whynot: etc: oh deer (AWOOGA)
Las ([personal profile] whynot) wrote2009-09-29 09:39 am

for every action there is an equal reaction post

This is why Gaius is hot. (HINT: It is because he is fly.)


EEEEEEEEEEE MICKEY BRICKS <333333333333

"AND THE FACE OF A BEAR." AWESOME. IT'S MANBEARPIG, I'M SUPERSERIAL.

HELLO GWEN'S CLEAVAGE

LEECH TANK. WHAT.

MYROR IS ALSO SPIDERMAN

Arthur... has nice eyes.

So like, Merlin is Cinderella, and Gaius and Arthur are like the stepsisters. WASH MY STOCKINGS, MERLIN.

I like Arthur's peasantfail and that Gwen is pissed off by it. A good way of alleviating the cheesiness of Arthur/Gwen from last episode. They've got a long way to go before troo love, and this tension is a good way of slowing things down.

"AND IF I'M NOT DOING THAT, I'M FULFILLING MY DESTINY." Merlin's outburst! IS AMAZING.

GWEN'S OUTBURST <333333333 BESTEST.

GWEN AND ARTHUR'S FIRST DATE, PREPARATION OF. \o/ AND THE CHICKEN. Best human/raw poultry interaction since that Mr. Bean Christmas episode.

Man, Bradley has a huge neck. Myror wouldn't have missed.

OH ARTHUR, EVEN DURING THE DATE WHEN YOU'RE TRYING TO BE SELF-DEPRECATING, IT'S ALL ABOUT YOU YOU YOU. "WHAT ELSE DO YOU HATE ABOUT MEEEEEEE, GUINEVERE," INDEED.

...Did he just confess his crush on her? I didn't realize he was crushing on her already! What?!

The lessons in equality and respect that Gwen's been giving Arthur are null and void when Merlin's around, apparently. Arthur's still treating him like shit. Maybe if Merlin grew some breasts. I mean in all seriousness, I think that Arthur's prattishness is only occasionally affectionate, and the rest of the time it's genuine assholery, accidentally AND otherwise. I mean for god's sake, "fetch me a mattress"? He may genuinely care for people, for Merlin and Gwen and whoever, but he cares about them in a selfish way viz. seeing them more in context of his world, instead of seeing himself in context of theirs. (The exception is Uther, but that is a different kettle of fish entirely.) Or maybe he really is just that emotionally repressed, who the hell knows.

But honestly, I like that Arthur is a jerk again, because I always felt like S1 Arthur grew up too quickly. Plus, when he is a jerk, his moments of kingliness are that much more delightful.

The kiss is... kind of out of nowhere? I don't get it! I mean, I was \o/ but I was also ???. I had no inkling at all that Arthur was into her beyond thinking she's hot and nice. He was an ignorant ass and it irritated Gwen, and... now they are kissing?! What kind of a message is that?!

Myror is also apparently an awesome jouster! Cool. And for real, does no one else notice that Merlin is suddenly working for some rando knight now? Why does no one care?

What is the Latin they are chanting in the background? What are they saying?

LONGING WISTFUL GLANCES OVER HIS SHOULDER <3. 'Cos even though the Arthur/Gwen confuses me, I still like it?!

Anyway, much better than 2.01, despite the lack of Morgana.

There needs to be fic about how they all hang out with "Sir William" now in his small outlying village. There also needs to be fic about the leech tank.

LEECH TANK. WHERE IS THE LEECH TANK FIC.

Also, IT APPEARS NEXT WEEK'S EPISODE WILL GIVE ME A HEART ATTACK. OMG MORGANA. MORGANA AND MAGIC MAGICAL MORGANA. MORDRED. DRUIDS. OMG MORDRED. MORGANA'S GOLDEN EYES. \o/






Was Christian hell always this industrialized? I don't have my Sandmans with me so I can't check. It's like, the Industrial Revolution... in hell!! And I wonder if there is some demon who gets all polemical about how things aren't what they used to be, that punishment was once a craft amongst demons, but now it is a homogenized product. Industry robs the demons of dignity, and we must go back to emphasizing quality of punishment rather than quantity of punishment. We cannot allow ourselves to become alienated from what makes us demons, but how can we do that if all we do all day is guard mills and crank levers and push buttons?

