I made a whole gifset about Ethan and Benji's silent conversation in the coffin scene in TFR and wanted to focus on a couple moments
first it's interesting that for this whole scene the only characters with dialogue are Paris and Degas (he says "you're not seriously gonna?") as two of the newer agents who are both on their first mission with Ethan
any communication from Ethan or Benji is silent because they've known each other for about twenty years at this point and can anticipate so much meaning without words (we see this when Benji gets some rambling and a notebook and builds a whole plan off of this)
after the coffin opens Ethan looks to Benji for his opinion and Benji's not sure what to say
it's not until Paris' warning of "it will change you" that you can see Benji want to intercede (aka my fave gif of the set)
he wants so badly to say something to Ethan here! and even reaches out like he might try to stop him. and you can see him restrain himself, because he knows Ethan so well. he knows Ethan will accept any risk if it will give them an advantage in this fight
(absolutely amazing acting choices from Mr. Pegg in this moment, especially with no dialogue. I've been obsessed with this one shot for months - it was the reason for the main gifset - and I'm so happy to have a gif of it now!)
also interesting that after that shot of Benji when we see Ethan climbing into the coffin, the camera moves to almost more of a Benji POV
the scene is very much about Ethan and the choices he's making in this moment but it's also about Benji and how their dynamic works in the field - and I'm obsessed!
Does Ronan realize he’s turned into Kavinsky? Or better question, do you think the parallels to Kavinsky in MI were intentional on Maggie’s part? Because unless you’ve read every book since TRC, she makes no reference or gives no context to Kavinksy. Or could this be Maggie’s way of writing more of a Kavinsky like character after she swore she wouldn’t write any more of his character? I think MI Ronan is who he would have maybe turned into faster if he’d chosen Kavinsky in TRB. Maybe, MI Ronan wishes he had...
oh now HERE'S a question i'm ready to sink my teeth into, coming off my second read. (first read was to feel all my feelings, second was to analyze the story as a whole)
mi spoilers obviously
100% yes, i think the parallels are intentional.
but i don't think we can talk meaningfully about that without exploring how HENNESSY is a kavinsky parallel.
for the sake of brevity i'm gonna just. give an overview of a lot of thoughts that could all have their own very long meta posts
(ok putting it under a readmore bc it still ended up semi lengthy)
we're introduced to hennessy in cdth as a suicidal, partying, chain-smoking, bitchy forger who dreams real people and doesn't appear to care about the consequences. there are plenty of things setting her apart from kavinsky, which are made clear as the story unfolds, but this choice of introduction makes the parallel striking & Definitely intentional
her relationship to ronan is in many ways a rovinsky with the power dynamics reversed: him teaching HER to dream, rather than the other way around
it's also about as dysfunctional as rovinsky is because ronan is 1) projecting his own anger at himself onto her 2) unable to think clearly around his fear of being left alone if she dies 3) just. ronan
when mi opens, ronan is protecting her from her trauma, but it's not sustainable. she wants to be able to function independently of him; he doesn't understand why she can't just accept she's going to be fucked-up forever. something he considers irrefutable fact
projecting!!!! again!!!!!
ronan's not in a healthy place at the start of mi but he becomes significantly less healthy as the book goes on. isolation has never been good for him. as the story unfolds, he and hennessy just make each other worse. neither is in a place to support the other the way they need to be supported. both are choosing not to reach out the way they need to
what i find interesting about their parallel negative arcs in this book is that both of them take their own piece of kavinsky. and in doing so end up with diametrically opposed goals. hennessy gets to a point of "i don't care about anything anymore, not even jordan" & ronan gets to a point of "nothing is real, i'm gonna burn everything down"
do i think ronan realizes he's become more like k than he might have ever been before? not consciously. it's one of those things he can't let himself think. kavinsky didn't care about the consequences of his actions, didn't care about who he hurt, didn't care about the future. ronan, on the other hand, is serving a Purpose. there's a reason behind all of his actions. he's telling himself that it's about matthew and other dreamers and other dreams, and partially it is, but it's also about how he's sick and just wants a solution that's easy
even as ronan's trying to destroy the world he's telling himself that he can keep people safe - keep the dam from going down too fast, keep the lines from being dangerous, keep hennessy safe from her dreams. it's all bullshit. he can't control any of these factors but he has to believe he can. he's going to pieces
aside from the morals and a life purpose, though, he's just gotten a lot worse. isolation is fucking with his head; so is bryde. if ronan went with kavinsky in dream thieves, i can definitely see him blowing up all his meaningful relationships and fucking everything up forever. this book truly was a treat for everyone who's wanted to see what ronan lynch would look like if he let himself go
(it's me. i'm everyone)
but in terms of narrative, ronan's parallels to HENNESSY matter Much More thematically than his parallels to kavinsky. there's no need to introduce k-related backstory for foil/theme/characterization/etc purposes when hennessy is Right There
hennessy and ronan are both their own ghosts of kavinsky. and so the way they destroy each other in mi is like. STUNNING in its execution. god bless
Ok hear me out i really dont want to seem like i diminish the friendship between h and r, or the brotherly relationship between d and r but like….. people seem to forget that h and r only met literally 2-3 months ago. Yes i know love and friendship can grow fast but people act as if they’re bffs already like no? They have stuff in common OBVIOUSLY and they go through quite some stuff together but they dont really know each other that well and they are barely alone to have a real conversation. That is not to say i dont love them and im happy for their blooming connection and friendship and that they have someone to talk to. And when people melted over declan remembering that r wanted to be a farmer i mean????? Thats literally the only possible outcome for r right now/when he quit aglionby and the only thing he wanted to be so obviously anyone would remember? Of course it’s a very delicate convo they’re having but idk i thought it was blown out of proportion a bit?
