#which isn't especially notable other than this is always about the point where my other projects have fizzled out

[dindjarindiaries]

Hunter was trying to be a good older brother to Crosshair and a good father to Omega in The Return, despite a few moments of weakness, through protectiveness, observation, and supportiveness. He ultimately succeeded in his objectives.

The Bad Batch S3E5 "The Return" will always be one of my favorites because it doesn't shy away from the complexity of the family's dynamic after 1) losing Tech, who was often a peacekeeper/mitigator, and 2) regaining Crosshair. While I, and many others, wish the former was explored more, it does an excellent job of showing us even more about these siblings' dynamics than we even knew before.

As always with any analysis, this is a disclaimer that you may view this episode in an entirely different way due to various biases, one of the most notable being based upon your own favorite characters and your own life experience. All I ask is that you read through carefully before chiming in with any counterarguments!

The line of dialogue that most of my argument here hinges upon is from Hunter about midway through the episode, just before his and Crosshair's fight.

"I know you."

Going back to the very beginning of the episode, we see Hunter and Wrecker sitting and waiting for Omega to wake up. Crosshair's clearly not there, and when Omega asks about their brother's whereabouts, Wrecker says he wasn't there when they woke up, before Hunter adds this.

His face is clearly displaying concern, even though his words are reassuring. He's no doubt worried about Crosshair, too, but like he says later on: he knows Crosshair. He knows what to do when Crosshair's upset, and that the sniper wants/needs time alone, hence why he and Wrecker didn't go after him. Hunter is trying to reassure Omega, who isn't as familiar with Crosshair at this point, by insisting that this is how he adjusts to change. It's important to note that there doesn't really seem to be any hostility radiating from Hunter (or Wrecker) towards Crosshair here.

In fact, the duo only gets up and goes to check on Crosshair once Omega's involved. This proves something else that's important to understand for Hunter's character in this episode: he's wrestling with both his concern for Crosshair and his protectiveness over Omega, and that's because of this moment from season 1:

Because of Crosshair telling Hunter in S1E15 that he had his inhibitor chip removed, without the context of when, Hunter has to assume for Omega's safety that this was Crosshair acting of his own accord. This is because, if Hunter's to be a reliable protector of her, he always has to be as cautious as possible with those she's surrounded by—and unfortunately, in this case, that includes Crosshair.

(Remember that, even as the sergeant of Clone Force 99 and the eldest brother/caretaker of their family, Hunter's priorities have shifted since the war ended; Omega now comes before all else. He says this as early as S1E7 to Rex, when they had only had Omega for a short time. This is now at least a year after those events, which means that sentiment's only grown stronger for Hunter, especially after losing Omega to the Empire for six months.)

Because Crosshair is smart and also knows his brothers just like they know him, he comes to this conclusion himself. This is why he's not surprised when they start watching him and Omega from a distance, and why Crosshair insists it's because "They don't trust me."

Then, Echo arrives, and they start making plans to go to Barton IV. This is where we see Hunter's protectiveness of Omega really shining, along with some interesting glimpses of Hunter's concern/curiosity about Crosshair and what he went through.

The fact that Omega and Hunter have the same expression here... that's intentional. Omega is but a mirror of her brothers, and always has been ever since she met them. She and Hunter are literally displaying the same amount of sympathy and concern for Crosshair here.

Now, this look from Hunter that's immediately after Crosshair's done talking is read as anger from a lot of people, which is understandable. To me, though, especially through this lens, it looks more like Hunter is coming to a conclusion. Hunter can tell that Crosshair knows more (and has gone through more) than he's letting on about, but he doesn't care that much about getting the intel that Echo no doubt wants. Hunter just doesn't like the fact that Crosshair won't open up about what happened to him.

It's important to keep in mind that as Hunter and Wrecker were watching Omega and Crosshair before, they undoubtedly saw Crosshair's target practice going poorly. Hunter would certainly make note of that, and thinking of his physical struggles along with hearing this... well, yeah, Hunter's gonna have a serious pondering face, because he wants to know what's wrong with his youngest brother so he can help him. But because he knows his brother, he knows that he has to keep his space for now and be mindful.

Once plans for the trip to Barton IV come up, Hunter proposes that he goes with Crosshair and Echo, again proving that Hunter isn't really trying to avoid Crosshair. In fact, Hunter only expresses any concern when Omega wants to join, and we all know why. He's worried about her and doesn't want to risk it, which he says plainly.

It's clear, though, that Hunter is still worried about Crosshair being so close to Omega, too, especially if they're going to an Imperial hideout. Hunter has trauma from that moment in S1E8, and it's not easy for him to see past that, as much as he does still care and worry for his youngest brother. Again, he has to suspect that anyone is capable of hurting her, aside from the brothers who've been protecting her alongside himself the entire time.

Crosshair even acknowledges this when he and Hunter pass one another while packing up the night before.

(I'd like to note that, in this moment, Hunter's the one who moves to accommodate Crosshair's path. To me, that's more evidence of the fact that Hunter is keeping a safe distance from Crosshair to let him process, but because Omega's there too, he's also keeping a watchful eye on him. He's really torn between the two.)

"Don't hold it against him," Crosshair tells Omega. Why? Because:

Crosshair understands that most, if not all, of Hunter's moments of caution towards Crosshair have everything to do with Omega and her safety, rather than Hunter being angry at Crosshair. Hunter doesn't like that Omega's going on this risky mission, and he really doesn't like that it's happening with Crosshair there, when he hasn't even told Hunter everything that happened. How is he supposed to properly protect her (and Crosshair) without knowing all the details?

(And how sweet is it that Crosshair agrees with Hunter's take on Omega coming with them?)

They get to Barton IV, and there, we get one of Hunter's moments of weakness, when he's really giving in to his protectiveness of Omega and his frustration/worry about having such few details about Crosshair and his falling out with the Empire.

(But first, let's quickly acknowledge Crosshair emerging in his old armor, and the fact that Hunter, Wrecker, and the others kept it. Hunter (and Wrecker I believe) both lost pieces of their armor during their search for Omega, no doubt either losing them in dangerous situations or selling things to get by, but they never once touched Crosshair's kit—even when it would have been really easy to sell his things before selling their own.)

Because the base is empty, Hunter starts to worry that it's a sign of something bad. Remember, just because Hunter is the level-headed sergeant and leader of the group, he's not immune to trauma. Imagine how traumatizing Eriadu and all his failed attempts to find Omega with Wrecker were for him, especially with him literally being a tracker. The last time they were all together like this on a mission was when Tech died.

So, Hunter gives into that protective sense and challenges Crosshair, because now he needs the details. He has a sense that this place is notable to Crosshair, but not how, and if he wants to protect Omega, who is his main priority, he has to find out. He's also getting more and more frustrated that Crosshair won't talk to him about it.

