#Also friendly reminder that characters are inherently up to interpretation

[moonlightandpalmtrees]

If anyone is confused by my posts whether I see Holmes as gay or aroace the answer is both

[aro-culture-is]

aro culture is imagining yourself as a personal advisor to the protagonist in self-insert dating simulators

ooh i like that, where's an otome where you're literally the tutorial guy?

[hulloitsdani]

What do u think Kiran is

How do u think the order sees kiran

*slowly sits up in my chair*

I think Kiran is a very normal person. This is someone you and I have met before. Be that from the other side of grocery store cashier, waiting in the same elevator, or walking by on a crosswalk. Kiran is a civilian from our world trying to roll with the punches of being warped somewhere completely alien. And you can see it in how they conduct themselves.

I always have a lot of fun writing Kiran’s dialogue because their casual modern speech almost feels like a dialect in comparison to the more formal fantasy tone everyone else speaks with. An “ain’t” will never exit Alfonse’s mouth, you know? And there’s a difference in “Do you have gold?” vs “You got gold?” To me, this gives Kiran an air of unfamiliarity to anyone they interact with. Let’s use Grima as an example, because it doesn’t sound like this grammatical change would make much of difference until Kiran has the audacity to hit Grima with a bro mid sentence. But that’s just how they talk. And as sweet and friendly as they are, there’s always moments like that to remind that no one has the cultural context to fully understand Kiran. Except for the audience, who can realize that Kiran let the customer service voice drop to talk to Grima like he’s an actual person.

And that’s just about how they talk! This view is only emphasized by every other thing about them! They’re a lovable goof, which is normal chill person behavior in the audience’s eyes but feels REALLY ODD to the characters of FE’s medieval fantasy war setting. There is this air of unknown about them that the more socially perceptive will pick up on and will try to come to a conclusion about. Example, I imagine Soren would interpret a lot of this as a dangerous and deeply annoying lack of intelligence from someone he has the displeasure of sharing a tactics table with. Or looping back to the Grima example, he would totally think Kiran has greedy ulterior motives behind that pleasant facade. It takes a lot of work for those types to realize that the discrepancy present isn’t really any of those things. But I also wouldn’t be too surprised if Kiran doesn’t try to directly prove any of those assumptions wrong unless they have to.

Why? Well now it’s time for the implications! Oh how we love the implications.

Because the Summoner is a different story. No one has any fucking clue what that is.

I can tell you what Kiran has pieced together so far. Summoning people from across time and space is apparently not easy. It’s not some school of magical study that some mage could pull off with enough time and research. Trust, Eitri tried. It’s a lot of complex moving parts. For example, the contracts. The contracts Kiran automatically binds their summoned to don’t even compare to the ones Veronica used in book 1. They are far more intense and infinitely harder to break. The only way out of them is if Kiran wills it so. Not even death is an option, because Kiran can come in for the revive. If they had to guess, it’s an older, more completed version of the art. Something lost to time. But no matter the case, Kiran has the ability to take full control of whoever they manage to summon. From a lowly farmer to the divine. And their power only grows.

In a similar vein, if there was any character to canonically see the hud, I think it would be Kiran. It’s genuinely part of their power set. I have previously described Kiran as the party mage until Veronica shows up to be the actual mage, but it would be way more accurate to call them a mystic/seer. They see the map, everyone’s stats, and is doing a fast amount of math to give the combat forecast. Then, upon processing all this information their enemies couldn’t dream of having at their disposal, Kiran can telepathically communicate any change in plans to anyone under contract. Kiran is not inherently some great tactician the moment they touch ground in Askr; they simply can do things no one else can. They’re learning the actual tactics part on the fly. This makes them simultaneously the largest ace up the Order’s sleeve and potentially its biggest liability. If they fall, it could cause a whole system cascade. By that same token, some of the biggest threats the Order has faced are the ones who do their research and rightfully target Kiran.

Now. Thinking critically about all that. That’s downright terrifying. A ridiculous amount of power has been dropped callously into Kiran’s lap and they have to work extremely hard to be moral with it. It’s terrifyingly easy not to be. It would actively take less effort to ‘take the reins’ as it were. But in order to be able to sleep at night ever again, they go the extra mile to not invalidate the will of their summoned. To take over like that. To make a colony of worker bees out of people. Because oh dear god they just summoned a child and the fact that they could easily force them to fight and die for them, only to be revived and do it all over again, is HAUNTING. No. No the Order has an in house orphanage now. This kid is getting adopted and cared for god damnit or Kiran might just pop a blood vessel. And sure that child is going to be a child and there will never be a world where they get along with everyone else, but that’s just going to need be a problem they address when they get there and not an excuse to use Hubris; the power set. Now replace the word child with everyone they ever summoned and you have the wider philosophy they apply to the entire Order.

They’re hyper aware of the power imbalance. They hate it with every bone in their body. They work really hard to correct it in whatever way they can.

So Kiran might not jump on the opportunity to correct those who think lesser of them. It’s… oddly comforting to know someone is keeping a critical eye on them. Holding them accountable. Especially since so much of the order just thinks of them as this quirky yet well meaning host. And, really, what can they even do about that? They have gone over the contract with every hero they summon and despite that they still choose to stay. So, what, do they try to inspire more mistrust? The problem with that they would have to actually do acts that intentionally inspire mistrust. And even if that was successful they can’t just waste the extra man power because every other month there’s some new divine asshole who wants them all dead. And if they fail that means they have to start their life from square one and god they can’t do that again so—

Just breathe Kiran.

It’s fine. You’re fine. Just breathe.

You have work to do.

[ramblings-of-a-mad-cat]

I'm not in the hphm fandom anymore but just... What do you think of the roleswap au? The au where everything is the same except MC is the Jacob and Jacob is the MC of hphm. Jacob would definitely be more persistent and determined in finding MC, and he will not tolerate Merula's sh*t for two seconds (if given the opportunity and strength he would dropkick her to the Forbidden Forest). Jacob also doesn't care about romance, so he rejects everyone that asks him out and goes by himself in some romance tlsqs. MC would be viewed as someone who was nice and calm, but secretive and probably hiding evil intentions. They would definitely not rant about the cursed vaults, instead people would be like "MC was nice, albeit a little weird but aren't we all? And then one day they just went up and left...". Jacob was expelled in canon, but I think in this au MC doesn't, instead they disappear near the end of the school year (Jacob was expelled in his third year right? MC would dissapear in third year as well). I don't think Jacob would even befriend half of MC's friends, and if he would they would get in fights and end their friendships as the years goes by. One of the only friends Jacob truly cares about is Rowan. At first Jacob let him stay because he pitied Rowan, but as the story progresses he recognizes that Rowan truly loves and cares for him and that he, Jacob, was an asbolute jack*ss of a friend, so they get closer together. My thoughts end here, let me know yours!

See, this is intriguing but I'm not at all sure that I understand the concept. Because, more than any other characters in the game, MC and Jacob wouldn't really make sense for this given how malleable they are. Jacob and their Sibling are the two characters who most of all have their personalities open to interpretation. Jacob arguably less so, given that he appears onscreen as a regular character outside of MC's control as of these days...but that doesn't stop the fandom. Everyone has their own version of MC...but everyone also has their own version of Jacob. The headcanons surrounding these two are endless and each player has a different story to tell with them. Just as an example, the idea that Jacob doesn't care about romance? My Duncan x Jacob shipping heart is offended, offended I say! Okay nah, I'm kidding, but you can see the point. All that said, looking at the story from the interpretation that you offer, I'm definitely intrigued.

Like if we interpret Jacob as the protagonist of HPHM, in the sense that the character we meet in the Portrait Vault would replace MC in their role, well, that's definitely interesting. Trouble is, aside from the inherent personality traits, which like I said are malleable...a lot of what these characters experience is dependent on their particular roles. Would Merula treat Jacob any differently? Would she still have a crush on him and openly try to pursue him? Or would she have the same dynamic with him that she has with MC? Gotta say though, I love the whole idea of MC appearing calm but having implied evil intentions. I don't know why, it just reminds of the hints and theories about Kris Dreemurr. Either way, Jacob not befriending half of MC's friends is another curious concept. Not sure how it would happen because the story forces most of these friendships on Jacob and I mean, what is he gonna do, rebuff people? A lot of these characters are friendly to MC because MC has always been polite to them and not for much other reason. I dunno, it would be interesting if Jacob didn't have the friends that MC did so he wasn't able to form the Circle when the moment came. Come to think of it, now Jacob and MC are reminding me of Stannis and Renly respectively...

[timeforanonimity]

Ricky, Nini, and Gina: POST EPISODE 8 DEBRIEF - plantonic vs romantic

okay so ricky and gina have stolen my heart and soul apparently and in light of the new episode here i am, talking about it again.

so first and foremost i do want to say that i think ricky and nini have potential to be a good ship, and i’m not blind to say they have no chemistry.

however - the show’s writing is painting ricky and gina in a more favourable light than ricky and nini. this was extremely evident in episode 8.

ricky and nini’s relationship has been endlessly painted in negatives for both of them. we get confirmation this episode that they were very close friends, nini was ricky’s first crush, and then they started to date. after ricky didn’t say “i love you”, they took a break, broke up, and then their friendship kinda fell with it. this is the friendliest we see nini and ricky being with each other all season, and even then it was surrounded with an awkward tension... that to me at least did read as good.

and the writing was clever for that entire part: things were awkward, uncomfortable, then ricky starts reminiscing on their past friendship starting in kindergarten and it gets less awkward and more natural and they are friendly, then ricky brings up the big “i love you” issue and it gets awkward again.

then ricky gets the message from gina, who he’s been worried about. and while being an easy prompt to lead into the next subject also reminds us that this other person ricky is very close to and potentially growing romantically closer to is still present and a factor in this situation. to fully commit to ricky and nini, it would have been more helpful to leave gina out of the conversation entirely — and it would have been easy to slip in the gina leaving a day early comment at the beginning of the ep. they didn’t HAVE to include it during the nini and ricky conversation: in doing so they allowed for a more direct comparison between the characters.

so then nini and ricky continue to talk and nini mentions the school in denver and ricky’s response is interesting because he’s happy and supportive of her. again: heavily open to interpretation, but with everything going on with his parents and with the fact that last time nini went away (during the summer) she came back with a new boyfriend, you’d think he’d at least have a mixed reaction — because yes he would want to support her, but her leaving not only a) completely ruins his chances with her and b) wrecks his support system. that being said he didn’t hesitate in supporting her.

here’s where this piece gets subjective based on my interpretation: this to me, based on what i know and understand of ricky’s character, reads as ricky has moved past nini. to an extent that i don’t think he’s consciously realized. he’s okay with her going, he doesn’t NEED her as he once did.

the entire conversation is lead by ricky reminiscing on their friendship (nini too but ricky initiated the conversation). it’s also important to note that it only gets awkward and uncomfortable when ricky brings up elements of their romantic relationship (even something with a positive connotation like having a crush on her) but they click very naturally as friends.

yes they almost kiss, but a) they don’t and b) neither seemed all that happy about it after the fact. ricky seemed almost iritated or confused - he wanted to leave as quickly as possible. and nini outright said it wouldn’t happen again. if both were still interested in getting back together in anyway, it’s a strange reaction to have.

this episode showed us a ricky and nini happy as friends, and also made sure to showcase that the romance for them just doesn’t help their relationship, in fact instead only hurts it. every time something romantic came up, they both became uncomfortable, and awkward, and could barely look at each other afterwards.

where does gina fit in? sure her or ricky haven’t really engaged in anything explicitly romantic yet, but they’ve had happy moments, and ricky spent some key moments in this episode worried about her. in an episode based around ricky and nini reminiscing on their relationship, sure she wasn’t present, but she definitely lingered as a contrast.

ricky and nini’s romantic relationship, in the writing of this series, has yet to be posed as anything but negative for the two of them. it messed up their friendship, and sure some feelings might linger but the two just have hardcore friend energy. in many technical elements of the writing: there’s not much that really pushes forward hope for a positive romantic relationship between the two of them, and it almost seems like both of them are starting to acknowledge it.

if they were just going to write gina out to have ricky and nini, they wouldn’t have mentioned gina and they wouldn’t have had ever time ricky and nini begin any sort of romantic dialogue or action have their comfort levels with each other fall entirely.

this is pretty rambly but to me, this entire episode read as very focused on proving that nini and ricky are better friends than they are romantic partners.

also that ricky is very concerned about gina and is moving past nini. she still one of his best friends, but he doesn’t read as in love with her anymore. he didn’t react positively to almost kissing her, even though she’s not dating anyone anymore, and even though she seemed to want to kiss him in the moment this time.

in fact, he lingers on their past and honestly the only interjection about the future of them is when he supports her about leaving, which inherently puts them as not together.

so you know, who knows, but a) i hope that the writing remains consistent and they continue alluding to what it seems they are alluding to. ricky and nini getting back together just doesn’t seem natural, with how negatively the idea of them being back together seems to be implied (the show hasn’t really given a reason why they should be back together other than the insulated plot arc established in episode one — but there’s no justified character reason since we haven’t seen them romantically together in a positive light and the only times they’ve been friendly have been effectively ruined by the insertion of a romantic element). as someone who has ruined friendships because of romantic feelings that didn’t play out — i’d really love to see ricky and nini realize that they are better friends than lovers before it’s too late.

and b) we’ve seen ricky and gina grow close and build up and develop around each other, each pushing the other further into their development. a romantic relationship serves to in some way help the two of them, and there’s no underlying negative connotation to the two of them being romantically linked. no friendships ruined, no disaster mistakes threatening both of their opinions and ideals concerning the relationship. gina staying and leaving the option of a potential relationship between ricky and gina leaves room for stuff in season two but also doesn’t feel like we are being forced into any relationship. id love to see gina and ricky together officially but more than anything i just want to see them happy and they seem happiest with each other.

sure a lot of this is personal interpretation, but i’d hope the the writing remains consistent and continues to defy expectation. a ricky and nini endgame just feels cheap and inconsistent at that point when so far the series has pointed to almost anything else in its implications.

[danganronpedits-archived]

Hello! Could I please have a kin matchup with characters from DR1, SDR2, DRV3 and BNHA? Thank you! I am a very mixed person. When I'm out talking to people in public it's very obvious that I have nothing to say and that I don't want to be there. I'm a complete hopeless romantic and can catch romantic feelings quite easily. I'm a lot more talkative when I talk to people online and I always laugh at the dumbest things. I love the color pink and lovecore in general. I'm also quite insecure- haha

you can absolutely have a matchup!! hehe,, you sound really neat, i’d like to talk with you myself anon... only if you’re okay with that of course!! your kin matchup can be found under the cut, thank you for requesting!! i’m sorry that it took a bit for me to write this one,,

oh, also... i want to clarify something before we start. i was originally going to make peko pekoyama your second dr kin assignment, and i still agree with that. it’s just that writing out the explanation was rather energy sapping,,, it’s not your fault at all, but i hope you understand!!! i can definitely add it on if you’d like though, anon!

-mod tsu (mikan shift)

first off, from danganronpa: goodbye despair, i match you with...

hajime hinata!

this matchup contains spoilers for super danganronpa 2! please proceed with caution, if it’s not too much trouble! i was kind of torn between him and himiko, actually...! but i think you’re a bit closer to hajime! i think that hajime is... very mixed. there are times when he can come off as cynical or even cold, and times when he’s very genuine and determined. these sides of him don’t clash together, but rather make up him as a whole... and i think you’re a little similar, anon! maybe you have traits that don’t really seem like they fit together... but you make them work! i think that unless hajime is close to others, he can struggle to fit into the conversation at times. this is especially clear at the beginning of sdr2, when everyone is just relaxing on the beach, not really seeing them randomly being there as a big deal- but hajime is more hesitant and concerned about their circumstances... plus, this is especially clear in despair arc around the ultimates. he’s very much taken aback by the main course students as well as staff, and... during those scenes it doesn’t exactly seem like he dislikes the interaction. however, it does seem like he’s uncomfortable,, maybe you can relate to that haha. you also seem a little serious, anon! not to assume that you don’t have a sense of humour... but there may be times when you take a joke too seriously. um, if that’s true,, there’s no shame in that haha.. in general... your typing just had a really similar vibe to him, though it may be closer with the hajime at the end of sdr2! i know that’s a bit of a weird, intuition-based point, but... the two of you seem a little awkward, but you have good intentions and it seems like both of you are... rather motivated people. at least, when it comes to the things you really want,, i admire that !! in hajime’s specific case, you may feel a little jealous of people who can do things outside of your comfort zone really easily,, for example i don’t think hajime is very insecure in his ability to study- but people like peko or fuyuhiko, who have talents that are rather niche, i think he would kind of be in awe of how... not normal they are. and you just kind of... strike me in a similar way! sorry if this doesn’t make much sense haha.

while we’re not super sure on how much hajime gets crushes on other people... we can speculate in a way? other characters like monokuma and nagito have compared him to a tsundere, and he’s specifically said to be romantically inexperienced. i don’t think this inherently means he doesn’t have crushes on other people,, it’s implied that he’s interested in chiaki, as well as komahina being... um, a popular ship. a lot of hajime’s feelings about the sdr2 cast are left up to interpretation, and he can technically have feelings for all of them in the bonus mode. at least, that’s how i interpret it,, point is i think that he can have many crushes.. depending on how you see him, haha. sorry that it’s not too conclusive but, in general, i think that while he may be a little uncomfortable with it, hajime may also be a sort of ‘hopeless romantic’ in that... if he sees it as being the best for his friends, he’d also be willing to play a matchmaker !! i think that hajime, without the border of being face-to-face, would be a lot more willing to talk online. in a chatroom, i think he would be more prone to rambling on about something. hehe.. i kind of see him as someone who can accidentally send essays when he texts. i’m just guessing.. but maybe you do that too. hehe, it’s um... maybe a little too literal of me, but i think hajime does laugh at... absurd situations. it’s nice how in a lighter conversation with fuyuhiko, the two are able to just... laugh and have a good time together. i bring this up because... it’s because those smiles are from fuyuhiko suggesting that hajime’s the ultimate counselor. i like their banter a lot, and maybe there are silly inside jokes like this between you and your friends too !! um, lastly.. while i don’t know exactly what your insecurities are, i think that hajime is rather insecure..! he’s visibly upset about the fact that he doesn’t have a talent, and i’d say his seriousness partially comes from this. he does strongly dream of talent, and he puts a strong emphasis on being busy and studying ingame- i’d say that this can make up his seriousness in a way? like, he takes things very seriously in order to learn from them the most. ah, but back to insecurities!! hajime does see himself as inferior to main course students like chiaki and even chisa,, and whenever other people point out his talentless-ness, it is a very sore spot for him. he gets somewhat defensive, and mostly doesn’t know how to react... you may kind of short-circuit like this too, whenever someone hits a sore spot for you..!

