No One Will Ever Understand The Complicated Relationship Between A Minkowski Girl And The Mere Existence

no one will ever understand the complicated relationship between a minkowski girl and the mere existence of the dssppm. for the record.

i'm normal

So uuuuh this is NOT FINISHED. Also it was sketched out like two years ago when I first listened to Wolf 359. I recently started relistening and I remembered I started this again. It has haunted me that I never got it done bc I was really excited about it. It was the companion piece for the version I did of Eiffel. So anyways I'm posting the rough Work in Progress sketches for posterity. Feels like a waste to just let it rot hidden deep in my hard drive and at this point... yeah I don't think its gonna happen I'm sorry haha. Not unless I suddenly get a lot of free time (not likely unless I win the lottery).

My thoughts on the SI-5

For as much as a lot of fandom romanticizes the SI-5 as a friend group, Kepler really did Jacobi and Maxwell so dirty. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad he got it in the end, and the character himself is hilarious. But I need to talk about this. This man is insane and needs to be held accountable.

First of all, he meets them at the very lowest points of their life. Maxwell is isolated from her family and support systems, and it’s implied her career is heading for the toilet due to her fight with the ethics board. Jacobi’s career is totally over after he was blacklisted from his work, and it’s implied he doesn’t have strong support systems either. Kepler knows that and uses it to manipulate both of them into working for him. They both, especially Jacobi, have such a strong loyalty to him because they saw him as their only way out of their situations, and Kepler does not match that loyalty at all.

How do I know this? Because he was totally cool with Maxwell dying. Didn’t shed a tear. And when Jacobi called him out for that and threatened HIS life? Kepler was like “well okay. Guess we have to shoot Jacobi then.” I was reviewing my episode reactions, and I totally forgot he told Minkowski that. Like he didn’t hesitate or even try apologizing to Jacobi or admitting he was wrong first, he jumped right to “kill Jacobi instead.” He also had the audacity to say “how could he (Jacobi) do this? After all we’ve been through? 🥺” and then what they’ve “been through” is Kepler buying Jacobi fireworks (1) time, admitting to stalking Jacobi and Maxwell for years before he hired them (creepy), harassing and threatening them if they fail to comply with his orders, telling Jacobi and Maxwell they’re worth about as much as a glass of whisky and he wouldn’t miss them (which is verified by his reaction to Maxwell’s death and brief willingness to kill Jacobi to save his own skin when Jacobi tries to get revenge), lying to Jacobi and Maxwell and keeping secrets from both of them, and being an arrogant jerk of a boss who treats them more like his patronized pets than his friends. It’s actually funny how Kepler is shocked that wouldn’t be enough to keep Jacobi’s loyalty after gambling with the life of his best friend. He’s so blinded by his own ego it’s hilarious. Like buddy, it’s a miracle of desperate circumstance that either of them were loyal to you in the first place, you pompous whisky-worshipping buffoon.

You even see it in the little details. Kepler talking to Cutter about Jacobi and Maxwell behind their backs on that one call, the way Jacobi calls Maxwell “Alana” but Jacobi and Kepler use their formal names for each other until the very end when Kepler calls Jacobi “Daniel” and acts legitimately terrified to discover what Cutter and Pryce’s true plans are. Which again, love the way the redemption arc was done and those little details show you proof that Kepler rethought his views and isn’t doing this on a whim and that Jacobi and Maxwell’s friendship, as compared to their relationships with Kepler, was a stronger and more real and genuine friendship. I mean, headcanon what you want, write the SI-5 how you want. But a lot of people seem to either love or hate the whole SI-5 group (I admit this was me for a long while, though I do love post-redemption duck and whisky boys) so it’s easy to gloss over these internal dynamics within the SI-5, but if Kepler survived, I would personally need him to acknowledge just how much of a jerk he really was because yikes.

I LOVE IT HERE

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When SI-5 and the crew of the Hephaestus clash it's not a pretty sight...

@ghostcat-cosplays as Dr. Alana Maxwell kaiidth_cosplay as Warren Kepler owenisamassivenerd as Daniel Jacobi magpieclaws.cosplay as Isabel Lovelace @confusiondoodle as HERA kiwi_cosplays_ as Doug Eiffel

EXACTLY

I also think a lot of it has to do with Ame finally fitting in as a member of the Coven.

The first time we see the council at work, Ame is exhausted and scared, and every single other member has this sort of looming presence about them. As much as Ame is a part of the group, she's also an outsider in so many ways. The entire episode holds this tension that fully immerses the audience in Ame's fumbling discomfort and the grandeur of these very powerful witches.

In The Vote, we're in the same situation, but now the roles are reversed. Brennan says, before the meeting even starts, that Ame has won. She has information, she has an ally in Hakea, the most revered witch on the council, and she's wielding this power with Grandma Wren's beautiful, fine-pointed trickery. Her kindnesses, her respect, aren't out of fear anymore. They are in and of themselves an extension of her domain; a reminder to Indri that the Witch of the World's Heart is as powerful as ever.

That position of power— and the dissolution of fear— allows Ame to get a clearer perspective on her Sisters. Because of course Mirara was the youngest. She lets herself be chastised by Indri. She's quick to act before she thinks. Like Ame, she doesn't participate in a majority of the showboating and displays of power the oldest three do. Like Ame, her retinue is slim, and she comes to Indri's palace alone.

Brennan Lee Mulligan is such an incredible storyteller. Those dynamics, those conflicts and nuances, they've always been there. The only thing that's changed is where Ame is sitting to watch, and that's so beautifully illustrated

i really like what this episode did for mirara. for all her alienness and foreboding, there's still a person behind that mask. she's a woman like any other, her feelings can be hurt and she can be tricked. no one is infallible.