This can be evidenced by one of their exchanges. It's only after Crosshair brings up his cell again that Hunter insists, "I get the feeling there's more to this place than you're saying." And... well, Hunter's right. This is a place of trauma for Crosshair, and Hunter's no doubt picking up on that. After being reminded of Crosshair's imprisonment, Hunter has to ask, he has to press, in his mind, for the wellbeing of Omega, Crosshair, and the rest of his squad.

Again, Hunter doesn't like operating off little information to accomplish all these things. He's a protector at heart, and he always has been. Crosshair not giving him all the details he can remember (likely because of his own trauma) makes Hunter feel even more on edge, and that's why he lashes out a bit more at his brother, questioning him about why he didn't mention the raiders before.

Unfortunately, with Crosshair deflecting to avoid his own hurt, Hunter takes the bait and engages, leading to their exchange of "Just following orders?" "If you're scared, why don't you wait on the ship?" Thankfully, Echo steps in and breaks it up, which gives Hunter time to clear his head again. This is Hunter's first biggest moment of weakness.

Now, we're getting to one of my favorite sequences: Hunter watching Crosshair from a distance inside the depot.

Hunter clocks Crosshair's discomfort right away after Echo says that Crosshair's words about the base serving its purpose "Sounds familiar." Again, it's easy to understand why people might read this as Hunter being angry or cautious, but to me, it looks like Hunter's just trying to get a read on why that particular exchange sent Crosshair away, and what exactly he's looking for.

Wanting to figure out more so that he can help Crosshair and thus help them all in this very moment, Hunter quietly follows Crosshair, and that's what leads to him seeing Crosshair pick up Mayday and the other regs' helmets.

(Hunter lurking in the back right. I'm obsessed with this shot.)

Remember, Hunter is observing this as someone who remembers Crosshair not wanting anything to do with the regs. He antagonized them perhaps the most out of any other in the squad during their arc in The Clone Wars, and he even told Hunter in S1E15 that the Batch was superior to the regs, and to most other soldiers in general. Hunter seeing Crosshair treat these reg helmets with such reverence is such a strong indication to him that something major has shifted for Crosshair, and it had likely happened on this planet.

But Hunter, again, knowing his brother, remains a quiet observer. It would've been easy for him to engage here, but he recognizes that Crosshair needs this moment to himself. Hunter even leaves him to it after. Would someone who really didn't trust Crosshair at all whatsoever turn their back to him like that? What he does is give his brother privacy, and acknowledge that he needs to know what happened... but this isn't the right place or time to be pressing him about it.

Danger is lurking, though, and Hunter's desperation to know the truth so he can be better equipped is growing. It hits a peak when Crosshair, prompted by Batcher's barking, checks the perimeter by himself. Pay close attention to how Hunter reacts to Crosshair's exit.

It isn't really anger in this expression. Wrecker's behind him is certainly one of concern. Hunter instead looks determined, and that's because he's about to pursue Crosshair to start getting answers. He's tired of not knowing, and because the stakes are starting to rise, and the evidence is all around him. Hunter decides that he's given enough space and now has to push Crosshair to talk to him.

Because, as Hunter's about to say in a few seconds, he knows Crosshair. He knows, and from what Echo says later, he's always known how to get Crosshair to talk, and it seems that it often involves some fighting and bloodshed—because Crosshair has a harder time opening up than his other brothers.

But Hunter will be damned if he doesn't try, especially now that Omega's safety could depend on this information.

Now, at last, we're at the pinnacle moment of the episode for these two characters: the fight, and another moment of weakness for Hunter. He reminds Crosshair that he knows him, and he demands this time to know what exactly happened here.

Hunter, because he knows his brother, has to push Crosshair (literally) to get anything out of him. He doesn't want this to be simple bickering like before. So, Hunter goes for a low blow. He knows that Crosshair values loyalty above all else, so he brings up Crosshair's disloyalty to both the Empire and their own squad, knowing it'll hurt him enough to get some real responses out of him.

Then comes the physical shove. This is a clear demand for Crosshair to start giving answers.

But look at how Hunter's expression changes as he waits for Crosshair to talk.

His brow softens, because Crosshair's hesitance to say or do something right away is evidence of the fact that it's something really, really serious that happened. At the end of the day, he's just worried for his brother. He wants to know, needs to know, so he can help him. It almost looks like he's pleading for an answer here.

And Crosshair does answer truthfully, revealing that he killed Lt. Nolan. Hunter is obviously shocked, and he even has a somewhat guilty reaction to Crosshair saying "after they betrayed me", because, I mean, we all know Hunter's been harboring guilt for leaving Crosshair behind.

That's when Crosshair digs his claws in to protect himself, too, also going for low blows against Hunter—starting with Hunter ignoring the warning Crosshair had sent from Tantiss.

(What's really telling to me here is that Hunter doesn't once defend himself when he easily could have. He could have told Crosshair that he was the only one who wanted to listen to Crosshair's warning, but that his and the rest of the squad's desire to try to save Crosshair ultimately won out. But he doesn't. He just takes it.)

Hunter only starts to get really angry when Crosshair gets Omega involved.

Hunter turned Crosshair's loyalty against him, so Crosshair turns Hunter's protectiveness against him. Imagine being a protector like Hunter, who's even more fiercely protective of Omega, and being told that after months of desperate, worried searching, you're the reason why the person you care the most about went through their worst bout of suffering.

Yeah, that stings. Especially because there's truth to it, the part about his jealousy towards Crosshair being the one to free her instead of himself. Hunter no doubt felt like he had failed as Omega's protector by losing her to the Empire, and not only that, but the brother he left behind had to be the one to bring her back to them.

(I also think that, in reading between the lines in this entire part of Crosshair's argument, he could even be insinuating that Hunter's shouldering the blame for Tech's death. If he knows the details, then he knows that ultimately, Hunter's the one who approved the mission. "You ignored it", in reference to Crosshair's message, could mean that both Tech and Omega could have been safe if Hunter had simply made the right call. It may not have been intentional on Crosshair's part, but I could easily see Hunter thinking that, especially if he already felt guilty about it.)

No wonder why these two are about to fist fight in the snow. Their ugliest, scariest monsters have finally come out.

And that's when the scary monster comes out, too.

(I love the symbolism!)

Hunter immediately snaps back into his protector mode. He warns Crosshair to move, but also physically shoves Crosshair out of the way and takes his previous place, making himself the one who's closest to the threat.

(Hunter does this a lot with his squad, by the way.)

They focus on getting to safety, and then figuring out a plan with the others to get the wyrm back outside the perimeter. This is when Hunter insists that they have to make sure the wyrm is drawn out that far so that they're not trapped inside with it, and Crosshair volunteers to take it on his own. But Hunter's not okay with that.