and lastly, from boku no hero academia, i match you with...

mashirao ojiro!

okay, so...! i realise that he’s kind of a minor character, so we don’t know much about him. however, from what we do know, i think he suits you well! like always, you had a similar kind of vibe to him in your ask. he would definitely be the type to use proper grammar in my eyes... and the two of you just have similar word choice imo!! second off, mashirao is kind of... mixed or in the middle, in terms of personality. he seems to get along with denki, a guy who’s definitely up there in eccentricity. maybe your friend group is rather versatile... like hajime, the two seem to be able to get along with many kinds of people. more specifically, they’re able to handle the oddities and ‘quirks’(haha. funny bnha joke) of their other classmates/friends. ah, but that’s off topic! so sorry .. i think that mashirao does kind of struggle in conversation, as he tends to not really like the spotlight, and other students describe him as sheepish or bashful. i think that despite his calm demeanor, he would shy away from conversations, especially ones where he has to play a large part- and i think that’s the most important part of him not really ‘liking’ to have in-person talks with other people. the two of you may be able to hold up something one-on-one, with one of your friends... but with a group of people, you’d just blend into the background. maybe that ‘mixed’-ness can make you feel like you don’t have much to say, too... i don’t think he really tries to hide this/can hide this either, like you. i think that the two of you are generally friendly and trustworthy, and maybe you both have plenty of loose acquaintances, the way that mashirao is on generally good terms with all of his classmates. i think that it’s easy for people to have a high view of you, but maybe not know you too closely or deeply. you seem generally nice!!!

...please excuse this second half being really short. like hajime, we don’t really know his status on crushes,, but i honestly headcanon him as bi due to him having... ‘softer’ friendships with other people, if that makes sense? not that that inherently means attraction... i just think that he could be very interested in and enjoy other people, leading to crushing of varying intensity. he kind of has a pink... vibe to him if that makes sense? ghgghgh we’re not sure about what colours he likes, but he seems to have a lot of lighter ones in his overall design and outfits... maybe a baby pink would fall under that! i think he would also be a lot more talkative online. um, my explanation for this is very similar to hajime’s. he may not feel such a strong need to be polite or accommodating through a screen! though i think he still would be out of respect. mashirao also seems like the type to find the more strange antics of his classmates funny... once again, he seems rather close to denki, and is described as a “straight man”(like, composed or deadpan in contrast to their more eccentric partner). maybe you’re also the type to go along, but have a more level head as things get ~weird~. lastly, like hajime, mashirao does seem rather insecure. he doesn’t really get why he got into UA with a quirk “like his”. he’s rather humble and doesn’t like to accept results he feels like he doesn’t deserve. in fact, he even dropped out of the sports festival because he felt as though he didn’t properly earn his placement in it. maybe you’d be more or less active in voicing this than he is, but the two of you generally have underestimating your own abilities in common. at least, that’s what i gathered, haha.

-

you all know what time it is, hehe... from dr, you also remind me very strongly of peko pekoyama, and somewhat of mukuro ikusaba, himiko yumeno, mahiru koizumi, toko fukawa, and kazuichi souda. from bnha you also remind me somewhat strongly of fumikage tokoyami, ibara shiozaki, and kyoka jirou, as well as lightly of toru hagakure and shoto todoroki !!

i hope this helped you out anon!! thank you again for requesting,, if you need anything about this changed or edited please let me know!! i’m happy to edit this, it’s not a bother at all... getting requests kind of makes my day, hehe..

[ofravensandgenesis]

The Investment of an Antagonist - Part Three

Entry 04 continued. [Trigger warning content: post contains discussion of Far Cry 5 details for the main villains including violence, brainwashing, torture, child abuse, neglect, emotional manipulation, dark backstories, drug use, cult content, etc. Spoilers for Far Cry 5 inherent. Part 03 of 03.] [Link to part one here.] [Link to part two here.]

— Faith —

Lastly we have Faith, née Rachel Jessop, the youngest of the Seed family. The easiest themes to assign to her are unsurprisingly drug-use and escapism. She is an intriguing and complex character with some very beautifully done layers, in particular playing with gender expectations of behavior both in-world and on the meta in what may have been either intended brilliance of foresight or fridge brilliance by the dev team.

Thematically speaking though, as with the other Seeds, she is projecting her past experiences onto others and turning into the abuser in the recreation of her trauma. In this case, it could be taking up the role of a manipulator using soft-coded presentation and masking shaming techniques with positive wording and oblique expectation-pressures to get people to go along with what she’s saying...as well as making them more pliable via the Bliss. It could be that part of her escapism theme manifests as disassociation, separating one’s self and in this case Rachel from Faith, her followers from their worries and problems, and at the most extreme end the Angels from essentially their entire personality and past. In contrast to John, Faith seems to be much more so about forgetting/burying/separating one self from one’s past problems, sins, unhappiness, etc rather than facing it head on. In a way, it could potentially be interpreted as a denial of those aspects of a person, and herself, through the Bliss. This could be a better parallel to how Jacob also breaks the unwilling down in his Trials, albeit for more specifically war-like purposes than Faith. We don’t get to hear if John has opinions on how the “new recruits” up in Jacob’s neck of the woods are treated well or not, but he doesn’t include Jacob in his jab. The absence could be used to infer that John has either separate issues, less issues, or no issues with how Jacob runs things, but that’s the problem with this kind of absence: it lacks definite, concrete matter to build with. We hear only a very vague telling of the details of Faith’s life from Faith directly, which in this instance is going to be presumed to be true, albeit perhaps glossing over the details and told from a carefully crafted perspective for a desired end result. Others also have their own opinions to fill in on the details of Faith as she is and was, and her life before, including but potentially not limited to Tracey and Sheriff Whitehorse, as far as I’m aware at this time. What’s really interesting is the almost split presentation we get at times with Faith: in some moments she is the epitome of her title the siren, bright, friendly, seemingly warm and enticing. Other times she has some lines that cast very long, dark shadows. Three of the phone calls one can find in the Henbane are particularly dark, if one assumes the call with the sounds of a crying woman on the other end to be Faith. Even disregarding that third one, the other two show more of Faith’s darker aspects, as noted below: “Rachel’s so sad and alone. Once was lost, never found. She lead a faithless life and it brought her low. Faith rose up in her, but Rachel stayed low, down. Faith flies divine, and Rachel...Rachel gropes around in the darkness. I left her there, a long time ago.”

The second phone call text:

“A baby is a sack of screaming, shitting, crying impulses with no personality, no thoughts, no understanding of the world beyond feelings. It has no soul. You have to give it one. The only soul we ever have, we receive from others. And it is only others, who can take it away.” One possible interpretation from these two comments from Faith would be that she was very strongly shaped by her family and friends before she ran away with Tracey to join a commune out west. Not into total obedience without personality, but perhaps instead placation and appeasement behaviors, attempting to make the other people in her life “happy” as a form of self-protection coping mechanism to deal with living in an abusive home environment, and later on refined into intentional choices as these lines from her might strongly suggest: "All my life I dealt with people like you. People who underestimate sweet, innocent Faith. You see what you wanna see... a playful butterfly, a delicate flower... a child with childish thoughts. It's easier to disregard a child. Tracey made the same mistake as you. While you all ignored me, I walked right through every one of you." From Faith’s wiki page, it also states that Sheriff Whitehorse talked about “Tracey and Rachel, who were friends, 'joined a free spirit movement in the west, smoking doobies, banging on drums’. But Rachel and Tracey fell on harder drugs and fell out of favor with their community. Tracey searched for a new home and found the Project at Eden's Gate, and Faith decided to return with her to Hope County to join the cult.” From there, with Rachel going through the painful and dangerous process of withdrawal symptoms while attempting to end her addiction, it might be that she also felt that her new self, Faith, or Faith-to-be, was shaped by Joseph and the Project. That this new self was a new soul, and that her old soul, her old identity, Rachel, had been cast away. Perhaps that was another motivation for her to possibly split with Tracey, staying with the cult over staying with her best friend whom she had left her home behind with once before—the friend she’d run away with into the unknown at what was likely a rather young age. Perhaps staying with Tracey, Faith felt too much of Rachel remained. Rachel, the addict. Rachel, the powerless. Rachel, the abused. Perhaps those reminders were too painful for Faith, and she wanted to separate from them as much as possible. If she wanted Tracey to stay though...perhaps she had also hoped Tracey would have a fresh start. That Tracey would be “happier” at the Project. That the two of them would be born anew and cleansed of their sins, as the Project promises. All of the Seeds are in this interpretation trying to cope with their traumas. Faith in this aspect is perhaps the one closest chronologically in time to her trauma, being the youngest, and thus perhaps still emotionally rawer at times underneath it all. Rawer in a more youthful sense, not related to the innocence she tries to project as a front, so much as how she cries out in panic and fear during her boss fight’s finale, when the Deputy strikes the final blow, and how her tone changes when she’s threatened during the fight, talking about how Joseph threatened her and plied her with drugs. In this regard, it is very easy to read Faith as still placating, still coping, still appeasing the powers that be in her life, in this case the Project, Joseph, and the other Seeds to a degree. With being Faith, and not even the first and only Faith but at the very least the third in a series of adopted “sisters,” the danger of being killed, cast aside, or deemed unsatisfactory for whatever reason is very real, and could echo possible fears she’d harbored of her parents, other friends, and community members in her past. How much danger she was in from her parents is unstated as far as I’m aware, but that she was abused and likely was afraid is enough. Fear itself is real enough and a weighty factor in any situation where it exists, as it was meant to be by biological design. So in recreation of that potential trauma-build, Faith placates all of her followers with the Bliss and gentle words, making some members of the Resistance note in commentary that they feel special, loved, cared for. Drawn in to become a part of Faith’s idealized dream of everyone being predictably calm, and open to suggestion. While it is still technically appeasing behavior, with Faith being in control of the Bliss’s drug production and seemingly also the hallucinatory effect it has on people, she is also master of the realm and thus the one with the keys to the kingdom, and I daresay enjoys her power with how she mocks the Deputy upon their return to the Jail after the cutscene of her reasserting control over Burke and the ensuing happenings. Her methods on the surface are soft and appealing seemingly, but she is ultimately now able to control those in her region and under her power with a far more beautifully beguiling and insidious form of puppeteering. She makes a splendid contrast in that regard with how Jacob brainwashes people, with making Angels versus the brainwashed fighters of Jacob’s. Another piece of interesting dialogue regarding the Angels as mentioned by Faith in I believe the Whistling Beaver Brewery is as follows: "Have you seen their faces? On the Pilgrimage? Oh, you should see it. To see the sin fly from their heads and their faces slacken to peace. The vanity shaved from their heads, evil taken from their lips. Never to speak a sinful word, any word, again. It gives me life. Every time a bell rings..." Combining that with the above comment about how Faith believes people don’t have souls until given them and shaped by the others around them, Faith certainly seems to have grabbed the reins on shaping who people are, with the intent to “smooth out” any disagreeable parts. To the point of perhaps erasing a person’s individuality entirely, thus producing an Angel. She like her brothers is also driven by purpose, as she mentions in her first cutscene of being given purpose, and from the random encounter line below: “I’m going to tell you a secret... Eden’s Gate is not here to fix your life. That’s your own selfish dream... No! Eden’s Gate exists to save something greater than you and me. It is here for the Father to bring salvation to the world’s very existence, and you’re trying to destroy that. I put so much hope in you. I thought you’d be special. Was I wrong?” That first bit about not fixing one’s life feels like a potentially open admittance that the Project is not trying to fix people at least in her region, so much as to re-purpose them to the Project’s own ends, and Faith fulfills that with a gentle kind of at-times-gaslit brutality that she selectively applies more forcefully when someone isn’t playing according to Faith’s own preferences. While the doubting may also be real in her case in the later lines, it also serves as shame-based social pressure to not disappoint her, directed at the Deputy as an attempt to erode any resistance they have to conforming to doing the “right” or “sympathetic” thing—as defined by Faith anyway. Its a good bit of manipulation, leaving it blurry whether its outright just intended to influence the Deputy or if she indeed has any doubts. I lean towards the latter for added nuance of emotion, though I do think she’s more than capable and willing of violence and brutality when desired. One minor example among others that comes to mind would be the signs of violence and likely death in the Chan residence, with the implication that Faith sent some of her people to deal with Jasmine and likely kill her, per the blood on the floor and the unsent note contents: “To whom it may concern, Thank you for addressing my complaints about all that noise coming from that Eden’s Gate construction site. One of your representatives (I think her name was Faith, not sure) passed by and said she’d have a word with the people building the statue. She even said she’d make them come by to apologize in person. Although we may disagree on some philosophical matters, it’s nice to see some neighborly etiquette. I look forward to resolving this amicably. -Jasmine Chan” Aside from that, there are also other mentions such as Ethan Minkler overdosing on the Bliss (while that may be a possible accident, the point likely remains that he either died or became an Angel, much to the mayor Virgil Minkler’s grief,) comments by Resistance NPCs about how forced-pilgrims on the Path are sometimes made to crawl on their hands and knees until they bleed, the ones made to jump from the Statue of Joseph and land among the littered bodies of those who did not survive, etc. Ultimately what all of that might be mirroring is her own treatment at the hands of her family and other people in her past, as well as perhaps what Joseph, the Seeds, and the Project asked of her: not to be fixed, but re-purposed. It was never about her, but what she could do for someone, be it her family, friends, or the Project. In that, the Angels are an elegantly simple solution: they are obedient to the wishes of the Project, and are loyal to a fault without any chance of wanting anything to the contrary than what is asked of them, provided they are provided with a steady supply of Bliss (presuming they require it as a continued addiction, though that is purely speculation.) The Angel’s Grave in the Horned Serpent Cave seems to be a lake of boiling muck that is implied to be a mass grave for Angels, per the Grieving Note found therein: “Lana. Christ in heaven what they did to you. The fact that they could make you believe all that nonsense, make you forget yourself so hard. Forget your own name? How, Lana? What did he say to you? What kind of fucking dirtbag blood ritual could make you think your name was “Faith”? Doesn’t matter how, I guess. He told you you were special, but in the end he threw your body in here to disintegrate in the boiling muck, like a common Angel.” This certainly shows the Project has little to no respect for the dead, or at the very least those turned into mindlessly loyal Angel minions. It echoes back to the lack of individuality Faith may struggle with internally as a theme—it may also be that her parents abused her through the unrealistic-expectations archetype of wanting and pressuring her to be what they wanted, without any regard of who she was as an individual or what she wanted out of her life. Perhaps during her life she was treated as nothing more than a commodity, trying to forever appease and live up to her parents’ expectations. I sadly have very little on the Jessop family as a whole, so this is all once again pure fabricated speculation. This lack of personal worth through individuality does thread through the recurring instance of there being multiple Faiths before Rachel, and it is shown in the notes to the two known previous Faiths, Lana and Selena (both referenced from Faith’s article the wiki.) “You’re not the first one, Selena. You’re not the first woman he’s used up and thrown away. For years I’d been hearing this Faith Seed was tall as her brother, with black hair. Couldn’t miss her. And then I saw you in one of their trucks last week, yellow hair in the breeze, and heard them calling you Faith. He thinks he can just SWAP YOU OUT. Like you don’t got a brain of your own. God knows who you are, and so do you. Selena. I love you. Don’t lose yourself to this.” Both of the above notes have mentions to identity issues with taking on the new name of Faith, of losing oneself or forgetting oneself. With the note to Lana and the last note from one of the Faiths there is also the double mention of “being special.” “I just wanted to be special. When Joseph came into my life, I felt like you’d given me a true gift, Lord. That a man who talks to you would bring me in on your holy conversation..? And so I too the name that you gave me, Lord, through Joseph: “Faith.” And I am a woman made anew. But now, I’m ashamed to say, even though I carry this name, my devotion to the Project is..plagued. By Doubt. What do I do? I know you will forgive me, dear Lord. I don’t know if Joseph will.“ The above note titled “A Confession” on Faith’s wiki page is possibly from Rachel, though the wording has me contemplating that it’s likely from someone a bit older, and the style I’m uncertain if I’d attribute to Rachel though I acknowledge that writing and speaking can present very differently. I would expect her to write with a more direct style of wording since presumably she had internet access and was familiar with texting, speculating off of Tracey’s note in the convent that mentioned Tracey being “tired of this 19th-century-ass writing shit.” The pauses via commas and more formal-yet-casual feel of the written cadence, along with more talk of God feels like someone else’s voice rather than Rachel’s, but I could be wrong. But that’s also fitting with the theme of uncertainty of who’s who beneath the name of Faith. Therein lies the loss of individuality and lack of clear denoting of which Faith this was, or is.

