We also finally have confirmed residences of where everyone is from, we all knew about Darius and Sammy, but now we know the specifics of where they live in California and Texas
Also, Sammy’s full name is Samantha (not that shocking, but I like that it was confirmed) and we still don’t have Brooklynn’s last name, and at this point, it’s just hilarious 😂
See there’s the obvious temptation to say ‘show more of the N6’s families’ or ‘give Brooklynn a last name’ or ‘make Ben canonically queer cough cough trans specifically cough’ and I knowww ppl are gonna mention ships but..
Name Darius’s mom.
Come on. It wouldn’t even be such a problem if we didn’t know his dads name was Fredrick. His dad, who had one scene in one flashback. Yet his mom, Kenji’s mom, the woman who’s been relevant to both CC and CT, who isn’t even dead yet… doesn’t get a first name? Why. Literally, why. We have seen her MULTIPLE times!!! The Handler’s raptors have names??? And she doesn’t?????
Let's unpack the "threshold of afterlife" scene, because I have things to say.
This setting is so meaningful for two separate reasons. First of all, as we know, Ben finds himself on the rooftop of one of his university's buildings - a place that he mentioned in s1 as a spot where he goes to relax, rest, breathe a little.
But at the same time - let's be for real. This rooftop does not look like that. Yes, this is the same location, but it's... this is a piece of a jungle. Not only is the floor replaced with grass, but there are also plants (tropical plants from what I see) growing around the space. Personally, I think that is really significant, considering Ben's entire character arc in jwcc.
(analysis below)
Remember this energetic noodle right here? Exactly.
In jwcc s3, Ben is going through it, trying to decide whether he wants to go back to the world outside Isla Nublar. He insists that Nublar is now his home, that this is the place where he finally discovered himself. In other words - he is afraid that the change of setting will somehow undo the progress that he has done during his stay on Nublar.
The echoes of this crisis are still very clear in jwcc s4
On the Mantah Corp Island, Ben feels lost, panicked, out of place. He doubts himself, questions his decisions (first, he points at the berries saying that they are good to eat, then he panics that they are poisonous). Jwcc s4 and s5 are very significant for Ben's character arc because not only does he have to rediscover parts of himself (what is "ben" and what was "Nublar survival), but also redefine his place in a world without Bumpy (who a massive component of his persona back on Nublar).
Yes, at the end of jwcc s5 Ben is clearly happy to go back home, and in the time skip we learn that he still regularly visits Mae and Bumpy, but as a long-time Benjamin enthusiast, I've always wondered – as the time passed, does jwct Ben still carry the spirit of the infamous "jungle boy"?
The hallucination sequence in jwct s4 kind of answers this question.
This is Ben Pincus at peace. His safe space is secluded, hidden in plain sight, known only to a select handful of people. It is also full of his best memories - an echo of his college experience, yes, but also the best aspects of Isla Nublar, a place where he could be himself no matter what. Ben is no longer the wild child, no longer the jungle boy, but that yearning for freedom, that fascination with the world outside of society's pressure (remember that Ben struggled a lot with who people expected him to be as shown in jwcc s1) is still a massive part of him.
Nublar is a place without boundaries, and it seems like a vital component of Ben's personality (he has no trouble breaking into places where he shouldn't be). Nublar seems to symbolise freedom - a concept that seems to be extremely important to Ben overall (in jwct we learn that he's been living in a van, and that seems significant on its own; a home on wheels, a portable safe space).
What Nublar represents will always be Ben's safe space.
Overall, I think it's just fascinating. Ben might have left Isla Nublar behind, but he carries a piece of this island in his heart. It is a symbol for him - a symbol of a space where he can be free and breathe.
It might just be me, but Brooklynn’s arc with her prosthetic felt weirdly anti-prosthetic to me.
Like, I get it was given to her by the villain, the one who ordered the hit and is the reason she is disabled in the first place.
But having her be given it and only using it while she’s being morally grey and on the wrong side and then having her toss it when she’s brought back to the good side is jarring, to say the least. Especially when her voice actress literally has/uses a prosthetic.