You would think that Hunter would want to be as far away from Crosshair as possible after what just transpired, but he doesn't. Instead, in this moment, Hunter is assuring Crosshair that he doesn't have to do things alone anymore, that they're brothers at the end of the day, and he wants to help. I think this is Hunter's first true attempt at making a truce with Crosshair, and attempting to extend his hand to him.

Of course, Crosshair snaps back asking Hunter if he's sure that's what he wants, and that leads to a moment of tension—but notice that, unlike the other times, Hunter doesn't retaliate. He understands with more clarity now why Crosshair's lashing out. Crosshair's hurting.

So, in teaming up with Crosshair here, Hunter knows he can mend what's most important to Crosshair by proving it with his actions: loyalty.

If anything, what Crosshair lashing out here and what Hunter going with him proves is that Crosshair's mostly hurt that he's lost the loyalty/trust of his brothers. When they get out there and Hunter's trapped underneath the ice, left to rely on his brother for guidance and rescue, it allows Crosshair to mend that sense of loyalty and trust. He can earn it back.

Not because Hunter necessarily needs him to do that, although it certainly is helpful, but because Hunter knows that Crosshair needs that. Crosshair needs to feel reliable to them again.

That's what's so perfect about Hunter's safety literally being in Crosshair's hands here. They're able to banter the way they likely would've during the war, and Hunter doesn't hesitate when Crosshair extends his rifle to pull him up and get him out of the hole in the ice.

Hunter gets proof that he can indeed trust Crosshair with his life again, and Crosshair gets that proof, too. Because, at the end of the day, they're just an eldest and youngest brother. Youngest siblings (I say as a youngest child myself) are often looking for validation and trust from their older siblings, especially the eldest. This display of trust must've been so, so validating and healing for Crosshair.

That brings us back to that first line of dialogue I highlighted: "I know you." Hunter knew Crosshair was hurting like this all along, and while he was struggling between his protectiveness over Omega and his concern for Crosshair, he was finally able to make his brother's journey to healing happen.

We then get the nods of mutual trust, understanding, apologies, and forgiveness, before they sit in peace together.

(This is one of my favorite shots in all of Star Wars. I mean, come on.)

I love how the shift in their dynamic is evident enough that everyone recognizes it once they get back. They hug it out with Wrecker, and then we shift into one of the most meaningful dialogue exchanges we'll ever get between them.

Now that Crosshair's laid more of his vulnerabilities out on the table, he seeks reassurance in Hunter. Again, youngest siblings so often just want to feel validated by their older siblings, especially the eldest. Crosshair's looked to Hunter to lead him and guide him his whole life. This is why the guilt's so evident when he comes clean about making mistakes with the Empire.

It would've been so easy for Hunter to say yeah, you did make mistakes, you did hurt us and many innocent people. Instead, Hunter says these simple few words that carry so much weight:

Hunter takes on that burden with Crosshair. He lets his own vulnerabilities show by saying, yeah, I'm with you there, there are things I wish I hadn't done, either. He then gives him reassurance and hope by saying that they can forge a new path forward, that they're not tied down by who they used to be, nor what bad decisions they made.

Hunter is putting them on the same level here, and for someone like Crosshair, who probably thought his brothers would never trust him nor accept him the way they used to because of what he's done, this means everything.

(I also feel like Crosshair really needed to hear the "I have regrets too" line from Hunter in particular. He needed a hint that Hunter really did regret leaving him behind, even if it was the best/safest option for the rest of the squad at the time. You can certainly still regret doing something, even if it was the best option at that time.)

In summary, The Return is about not just a return to Barton IV, but a return to who Clone Force 99 used to be. Crosshair's return to his squad, the return of their trust in him and vice versa. A return to the familiar.

Hunter didn't handle this perfectly, nor would anyone who was in his shoes with all these complicated relationships and trauma, but he did his best. Even while caught between his concern for Crosshair and his fierce protectiveness of Omega and the members of his family that he had left, Hunter still found a way to make things right. He completed both objectives.

For as much as Crosshair needed to have the trust of his family back, Hunter needed the reassurance that he could still keep his entire family safe on missions like these. He needed to know he could still take care of them, physically and emotionally.

And he succeeded.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

I saw a few fans (okay mainly on Reddit..) Worry about a server shut down especially in the English servers because of the sudden quick updates and apparently Aniplex shutting down past games, they say Disney or Aniplex don't really care about Twisted Wonderland and I'm quite baffled?

Like, I just thought the fast updates were so they could catch up and stuff, or because of the anime.. I really doubt they'd shut down the servers unless I'm wrong? 😭 Twisted Wonderland makes a lot of money from what I know, and Disney LOVES money.

Idk, I just got a little baffled.. Twisted Wonderland has a good few years left at least right?

Are you referring to this post?

As many in the thread have already stated, the "they're rushing putting out content, EN is going to shut down soon" claims have always been around, even in the first month of Twst EN being around. It's exaggerated and overblown; EN has been around for 3.5 years now.

The past game(s) being shut down part is technically accurate. The majority of gacha games fail within the first year or two of operation and shut down. The gacha market is just oversaturated and super competitive; it's nearly impossible to predict how long a game may remain in service with new rivals cropping up every other day, all fighting for the time, attention spans, and wallets of a limited player base.

The particular gacha game that was frequently cited as an example of being unfairly shut down by Aniplex is Magia Records, which only lasted about a year and had a monthly revenue of a couple hundred thousand dollars a month (which I guess must not have been enough to cover the costs for advertisement, operations, etc.). It's NOT comparable to Twst in any way because the target demographics, core gameplay, etc. are all so different (not to mention Twst is currently earning several times more than Magia Records ever did). However, I'd like to point out that though Twst does earn more than Magia Records, we also DON'T know if Twst's operating + advertising costs are higher or not. This makes it difficult to "truly" compare the two. We also need to be aware that EN makes way less money than the JP side; the JP fandom will always be Twst's priority due to this. These are all factors that would be weighed by the higher ups, who are the ones that ultimately decide if it is or isn't "worth it" to keep up the EN server, or if it would be better to cut their losses and close it. We as the public with limited access to their data CANNOT accurately predict anything.

The part about Aniplex/Disney not caring about Twst (at least in the west) is somewhat true. There's scarcely any advertisement for the game here and there's barely any merch, especially compared to Japan. There are also frequent quality control issues with the EN version, with some notable ones in the recent update. This can only lead one to conclude that the localization team isn't getting the time, money, and/or resources to provide a quality product, even though companies as huge as Disney and Aniplex could surely afford to give more. I think this is where a lot of Twst fans' frustrations come from; like, we KNOW the localization can be way better than it actually is, and it's annoying that the companies involved aren't willing to put in the effort for something we love.

