#cat's thoughts

things i noticed while watching "minecraft arg but the protagonist is a speedrunner" (SPOILER ALERT I GUESS);

He had this whole illegal empire that we barely see in action. We so rarely get to see 'Valhalla'. Credit due - they do a good enough job at building up this big, powerful man through his stalking Emily. He acts initially as this invisible force taking out her friends one by one, so he feels unstoppable, so we only ever know a Doyle that's about revenge. And I think that makes him scarier. But s7 ep1, especially the interview room scene where he sees Emily as she is on the job (an intimate side to her he's never seen before and he's so curious), he goes from this big presence to just another perp in a wee FBI interrogation room. I wanted more of his curiosity, maybe. More of 'so this is the woman I wanted to marry' energy. Instead, the threat he poses is just gone in this scene. It would have so nicely paired the introduction to the grotesque man we meet in this scene who took away a woman's right to choose and what's more strapped her down for 9, sorry, 7 months.

With the limited background we get to see versus all we learn by being told, it makes it feel quick and easy everything Ian ever did. So when his death comes equally quick and easy on the airstrip, it's just like, "Oh, okay. Time for the next scene."

There's no grieving of the secret that she's kept for so long. I know it's a pretty well-known thing that Emily's trauma from Doyle isn't really acknowledged. Lauren gets swept under the rug. She was a gun runner, sure, a woman who probably did illegal stuff that would be unbecoming of the woman behind the mask, but Lauren deserved her moment and not just the little blip of a scene she gets in s6 ep18 and a blacked out file in a BAU drawyer.

If court had happened, we could have had Ian's past unpeeled more slowly. It could have made his presence in Emily's life more solid instead of season 6 Emily in a wig (a great look) and more feeling of the 31 year old Emily who actually handled Ian Doyle.

We could have gotten to know Lauren way more.

Maybe it would have crumbled the mysterious side to Emily, seeing her relive it all and willingly expose herself in court, but in practice I think we could have seen a reconciliation between Lauren and Emily and that that would have been even more powerful than the woman who herself tries to brush her alter ego away with 'Lauren Reynolds is dead'. I think Lauren was such a delicious and underutilised character. It would have allowed the viewing of an Emily from a time before she knew a family and a soft experience like the BAU. Doyle era Emily was so young yet outwardly appeared so steady. A young woman whose background is entirely an ambasador mum and dad, their world of political tactics, and the tenuous trust of her team with Sean, Clyde, Tsia & Jeremy. The woman who - as far as we are presented- has only known their world, and despite all of it is still such a well-rounded, good-hearted individual.

However, i can't say all of this without acknowledging what we do get. I know part of the beauty of Emily Prentiss' character (and Padget Brewster's acting) is how she tries so hard to stuff it down. We see so little on the surface, and the effect comes from the fact that we know there is so much more going on below the surface. The little shaken-ness we do see from her is just the tip of the iceberg, and you see in that how deeply she must feel it. The more Emily Prentiss holds back, the more you can count on that she is hurting.

Emily deserved a moment to break down after Doyle. She deserved to scream and cry and get held as she does so by Dad-vid Rossi or literally any or all of the team. (I single out David not just because he is team parent, but also because he thought he knew one of her biggest vulnerabilities through Demonology, so I can only imagine how much his heart broke when he realised she was carrying even more.)

Gift for: @villruu under the @mcytblrholidayexchange !

Description: The Syndicate is celebrating the five year anniversary of the destruction of L'Manburg in Technoblade's cabin. They're happy, the server is at peace, and they reminisce on what used to be.

(^ also with bonus eret!!)

Me:yeah I draw

Them: are you a good artist?

Me: