ending for them (in terms of fanfic, I wasn't not going to link one and not the other).

[icedbatik]

Sorry for having this thought, but is Sid slumping at the wrong time considering how the division picture is looking right now? The recent stretch could've been the perfect opportunity for him to tear it up. He can go on another hot streak in March but not sure if it will matter by then

Hi, anon.

I'm pretty sure Sid didn't wake up one morning and decide it would be fun to quit scoring. And there's never an ideal time for a slump.

I'm hard put to criticize too harshly when a player (any player, but especially Sid) is slumping, because we don't know what is going on behind the scenes. With Sid, a slump tends to have a corresponding factor.

That said, I'm not sure this phase even qualifies as a slump. Maybe by Sid standards, but ... Yes, he's gone a few games without a point. Lots of guys go three games without a point. Some go half the season or more without a goal. Sid still has 3 points in the past five games.

Also, Sid contributes far more than simply scoring goals and assists.

Take a deep breath. And remember ...

It helps to enjoy the game for the game. Don't pin everything on what happens in March or April. Loss aside, was it fun when Geno scored? Yes. Was it fun when P.O. and/or Jeff scored? Yes. Was it amusing to see Sully get so angry? Yes. (Well, until he got the bench minor.) Enjoy hanging out online with others who are watching the game, reblog the gifsets of attractive men and chat with people. Shout into the void about the ridiculous things the commentators say.

Find enjoyment that doesn't depend entirely on the final score of the game. Or on the final outcome of the season.

And, again ... breathe. This is still only game No. 36. Whether the Pens make the playoffs truly may not decided until game No. 82. There will be far more stressful moments before the season is done.

[hournites]

I did understand the point of the gifset, you were drawing parallels between father and son and of how Jordan relied on love-bombing to convince his son of his newfound peace phylosophy. It's true that he is the narcissistic person here (I'll need an actual fight between them in the finale before officially labeling him as abusive though) so I do agree with you that he manipulated Cameron in that scene. From where my disagreement comes from is that Cameron was groomed to behave similar next. Jordan is faking everything in order to get whatever results he wants and it's why he is saying the right type of things to get reactions not just from his son but also from Barbara and Courtney in their own scenes. He is just repeating the fallacies he's been made to believe by Icicle and getting close to Court was to reassure her he was there on his own and not because anyone else sent him as some kind of Trojan horse. If anything him holding her hand can be seen as a callback to when she grabbed his when he was unsure of everything in 3x04 His unawareness of what is still going on behind his back must be taken into account because his response would be different. And isn't it too late to change now the dynamic when it comes to Camney? A villain origin story needs a proper build up for it to make sense. Had Court failed in 3x04 and never was able to get through him in controlling his powers and Cam just plunged further into the hate and the frustrations he had and never was able to find a way to keep expressing himself artistically through the ice as his auxiliary alternative then I'd agree with you that we were seeing his descend into an evil Icicle Jr. But that hasn't been the journey they've showed us nor the tone of his scenes has matched them. He reconnected with his humanity when Court taught him how to use his emotions (a big theme of S3, see Jennie and Todd) to continue being an artist. Cameron is struggling between the pull between to his family's legacies and the duty he's supposed to answer for (a clan that has been chased for their powers and thus bear anger and hate to the world which Jordan tried to reshape it's way of thinking by force) and the things and people that he loves. I think that ship has already sailed.

The point of the gifset was to demonstrate the uncomfortable and inappropriate use of physical affection and the silencing effect it left on the other party, in how within the same episode Cameron gave what he received. Moving on. 

If you agree with me that he manipulated Cameron in that scene, how are you reluctant to labelling it as abuse? Emotional and repetitive psychological damage does not have to present itself in fighting words or physical combat. Most abusive parents do not have superhero fights with their children??? Was not Henry Jr and Henry Sr. an abusive relationship before Henry Sr. murdered his son? (Spoiler alert: It was!!!)  As you pointed out, Jordan Mahkent gaslit his ass off the entire episode. Gaslighting and secretly spying on your child is abusive. The entire Mahkent family (Sofus is much more latent than Lily, but it doesn't mean he isn't a participant) has been grooming Cameron. Full stop.

They've been actively training Cameron to become like them and you can see they've been slowly but surely indoctrinating him with their ideology because he is so indifferent to how involved his family is with crime. Could it be that this is his trauma-response? Sure, absolutely, can be. But it still goes to show that he's being socialized to share the Mahkent's worldviews which has and always will be "be charismatic about your atrocities by victim-blaming and making people love you"

Jordan in fact makes that clear here when speaking to Barbara:

This doesn't mean that Cameron is an evil person in episode 3x11. I'm not saying that. I'm not saying that he is aware that he's being conditioned this way. But we have to acknowledge that this grooming is alive and present to move forward or else you're going to be stuck here, which is why it's not making sense for you.