Again, we hear "EN is going to be hit with EoS (end of service)!!!" every other month. Seems to me like the idea sticks around because some fans are just prone to worrying 😅 I understand wanting reassurance about this from a third party, but please keep in mind to 1) not believe everything you hear online and 2) I'm not meant to be here to act as that reassurance for folks (as this is a topic that has already been done many times; I feel it's pointless to rehash it).

I appreciate you valuing my opinion and wanting to hear my thoughts, but you're totally capable of piecing together the evidence and finding out what makes the most sense to you! Think rationally, not anxiously.

[struggling-jpg]

Thoughts About the Potential Underlying Hidden Tragedy of Yanqing and Jing Yuan

that isn't just the "Yanqing will have to kill Jing Yuan eventually" red flags.

A relatively longer-ish post so thank you for bearing with me if you choose to do so!

I'd already been thinking about this whole mess of thoughts for a long while now, and so have other people, but the urge to write this came from a comment I saw on a post that mentioned how Yanqing had lost to "Jing Yuan's ghosts" and overall how it contributes to the dynamic of them being mentor/mentee + father/son. While the narrative seems to be leading to "Yanqing having to strike down a Mara-stricken Jing Yuan," there's just enough weird points that stick out to the point some alternative outcomes for Yanqing and Jing Yuan's fates to play out.

And while I anticipate HSR to follow that most expected point, I feel like there's enough there that could lead to a subversion or something more likely than that, an additional twist to the knife alongside the expected point.

Jing Yuan's Flaws as a Mentor and Father-Figure:

While most of us love the family fluff, I'm pretty sure we can all acknowledge the issues in Jing Yuan's approach and decisions in regards to Yanqing. Yeah, this is a fictional space game story where it's likely they aren't going to delve into the consequences of having someone as young as Yanqing be a soldier, there seems to be something there regardless. Like the brushes with death that he has and how we see him have to worry about the Xianzhou's security as a teen due to having a higher position in a military force. This is all set up for more of a coming-of-age type narrative for him, which HSR has done amazingly so far, but there are a lot of chances for this to explore something darker.

Among official media, the one time I could even remember the term "father" being used in relation to Jing Yuan is in Yanqing's official Character Introduction graphic:

Another notable thing that we see here is how we do have moments where Yanqing expresses thoughts and questions about his own origins and birth parents. The fact that even here, he wonders if the general is hiding something from him, sets off some alarm bells in my head. But he then brushes that off because he's always been with the General and Jing Yuan accepts him for who he is (which under the theory that Yanqing originates/is connected to the Abundace adds a whole heavy layer (this will be discussed in a later section)).

Yanqing does something similar in his texts:

As Huaiyan says to Jing Yuan:

"Yanqing can understand your concerns."

Alongside Yanqing generally being a considerate and polite boy, it can possibly be said that his eagerness to share Jing Yuan's burdens not only stems from his own gratitude towards him but possibly also Jing Yuan's distance.

As in, Jing Yuan doesn't really express his feelings so blatantly, and what we can clearly tell from when Yanqing first met "Jing Yuan's ghosts," neither does he speak much about his past too on a personal level. In Jingliu's quest, Yanqing says that Jing Yuan simply told him to forget everything he saw that day.

For Jing Yuan, the loss of the quintet is a grief that feels fresh in his heart, especially with echoes of them running around him. This is in the description for "Animated Short: A Flash":

(Will also talk about this in a different section)

While Yanqing learns about his General's past in a more direct manner (aka the people involved), it's sad how avoidant Jing Yuan is at times. While he's never been a upfront person, especially in the case of solving problems, I wonder if HSR would go as far as to show the negative side of that in terms of raising and teaching Yanqing.

History Repeats Itself (Sometimes It Don't Need A Reason):

+ the Jingliu parallels

Following up on that last image, Jing Yuan, especially in A Flash, has that whole "history repeating itself" thing going on for Jing Yuan. It points to Yanqing having to take down Jing Yuan but it also comes with a lot of its own possibilities and meanings.

It's blatant that Yanqing parallels Jingliu to an unsettling degree. Anyone who personally knows Jingliu and meets Yanqing sees her in him. Jingliu probably sees herself in him as well. Beyond powers and passion for the sword, her Myriad Celestia trailer shows that her principles before getting struck with Mara were the same as his. But it took her losing her dear friends in such a cruel and brutal manner (alongside how long she'd been alive) for all of that to fall out and form the version of her we see today.

And while it seems that Yanqing is deviating from Jingliu's due to the teachings he's learning, especially with Jing Yuan's effort, I feel like there's still a chance for things to go so wrong and mess with that. Yukong's line about him strikes me as concerning:

"A sword will vibrate and beg to be unsheathed if it is unused for too long... Once unsheathed, it will either paint the battlefield in blood, or break itself in the process..."

Even though I don't think HSR will go down a route of tragedy with Yanqing, like say, he gets Mara struck somehow or killed because that's not how Hoyo's writing has fully gone for playable characters (Misha and Gallagher aside in terms of death). Even in the most despairing parts for Hoyo's games, they're usually outlined and tinged with hope in one way or another. It's just that with what's been presented, there's got to be more here than meets the eye.

Yanqing's Origins - The Breaking Point:

From what we've been given, I think the number one thing that would have the potential of shaking Yanqing's entire sense of his life and the reality he lives in is learning where he comes from. Where he actually comes from has been a strange mystery since the beginning, how Jing Yuan getting him being recorded in the military annals of all places.

As shown from the screenshots of Yanqing's texts, he doesn't know and tries to brush it off because he's happy with Jing Yuan now. The choice to have this aspect here leaves a lot to ruminate on. What is Jing Yuan hiding? And if he really is witholding information, does he ever intend to tell Yanqing? If he doesn't and Yanqing finds out, how will it play out? And even if he does mean to tell him, depending on the severity, how will Yanqing take it?

It's why the theory that Yanqing is connected to the Abundance, possibly even coming from it directly, is as harrowing as it is.

With his arc in mind, will his development be enough to sustain him when he does find out the truth? If he finds out sooner than he should, will he be able to rise above it? And what of Jing Yuan? If confronted with a situation that's outside of his control again, what will he do and how will he react?

The potential in that scenario is so fascinating to me, because we can all anticipate the absolute gut punch that Yanqing killing his master would be. It fits Hoyo's writing style of something so sad but having a hopeful end for the future type beat. But the idea of that being twisted, that expectation being flipped on its head, could be so agonizing. It's not a narrative we see too often explored, at least in my experience, so maybe that's why I'm brainrotting over it so much lol.