—  Conclusion —

What I find absolutely fascinating about all of these villains is how they tell the story of the trauma and past experiences through their actions, dialogue, beliefs, and all while moving the main story forward. We do have some direct story telling in the sense of them telling us about those key moments that lead to their revelation and some backstory details, but the fact that even afterwards in a lot of what they do if not all of what they do we can potentially draw more inferences of how they came to be who they are? That is some very beautiful story and character construction in my opinion. In how the past influences their present and relatively speaking future events, so too does their present and future come circling back to tie to their past. This possible feedback loop of influence is just so neat in my opinion and is particularly pronounced here with the Seed family and how they are presented in-game. I feel it works exceptionally well for antagonists but could in theory also work for any main character. The sheer weight of how their past influences them so profoundly is really interesting, and while we all are shaped by our past, it’s particularly highlighted here with the Seeds. Often the trope of a character having a dark backstory is presented as the reason they’re doing X, or are prone to behaving in a certain way (one such popular demeanor being say brooding,) and is particularly common for villains. What I think makes the Seeds for me more interesting in that regard is how individualized their processing of their traumas is. It’s not just out to do evil because they are simply evil and have a backstory to facilitate handwaving as to why they are evil, they’re going about it in a particular way, and have all developed a nuanced system of belief relating to that and likely significantly influenced by those around them as well, with the Seeds all I would say influence each other to varying degrees. Them being a group of villains is part of that complexity with the layers of them having a family dynamic, the cult hierarchy, significantly different styles of managing their affairs while still sharing some core elements, and being such diverse personalities. The Seeds in their entirety as a group are what make or break the story in my opinion, since to have really good conflict I would say you need excellent villains or antagonists, and the Seed family fits that bill in my personal opinion very well. It feels like there was a lot of time and care put into each of the Seeds in different ways and in crafting their stories as well as fitting those stories to the main story of Far Cry 5. The speculation I personally take away from this in terms of developing interesting characters is that sometimes having a very detailed background and having it influence a character heavily and actively both in-scene and on the meta of writing the scene can be really interesting. Obviously sometimes not knowing a character’s past and leaving it a mystery works very well too. But if there’s been care put into how the character is developed and there are in-world, albeit unknown backstory reasons for their actions, words, and beliefs? Then even if we the audience don’t know the reasons, that can make for a very compelling character for audience members to speculate and fill in the blanks about. Obviously there are other builds and exceptions and such for making compelling characters and in particular villains and antagonists, but I do think this style of character construction in relation to the overarching plot is honestly quite gorgeous as a story infrastructure element in its own right and worth taking a look at should it appeal to one to examine it. It’s a really lovely echo of how much investment the dev team’s put into the characters themselves that those characters in-world also care and are heavily invested in what they’re doing and saying too, as an added accent to it all. Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk, hope you all have a good day/night! [Link to part one here.] [Link to part two here.]

[aion-rsa]

Resident Evil Village’s Witch Revives Horror’s Most Underrated Villain

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It’s hardly a surprise that Resident Evil Village is capturing everyone’s attention (including our own) at the moment. Not only is it the next entry into one of gaming’s biggest franchises, but in a year that will likely feature many game delays as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s a new game scheduled to be released in the near future that we can actually look forward to. Besides, how often do you get to celebrate horror in January?

Of course, Resident Evil Village is nothing if not a celebration of horror that pays special tribute to the Universal horror era of the ’30s and ’40s. We’ve already spoken about how Lady Dimitrescu’s daughters honor Dracula’s brides, but you’ve also got Dimitrescu herself who invokes elements of Carmilla and Dracula. You’ve also got a werewolf paying homage to The Wolf Man, the villagers themselves invoking images of countless helpless villagers of classic horror, and a witch that reminds us of all those witches in black and white Universal horror films gone by.

Do you know what’s funny, though? There really aren’t many prominent witches in major Universal horror films. I found that hard to believe as I could almost picture a witch sitting around a smoking cauldron while she warns a hapless hero of the curse they’ve attracted, but there are shockingly few examples of those styles of witches in the films from that era. At the very least, a witch was never prominently featured in such a film despite the fact that the character is so closely associated with other horror archetypes.

Then again, the absence of witches during the golden age of horror is a sadly fitting chapter in the history of one of the most underrated villains in horror movie history.

So, were there any witches in classic Universal monster movies? The answer depends on your interpretation of the concept. The closest we came to the classic “visual” of the witch in one of these films has to be the character Maliva from The Wolf Man. While she’s an old wise woman living in the woods with an air of mystery about her, she’s actually a gypsy and not a witch. There were also some voodoo practitioners and mystics in movies like White Zombie, but none of them really fit the billing. Witches would start popping up in the ’40s in movies like I Married a Witch, but that was more of a romantic comedy. It wasn’t until the late ’50s and early ’60s that you really started to see significant horror portrayals of witches.

The most prominent witches of the ‘1930s were actually the witch-like The Evil Queen from Snow White and, of course, the Wicked Witch of the West from The Wizard of Oz. For years, though, it was hard to find a prominent witch during even the lucrative early days of horror films.

What’s really odd is that the history of witches in horror films started out well enough. 1922’s Häxan offered a blend of documentary-style segments and dramatic recreations designed to shed light on the history of witchcraft and related superstitions. While the film is a little rough in spots (which is understandable given the year it was released), there’s something magical about the way it so boldly flew in the face of filmmaking and societal conventions. Hilariously, some early critics even panned the film over their belief that such dangerous satanic visuals and ideas shouldn’t be glorified in theaters.

Isn’t that what’s great about witches, though? From well before the 1920s into the satanic panic era of the 1980s, there was a legitimate societal fear over the influence of the devil and satanism. While vampires and other monsters somehow escaped the brunt of those fears (at least in terms of their “accepted” mass portrayals), the idea of women embracing Satan has long gotten under people’s skins. Who would have known that the idea of women seeking empowerment where it’s available to them would terrify so many?

It’s impossible to ignore the likelihood that witches weren’t prominently featured in early horror films due to a combination of satanism and sexism, but the idea of witches as rebels seeking revenge on society is one of the most fascinating uses of the characters that we typically see on film. 1960’s Black Sunday is one of the best early examples of that concept as it focuses on a witch seeking vengeance through unusually violent (at least for films of that era) means. Vincent Price’s underrated 1968 classic Witchfinder General even directly addresses the idea that we deserve the wrath of witches or perhaps even manufactured it due to the violence perpetrated against women during literal witch hunts. A generation later, The Craft would turn the idea of young women acquiring abilities from horror story to a source of empowerment for young women looking for a way to defy an unfair society.

Then you have Suspiria. Both versions of Suspiria deal with the idea that there is this isolated location run by witches that is a world unto itself. They make us feel decidedly unwelcome in this place (especially for male viewers), but we’re compelled by their visuals and twisted nature which lure us in before we understand the depths of what we’ve gotten into. It’s a hauntingly beautiful play on the classic fairy tale idea of witches luring children into a dangerous place even when their logic screams “turn back, run away.”

The matronly idea of witches is another powerful play on the archetype taken from fairy tales that is impossible to ignore. While it’s possible that the relationship between witches and children was fuelled over the years by the idea a society still struggling to escape the belief that the greatest tragedy that can befall a woman is to not be a mother, there is something undeniably powerful about the idea that witches are the primary antagonist of children.

You can’t have that conversation without talking about Rosemary’s Baby, but one of the most fascinating examples of that concept has to be 1990’s The Witches. That movie lures you in by presenting itself as a kid’s movie much as a witch lured Hansel and Gretel in with sweets. When that famous transformation scene happens, though, it proves to be even scarier than the effective visuals alone would often make it simply because we feel as though we’ve been betrayed. It not only betrays the assumption of a safe “children’s adventure” with truly terrifying visuals but it brilliantly backstabs the idea of women as inherently nurturing, protective forces who could never do harm. It defies expectations in a way that haunts us years later.

Then again, witches have evolved in horror better than many other classic creatures. Despite detours into family-friendly fairs like Bewitched and ABC’s Sabrina show, latter witch films remained truly terrifying. When Dracula, The Wolf Man, and Frankenstein were struggling to navigate the ’90s, The Blair Witch Project taught a generation to fear films again. 2015’s The Witch even used a combination of trope twists focused on the feminity of witches and genuinely terrifying visuals to craft one of the films that helped usher in the horror film renaissance that we’re currently enjoying.

Yet, despite their effectiveness over decades and centuries of horror and despite the fact that they starred in all-time great movies like Rosemary’s Baby, Suspiria, Black Sunday, The Blair Witch Project, and The Witch, the archetype of the witch often feels fundamentally underappreciated in the realm of horror. They typically don’t rank high on lists of the great horror movie monsters, and portrayals of them tend to default to the crooked nose, green skin, and pointed hat that invokes a more classic image representative of an era of horror films that witches shamefully barely got to participate in.

Much like Dracula’s brides, that’s why it warms the heart to see a witch alongside a wolf, a vampire, and so many other classic horror archetypes in Resident Evil Village. From fairy tales to film, the witch has remained effectively terrifying due to a combination of brilliant portrayals and far too prevalent societal beliefs that touch upon the very real reasons we should all probably fear witches if they did exist.

Witches may not have had time to shine during an era of filmmaking that established so many horror icons, but it’s a testament to their power that they immediately feel like they belong in the presence of such legends. Here’s hoping the game does them justice.

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[elizabethrobertajones]

Just for my own curiosity as I’m sure there’s many more posts appearing while I google

https://www.instagram.com/p/BXlco5ig_ZQ/

That’s The High Priestess at the top, the Hanged Man to the left, the 3 of Pentacles to the right, the King of Cups sideways on top of the 10 of Pentacles, upside down, in the middle, and the Hermit at the bottom. All the cards except the middle ones are the right way up.

We can assume this is from 13x03 and probably being done by a real and probably friendly psychic, either Patience herself or Missouri, or a side character. It may not have a great deal of relevance to the main plot in context, unless someone's specifically asked for a reading.

