hi hello it is i, the gremlin who doesn’t answer asks for weeks
[ID: Digital waist-up fanart of Basira Hussain in a limited palette of muted red, green, and yellow. She is a slightly chubby person with medium brown skin and wavy, shoulder-length brown hair worn half-up, half-down. She is wearing a business shirt with the sleeves rolled up and reading glasses on the tip of her nose. She is leaning both elbows on the table in front of her with a book in one hand. Next to her is a steaming mug. Her head is cocked to the side and there is an amused look on her face. Behind her are abstract eyes, both open and closed. End ID.]
also someone pls ask me abt basira as an eye/dark avatar i have so many things to say
GOD IM SO GLAD I THOUGHT YOU’D NEVER ASK (just kidding i knew it would be u <3)
so like. here’s the thing right.
so she interrupts the dark ritual obvi.
and works at the institute
one can definitely argue for her also being very touched by the hunt and that’s extremely valid but i have Other Thoughts abt that entity. so. another time.
SO.
so she definitely has exposure to both entities, and i feel like if you had to reduce basira’s character to a phrase, it would be “the power of wilful ignorance”. because she actually makes quite a lot of references to being on the brink of some sort of major realisation or other.
and she then goes on to willfully shrink away from these realisations. like. repeatedly.
plus she is incredibly good at tuning things out.
(mag 095): MARTIN You weren’t listening? BASIRA No, I was reading.
i mean, this exchange is funny, but it’s also so telling? i don’t think it’s a suggestion of her being able to like, magically turn off sensory input, but i do think it shows she’s very capable of just not looking at something
later in 95, when martin’s like “but basira? the horrors?” she just goes “yeah but im reading these cool books so i’m good actually :)”: MARTIN How… Doesn’t it bother you?! BASIRA Of course it bothers me, but so do a lot of things I can’t change. So you make the best of things.
w o w ok
it’s not that she is deluding herself into thinking that reality is not what it is. it’s that she closes her eyes to things that are painful or not useful.
similarly, there’s the whole thing of how she escapes the unknowing: it’s not that she just blindly gropes in the darkness of meaninglessness. she considers pieces of information, assesses their usefulness, and curates accordingly. she does this with relative ease, as well – she literally says at one point “too much, too much” and just. moves on.
after daisy’s death, she gets real quiet. now, of course, this is. a pretty normal reaction to something like what she just went through. but i think it’s also really interesting that in one of basira’s really key character moments, the audience is left to form her characterisation in their heads by an absence of words or input on her part. her silence says as much or more as her words would.
almost like how someone heavily touched by the eye and the dark could be able to impart information where there is none.
i feel like i would be remiss in making this post without mentioning what a blind eye she turned to daisy’s actions when they were both still police – though i will say i think that that’s a much bigger discussion, with much, much bigger implications, than what i want to discuss here, but it bears mentioning even so.
for good or ill, basira is extremely good at choosing what info she does and does not want to see and take in
A character or moment from your 3rd top favorite episode
HI this request captivated me, it wouldn’t leave my mind for days on end. and now i FINALLY managed to doodle something for it
not sure if this is my 3rd favorite episode, but 82 is very great. i love smug bastard elias, i love daisy being scared shitless, i love learning about her past. SUCH a good episode
[ID: Digital art of Martin Blackwood from TMA in a limited primary coloured palette. He is a light-skinned person with ginger hair and large circle-rimmed glasses. He is wearing an undershirt and boxer shorts. He is looking at a switchblade in his left hand. His right hand which is holding a corkscrew is resting on his hip. There is a thoughtful look on his face and the background is dark blue with simple red circular and spiraling shapes. End ID.]
i’ve forgot how much fun the melanie vs. jon convos are in the earlier seasons!!!! how could i!!! oh my god i need a compilation. if there isnt one i’m gonna make it myself.
Sorry not sorry op your Elias is absolutely amazing I love him. I'd give him a little kiss. Thank you for drawing him bc I gaze upon his face fondly every time <3
hahahah you’re so welcome!! i’m glad my design appeals to the elias lovers, i will continue to draw him for u. he gives u a little kiss too
[ID: Digital waist up art of Tim and Sasha from TMA. Tim is a slightly muscular person with light brown skin and short, dark hair, depicted in a palette of cool tones. Sasha is a light skinned person with long, auburn hair worn in a ponytail, depicted in warm tones. Tim’s arms are around Sasha and he is kissing her on the cheek as she grips one of his arms and laughs. They both wear floral sundresses. End ID.]
idk what to tell you i see the names tim and sasha in close proximity and i start crying
[ID: Digital knees-up portrait of Gerry Keay from TMA in a limited blue-and-green palette. He is a pale person with long, straight, blonde hair badly dyed black and dark eyes. There are small stylised tattoos of eyes on the joints of his hands and the hinges of his jaw. He wears a loose, cropped shirt, jeans, and a knee-length leather coat that flares behind him in the wind. There is a lit cigarette in his visible left hand and his right hand is in his pocket. He looks off to the right of the image with a concerned, tired expression. The background is a stormy sky. End ID.]
[ID: Digital art of Basira Hussain from TMA in a limited blue and orange palette. She is a dark skinned person with dark shoulder-length curly hair, dressed in long robes. The sclera of her eyes are dark. One hand is held next to her head, and there is an eyeball in the open palm. Her other hand is held in front of her, and a dark, viscous substance issues from her palm and pools around her feet. There is a blindfold over one of the eyes on her face and her expression is neutral. Around her head there are open and closed spectral eyes. End ID.]
the real question is will i ever not be rotating eye/dark basira in my head (and talking to u about her, call <3)