[hadesknockedupintheunderworld]

Insane again thinking about Sonic and Tails

Everyone always talks about the ways in which Tails is dependent on or revolves around Sonic. We talk about the ways in which he's depended on Sonic to save him, the way he likes tagging along on journeys, the way Sonic has inspired him, the way he always maintains Sonic's plane, leaves his door open for him with place to rest and good food to eat

But we rarely talk about the ways in which Sonic is secretly dependent or reliant on Tails

In a large portion of the games, if Tails isn't straight up on the journey alongside him, Sonic has the security that Tails can communicate with him from afar, and Tails usually appears to help out at some point during one of Sonic’s solo journeys. He doesn't have to be without Tails for long

And we see what happens (especially in Sonic Frontiers and Sonic Prime) when Tails is inaccessible. In Frontiers, he wonders where Tails aloud is unprompted, wanting to find him. Sonic's other friends even convince him to bother with the secrets of the starfall islands because doing so may lead him to Tails. He wants to find Tails so Tails can make sense of what's happening. And in Prime, Sonic ends up scrambling without Tails around. Especially in Prime S1 while things make the least sense, he seeks out Tails first (and then later hopes variants other than Nine can fill Tails' role) because he trusts him. He trusts that if Tails is here, then he can just tell Sonic what to do (come up with a plan for him to execute). With Tails around, Sonic doesn’t have to worry about not understanding the situation because Tails can figure it out. Without Tails, Prime!Sonic often shifts between trying to handle things himself to the best of his knowledge while rolling with the punches, and deferring to someone he can trust as a smarter strategizer to tell him what to do (a role Nine fills most notably, but other characters such as Rebel and Shadow fill on the occasion).

Of course there's also the earlier mentioned way in which Tails takes care of Sonic as well. I'm sure Tails isn't Sonic's only friend that he could crash with, but it's Tails who goes to such lengths to open his arms for him. If Sonic wants to crash in an actual house, if he wants to eat his favorite food, if he just wants to hang out, or if he needs help, Tails's home is open to him, accommodating his every need.

In my eyes, Sonic is the one who is surprisingly codependent here, who flounders a bit when everything goes to shit, Tails is nowhere to be found and can't be contacted, and there's no one else that can help him make sense of things. He takes Tails with him on so many journeys, even in games like Colors, where Tails largely follows behind Sonic while Sonic does a lot of the physical work. Tails doesn't need to be "useful" to tag along. He likes having Tails around, he wants Tails around. When Tails can't go with him or it's something Sonic should go alone for, he can always communicate with him and hear his voice from afar. And I'd argue there are more examples than Sonic Prime that may demonstrate Sonic trying to find someone to fill Tails' role the first chance he can get when Tails isn't around and can't be contacted.

The conclusion here is that a lot of people talk about Tails being dependent on Sonic or revolving around him, but they truly are partners. Sonic wants to be around Tails at this point perhaps as much as Tails always wants to be around Sonic. The two are strong together, they fill each other's gaps in ability. They both feel more secure when the other is around, and they rely on each other's presence. They are each a comforting existence to the other in similar and different ways.

[aroaceleovaldez]

Romantic in nature or not, I always just looked at that scene in MoA with the notion: Annabeth is convinced that Nico, a gay man, has a crush on her in this exact scene (or you know, a different scene in MoA, I don't remember), and since we know that Annabeth isn't the best on the emotional front, she read Luke's intentions incorrectly, and Percy did, as well, due to his jealousy of the guy.

(Now, I know that neither of these are the case, especially since I doubt Nico was thought to be gay until HoH, and this is around the time that Annabeth was starting to be characterized as Never Wrong About Anything Ever, but it's always been my go-to regarding the whole Luke-Annabeth debacle. What I mean to say is that I like your interpretation of the scenes, too)

Oh i actually believe Nico was fully intended to be gay starting around MOA at least (though I do believe Rick claiming he had figured that out about Nico earlier than that), because Rick was absolutely acknowledging queer topics in his writing at that time. Jason's arc particularly in the latter half of HoO is extremely bi-coded and there's just straight up a canonical polyamorous relationship in Serpent's Shadow, which came out several months before HoH.

Which does make Annabeth's line about that in MOA funnier, especially considering by that point Nico has held maybe one full conversation with her in the entire franchise thus far, maybe two or three if you wanna push it. I cannot emphasize enough how little they had spoken to each other - and tbh, continued to not speak to each other. Just in general. Like the most notable interactions the two of them have prior to the high-five scene in BoO are literally both in BoTL and it's one line and then one off-screen scene of Nico breaking up a fight between Rachel and Annabeth (where they were fighting over Percy) entirely for the purposes of going to save Percy. They barely interact in HoO. Nico and Annabeth have a chronic case of their plot lines being in different locations because only one of them is allowed to be active at a time due to their narrative roles. Annabeth is kidnapped for most of the TTC Nico scenes and Nico is at camp when they get to Annabeth, and then in TLO Nico's busy with all the Underworld stuff and flirting with Percy so he never interacts with Annabeth. Then Nico is off at Camp Jupiter when Annabeth's at CHB and then busy being kidnapped for the first stretch of the Argo II mission and only shows up when Annabeth is busy on her Arachne quest. And then Annabeth FALLS INTO TARTARUS when Nico gets there (and proceeds to pine at Percy) and then IMMEDIATELY after Annabeth gets out of Tartarus, Nico skips away with Reyna and Coach to drag the Athena Parthenos to camp. And then FINALLY they interact and it's not even Nico speaking directly to Annabeth really, just high-fiving her after insulting Percy to his face. He literally only says one word directly to her.

Like. I cannot overemphasize the absolute comical degree to which these two avoid interacting. They're like magnets repelling each other. And yet Annabeth is like "I think he has a crush on me - he spoke to me once, allegedly." Like ah yes, sure, HoO. Next you're gonna tell me you retconned them into having a FOURTH conversation! Don't get too wild!

[picckl]

myvur lore drop? 👀

I'm so sorry it took me a bit to get to this, i had to properly prepare to talk about him as fully as i can-

Myvur, full name Myvurton Wise'ferth Belesseau III, is a half-elf, half-halfling wild magic sorcerer who i play in a campaign called Eclipse. He looks like this:

Myvur is heir to the Belesseau household- the second most powerful household in Thuun’velia, the Pelorist empire and a very powerful faction in the world the campaign takes place in. Pelorism in this campaign is, to put it kinda simply, really bad, a kind of christo-facism situation where they're the ruling class and currently in charge, and very keen on making sure everyone follows their really morally questionable religion. Myvur II, his father, runs/owns the capital city due to their ancestor being a saint. His father looks like this:

(and the family crest)

Despite Myvur not being the eldest in his family, he's still the heir, due to the fact he's the oldest male member who looks like his elf father (and the original Saint Myvur), leading him to carry on the family name. NOT due to any actual personal talants- he's good at the violin, and he's good at reading, but growing up he really sucked at magic, public speaking, and pretty much everything being heir entailed despite trying really really hard to live up to the expectations set for him. Part of that was just his own different talents, and also the fact that he's a lot more mellow and nervous than the rest of his family with actual emotions in his heart, regardless of how he's tried to stamp it out.