His grandparents have made it very hard for Cameron to be influenced by outsiders, and Jordan never makes it sound like he's done anything wrong. He's always painting himself in the right, and so Cameron will also see himself in the right, but that doesn't excuse his behaviour in that it is uprooted from how he's being raised. Courtney was able to see something was VERY fishy about that. It's why she asked him if Jordan had sent that in the first place. Because he sounded like his father. So naturally, Cameron escalating when his words weren't being convincing by initiating physical contact by holding her hands and kissing her is just all the more of Cameron implicitly picking up cues from his father. It doesn't excuse the behaviour, it just explains it.

Now, using this information, you can see how Cameron's villain origin is rooted in every aspect of his interactions in season three, but even beforehand, in which Cameron is going to have to come to terms that he's been gaslit and lied to by virtually everyone he knows. This includes Courtney. Every episode Cameron's behaviour grows more concerning. This is what we in in the business would call “troubling”: 

- 2x05 - Cameron acting as though he was entitled to Courtney’s time, guilt-tripping her before they even started dating (I remember at the time a lot of people vocalized on tumblr that his phrasing felt....hmm...)

- 3x02 - Cameron’s sudden fit of anger in the art room 

- 3x03 - Cameron’s fit with Ms. Woods // popping Rick’s tire on reflex upon seeing it. 

- 3x04 - Screaming out and blasting Courtney across the room (accidental) upon a single touch, but not checking to see if she’s okay later, waiting for Courtney to pull up a chair for him?? Also just absolutely accepting her weird response?? Hmm. 

- 3x05 - Cindy provoked him but it lead to Cindy noticing that Cameron was not fully in control, and dropped that he has anger management problems from a young age, which could therefore be a danger to Courtney. She urged Courtney to drop Cameron. 

- Post 3x06 -  Cameron no longer apologizes for any of his actions. This is a heel-turn as 3x03 and 3x05 Cameron did apologize to Courtney, Ms. Woods, Rick and to the JSA. You know who else doesn’t apologize for their actions, ever? Lily and Jordan. 

- 3x09 - All of it. 

- 3x10 - Cameron’s tonal shift in the break up scene. The “who did it?” cutting Courtney off as she’s explaining herself. Cameron threatening Courtney to never see her again. 

- 3x11 - Cameron’s entire speech on the porch - At the end of the day he justified a double-murder of people that he knew after being so hung-up about another accidental killing that he was ready to kill someone else over it. That’s..Disturbing?? And not okay?? And indicates he’s well on his way to adopting such a way of life just as it had been established he’d been trained (groomed) to do?? And it also indicates that with his visit to Courtney after previously changing his mind, that he’s prone to flip-flopping since he no longer cared that she lied about the Icicle death? And he didn’t tell her that he knew the truth?

In season one, Jordan told Cameron: 

And Cameron is taking that and RUNNING with it in 3x11, but the manner in which he’s doing it isn’t healthy (and the context in which Jordan had told the story in which he had killed Christine’s other love interest to get her is also horrible, obviously). Cameron is still modelling his behaviour after his father’s and using his advice. It may seem harmless, but none of this is harmless. Just because Jordan might’ve not told explicitly to Cameron “go visit Courtney” before the porch scene, it doesn’t take away from the fact Jordan’s  weaponizing the relationship. Jordan in his position as a supervillain, goes so far as to push Courtney to continue to be with Cameron as he is lying to her. It is uncomfortable. It is manipulative. This is the kind of person Cameron idolizes. He’s soaking it up and squeezing it out, he just doesn’t realize it. 

Season 1 Cameron Mahkent and season 3B Cameron Mahkent are virtually two different people. 

Journey? ✅ 

Tone? ✅

To summarize, Courtney did fail. Cameron is WORSE off now post-Courtney’s “help” than he was beforehand. So I’m not sure what you mean that she had connected him to his humanity as if this was a win. 3x06 has not done anything to change or prevent Cameron from spiralling in the way we are actively see him do in 3x09-3x11. This is even sedimented in the musical motifs that they use for him, the increasingly chaotic synths, the ominous undertones to his theme. The way that the quirky cute Camney music is gone now when Camney interacted in 3x11. The Camney dynamic has already changed and the build up for villainous Cameron has been here all along. 

Geoff Johns has always written Cameron as a supervillain in literally every project he’s ever used him in. Every iteration of Icicle Jr in television has him disliking his father but still itching to either please him or prove him wrong, but still doing this while being an enemy to the heroes he’s facing and exhibiting concerning social behaviour (even in Young Justice, this is the case, go watch episode “Terrors”, for example). Why? Because that’s his character. 

This is when I have to point out, again, that this season was not written to be a final and complete story for the series. The last episode has an alternative ending to leave us without a gigantic cliffhanger, yes, but it doesn’t mean that this entire story arc is supposed to be contained and finished by 3x13. It is clear, just as it is clear with what they’re now doing for Artemis, that they had stories planned for Cameron and Artemis for a season 4 based upon what had been wrongly done to them in this season, giving them motivations to eventually fully embrace opposing the JSA. 

Now, just the last sentence. 