I'm going to assume for now it's about Patience, but can have secondary metaphorical application to the main plot, as per everything.

This looks like the shape: http://www.simplytarot.com/tarot-spreads/celtic-cross-tarot/

Trustedtarot.com tells me the basic meanings:

1: Situation

The card in this position should draw the Reader to the heart of the matter, the central situation.  It won’t reveal all the different aspects thereof but provides the focal point of  the reading.  A Reader should use this card as the basis for the rest of the reading and refer back when interpreting the cards around it.

Ten of Pentacles's Meaning Your financial security and emotional well-being are both positively indicated by the presence of this card in your spread. This is only partially your own doing, however, as these positive aspects are inextricably bound up in your close relationships with friends and family. It may also foretell an inheritance.

Patience has inherited Missouri's psychic powers. If these are just coming to her, then this seems to be the card to say what's going on with her.

2: Conflict

Here, the chosen card will show where conflict is generated in the situation referred to in the first card.  In our experience, this card can help to clarify any uncertainty in the first card drawn.  It appears that people are more easily able to recognise areas of conflict as opposed to the general situation at hand. So, if there has been difficulty interpreting the first card, try backtracking to see if the Subject is now able identify with its meaning.

King of Cups's Meaning The King of Cups is the worldly and calm projection of authority. Find him in your spread is most likely a reference to someone else who will aid you in achieving your goals. This person may seem unconcerned, even distant, but their motivations are pure. Whatever advice they give will be important to you and should be considered in your own deliberations. If it does refer to you, personally, it shows an inner strength and tightly disciplined control of emotions.

perhaps this explains how Missouri behaves towards Patience. We know she can be harsh and abrasive, as she talked very sharply to Dean. But she did help them and mean well the entire time. Her personality seems to be a part of the conflict then, especially if she and Patience haven't been in contact, I guess this would be difficult for her to connect to a grumpy Missouri. :P

3: Mind

Remember that the thoughts of any person are based on their interpretation of a situation rather than fact.  It is prudent to investigate where the meaning of this card differs to cards in positions that show what is actually happening.  These would be the Situation, Conflict and Now positions.  This can give the Reader the ability to put the Subject’s mind at ease or, conversely, to advise them to think more carefully about the consequences of their actions.

For example if the 9 of Swords appeared in the Mind position, but other cards are positive, it is likely that the Subject is worrying too much about something that really isn’t as bad as it they fear it will be.

The High Priestess's Meaning Your identification with the High Priestess suggests you possess inherent good judgment, in the form of strong intuition. She may indicate that reason should take second place to instinct. Your head must trust in the wisdom of your heart for a change. Yet, she is also an aide by nature, and her presence in certain parts of your spread could be indicative of someone close to you coming to your rescue with their own intuition. Intuition is most effective at seeing what is hidden to the senses, so the High Priestess may also come as a warning of concealed facts or influences that are, or will be, important to you.

That sounds like a good cold open between Patience and Missouri, lol. I'd guess Patience's judgement and reading of the situation is going to be important, especially if she's in conflict with Missouri.

4: Driver

This position shows us how the Subject has arrived at the place they are.  It shows what influences or events have motivated the Subject and, maybe, why the person is behaving the way they are.

This card is crucial to unlocking the reading and being able to understand what has motivated the Subject.  For example, a bad or sad event may have led them onto a path of self destruction and just being able to help them understand and accept this could be the key to them moving on.  Likewise, if it shows enthusiasm for an endeavour it can remind the Subject why they embarked on the pursuit in the first place, giving them fresh energy to carry on.

The Hermit's Meaning There are times in every life, when one must step back and make a careful examination of their situations and decisions. Finding the Hermit in your spread suggests this is just such a time for you. You are in need of a period of inner reflection, away from the current demands of your position. This retreat can be physical, or a search within. Only a deep and honest introspection will lead to a solution, however.

I'm now not totally sure if we should be applying this to Patience or Missouri, or perhaps this is explaining the conflict some more, even if Patience is the subject... I'm pretty sure spoilers were that they haven't been around each other much. Maybe someone is reading it FOR them or something :P Actually if Missouri hadn't been around to help Patience much, that makes sense as a absent parent relationship for Mary to her sons as a side thing. Withdrawing for introspection was where she went wrong in season 12 by removing herself from her sons and she didn't get to the deep and honest introspection before she was led onto the wrong path, and only just got a clue about the full picture in 12x22 from Dean. If Patience and Missouri are a family parallel, that could be quite interesting.

5: Past

This position will highlight people, situations or influences from the past that still have an affect on the Subject.  For example, if the Subject was hurt significantly in their last relationship it is likely that they will fear getting hurt in the same way again and this may prevent them from entering into a new one.  The card in this position may also be trying to show the Subject that they have learned a lesson in their past that will be of use to them now.

Three of Pentacles's Meaning If you can maintain a clear sense of purpose over the coming months, you are well positioned to see you hard work get the recognition it deserves. It is not guaranteed, but if you maintain your own pace, and it may tax your interpersonal skills, as you will need to rely and trust on others for the best outcome. That outcome will be worth your determination, however, not only providing material reward, but leading to a sense of lasting accomplishment.

Past The time you have spent mastering your abilities has been a smart investment. Your confidence has grown and if you continue to nurture this self-assurance, you will succeed.

This also seems like a great card to pull when you're about to join a spin off with a whole new cast of characters.

6: Future

Future events depicted by the Tarot are always subject to change by the Subject.  If their thoughts, attitudes and behaviour changes as a result of the insight provided in the reading, future events will change accordingly.  As it stands, this card will provide a snap shot of how this situation will develop in the near future if everything continues in the same vein, and those key things that will come to bear influence shortly.  Readers would benefit from assessing the Past and Future together to see how the Subject has moved forward or not.

The Hanged Man's Meaning The Hanged Man can be interpreted in two very different ways. All change is a small kind of death, as the old must die to create the new, and it may simply indicate upheaval or change in your future, perhaps beyond your control, but more likely a decision that, for good or ill, you will not be able to turn back from. The other interpretation is one of sacrifice, although whether this sacrifice is small or great may not be easily interpreted. Both interpretations imply permanence, and that you should give very careful thought to the decisions in your life.

Future Many things are unknown to you now, so you must make new goals and plan carefully. Acting at the right moment will get you ahead.

The Hanged Man was used in 11x12 for Alex (via her poor maths teacher), and she's also a Wayward Sister, with a similar meaning about change and new life on the other side of upheaval in that episode. Alex made some life choices there, which will probably be derailed to keep her around for Wayward Sisters but hey ho that will be nearly 2 seasons ago that she decided to stay out of the Life. For Patience, if she's going to join the main cast this makes me pretty worried Missouri will be the "hanged man" aka fridged character (check the way the man hangs compared to how Mary and Jess and some other fridged characters died with their leg hooked under them.) - the card is upright, but I know how this show works, and this symbolism is basically the fridged character card here in the show's language. I would HOPE this one is merely for the decision Patience will make to join her new family of Wayward Sisters.

These are all the cards we have - we're missing the other four of the reading.

[tremolux]

Darkness Rising

Over the past two years, many of you have asked if I would ever write a followup to my original Lucas theory, Uber A: What’s in a Name?

Well my friends, the wait is over.

The end is near.

The darkness is upon us.

Darkside/Lightside

Grunwald: I've never considered the content of dreams to be important; it's the impressions they leave that affect me... In this case, the dream left me quite unsettled. The sense was strong enough that I felt compelled to come here.

Hanna: The sense of what?

Grunwald: A darkness, around you and Caleb.

Those of you who have already ventured down the rabbit hole of my original Lucas theory will remember a very literal interpretation of one of Mrs. Grunwald’s impressions that singled out Lucas as “the one Alison fears the most.”

My interpretation of that scene has not changed since it was written. Not only was Grunwald speaking in reference to Lucas back then, but she still is now.

In 7x08, Mrs. Grunwald returns to Rosewood with an ominous message about "a darkness" around Hanna and Caleb. Several factors make that statement particularly interesting. Not only are they standing in Lucas’ apartment when she says it, but the idea that “the darkness” lingers specifically around Hanna and Caleb as opposed to the others seems to point towards Lucas. After all, Hanna and Caleb seem to be Lucas' only friends in Rosewood, as far as we can tell. 

Aria: It’s no coincidence that he turned dark after the masquerade ball.

Spencer: Well, Jenna has that effect on people.

Aria: Yeah, but she’s been gone all summer, and he’s still ‘Boo Radley.’

Have a look at 3x01, the episode that Marlene King called "the return of Uber A" when it initially aired, and watch for when the liars observe Lucas in the cafeteria. Aria calls Lucas "dark," point blank, and then says that he's been that way since the masquerade ball, which is when he started hanging around with Jenna. The Boo Radley reference is also a play on words, foreshadowing Lucas’ suspiciously skulking about at Radley later in the third season. 

Lucas is "dark" + Hanna & Caleb his only friends = "darkness" around Hanna & Caleb 

Hanna lives in Lucas’ loft. Caleb is there all the time. Caleb is an investor in Lucas’ business. Hanna is doing business with Lucas.

Lucas is the "darkness," just as much as he is "the one Alison fears the most!"

