#gs2e4

[thoughtfulfangirling]

God Jeffrey's call outs of Hudson are peak! He's saying it straightforwardly but not with derision or contempt. Exactly the sort of tact necessary to reach the kind of man Hudson is. I love it. Hudson makes a true admission but not the one that really matters. What matters is that he feels shame, and he hasn't been brave enough to face that shame, be vulnerable with those closest to him, and grow in an important way. And Jeffrey is having none of it. Sure, he can teach Hudson, but hey ummm... maybe Hudson darling, you should deal with the fact that you are too afraid to be open about something as simple and changeable as being able to read. Love that Hudson's arc doesn't have to be All About the Importance of Reading. That might be the obvious message, but there is something a bit deeper here.

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AHAHAHAHA THEY'VE BEEN SEARCHING THE SKYSCRAPER LKJFOIEJLKJFEKL

I am so fucking delighted by every moment of this part of the episode omgg!! Owen is SO annoyed at having these pests under foot, but Xanatos won't just let him kill them. In fact, Xanatos is almost definitely watching the camera feeds with popcorn, and the most entertaining part is watching the minute shifts in his assistant's expressions as this all happens.

AND OWEN WAITS UNTIL THIS MOMENT TO MENTION MACBETH. Owen didn't make a wild guess. Owen doesn't do that. Which means he's known this whole time, but he chose to endure his own irritation of having them messing up his place in order to increase theirs. PETTY AND MAGNIFICENT

I did NOT pay enough attention to Owen in the past. Omg. He's amazing Ahahaha!

What are the chances that Macbeth started with Xanatos, planning to try and obtain the scrolls in a legal way and assuming Xanatos may try to purchase them. It would suggest that Macbeth's money is too questionable to endure the kind of scrutiny of buying such an artifact, which is fascinating in its own right. But for whatever reason, Xanatos wasn't interested.

And of course, any such arrangements would be made by Owen himself. Xanatos really doesn't have to know anything about what's going on here this night. Maybe he's not watching, and despite the slight annoyance of them, this little petty revenge is enough for Owen to just let it play out.

I LOVE it. Best moments of the season so far XD

[thoughtfulfangirling]

So... you're taking the scrolls out on hold without permission hm? How fast are you planning to pick reading up? Ahahaha

<Three months later>

'Hey Elisa, remember those scrolls you were ordered to escort to the museum? Here you go.'

'That was a while ago. How did you go about finding them?!'

'Uhhhhh'

[thoughtfulfangirling]

I actually had to have a laugh at Owen's reply/expression. The gargoyles come charging in, and for once, he actually has no fucking clue what they're on about. It doesn't even take him a beat to dryly make this response. At what point are these previous guests of Xanatos's thinking he's their assistant too? XDXDXD Just so fucking funny to me.

[thoughtfulfangirling]

KLJFLKDJFOIEJLK

AHAHAHA HIS EXPRESSIONS

Owen doesn't need to have the information the gargoyles want; he's thrilled that they think he does, and he can use information he doesn't even have to dangle over their heads and be unhelpful about.

Owen finds them SO annoying. It's such a thorn in his side that his boss has such a thing for them.

This has been Owen's highlight of the month, possibly year XDXDXD

Amazing

[thoughtfulfangirling]

Macbeth is just like, 'this is not worth it.' He might be a well read guy (who knows), but he doesn't have much interest in their interpersonal dramas. He's old enough to know that the quickest way to get out of having to witness something boorish is to just let everyone GTFO, and honestly, possibly the best character for him yet. XD

[thoughtfulfangirling]

Macbeth really does have royalty vibes. The panicked calling of trouble met with such an unperturbed, matter-of-fact, shrugging-it-off way he replies, 'then take care of it.' Just... great work. Love a good line delivery XD

[thoughtfulfangirling]

It might be pedantic of me to point out that the tradition of oral storytelling actually did a lot of what Jeffrey is referring to here, but given that the only reasonable way the previous head of the clan didn't read, to people who are me, is that he comes from a tradition of oral storytelling. And Hudson truly does give me the vibe of someone who may be quiet most the time, but when he opens his mouth, he may have a good old tale to tell. Some really impressive stuff has been passed down through generations through oral histories.

That exception aside, I do really love Jeffrey's prose here. It is beautiful and mostly true, and passing along knowledge plays such a huge role in human evolution. In a time where oral histories aren't so common or used, it is important that Hudson learns how to read, and that starts with knowing the value of the thing and a certain appreciation (at his age). Also, reference the title!

But also ALSO, I don't think Hudson is just creeping out. He's going to go in and say hi to Jeffrey, and even though he may be learning alongside Broadway, I think he'll learn quite a bit from Jeffrey too.