To put it without spoilers for my party- wizard college and shit parents with expectations you've never been able to meet despite your need to impress them don't mix, and Myvur got desperate and did something stupid and now he's stuck with a lot of very old, very powerful space magic bottled up inside him (hense the wild magic sorcerer). He does not know how to deal with this space magic. His family did not know how to deal with the space magic. Bad times all around, especially when it causes him to occasionally trigger things called "arcane spasms", bursts of strong magic he's not in full control of, which either result in something being blown up or him turning into his Moon Beast form, a thing that looks like this:

The campaign has been about 3 months of in-game time, which Myvur has spent learning that hey, Pelorism isn't the top of religions and actually taking over small towns and forcing them all to convert while ruining their day to day lives ISN'T cool, and that it's ok to feel weird about the numerous executions your dad brought you to, and your family is very hated both within and outside the city they run. Also got to learn his dad killed another player character's dad, and that altogether his family's actions have affected everyone Really Badly and maybe even him as well, a thought he hasn't really let himself think about up until this point. So far, some notable actions of his have included:

Blowing up a long-standing family friend on accident thru an arcane spasm bc she was threatening his life if he didn't tell her where his friends were, after going undercover and living with her for the past week to try and get information out of her by reading her mind. Something that certainly won't stick with him (he cast 2nd level shatter and critted, she had NPC stats, and was kinda pulverized)

Found out his dad executed his best friend's dad. And then had to break the news to them that their dad was dead. A scene which caught most of the party off guard bc THE OTHER CHARACTER'S PLAYER DIDN'T KNOW THAT THEIR FATHER HAD BEEN KILLED

Found out the god he follows is not only generally hated in a lot of different areas, he's also actually killed at least one other god for no good reason, and might not be as kind and open as Myvur always wanted to believe

He's a very compelling character to play, just in the way it's really fun unpacking and changing the very centeralized views he has on everything and unlearning those and a lot of the other behaviors he has. He has a lot of genuine care in his heart and this is the first time he's been able to show it and he makes me very sad. Myvur the guy that you are

(I'll elaborate on this all more of course, but right now this is what the party knows, and most of them follow me on here. Also his artfight profile can be found here!)

[welcometothejianghu]

Welcome to another round of W2 Tells You What You Should See, where W2 (me) tries to sell you (you) on something you should be watching. Today's choice: D.P.

D.P. (which stands for Deserter Pursuit, not something else) is a two-season, twelve-episode Korean series about a young man doing his mandatory military service who finds himself -- alongside a slightly unhinged partner -- tasked with tracking down other young men who have skipped out on said mandatory military service.

This show gets a giant trigger warning for all kinds of harassment, both shown and implied. It is a bloody, bare-knuckled tale about violence, bullying, and the systems that not only protect but enable the violent bullies. It is a show about boys who beat the shit out of one another, but in ways that make you more sad than horny -- and in ways that make them more sad than horny. And yet, fujoshi hope springs eternal, as those main boys absolutely, 100% need to kiss.

I was just looking for a whatever show to put in my face, and I was surprised by how much D.P. impressed me. If you think you might be up for it, I've got five reasons to roll out for this one.

1. A shockingly critical take on toxic Korean masculinity and military culture!

...What, you thought I was going to start with the gay stuff? Just for that, I'm going to make you wait for that until selling point #5.

Anyway, I think the most notable part of this show is how absolutely brutal and unflinching its portrayal of the Korean military is. I had been given the impression that, sure, it had some points of critique. I did not expect it to be an indictment of the entire damn system. From the conscripts to the commanders to the civilians, damn near everyone either contributes to the cycle of abuse or passively allows a rotten institution to worsen at every turn.

D.P. starts out like it's going to be a deserter-of-the-week military police procedural, where a couple good soldiers go track down some naughty lads who have shirked their rightful duties! But no, the show presents you almost immediately with the idea that going AWOL isn't just a thing for bad lazy boys who'd rather spend their weekends partying. Instead, running away is often the only escape from brutal abuse suffered at the hands of their fellow soldiers. Our main pair's job is to find these deserters and bring them back -- but boy, do they very quickly start to feel not good about it.

Especially once you hit the second season, the villainy of the villains can reach almost comical levels -- like, the bad guys are so bad that they'd be twirling their moustaches if they were allowed to grow any. But comical doesn't mean unbelievable. I mean, anyone with half an inch of awareness right now knows that the Venn diagram of the evilest people in the world and the most absurd people in the world is pretty much just a circle.

Questioning the military is always a dicey prospect in fiction, because of how many people have such delicate feelings about ideas of patriotism and service. I think it helps that the major incident at the crux of the show is based on a real-life tragedy from 2014 (which is when the show is set), so you can't clutch your pearls and say that would never happen in our army! because, uh, it already did. Authoritarian pressure cookers with unquestionable hierarchies lead to horrific abuse! We've got the recent history to prove it!

And sure, yeah, I wish the show had been a little more explicit in its gender critique, but I always wish that. D.P. ain't special.

2. A solid supporting cast

I think this show does a good job overall of creating side characters that are only slightly larger than life. They're big enough to move the story along with occasional good comedic moments, so it's not just a complete litany of despair, but not so exaggerated they need you to suspend too much disbelief that they might exist in real life.

This network of characters is important, because it recognizes that our main characters are not in positions of power and cannot make substantive changes in the world. Especially in the second season, the plot widens out enough that they need allies who are empowered to pull of things that army grunts are not. I very much like that the show does not (overly) artificially insert its main characters into places they don't belong; rather, it keeps them where they (mostly) make sense to be, allowing them to serve as supports while more structurally appropriate people step up to the plate.

Now, I will admit that I had more than a little trouble telling some side characters apart. I mean, come on -- half the cast is a bunch of TV-handsome athletic Korean men around the same age, with the same haircut, wearing the same uniform. Combine that with my vague face-blindness, and I was struggling. Maybe keep a cast list open or something, just to help you kep track.

3. On Earth My Nina

Did you watch EVILIVE? (You should!) Did you adore that handsome cat-eyed boy who was Seo Doyeong's right-hand goon? Do you want to see him play a beautiful and tragic transfemme who is a morally complicated but ultimately incredibly sympathetic character?

Hell yeah you do.

Nina is a oneshot character -- season 2, episode 3 is all you get. Yet you could probably write an entire dissertation about how D.P. is a Manly Show For Manly Men that takes this episode to condemn homophobia and transphobia as unqualified evils, no nuance, no discussion. And you might think I'd be the one to do it, but no! I'm gonna talk about punchin' stuff.

