love is not as transient and conditional as some of you guys think it is. when people tell you they care about you, they don’t change their mind ten minutes later because you said something weird or annoying. the people that love you will still love you when you do things that upset them. love doesn’t instantly disappear like that
So I know the entire narrative in The Locked Tomb is like « oh ahaha Babs, what a loser » but I genuinely think that there might be something really interesting about him. Babs was the only person in the whole galaxy to know about Ianthe and Corona’s secret. And I’m starting to think that as much of a natural asshole he is, at least 50% of what we see of him in GtN is acting.
Let me explain: he is obviously in puppy love with Corona, and dismissive of Ianthe when Corona is looking. But privately, he is terrified of her. He knows she’s his necromancer and NOT Corona; this is proven when the Second challenges the Sixth, and Corona wants to intervene but Ianthe says no. Ianthe is 100% certain that Babs will do as she says, but Corona is actually surprised. And when he finds Corona duelling Gideon, he is scared and tells her that he will not tell Ianthe. I think Ianthe probably threatened him behind Corona’s back one time or a dozen. And I think Babs isn’t just protecting their secret, he might be trying to protect Corona from Ianthe’s anger too. Being the annoying go-between, the butt of the joke, the meat shield. On purpose.
Pay close attention to when he’s being a contrary asshole for no reason. A lot of it seems to come naturally to him, sure. But also: when Jeannemary finds the human ash and asks for Corona of all people to help her identify the deceased: he immediately redirects attention by being a mega-asshole. Corona ends up not having to do any necromancy; her secret is still safe. Similarly, later on in Dulcinea’s sick room, when everyone is having a discussion about necromancy: he makes a tetchy comment, prompting Corona to whisk him away like ‘oh ahah he’s getting hangry’. How familiar is this routine for them?
I think deep down, while he’s an arrogant dickhead, Babs isn’t evil. He’s shocked and appalled that Silas went and took Dulcinea’s keys, and I don’t think it’s because he wishes he thought of it first, as Jeannemary accuses. I think he genuinely thinks that’s dishonourable. And when Corona tries to stand up for the Sixth and Ianthe says no, Babs follows her order, but is pissed about it.
But hold on, you might say to me, five minutes later HE is the one to issue a challenge to the Sixth!! Yeah, after a tense stare-off with his necromancer. After, perhaps, coming to some conclusions of his own about the Third house’s chances regarding the key situation. Ianthe herself says to Corona: you need a facility key. This is your only chance. Might be that Babs figured something similar!
When Harrow answers the call, his face is frozen in a look that’s both cautious but trying to look though. When Jeannemary jumps on the table, he immediately backs out. Without waiting for Ianthe to call him off. He tries to play it off, but Babs is pretty consistent on NOT wanting to fight the teenager.
In conclusion: the dude is a dick but I think he’s got honour and he is stuck between a rock and a very hard place. AND he fights Ianthe after the lyctoral process for a surprising and impressive long time!
Also: lmao when he jumps off the table he mutters ‘should have just stayed home and gotten married’. Okay??? Babs what’s that about? 👀
@yuck-pfaugh how does it feel to be one of the funniest mfers in this fandom
Listen everyone, I didn’t mean to become a Babs girlie (and drag some of you in with me in the process lol) but I just think he’s angry the entire time he’s at Canaan house. Fucking pissed beyond belief. I mean, I also think he’s naturally a giant dickwad. But mostly, he went there expecting the Necromancer olympics. He’s at the top of his cavalier game. Of the cavaliers that were at Canaan house, he thinks he’s the best, Corona not included. (because he doesn’t know Gideon and no one knows what Camilla can do.)
But then he gets there and there are obviously weird mind games afoot, which both Corona and Ianthe brush off when he tries to complain / point it out. Most of the other cavaliers also seem super chill about this. They’re having fun. They think he should have fun duels with teenagers. Talk about a letdown, he came there for a goddamn trial!! To support his necromancer while she showed off for God!
Like maybe I’m just projecting but if I travelled to the Vatican to help defend my bestie’s PHD thesis and got there to find everyone playing monopoly instead of doing any thesis stuff, AND my car disappeared, I’d be tetchy too.
Until people start dying, he’s probably just chomping at the bit because he’s got absolutely nothing to do. And then he finds out Ianthe stole his key ring and was solving the puzzle all on her own, essentially sticking him and Corona at the metaphorical kid’s table without telling them. I’d be pissed too!
i think a missed character opportunity in mp100 would be some lady who knows reigen is a great impromptu masseuse/handyman/guy who will listen to me bitch abt my problems and who often undercharges for his services. so she just shows up and is like oh reigen-san, there is a horrible crack in my wall i think its haunted. reigen-san i think my coworker cursed me my back is so stiff. reigen-san uh my plants are possessed by an evil spirit and im going out of town this week will you exorcise them while im gone? they need ritually purified water every 3 days. it’s in the watering can by the sink.
by the time reigen catches onto the fact she is bullshitting harder than he is, she is his most consistent returning customer and there is nothing to be done. game recognizes game
HBO Max: so basically we’re going to erase most of our shows as a tax dodge in a week and you can’t stop us
A Youtuber who makes two hour long & strangely ominous video essays about Lost Media: it’ll all be on Archive dot org by the end of the week you son of a bitch. Also the forbidden original pilot of Caillou and the French dub of the long sought after August 27th, 2001 Spongebob bumpers
Lost Media Indiana Jones swiping the last copy of Batgirl from the CEO of Discovery and shouting “it BELONGS on Archive dot org and sketchy torrent sites!”
This is all fine from a consumer perspective but it utterly screws creators.
Did you know that if a company writes off your show or movie, you don’t get residuals from it anymore?
If I were a creator, I’d rather my stuff be pirated than become lost media and cease to exist entirely. Just throwing that out there.
On Twitter after the HBO Max shitshow, showrunners were literally begging archivists to pirate their shows in order to preserve them. I don’t have screenshots on hand, but Owen Dennis of Infinity Train and all the crew of Summer Camp Island come immediately to mind.
Like, at this point, the creators have already been screwed. The networks are hanging them out to dry. This isn’t a “if you pirate it, it doesn’t get renewed” situation, this is a “if you DON’T pirate it, it might become completely lost” situation.
It’s like how the original 1931 Frankenstein movie had scenes cut from the completed film by censors under the Hays Code. The original film wasn’t rediscovered until the 1980s, and then only because someone had stashed away an original copy somewhere.
Media piracy and media preservation are two sides of the same coin, and there’s not really a universal code of ethics that can be applied. Sometimes piracy is a gray area. Sometimes it’s vital.
ALT
