As the world emerges into the 21st century, newspaper articles are printed about the downfall of the legendary Van der Linde gang, one of a dwindling number of outlaw gangs remaining in America. The articles tell how Dutch's Boys were pursued from West Elizabeth all the way out to New Hanover and Lemoyne, the chase finally ending in a place called Beaver Hollow. They list the men who were taken down in the gang's last months, as well as the ones left unaccounted for, warning law-abiding citizens to be vigilant for signs of these dangerous men.
Most of the populace reading these articles either don't pay much mind to the news, or regard it merely as something new to gossip about with their peers. But there are others who find it means far more, as they read one name among the rest: Arthur Morgan.
A man reading the paper in a hotel room before he meets with a gallery owner about his latest showing remembers a wry man who chased coyotes, lured alligators, and herded horses to fuel his dream.
A widow in the safety of her mountain cabin remembers a man who saw her at her lowest and offered a hand, who taught her to hunt and kept her company over a meal.
A young couple far away in Boston remember a man who carried their letters, and faced down their families to give them a chance at freedom.
They're not alone, others sprinkled across the country who recognize the name as being attached to a man who changed their lives despite how briefly he was in it. A man with a past he was never entirely proud of, but one who managed to leave behind a legacy that others could be nonetheless.
Spoke to a gen z person the other night and apparently the young folks don't know about the very legal sites from which you can access public domain media (including Dracula, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and other Victorian gothic horror stories)?
Like this young person didn't even know about goddamn Gutenberg which is a SHAME. I linked to it and they went "aw yiss time to do a theft" and I was like "I mean yo ho ho and all that, sure, but. you know gutenberg is entirely legal, right?"
Anyway I'm gonna put this in a few Choice Tags (sorry dracula fans I DID mention it though so it's fair game) and then put some Cool Links in a reblog so this post will still show UP in said tags lmao.
dashboard
More eah, monster high and enchantimals links below the cut!!
@ravensraven
@everafterhigharchive
@eah-dumping
@thelosteverafterhighapp
@eaharchive
@super-airi
@mhdiaries
@everafterhighdiaries
@monsterhighdiaries
@andromedavwrites
@james-preble
@fashion-foxy
@theendofeverafter
(This constantly gets updated whenever I find a new acc and/or I add a new link that isn’t mine)
Monster high links below the cut!!
(G1)
(G3)
So I've wanted to do an analysis of this scene from the moment I saw it. It's such a great addition to canon and gives such a fascinating insight into both of their personalities and the facades they put on to others. It also gives hints of the fact that both of them are pretty good at breaking down each other's walls.
From the top:
“Woah, Woah there, woah.”
“I did not see her.”
“Yeah, neither did I.”
“You might want to, um”
“Ok.”
“You know,”
“Yeah. I’m so sorry miss, I didn’t see you there, you must have...”
The first impression we get of Fiyero is that he’s kind. Obviously careless enough to hit a girl in the dark, but he immediately slows down and, even before Feldspar has told him to apologise, he’s got down and is about to make his way over.
It’s also important to note we that seeing him talk to a Horse as a friend, when just the scene prior we have seen that a large amount of the population don’t want Animals to talk at all. In fact, this is the only other human we see friends with an Animal in the entire movie, and it sets up immediately the fact that he will agree with Elphaba on her cause.
“...blended with the foliage.”
Here is his first reaction to Elphaba’s greenness. It is the rudest thing that Fiyero says to her all scene, and something that immediately puts Elphaba on the defensive, having heard shit like this all her life, but it’s also very on par with Fiyero and his constant habit of saying dumb shit whenever Elphaba is around (“yeah, or maybe it scratched me or something,” and “well, actually it was, but it wasn’t” come to mind), he’s surprised and he reacts with humour (something we see he does a lot).
It’s interesting to contrast this to his musical comment, “Well maybe the driver saw green and thought it meant go,” which is a lot more pointed and insulting, blaming the situation on her (though to be fair she does wake him up and attack him for what his carriage driver did), Fiyero in the movie reacts dumbly but not maliciously.
“Is this how you go through life? Just running amuck and trampling anyone in your path?”
Elphaba is immediately on the defensive. She’s already stressed about Doctor Dillamond, pissed off about being knocked over and now, as usual, she has met a new person who is insulting her skin tone. So she does what she does best, she puts her walls up and hides behind them.
“No.”
*Feldspar laughs*
Fiyero is shocked by this attack. He’s naturally charming, to the point where he relies on his charm to get him out of situations. So the fact it doesn’t work stuns him a little. This is why Feldspar laughs, because he knows Fiyero and how he normally acts, and it is funny to see him not immediately manage the situation.
“No, sometimes I’m asleep.” *looks at her flirtily*
Fiyero recovers, his walls are back up. He’s over the shock of seeing someone green and how she’s reacted to him, so he goes back to charm by flirting with her. Notice how he is using self derogatory humour, it’s easy charm that he knows how to use – he’s trying to ease the situation by insulting himself and making her laugh. It’s also another way of cultivating his image, Fiyero very deliberately portrays himself as stupid, flirty and lazy (he sings an entire song about it!) and here he is playing it up.
Also, I’m pretty sure this is a reference to their meeting in the musical (where he is actually asleep), which is cute.
*Awkward pause*, “Yeah, alright, alright, here we go. No, I’m not seasick.”
Elphaba, who is not at all used to people flirting with her, but is used to people asking questions and insulting her skin tone – has picked up none of the playful implications and only that he is stupid and lazy, and therefore starts the rant that she’s said 100 times before.
“Neither am I.”
“No. I did not eat grass as a child.”
“Oh you didn’t? I did!”
But Fiyero starts replying! Again, it’s all charm and self derogatory humour, but he’s sensed the unease, he did not come to insult or attack her, and he’s trying to lighten the situation with his usual techniques he uses on everyone – but they are not working.
“And yes, I have always been green.”
“And the defensiveness? Is that a recent development?”
And here we see Fiyero let down his shield a little, and let on that he’s less dumb than he’s acting. Fiyero is remarkably good at understanding people, it’s how he manages to maintain his facade in the first place – and it’s how he ends up being an effective double agent through most of act 2. Fiyero immediately realises that Elphaba is putting on an act too, that she’s not just attacking him because she’s annoyed at him but that there’s something more going on there.
I love it. I love it so much. It’s such a good addition to the musical canon, because all the traits for Fiyero to be like this are already there, and it adds an extra bit of depth to our understanding of why he’s fascinated with Elphaba – because he knows that she’s another person hiding her true self from the world. It’s such a good link to the Lion Cub scene later where Elphaba pretty much calls him out on the same thing.
*Elphaba stares*
*Fiyero tries a smoulder*
“Hm.”
There is a second here where Elphaba realises that she’s been called out. That she’s attacked him when he wasn’t being malicious and it does cause her to retreat slightly.
Fiyero, now in safer territory, puts his walls back up and goes back to flirting. Elphaba, again not used to this at all, doesn’t really understand this and is still in a bad mood about the Animals, so breaks the moment.
*Feldspar laughs, Fiyero tries to shh him but laughs too.*
*Elphaba notices and stalks off.*
So this is interesting. From context clues, what Feldspar is laughing at earlier and Fiyero’s comment later, it appears he’s laughing at Fiyero, that his easy charm hasn’t worked and he’s found himself on the back foot. Fiyero, bewildered, but still playing up his persona, laughs too. Elphaba sees this and, obviously, immediately takes this as them laughing at her greenness, and therefore any goodwill from what he’s said is gone, and she stalks off.
“I’m off for some more trampling, may we offer you a ride?”
Fiyero, bless him, tries again. He’s seen he’s offended her, though probably hasn’t quite connected exactly why, and tries to make right. So he goes in with more self derogatory humour as well as a genuinely kind offer – it probably isn’t safe for her to walk back in the dark – but the moment has been lost.
“No thanks. Get stuffed.”
Elphaba’s walls are back up again. She might regret the “stuffed” comment by the end of act 2 though...
“Wow, Feldspar, we have just been spurned by a girl.”
“Indeed.”
“Guess there’s a first time for everything.”
Fiyero ends the scene baffled, unsettled, but interested. He plays it off as if he’s normal and also reassembles his walls and defensiveness, again playing into the lazy playboy persona he puts on, ready for his next scene with Galinda.
Analysis of Fiyeraba interactions in the Dancing Through Life/Ozdust Scene
Analysis of Fiyeraba interactions in the Lion Cub Scene in the movie
An In Depth Study of Elphaba and Fiyero in the Train Station Scene
it's true hearts day in ever after high and everyone's scrambling to buy flowers but they're all sold out then someone remembers daring can grow flowers with the light from his teeth and they all scramble to find him but no one can and it's revealed he's at the wonderland grove with lizzie and (1) he's the one who bought out all the flowers and (2) he's spending the day growing more flowers for her at the grove. (lizzie gets enough flowers to fill the hearts castle vault ten times over)
Darling, struggling to keep upright in 1 inch heels: Uh, yeah, no, I don't think heels are for me.