The Grunwald strikes again! Just like in the previous theory, the profile fits Lucas like a custom tailored suit. 

Having studied Latin, I'm well aware that the name Lucas is rooted on the Latin word lux (lucis), meaning light. "Bringer of light" is the meaning typically attached to the name Lucas. What a perfect synchronicity for a character described as one who “turned dark!”

Interestingly enough, the "bringer of light” meaning is equally applicable to Lucifer, a fallen angel commonly associated with Satan. 

Stunningly, this recent message seems to allude to a fallen condition: 

Embrace your darkness, Em. I’ve had to. That’s how you win the game. A.D.

What’s fascinating is how A.D. seems to offer a glimpse of something personal here, as if speaking from experience as someone who “had to” embrace their own darkness. 

Why did they have to, I wonder? 

Perhaps in order to win a game in which A.D. was an actual participant. A player, as opposed to the conductor. 

Or maybe the oppressed, rather than the oppressor. Sound familiar? 

Lucas is someone who took a dark turn, just like Aria pointed out. Maybe he felt that going dark was the only way to win the game he had been dragged into, as in Mona’s original A-game. 

It’d be kind of a Batman move to do so, wouldn’t it? Kind of a Dark Knight feel to it? 

For Love of the Game

When Lucas returns to Rosewood (post time jump), he’s shady from the get go. He’s barely been in town five minutes before he bumps into Hanna, which comes across as planned. Heavy stalker vibes. He immediately makes it known that he’s extremely rich, as if he’s been patiently waiting for the moment to impress Hanna with the fact that he drives a Jaguar and owns houses all around the world.

Later on, Hanna asks him to be her alibi for the night that Charlotte was murdered, and Lucas has no qualms about lying to the police, even though he’s terrible at it (or purposely flubbing the story.) That’s shady enough as it is, but it’s not long after that when the first message arrives, stating “you know who did it and I’m going to make you talk.” 

Of course Lucas should have suspected their involvement from the moment Hanna approached him for a fake alibi. But he questioned nothing and carried on with a foolish looking white knight act. Of course, you have to consider that he’d really have no need to press Hanna for answers if he could do it more effectively (and anonymously) as Uber ‘A’. 

But by far the most important thing to take away from Lucas’ arrival is that he mentions he’s a highly successful game app developer. Not just software, but specifically games; which is exactly the skill set one would require to create such a monstrosity that combines aspects of a traditional board game with modern technology and real life consequences. The centerpiece is of course an iPhone running a custom designed app. 

It simply can’t get any more on target for clues that Lucas is Uber A. Considering this game has to be his greatest creation to date, his masterpiece, then the very execution of the game becomes a motive in itself. 

There was a brief time (before the messages were signed as ‘A.D.’) when they referred to the sender as “the techie.” Uber A’s work space has been shown full of stray PC boards, disk drives, wire, soldering gear, and electronic test equipment. Definitely “techie” stuff, but the only legit “techies” we know are Lucas and Caleb.  

There’s literally no wiggle room here, folks: it’s either Lucas behind this game, or some new techno-wiz character we haven’t been introduced to yet. It’s getting to the point where it’s impossible to deny that Lucas is involved. Caleb might have the technical skills, but he certainly lacks the specialized game design experience that Lucas has. 

Furthermore, the level of personal detail involved in this game means that the creator has to know everything about the players, the rules, how it’s all supposed to work together, and the game’s ultimate purpose. So there's no chance of pleading ignorance or passing the buck when the nerd finally gets caught. 

Revenge of the Nerd

Please excuse the brief rant, but this needs to be said:

Good luck to Marlene King if she thinks she can pass off this dude as Alison’s twin, or Spencer’s twin, or some other physically impossible, equally nonsensical garbage. It just doesn’t work in any way, shape, or form. And the devil’s advocate argument that “A has all kinds of helpers” gets tiresome and annoying, because it’s pointless and anticlimactic to have an uber villain who never actually gets their hands dirty. 

On the other hand, Lucas has about the right height and build, and the capacity for explosive anger. The sadism and latent misogyny inherent in the cattle prodding of Hanna comes across when this guy beats the pulp out of Ali. I would wager that once Lucas found out Alison covered up the death of her own husband, it enraged him. He saw the perfect opportunity to terrorize her, and he seized it. 

Lucas was low-key happy when he heard Alison was in the hospital after her fall, and I’m sure he’d be thrilled to send her back to the emergency room for a second visit. 

From the very beginning, A’s style and attitude has been an intentional mimicry and mockery of Alison DiLaurentis. Now we have ‘A.D.’ as a new incarnation of the same old patterns. Could it be that Uber A’s endgame strategy is the ultimate set up: to pit Alison’s friends completely against one another, turn them to the “dark side,” and then pin the blame for everything on Alison “A.D.” DiLaurentis? Is that not a brilliant method of destroying Alison once and for all?

“It's not whether you win or lose, it's how you place the blame.” -Oscar Wilde

Back in high school, Lucas swore that one day Alison would one day “get what’s coming to her.” An old saying goes that living well is the best revenge, and Lucas certainly lives well, but there’s always the chance that maybe that’s not enough for him. As another saying goes, revenge is a dish best served cold. And seven years after high school is certainly a cold dish.

Never underestimate a patient nerd who harbors a long term grudge.

Uber ‘A’, Ubergeek

Since the time jump, the Lucas clues have been dropping so frequently that it's hard to even keep track of them all. Lots of people have noted how comic references like The Wrath of Kahn (Star Trek) and The DArkest Knight (DC Comics, Batman) could be a nod towards Lucas and Uber A’s ubergeek status. His bedroom during high school contained several Batman figurines on display. 

Most recently, Emily mentioned the exam that A.D. passed for her; a situation that serves as a reminder how Lucas was known for selling test answers in high school.

And then there are more subtle hints, like Jenna saying "we have an Uber waiting for us," which seems a cheeky double meaning of an Uber driver and Uber 'A', and recalls the season six prom when the Liars saw Lucas and Jenna together, and Spencer remarked that "she probably thinks he Uber'd her there."

That’s all cute, but the important point is: 

Nobody doubts that Jenna and Uber ‘A’ are connected. 

Everyone associated with Jenna turns out to be bad news. 

Lucas has been connected to Jenna since the masquerade ball, yet he's managed to dodge suspicion thus far. How? Why? Just because he seems nice and friendly? Because he let them use his apartment? It doesn’t matter how secure their phones are if they’re always hanging out in an apartment that’s wired with secret microphones and cameras. 

The fact that Lucas has consistently been involved in sketchy situations since the very first season, but somehow stayed off the radar, makes me confident that he’s not simply a red herring. 

Noel Kahn was the latest of Jenna’s long time co-conspirators to be exposed and brought down. And although the narrative hinted towards him being the one who tortured Hanna in the barn, he died before we could get proper resolution on that.

However, this leaves the door open for a hideous and shocking betrayal when the curtain is finally pulled back on Lucas, and reveals that he was the one who stripped Hanna down to her underwear, hosed her down with cold water, and sadistically tortured her with a cattle prod. 

Now that’s what I call dark.

The very idea that this superficially nice and friendly guy would do this to his friend, business partner, and long time crush will send shock waves throughout the fandom, and blow the minds of those who never saw it coming.

Lucas will be exposed as the one behind the masks, and the one behind the game. And then like a broken dam, the truth will come rushing forth, concerning everything he’s done since day one of playing the game with Mona. 

Lucas is the darkness.

Lucas is “the one Alison fears the most.”

Lucas is the genius behind the game.

Lucas is Uber ‘A’.

[ramajmedia]

All Of Once Upon A Time In Hollywood Controversies Explained

Warning: SPOILERS ahead for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

Here’s a complete breakdown of every Once Upon a Time in Hollywood controversy. Directed by Quentin Tarantino, the 161-minute film uses real people and celebrities from the 1960s to drive a storyline about two fictional characters, actor Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) and stuntman Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt). The overall mashup of reality and fantasy has rubbed some people the wrong way for various reasons.

Tarantino has been one of cinema’s most controversial filmmakers for nearly 30 years. His 1992 feature debut, Reservoir Dogs, breaks from traditional storytelling and stylizes the inherent violence. With Pulp Fiction, Tarantino’s 1994 follow-up, he pushed harder across the board via more violence, more cinematic style, and more challenging dialogue. Over the years, Tarantino’s trademark style has continuously polarized viewers, as some people love his creative vision and cinematic references, while others take offense to what they see on the surface, and also for what the subtext appears to imply. 

Related: The Real Actors Leonardo DiCaprio’s Rick Dalton Is Based On

When news first broke about Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’s storyline, rumors created a false narrative about how Charles Manson would be incorporated. Since then, Tarantino has often stated that filmmakers should be free to follow their creative vision, rather than focusing on what modern moviegoers expect and want. Here’s a timeline for all the Once Upon a Time in Hollywood controversies. 

Cannes Backlash And Sharon Tate Representation

In May 2019, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. Early reviews praised the film, but some critics questioned Margot Robbie’s lack of screen time as Sharon Tate, who - in real life - was murdered by Manson Family members in August 1969. When questioned about Robbie’s role, or lack thereof, Tarantino said that he rejected the reporter's “hypothesis.” Unsurprisingly, this news spread quickly on social media, which made Tarantino appear like he was more interested in telling stories about fictional men rather than highlighting the tragic tale of a real-life female actress and murder victim. At this point, only a select group of people had actually seen Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.  