It's a very complex situation and I guess you could look at it in many ways. I didn't see it as Brooklynn rejecting the idea of prosthetics but rejecting Soyona and the help of a villain once she had the luxury to do that (and a better support system). We'll see in the next season if she gets a new prosthetic, maybe one her friends help her pay for or that a "good" organisation can create for her
I don't have a limb difference so obviously grain of salt on anything I say, but something that Brooklynn's VA pointed out about this plot is that Brooklynn was never given the opportunity to really think about whether she wanted a prosthesis which is a personal choice that different individuals will have different feelings about. It's just given to her and she's expected to use it, and Soyona pushes back when Brooklynn wants to take it off for her own comfort.
I think the point is supposed to be less that the prosthesis is bad and more that Soyona making that choice for Brooklynn was bad. She needs to be able to decide for herself.
i'm physically disabled and i interpreted it as also being about how Soyona gave Brooklynn a prosthetic arm so she'd "present well in Malta. strong." which feels really uncomfortable, to me at least. like people will only see Brooklynn's strength if she's less obviously disabled (yeah, her prosthetic looked pretty noticeable, but a missing limb is more obvious) and has the use of two arms. i get that Soyona was trying to look out for Brooklynn and knowing people there might've been ableist and thought less of Brooklynn because she has one arm, but it's still ableist. plus there's a lot to be said about 'acceptable' vs unacceptable disabilities. by that, i mean that prosthetic limbs are seen as cool and exciting by most non-disabled people, whereas a mobility aid like a wheelchair is seen as something shameful and less good. a person with a visible limb difference who chooses not to use a prosthetic is also seen as less good because they are making themselves more visibly different. Brooklynn pushing against that, and choosing not to use a prosthetic arm (at least, not all of the time, and feeling comfortable when she chooses not to wear one) is AMAZING!!! she can be visibly disabled, and still cool, badass and respected :D
JWCT era ship breakup playlist for Kenlynn. I admittedly made this one first. I had these songs locked and loaded from.. other fandoms. What is it about couples breaking up due to miscommunication and disagreeing on what constitutes as the lesser of two evils?
Mostly indie and alternative but not a lot of genre congruency, like all my playlists this is 90% just lyrical analysis. I tried to have songs alternate POVs between them <3
JWCC era Kenlynn ship playlist! Mostly bedroom pop because these two just. Fully encapsulate the whole ‘puppy love just for the hell of it’ concept. Though I did include songs from bands that I put on their individual character playlists, for accuracy, so there’s some alt and indie on there
Artists featured include but are not limited to Sidney Amos, twenty one pilots, and Trifect
Yasammy breakup era playlist because the angst needs to be contained to its own track
This has absolutely no genre congruency I just hyper analyzed the lyrics of every song I found. The first handful of songs are ordered to alternate POV between Yaz and Sammy, the order of the first few song titles is Very on purpose, and I’m going to go cry ab them now
All songs are ones where the singers are still very in love and are breaking up because of circumstance or to avoid hurting the other. None of that “falling out of love” bs here
Their dad, Fredrick, died when Darius was about 11, maybe 12 depending on birth month since we know in jwcc he was in the latter half of 12. Taking that into account, let’s take a look at this family photo from JWCT
Here Fredrick still has his healthy character model, so it was taken before his condition declined. Darius seems a good few years younger, with a different character model (rounder face, bigger eyes, smaller forehead and jaw, bigger face in overall) than was actually used in JWCC
I feel safe assuming he was around 8 years old, as those facial proportions fit that age
Right behind him is Brand, who’s only clear difference is a slightly softer jaw. His shoulders are already broad and he’s reached his full height. At minimum he was already 17 here, since we know Darius finished his growth spurts earlier too (mid-timeskip, 16-17)
So that’s a rough 9 year age gap
Doing the math, Darius was 12-13 during JWCC, this places Brand around 22 years old
theartofmadeline
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