hi anon! I do see where you're coming from. the reason hennessy and ronan's friendship dynamic immediately stuck out to me in cdth was because they are. well for the lack of a better analogy they seemed like the same people in different fonts. they both give each other as good as they get. they have this animosity thing going on where hennessy doesn’t quite hate ronan, but thinks of him as being extremely privileged. it always comes back to the idea of alone vs lonesome. we know, having seen ronan across six books (so far) that ronan feels lonesome. he has powers no one understands, including him. he wants a community where he can belong. he’s never alone, exactly, because he does have a great support network and people who care about him very much, but if you look at it from hennessy’s pov, ronan is extremely lucky. i can’t find the page anymore, but there’s that whole inner monologue where hennessy thinks about how really, ronan isn’t alone at all. he has a brother who is willing to do anything to protect him. he has friends who are willing to look into something in the middle of night while on vacation for him. he has a loving boyfriend he will not stop bringing up literally two seconds after meeting her. hennessy herself had a mother who did not love her, a father who sounds like he didnt give a shit. all she had were the girls she dreamt, and all of them want to leave her. ronan has what hennessy wants, and there’s a part of her that resents him for it. and honestly, i didn’t clock that until they have the adam conversation. but the reason i like their dynamic so much is because despite this bitterness they have, they are very protective of each other. hennessy defends ronan with bryde, she brings bryde’s attention to herself instead to spare ronan. ronan tries to keep the lace out himself so that hennessy can dream peacefully. they’re like siblings who want mum and dad to like them more, but won’t let the other one get into trouble either. so i do see what you mean - they’re not bffs in the traditional sense but i do think they have a pretty solid foundation to be good friends in the future books and I think after the kind of friendship Ronan had with gansey or Adam or Noah or even blue, perhaps it seems like his friendship with hennessy hasn't matched up to that level. they hit off amazingly from the start, and tho mi complicates things a bit it does have bryde being that annoying parent who tries to make them be each other’s competition. maybe they’re not the gangsey level of friendship yet (and probably shouldn’t be - the gangsey may be an epic friendship but aren’t exactly healthy by normal standards lol) but i am excited to see how their dynamic develops in the next book.
the declan thing i have to disagree with, mostly because i am an absolute sucker for platonic relationships and in particular declan lynch. extremely unpopular opinion, but I liked declan since trb. like, of course Declan wants his underage brother to not street race. of course he wants to make sure his underage brother who is living in a bachelor pad is looking after himself. of course he wants his brother to get an education and build a future for himself. of course he wants him to keep his head down and not attract attention to himself since there are people who would kill to have his power. it was so amusing to see declan show himself to be a great big brother time and time again and people hate on him lol. anyways, the point of that is that declan has always had to choose between being ronan’s parent and being ronan’s brother, and to him being his annoying parent was better. declan’s priority was never being liked by ronan, or keeping ronan or himself happy - his priority has been to keep ronan alive, to make sure ronan actually has a future. declan wanted Ronan to move on and leave the barns behind, maybe a bit because he wanted to leave it behind himself and couldn't do it as long as ronan wouldn't, but I think even declan to an extent knew that as long as ronan is stuck at the barns, he is going to be stuck in his past and all he is going to see every day is niall lynch’s bashed up head on the driveway. for Declan, that is ensuring ronan’s safety and wellbeing, for Ronan, that is Declan not understanding him and what he wants and instead imposing what he thinks is right on him. neither of them are wrong exactly, but it does mean that their relationship is virtually non existent. Ronan doesnt think Declan cares about him or what he wants or anything. he’s been seeing Declan as the villain in his story for so long he stopped seeing it from any other pov. so that’s why Declan remembering he wants to be a farmer, he wants Adam, was so big for Ronan. because it’s not just Declan saying ‘yeah I remember this is the profession you wanted fine go ahead’ or even Declan proving he actually listens to Ronan. it’s Declan saying ‘I understand you. I understand what you want, what you've always wanted. you think no one knows what your future is, but you have always known it. I have always known it. don’t throw it away.’ so much of ronan’s arc in this series is his need to be understood, and this was the first indication he got that declan always did.
¿Donde puedo encontrar a un hombre centrado, con metas, propositos, buenos, sin vicios, inteligente, admirable, que me enseñe, que su mayor desvelada sea por quedarse leyendo, con ganas de salir adelante, que me motive, que sea un apoyo? Carajo ... ¿Donde encuentro a mi hombre ideal?