Daring, drinking a Frappuchino and strutting flawlessly in sparkly 8 inch heels: WEAK
Imagine dancing through life where the part where Boq asks Glinda to “save a dance for me” but he was referring to her letting him have at least one dance with Fiyero, and Glinda thought it was about her. That would be funny 👀
people that say Arthur and John hated each other were not playing the same Red Dead i did. i don't think they even disliked each other.
like there’s concern on Arthur’s face when he hands John off to Javier once they find him. sure he's being a smart ass the whole time, but the second John's back is to him, he's got these damn puppy eyes.
at the start of Who the Hell is Leviticus Cornwall? Arthur's checking on John. the only people in the cabin are Swanson, John, and Arthur. they have a few lines of dialog before Dutch comes barging in, A: "You're still here, then?" J: "I owe you." A: "And you'll pay me...but for the moment, just rest." there was literally no venom in Arthur's greeting to John. like at all. was it sarcastic? sure. but that's all it was. and the way Arthur says just rest is so damn soft. i would have loved more than three lines of dialog between them, but alas. Dutch. just found it of note that Arthur will check up on John, but only when there's no one else around. can't let the others know he still cares about that dumbass.
some of their exchanges can be read as "mean-spirited", but i think Arthur is just...kind of mean. every time Arthur takes a jab, John ignores it and continues their conversation like it's normal. i think that's just how John and Arthur interact. which honestly makes sense for two guys that have known each other for ~15 years.
Arthur is a grouchy bastard for the whole duration of Paying a Social Call, and John even comments to Kieran that if Arthur treats his friends like this, imagine how he treats his enemies. i think Arthur was acting like a banty and puffing out his chest to intimidate Kieran more than anything.
BUT (ok this may be a reach here) Arthur didn't deny him and John being friends, which is something Arthur has absolutely no issue correcting if he feels differently. and here would have been an opportune moment to get one last jab in on John, but he didn't. it was almost like John and Arthur were playing off of each other in the moment: Arthur throws the initial punch, John brushes it off, instead of changing the subject/tone to more joking—Arthur keeps going, John does get a little heated but then makes the remark about friends and enemies. it felt like a show, ooh look how big and bad our enforcer is.
i think the best display of their relationship is the mission The Sheep and the Goats.
John could have gotten Javier, Bill, hell maybe even Hosea to rustle some sheep, but he chose Arthur.
there's a bit of a power play between them the whole time, John is being cagey and evasive about what exactly the plan is, and at the first opportunity Arthur is taking control over the job.
they argue, but it's short lived and neither seem to put much heart into it. Arthur even voices something that could be seen as doubt in Dutch's abilities to John. J: "Dutch says that we—" A: "Dutch says a lot. Now, that's his gift...saying things." J: "Oh yeah? What do you mean by that?" A: "I was the prize pony once, now I'm the workhorse. Listen. Dutch is...but...but, well...you was at that thing in Blackwater."
overall the job goes smoothly. they work well together. even when dealing with the man at the stockyards they work well together. Arthur tries to throw his weight around, and John shuts him down before Arthur can push a little too hard.
i've said it before, but the scene where Cornwall's men have Strauss and John, the way John looks to Arthur—gets me every time. there's irritation on John's face, but not panic. he trusts that Arthur won't let him die.
idk i think a lot of it is that Arthur is the ultimate grudge holder. and i think that John turning tail and running made Arthur face the fact that he isn't any better than John. Arthur was a garbage father, that did pretty much the same thing. only Eliza and Isaac didn't have an entire gang to fall back on, it was probably just her providing and the few bucks Arthur would give her every couple of months.
with how comfortable Abigail is with asking Arthur for things with Jack, i would assume Arthur took on a role that could loosely be labeled "father" in John's absence (and i doubt any of the other men [except Hosea] would be willing to do that).
ok i got off track.
i never felt like their relationship or interactions were anything other than sarcastic banter between old friends. old friends that aren't as close as they used to be, but still they trust each other with their lives.
there might be a little rivalry between them, but i think it's mostly because they're both stubborn, arrogant bastards. and i'm sure Dutch helped fan the flame with their rivalry when it suited him, shifting his favor from Arthur to John.
there's a rift there, and Arthur doesn't let John forget it. John can hardly get a thank you out when Arthur helps him get Jack back, so something like an apology/heart to heart with Arthur is out of the realm of possibility. so they're stuck in this awkward in-between.
friends, but not really. close, but not too close. rivals, but only on the surface.
May I request Dagur and Snotlout for the kissing prompt game? Absolutely love the ones you’ve shown already!
#51 - Kissing Every Finger - Dagur x Snotlout
Thanks!