When Once Upon a Time in Hollywood released to the masses in July 2019, American moviegoers received clarity about the storyline. The film isn’t about the Manson Family murders, nor does the film re-create Tate’s death. Instead, Tarantino uses Los Angeles as a backdrop for a commentary about Old Hollywood ideals and the rise of the counterculture movement. Both Rick and Cliff try to find their place in Hollywood as trends change. Still, the Robbie controversy didn’t fade away, though Tarantino did indeed add two extra minutes of screen time for the actress.

Explaining Robbie's role in the movie, Tarantino said that he wanted to celebrate Tate existing in the world, just living her life as a young Hollywood starlet:

“I thought it would both be touching and pleasurable and also sad and melancholy to just spend a little time with her, just existing. I didn't come up with a big story and have her work into the story so now she has to talk to other characters and move a story along. It was just a day in the life. It's a day in the life of all three of them, that Saturday in February. A day in the life, driving around, running errands, doing this, doing that, and just being with her. I thought that could be special and meaningful. I wanted you to see Sharon a lot, see her living life. Not following some story, just see her living, see her being.”

More: What Happens After Once Upon A Time In Hollywood's Ending?

The Twist Ending And Manson Family Portrayal

Tarantino subverts expectations with Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’s ending. Most viewers know what transpired on Cielo Drive during the late hours of August 8, 1969. The Manson Family murdered Tate and four others. But in Tarantino’s alternate history, the Manson Family members are killed by Rick and Cliff (mostly by the latter character). The film builds towards the real-life Cielo Drive tragedy and then refuses to provide audiences with the dark ending they expected.

The Manson Family members target Rick’s home because they identify him as the former star of “Bounty Law” (a fictional TV show), and decide to kill the man who introduced them to violence. Their plan backfires, and Old Hollywood essentially wins. Rick and Cliff save the ‘60s lifestyle. Meanwhile, Tate remains next door, free from harm, and she invites Rick over for a drink. The title card then appears, reminding viewers that what they’ve just seen is indeed a fairy tale: “Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood.”

The main criticism of the movie's ending has been that Once Upon a Time in Hollywood has a lot of fun showing Rick and Cliff kill the female members of the Manson Family - similar to the gratuitously gory death of Hitler in Inglourious Basterds. The Hollywood Reporter published an op-ed on a pattern of violence against women being used as a "punchline" in Tarantino movies, making the case that the "so-called Manson girls had been brainwashed by a madman," and that it "seems short-sighted to mark them strictly as villains worthy of slaughter."

More: How Many Films Has Quentin Tarantino Made (& Why Does He Count It Wrong)?

The Bruce Lee Depiction

In Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, the iconic Bruce Lee appears during a flashback sequence, portrayed by Mike Moh. On the set of The Green Hornet, an ABC television series that aired from 1966-1967, Lee displays his famous bravado prior to a friendly fight with Cliff, who doesn't seem impressed by the actor's heightened sense of self. For historical context, the scene in question takes place before Lee's most iconic films like Fist of Fury (1972) and Enter the Dragon (1975). Overall, Lee comes across as incredibly arrogant, and his mannerisms are used as a source of comedy, evidenced by a moment when Cliff mimics a sound made by Lee.

One aspect of the fictional Lee's portrayal that sparked a particular backlash was his boast that he could "cripple" Muhammad Ali. Lee's protégé, Dan Inosanto, told Variety, "Bruce Lee would have never said anything derogatory about Muhammad Ali because he worshipped the ground Muhammad Ali walked on." Lee's daughter, Shannon Lee, was also unhappy with Tarantino's interpretation of her father:

“I have always suspected that [Tarantino] is a fan of the kung-fu genre and a fan of things that kick ass in cool and stylish ways, which my father certainly did. But whether he really knows anything about Bruce Lee as a human being, whether he’s interested in who Bruce Lee was as a human being, whether he admires who Bruce Lee was as a human being, I’m not really sure that I have any evidence to support that that would be true... [Lee] was continuously marginalized and treated like kind of a nuisance of a human being by white Hollywood, which is how he’s treated in the film by Quentin Tarantino."

On Twitter, film critic Walter Chaw posted an extensive thread about the portrayal of Lee in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, stating "If it's a 'white boy fantasy' that a white guy could best Bruce Lee, it's the same kind of fantasy that would posit Lee as the ultimate test of fighting ability for a fictional white guy. Your racism is either bigoted or paternalistic. Who would win? Bruce or imaginary guy?" Just days later, Chaw further addressed Tarantino's version of Lee with a Vulture essay entitled "Why Are You Laughing at Bruce Lee?":

"Growing up as a Chinese kid in a predominantly white area, one of the most common ways people mocked me was by mimicking the noises Lee made. The reaction to Moh’s performance — the chuckles that followed his impression of Lee — felt like a similarly racist gesture. In truth, until very recently, the vast majority of appearances by Asian characters in mainstream American films carried with them the same potential for unintended, racially motivated laughter."

From Tarantino's perspective, he believes that his depiction of Lee wasn't inaccurate. He addressed the controversy at a press junket in Moscow, as reported by Variety:

“The way he was talking, I didn’t just make a lot of that up. I heard him say things like that, to that effect. If people are saying, ‘Well he never said he could beat up Muhammad Ali,’ well yeah, he did. Not only did he say that, but his wife, Linda Lee, said that in her first biography I ever read. She absolutely said that."

The Cliff Booth Mystery

Moviegoers can have wildly different viewing experiences based on their interpretation of Cliff. Here are the facts: he’s an aging stuntman who’s loyal to Rick. The two men drive around Hollywood together, and Cliff mostly appears pleasant, calm, and balanced. By himself, Cliff appears a little more prickly: he beats up a hippie at Spahn Ranch, he beats up Bruce Lee during a flashback sequence, and he ultimately kills Manson Family members while tripping on acid. From the beginning in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Tarantino sets a narrative hook for the audience: Cliff may be a bad dude, and he just might've killed his wife. 

But, no - Cliff did not kill his wife, at least there’s no evidence of that in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. It’s a brilliant strategic move by Tarantino, one that was clearly inspired by the mystery surround Natalie Wood’s tragic death in 1981. Once again, Tarantino uses Hollywood lore to keep the audience off-kilter. He creates a myth through character dialogue, and then subverts expectations by not showing what viewers expect. Cliff never kills his wife in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

More: Once Upon A Time In Hollywood: Luke Perry's Cameo Explained

A brief Twitter search reveals that many people fully believe that Cliff is a wife-killer, which fundamentally changes how one views Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Through Tarantino’s cinematic magic, people believe that they saw a murder take place. But here’s what actually happens: Cliff remembers being on a boat, and his wife complaining. There’s a harpoon gun on his lap, and it seems that he’s contemplating, well, homicide. But Tarantino then cuts away. In terms of storytelling, the moment represents another Cliff memory. And the narrative implications are directly connected to a famous Hollywood myth.

In November 1981, the aforementioned Wood drowned off the coast of Catalina Island near Los Angeles. Earlier that night, she’d been drinking heavily with husband Robert Wagner and actor Christopher Walken. All three were on board Wagner's yacht when Wood suddenly disappeared and was ultimately found dead. For years, people have speculated that Wagner killed Wood. At this point, it doesn’t necessarily matter why (drunken rage, jealousy, an accident), but rather that people simply believe that Wagner did indeed kill his wife. As for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, the speculation is what’s crucial. Nobody is right or wrong, because nobody can know for sure what happened. It’s simply more Hollywood lore, courtesy of Tarantino, designed to keep viewers discussing the film.

Boots Riley's Criticism 

In August 2019, director Boots Riley criticized Once Upon a Time a Hollywood on Twitter. Whereas some viewers don't like Tarantino's portrayal of hippies, the Sorry to Bother You filmmaker believes that Tarantino badly misrepresented Charles Manson and his clan:

“The Manson Family were overt white supremacists who tried to start a race war with the goal of killing black folks… They weren’t ‘hippies’ spouting left critiques of media. They were rightwingers. This fact flips Tarantino’s allegory on its head.”

Manson did indeed reportedly plan to start a race war, and was known to be a manipulative individual who used drugs and slick rhetoric to influence vulnerable young men and women. Because of this, there has been debate over the extent to which the Manson Family killers Tex Watson, Susan Atkins, and Patricia Krenwinkel should be blamed for their terrible crimes, and how much responsibility should be laid at Manson's feet for brainwashing them. This controversial topic was also raised in the second season of Mindhunter, and interestingly actor Damon Herriman played Manson both in Mindhunter and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

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Though the movie received overwhelmingly positive reviews, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood has already proven to be one of the most divisive issues of the year when it comes to its take on 1960s Hollywood and real-life personalities who were around at the time. Still, it's not the first time that a Tarantino movie has been the topic of fierce discussion, and it probably won't be the last.

Next: Once Upon A Time In Hollywood Breaks Tarantino Formula (& That's Why It's Great)

source https://screenrant.com/upon-time-hollywood-controversies-explained/