4. Some kick-ass fight choreography!

If you're sick of fight scenes that are just a million quick cuts of shaky hand-held footage meant to cover how the actors couldn't punch their way out of a paper bag, I've got some great news for you!

As I said up top, this is a violent show. There's lots of people getting punched, kicked, shot, stabbed, burned, blown up, bludgeoned, strangled, hit by cars, tossed out windows, and generally roughed up pretty badly. I wouldn't call it gory or gross, necessarily, but it doesn't hold back on the damage that gets done. It understands just how many times you have to punch a trained soldier before that trained soldier finally goes down. The folk with the fake blood and bruise makeup definitely earned their paychecks.

It doesn't try to pretty up the violence either, so when I say I like the fight choreography, I don't mean that things get artsy or poetic. What this show has going for it is some very smart work that doesn't rely on jiggling the camera to build tension. A couple of the fights are one person against a group, and they're timed well enough that none of the extras look like they're just hovering in the background, checking their watch and waiting their turn.

I like how scrappy the brawls can get, too. Han Hoyeol (more on him in a moment) will just fling himself bodily at people, knocking them down in ways that aren't graceful, but get the job done. These aren't graceful battles between honorable masters. They're mostly one guy who's trying to get away versus another guy who's trying to subdue him. Those can be very interesting stakes.

Most of the actors are clearly well-trained in stage combat. Every now and then, though, you get someone who's clearly a martial artist, and they just let him at it. The one chest kick that Lego Grandpa gets off? Damn.

But a lot of times, the fights are just sad.

The main boys realize very quickly that their job is returning abuse victims to their abusers. Sometimes they can feel good about bringing in some dangerous shithead or chasing a thug! Mostly, though, they're approaching their quarries with the attitude of, you should really come with us, because the next guys coming for you won't be nearly as gentle. You as the viewer wind up rooting against our guys as often as not, because you want to see the deserters get away. That's a level of moral complication I was not expecting when I started out!

I hope you are ready for some man-tears, because this show is at least 30% man-tears by volume. Crying while punching someone you care about? It doesn't get manlier than that.

5. The aforementioned gay stuff

Okay, I made you wait for it, so here we go.

This is love.

The tall, quiet, buff one is An Junho, the main character of the show. The lanky, scrappy, crazy one is Han Hoyeol, his eventual partner.

It goes a little bit like this: Junho is a completely emotionally unavailable young man from a terribly abusive family situation. He gets paired up with Hoyeol, who actively and openly cares about Junho's well-being. Junho reacts to this like someone who has never been cared for in his whole life. Hoyeol reacts to that like someone who has never had someone actually let him care for them.

They then enter into a buddy-cop dynamic that's great because they genuinely like one another. They get close pretty quick because they go through some incredibly traumatic things together. Junho starts to learn how to care, and Hoyeol starts to learn to stop hiding his own trauma behind his jokester personality. And they do this just in time to get traumatized even more! That's kind of how the show goes.

I want to talk for a second about Han Hoyeol.

I must at this moment confess that I don't speak Korean gay-coding enough to know if that's what's happening with him. We are introduced to him by a loving and surprisingly long shot of his ass in a pair of panties with his name written on the butt. His mannerisms are exaggerated and his whole personality is extra. He's comfortable around drag queens. Homophobic insults roll off his back. And that's all without even getting into what he says in front of Junho's mom and little sister. What I'm saying is: In a show full of Manly Man-Type Men, honestly, he reads kind of like a fag.

Which means one of two things: either he's actually meant to come across as a (nominally) closeted gay man, or he's supposed to be a straight man so comfortable in his straightness that he doesn't care if he seems like a fruit. Both make me happy to consider.

Hoyeol is by far my favorite character in the show. He's great because he's definitely kind of a wacky loose cannon, but believably so. He's defiant and gleefully irritating, but he reins it in juuuuust enough that you can imagine he'd be tolerable even by Korean military standards. So it's not one of those situations where you're wondering why the hell the straitlaced establishment puts up with this completely insubordinate fictional guy. Hoyeol will do what he's supposed to; he just reserves the right to be annoying as heck while he does it.

This is not a drama like Beyond Evil or EVILIVE, where the main character of the show is the relationship between the two leads. This is An Junho's tale, where Han Hoyeol is merely a supporting character. But he is an extremely important supporting character, and their interactions form the core of Junho's protagonist arc. They are the only people who can see one another for what they truly are: vulnerable and traumatized and badly in need of love. Whether you read that love as romantic or not, it is love.

They totally should kiss, though. Not during the time period covered in the show, mind you; those boys have way too much damage to work through first. They're gonna need a slow post-canon burn. Somebody get on that for me. There's a mere 78 works on AO3 for this show. We can do better. Support our troops.

...Hold on a damn minute, is this another one of those things that doesn't have an actual ending?

I saw a lot of people saying that before I started watching, so that was what I was prepared for, and you know what? They're wrong!

Season 2 aired in July 2023, and as far as I can tell, there has to been no noise made about a season 3. More to that, I don't think there's going to be one. While I think the series could support one, sure, I absolutely, 100% think it doesn't need one.

I understand where the "season 3 when?" people are coming from. Not all the conflicts of the show get all wrapped up with a neat bow, and not everybody ends clearly on the path to a stable happily ever after. Honestly, though, that's better, because it's at least an acknowledgment that the issues at play here are not subject to a quick solution. Cycles of abuse don't stop quickly or easily. There is still more work to be done to get the toxicity out of the masculinity at the heart of Korean military culture.

And that's if you can get the toxicity out at all. It may be too much of a feature, not a bug. The show isn't quite willing to say it outright, but you really have to consider if this kind of corruption and abuse is just too endemic to the system as it is structured now, where everyone buys into the lie that the military is such a noble and unqualified good that it is above question. D.P. portrays a badly broken institution that permanently damages not only the people forced by law to endure it, but the country at large. After all, as long as you're sending every young man in your culture through an intense multi-year experience that demands he violently hate femmes, fags, fatties, freaks, and feelings, you are going to see those attitudes continue to ripple out through Korean society for a long, long time.

Ready to watch?

It's a Netflix series, so off to Netflix you go! Heck, if you're already there, you've probably seen it recommended for you already -- I know that's how I found it. Click that little banner and start watching!

Real talk: I don't think this show could have gotten made today in the U.S., given the stranglehold the military-industrial complex has over big-studio productions, to say nothing of U.S. public opinion. Supporting our troops also means never questioning what kind of godawful meat grinder we're throwing them into, I guess.

And you definitely couldn't have made here, because deserters would've just gotten shot in the first ten minutes! Ha ha anyway.

Now there's a couple of good ol' D.P. boys. Mm-hmm.

