Tandy Bowen and Tyrone Johnson

I’m not used to talking about myself like this. I don’t even know why I’m making myself write this. I’m personally hoping I can write so many other posts that this drowns in the midst of them.

I’m a Marvel freak. Marvel can be likened to my iPhone (I mean that as a metaphor as I don’t actually own an iPhone). The point being I’d probably defend them even when they’re not so great. It took me a bit to admit that Spider-Man Homecoming was a bit of a disappointment to me as a Spider-Man fan. I just pinned it under “Character Development” and “It would be way madder in part two.” Yes, the story was on point and the villain was one of the best Marvel had yet but it was still disappointing. I’d expected too much.

So you see, pretty much anything Marvel throws at me, I catch with enthusiasm. I did that for most of their series. I followed Agents of SHIELD till my patience for series started wearing out (I was following The Flash--what would you expect?) and they kept finding reasons to bring Ward, a character I hated and was tired of, back. I watched all their Netflix series, even though most of them felt like movies stretched out way too long (except maybe Daredevil season one). Inhumans was a loud mess. Even I couldn’t convince myself to go beyond episode two. I skipped Runaways, though. And now we have Cloak & Dagger. I’ve been waiting for it for maybe a year or two. And here I am, after I watched episode four.

It’s been interesting so far (at least interesting enough to continue, although I don’t know whether that’s the fanboy in me or not), but this last episode was the best so far. The main characters had the opportunity to connect in ways they couldn’t with other people in their lives and the chemistry between them was just amazing to me. If I didn’t believe celebrity crushes were useless and pathetic, Olivia Holt (one of the main actors) would definitely be my celebrity crush. Although it’s tough to beat the longevity that is Alessia Cara.

I’m a walking irony. I prefer to be alone a lot(or with minimal company) but I’ve picked the habit of wanting to make new friends. Especially female ones. That could be attributed to the fact that growing up, my dad was the only other male in our house and also the thought that as a guy you’re supposed to be “manly” which makes it difficult for me to open up to other guys beyond a certain point. Or at least that’s the explanation that I gave myself that seemed to make sense.

Tandy and Tyrone had common ground due to the powers they had. It gave them a connection that they couldn’t find anywhere else. They both had issues and the nature of these powers threw away the natural filter they’d had with other people in their lives, right off the bat. This is who I am. I’m not perfect. Neither are you. We both know that. We have this thing connecting us for unknown reasons and you’re the only other being who can relate. We’ve been having unexpected clashes and kept running in the opposite direction. Enough is enough. We need to talk.

And talk they did. No pretence, no secrets. Just plain and bare.

That’s one of the things I loved about that episode. The adventure of getting to know someone. Having that connection is something I secretly want. I’m not even talking about dating. There’s just this thing about meeting someone you have common ground with and getting to explore aspects of their personality, especially if they’re members of the opposite sex. Being able to talk freely, no holds barred. But alas, that can rarely happen in real life situations due to the fact that you can never be sure of the level of trust you can hand to anyone even if you “connect".

It was nice to see, though. They talked liked they’d been friends for years and at the same time like they were just getting to know one another. They offered solutions to their problems or at least were inspirations to find solutions to their issues and tackle them head on. They even challenged each other on the things they took for granted because the other person had what they didn’t. Life would be much be much better if a lot of us could have people who we can just pour everything out to and not be afraid of being judged or diminishing the image we’d like others to have of ourselves. Real friendship is not about how long you can gist or chat. How well do you really know your friends?

Confiding in people isn’t easy for me. I compartmentalise trust. I look at you and analyse and drop little risks of trust that I can guess or feel I can trust you with. So it’s pieces of a puzzle but no one actually has the complete set. It just feels safer that way. Sometimes it’s even easier to confide in someone I don’t really know about some issues I face because I have this personal image I want to protect. Or something I want to be but I’m not. If you don’t know me, you don’t know the image so there’s nothing to protect really. I did this once in a while, forgetting that if someone is truly your friend, images won’t matter.

I want a Tandy and Tyrone situation when I don’t actually need one.