“Cameron is struggling between the pull between to his family's legacies and the duty he's supposed to answer for (a clan that has been chased for their powers and thus bear anger and hate to the world which Jordan tried to reshape it's way of thinking by force) and the things and people that he loves.”

I’ve been struggling with this. I don’t understand what this is implying. Both of these pulls “the family’s legacy” and “the duty he’s supposed to answer for” are both...bad options? Not to mention, I’m not sure why you’re bringing in the Mahkent persecution angle into this. What duty is Cameron obliged towards? What does he have to answer for? Why is this relevant towards the Mahkents’ behaviour? Minority groups are constantly persecuted. It’s awful. It seems as their story tells, that an entire community of ice-metas or so, have been exiled from Norway, but it’s not the entire community that is resorting to using their powers to exact revenge for their trauma? Unless the Mahkents were the only family to ever survive the exodus...Wouldn’t ice-metas be otherwise have become known world-terrorists? This entire story is an excuse, and it honestly makes me uncomfortable that the Mahkents are using xenophobia as their self-victimization mechanism of choice to further alienate Cameron as to why Jordan does what he does and painting him as a hero to justify their serial killing/mass-removal of agency agenda. Because nothing that Jordan has been doing in this entire show has been fuelled by the persecution of his family members or community...Those are Lily’s reasons, that, yes, have shaped Jordan’s warped vision towards the world. However! That’s not how Jordan’s narrative had been juxtaposed through seasons 1-3? 

Jordan’s raison d'être for the ISA’s new plan/American Dream cover up for his murder spree had been to target the anti-ethical corporation that had poisoned Christine through environmental negligence. By having Jordan ask/expect his parents to use the “woe is us, we have been casted aside and stomped upon by society, labelled as monsters” ideology AKA the sociological term of “Othering” to bring Cameron to their side instead of straight up telling him “Oh yeah, well, businessmen’s greed killed your mom! ” simply emphasizes the unnecessary and harmful fabrication of this entire backstory to create the “us vs. them” dichotomy. Oh look! That’s called more grooming. 

It’s especially more concerning when Cameron has been raised in an environment that’s been cultivated by Jordan’s carefully manufactured privileged position of power in Blue Valley...Like, y’all, I’m sorry. Jordan is a white man in America who can turn off his freaky powers left and right as he pleases. He’s not scaring anybody until he reveals himself. Every single way they present this story of epic injustice and marginalization to Cameron flops dramatically...It’s just wrong. 

There isn’t any real right pull that Cameron must be compelled to follow here that his father and his grandparents are presenting. This “duty” doesn’t exist. He’s not being oppressed by a greater societal force. But we see that he’s still actively engaging and participating in accepting this narrative! Because...again...He’s being groomed. 

 The things and people that Cameron loves are all parts of the large machine that are going to be churning out a kid with a massive complex. Choosing them doesn’t mean he’s automatically going to live the rest of his life doing the right things. What he has are his lying, hyper-controlling family and the art which has been the chosen method to repress his anger for years. Not to mention, it’s the medium of choice of his mother who was also aligned with the horrible Mahkent ideology. His art teacher was murdered by those people he loves...He has no friends....

Or Courtney, who has participated in feeding him the falsities of his reality and that he has only dated for like...2 weeks? Who he had already broken up with but is trying to convince to throw aside her morals now to be with him which is now making her uncomfortable? And I’m imploring that we remember Courtney’s agency in this situation. If Cameron chooses “love” it does not mean that Courtney must agree to that choice. She is entitled to say no to him. It’s worth mentioning that Barbara said no to Jordan in 1x13 and that’s what made him snap. Courtney should say no to him if he continues to exhibit these behaviours. 

Anyway, I’ve said all that I’ve wanted to. The bottom line is that yes, Cameron’s relationship with his father is abusive. No, Cameron very likely doesn’t realize this. Yes, Cameron’s behaviour is increasingly concerning. Yes, he’s learning said behaviours from Jordan + family members who are enabling said behaviour. I still like Cameron, and I’m rooting for him to be both delusional and disillusioned, but I’m not defending him at this point in the game. 

[tawaifeddiediaz]

everyone is telling me about how these relationships are doomed and how they spend this entire half telling you these relationships are not lasting and I just wanna know what is this evidence? I've seen like 3 people say we know these relationships will not work and I feel stupid asking because I don't watch much TV so I don't understand thematic elements or subtext that well, I'm sorry. But can you tell me why we know these relationships will not work? I want to have hope they won't.

It's really just...the very Telling comparisons to their previous relationships, and also the way that no matter who they try to date, somehow, they end up falling short with the partners they already have, y'know? call it subtextual intuition or whatever, but even if these new relationships aren't quite the same as the ones from s4, there are still Extremely Loud patterns.

This gifset by @eddiesbuck should point out the similiarities between bucktaylor and bucktalia. as for eddiemarisol, all the things he's looking for are things he already has, but exploration and him setting out on his first post-grieving relationship are necessary for his arc, but the way it's set-up doesn't give much weight to an endgame.

of course, until we have s7, we're not going to know 100% for sure, but if you ask me, that's what it is.