#sparklepuff squad

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—Blythe Baird, Give Me a God I Can Relate To

[salty-and-spiraling]

Day 7: Fave Fandom Moment

When we found out that Sir Sparklepuff was Viravos's love child

I only joined this fandom like two years ago but I vividly remember this scene being what kinda urged me to really get into it. And I'm glad I did 😂

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4x02 / 7x01

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Thinking about Aaravos and how steadily he orchestrates artificial conflicts. This is nothing new — all the framing and dialogue in 2x09 indicates that it's his idea to send the smoke Moonshadow assassins after the other heads of state, and make it look like Xadia sent them > the internal threat that is Viren but I think 7x02 with Terry is an even better example.

Aaravos is the one who weighs in and tells Claudia that they can't tell Terry about the map... but why, exactly? At this point, what reason does Claudia in particular have to think 1) Terry would be bothered he's the only one who can see it, or 2) wouldn't cheerfully offer to help precisely because of that reason.

Simply put, nothing... except, as 6x01 establishes, her fear that Terry will leave her despite all the evidence to the contrary: "But you're never going to leave me, because I'm leaving you first." And just like how in 6x01, Claudia chooses to leave to protect herself first and foremost, we see her do the same thing again here in 7x02.

Aaravos tells her that they should withhold the information, implying that Terry would refuse or reject them if they don't, hitting upon precisely what Claudia already fears deep down. Whether it's because there's grain of truth in it that she already senses — Terry does indeed leave her when her behaviour/choices become too opposed to his own worldview / sense of self — or because it's a projection of her own repressed understanding that what she's doing isn't necessarily 'Good' anymore, who's to say. But either way, it sticks, and she follows Aaravos' lead.

But Aaravos orchestrates two deceptions, both being ones Terry might not have liked (the graveyard might've thrown him, but he also might've been relieved the unicorns were 'already dead'; the dead mama bird also may have bothered him, but it would've been outside of his control) but probably would've gone along with. It was the fact that they lied to him, and made him complicit in something against his consent ("She used me") that made him snap.

Because Aaravos needed Terry to lead them to the Garden just as much as he needed Terry to leave, because despite Terry's willingness to go along with terrible things for a Good Reason, Aaravos (and Claudia) are increasingly aware that their reasons are not ones Terry would classify as such. He identifies Aaravos' love as twisted beyond recognition in 6x09; he's hesitant about their inversion plans and the chaos it'd wrought even before their deceptions came to light. He's been able to sway or deter Claudia in the past (4x09, 5x06), and Aaravos can't hav that.

The ironic thing, perhaps, that in forcibly taking Terry's true heart from him, Aaravos leaves Terry fundamentally changed and subsequently much more dangerous. Would a Terry with his True Heart been willing to go along with the illusion plan? Or is precisely because Terry has to had to face that the world is complicated, and that Claudia might be horrible while still someone he loves, that deception is okay because it's for a Good Reason?

Because just as Aaravos orchestrates artificial conflict made manifest, Terry and co. create artificial reconciliation, and I think that's so fucking fascinating.

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4x07 / 6x01

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Okay. Follow me.

4x06 / 7x03

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4x02 / 6x01

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fart jokes scene meta time im not joking

because the fart jokes scene(s) in s4 actually do provide worthwhile characterization in both reaffirming Claudia and Viren's personalities and establishing Terry's.

For Claudia, it shows her goofiness and silliness is still there and that while she's grown up a fair bit (+ trauma), she's still chronically oversharing (over trusting) her dad & that she's comfortable around Terry. As the tether in bringing the two and the driver of their mission, she sets the tone and also encourages/shares the information without prompting from either her dad or Terry. It speaks to how she's missed her dad and also that she thinks Terry is impressive and will impress him (rightly or wrongly).

For Viren, his lack of overt judgement reaffirms that he's much more willing to toss Claudia bones than Soren (3x05 vs 1x04 / 1x06 for both of them) and that is, thus far, extending to Terry. His persistent disdain regardless speaks to Viren's desire for things to be refined and aesthetically impressive/fast, looping back into his previous pursuit of status & influence. He cares about decorum, and Terry doesn't have any (even if he has something much more important, which is principles).

For Terry it arguably teaches us the most because he's our brand new guy, which is that he trusts/takes Claudia's lead in her relationship with Viren (life), he's very open and unabashed about things he believes are natural (plant growth, bodily functions, emotions), and that he has a shared sense of humour and ease with Claudia, which she can return even when life is stressful (and probably one of the big reasons they connected well during the timeskip). As noted before, Claudia is the one prompting the conversations/jokes, so it also reflects Terry's passivity and willingness to go along with things (good and bad) in their relationship even when other people would likely be shy/uncomfortable about it, and is accordingly their dynamic's/his undoing.