The story itself is pretty engrossing, if gaudy in places (I'm looking at you, old-timey London Christian hell arc!). For a story mostly about non-humans, it is such a strongly humanist story, all about individualism and choice and flipping off predestination. You are your own creator. If you are wingless, it is because you chose for them to be cut off. If you only have half a face, it is because that is the face you wanted. Christopher Rudd's story is pretty much the American dream, pulling yourself up by your bootstraps and making something of yourself by staying true to yourself. He climbed his way up the ladder OF HELL. DAMN, SON. And the reason Rudd was plucked from the horde of damned souls because he was still true to his faith, praying his prayers aloud.

On culturally and historically specific hells. So, our conception of Christian hell is pretty much... Dante? It's not a timeless thing. And the Biblespeak with archaic phrasing, that's not a timeless thing either. What will hell look like in a few centuries? How will angels and demons speak in our stories? Will our current phrasings be appropriated by the future to represent something ancient? That will be funny.

UM I LOVE MAZIKEEN A LOT. She is my favorite. I love that she is not whole with a whole face. I love that she is loyal without being subservient. What a fucking badass. I ship Mazikeen/Lucifer hardcore, but how do they get it on if he has no genitalia?

And Elaine Belloc oh my god <333 her huge crush on the devil <333 and Jill Presto is GREAT.

BUT OKAY. So Lucifer made this universe outside of God's jurisdiction and forbids worship there. Um. I don't understand how that works because the shape of worship and faith can exist outside of religion, they're just called something else. Some people love God the way other people love their spouse or their family or their art, a deep devoted thing that shapes and centers you, but guts you too. Like when bad things happen, you can say, "At least I still have this," even if sometimes the sentiment doesn't really make outward sense, but you say it anyway, because somehow it's still true. I feel like Lucifer's proclamation of NO WORSHIP ALLOWED is just like God's thing about not eating the apple. Eventually someone will come along and ask, "Why not?" At least God was being specific when he said don't eat the apple, but what does Lucifer even mean by 'worship' here? Is he cool with faith though? Is this going to be addressed in the later books?

[identity profile] marycontraire.livejournal.com 2009-09-29 09:41 pm (UTC)(link)
So like, Merlin is Cinderella, and Gaius and Arthur are like the stepsisters. WASH MY STOCKINGS, MERLIN. LOL, this is why I love you, darling. BRB, adding "peasantfail" to my personal dictionary. Also, this is Merlin's second teen angst outburst this season! Not that "AND IF I'M NOT DOING THAT, I'M FULFILLING MY DESTINY," isn't a valid sentiment, and I kind of love that he's not taking this shit lying down anymore, but I wonder how the constant anger will affect his relationship with Arthur... and his magic...

ALSO OMG NEXT WEEK LOOKS FABULOUS AND MORGANA FILLED. I like Gwen a lot better this week, but she still kind of bores me and Bradley is still kind of the worst actor on the show, so I'll be glad to have the focus shifted back to my two pets next week. MORGANA IS TOTALLY GOING TO CONFESS HER MAGIC TO MERLIN, I LOVE THAT HE IS THE ONE SHE TRUSTS WITH THIS.

Time to flail incoherently for a while and then write an art history paper which is tragically not on Pierrefonds, FML. By the way, that Gaius video is HOT.

[identity profile] twoskeletons.livejournal.com 2009-09-30 12:07 am (UTC)(link)
Yeah, I'd love to see a confrontation between Merlin and Arthur. A REAL one, not this juvenile name-calling shit. I FEEL IT BUBBLING.

Gwen's strong stuff. Who is this fanon Gwen that squeaks at everything and is easily scandalized? That is not the Gwen I see.

I love Gaius and I love Gaius love, I do confess.

[identity profile] twoskeletons.livejournal.com 2009-09-30 01:19 am (UTC)(link)
But if I WERE my LJ icon, I would be this one.

[identity profile] marycontraire.livejournal.com 2009-09-30 01:26 am (UTC)(link)
LOL I actually replied to that comment thinking I had a different window open, so I was responding to something else, sorry for the non-sequitur. Bradley on a roller coaster is not a bad icon to aspire to, though. But I think if I could be one of my icons, I'd like to be Anne Shirley. She amuses me.