[nyewclear]

my brain is swimming with artie mothman virus and i have sm questions running in my head!! if u can answer, how would marriage with artemis be? their little sister and family weren't shying away from asking questions pertaining marriage and i'm so curious how would that turn out? like would artemis propose and how would they?? would artemis plan a whole thing or would they settle for something more casual but cute/sweet?

i've talked about artemis' feelings about marriage here, here, and here! unfortunately, they're actually incredibly adverse to being married, something their family doesn't really know about, which is why their family asks about it so openly. you probably recall this exchange between artemis and their dad:

from this interaction, you can't really tell that they feel so negatively about being married, especially because they seem to imply that they'll want to be engaged to you eventually. that's not actually what they mean... sorry to break everyone's hearts on this. i'll explain a little more!

their feelings about marriage are so incredibly complicated, and one could say that the root of their negative feelings about it is the fact that they're scared of it. i would say that they have some mild-to-moderate commitment issues, which they do talk to you about, notably in the context of their weird feelings about having a steady job ("it's not like i don't like commitment or anything! but i don't like too much commitment. just a little. the right amount."). they don't tend to have strong commitment issues in romantic relationships, but after being burned really badly by their last relationship with albie, someone they thought that they were going to be with for soooo long, they're really on edge about this stuff. like, what if they marry someone and that relationship falls apart after they go through this whole performance of an engagement, a wedding, a marriage, and then they have to go through this whole exercise of getting a divorce... it's so much easier to just break up if something goes wrong. and by god, is artemis terrified of something going wrong. i think they're convinced that their relationships are always going to go wrong, particularly due to something that's wrong with them. it's a lot. they already had some issues like this prior to their relationship with albie, but the fallout of that relationship has increased them tenfold.

now, i want to clarify that artemis isn't against the idea of a long term relationship. matter of fact, i think they really need that. their previous relationships only lasted a year or so, and i think during that first year they're still getting to know themself in the context of that relationship, as well as getting to know the other person. i think by year two or three, they can find themself being very comfortable with you, with themself, and with the relationship. i think they won't be so scared that something will go wrong because they'll know you. they'll know that you wouldn't hurt them.

would they want to get married then? i think the answer is still no. at that point, they love you so much and want to spend as long as they possibly can with you, but like... isn't it already enough to know that? even after all of this time, they really do feel like marriage is this huge performative thing that's more for others rather than for you and them. i think they're more of a "domestic partnership" type and more of a calling-you-my-spouse-even-though-we're-not-actually-married type, but these things would have to come naturally.

so what did artemis mean when they said "not yet"? they know that there's going to come a day where they're going to realize that they want to spend their life with you. they don't think they have to be married to do that, but they'll still want you to know how they feel, so they'll promise themself to you. it would be like an engagement but not quite, something much less formal, but just as much of a big deal in their eyes. it might seem frivolous to some because like... girl just get married... but artemis is a little weird, we all know that. they can only hope that you'll love them anyway :-)

[sidsledge]

i know bastogne is universally recognized as the Best band of brothers episode and listen, I get it and also agree in the sense that the story portrayed is the most interesting and overall it's incredibly well written. but I'd just like to point out the excellence that's episode 5, crossroads.

(crossroads is the episode that focuses the most on dick winters – ep 1, 2, and later 10 also do but it's not as centralized as it is here – we follow dick through an anachronistic series of events, and the episode ends with e company moving towards bastogne. It's directed by tom hanks.)

I love this episode because of all the different creative choices it has and how it stands out visually and sonically in comparison to all the other eps. so in technical aspects, it's my favorite of the bunch. this distinction is exemplary in the sequences that go from dick writing his report quietly in his office to him leading the attack on the SS companies. It's very interesting to me how loud and obnoxious the typing gets for both dick and the audience after a while; in the battlefield, there's nothing to pull dick out of his concentration, always the focused leader. he has a mission to do, and he intends to carry it out as smoothly as possible (as seen in this episode). in the office, though, he's distracted, losing track of time, almost physically feeling the noises of the typewriter as if it was the sound of a gun going off inside his ears.

the back and forth between time periods is amazing. the sound design in this episode is my personal favorite (in a show with explosions and rifles, you wouldn't think a clacking typewriter and a man out of breath would be the reason for this). the combined sounds of dick writing with the gunshots going off, the change in paragraphs with the tearing of the tape? dick and the company running towards the enemy (clearly screaming) with nothing but the sounds of their breaths and footsteps making noise? just excellent sound design.

also, the cinematography. I could talk for hours about how good this episode's photography and lighting are. there's this particular moment I love after alley is shown to be hit and bleeding on the barn table, where we immediately cut to dick writing about this in his report. it's all about the stark contrast between the lived experience of seeing one of your men badly wounded and then simply writing and reading about it.

the night shots as well. it's very easy to fail in making a night scene both properly lit but also indicative of the time (some shows make it look dark as shit basically), but band of brothers does it well: in the first pic, you only have the moonlight as illumination, which is not much, but it helps to get you into dick's perspective of having to go through this mission in the depths of night with such a limited field of vision.

there's several night scenes in this episode, most notably the battle on the crossroads, but also operation pegasus, the night moose is shot, dick in paris, and then easy company going into bastogne.

finally, the color grading. band of brothers is a strange show that's always changing in its color grading – maybe the different directors had no prior discussion before filming the episodes, as it happened with the writers' room, but I doubt this – nevertheless, crossroads' color grading stands out, specially in the long-awaited scene of e company charging against the SS companies.

the high contrast of the dark shadows with the desaturated greens (and later reds) make for quite a sight, especially if you compare it to the warmer tones of the present scenes of dick writing. the show wants you to know how different these moments are for dick, who under fire is collected and focused but is ultimately crumbling under the bureaucratic pressure.

also I fucking love all the shots and framing of the typewriter. nothing to say other than they're cool as hell.

and this isn't even covering the emotional and character-driven aspects of the story! (that's a post for another day, maybe). for me crossroads is a masterpiece of an episode in what it means to use camera, lighting, and sound to make your story as immersing as possible; it connects beautifully all technical aspects of filmmaking and, in my opinion, delivers one of the show's best episodes (that's accompanied with a great script.)

[telesodalite]

There's this detail in the Scavengers/DJD introduction that's always kinda, perplexed me a bit?

This line:

"To those of you who can still hear me—congratulations, you've been added to The List."

-

It doesn't make sense, unless Tarn is just lying for intimidation reasons, or he's still just an idiot behind all the death and drama and forgot his own damn list and how its meant to work, because by all accounts each of the Scavengers would already be on the list before this?

Maybe that's an obvious factoid and I've just been mentally chewing on it for too long, or maybe it's not and this could be almost interesting to chew on some more, but I'm feeling ramble-y either way, so I wanna get into it rq-

"It won't suprise you to learn that I've read Banzai-tron's files on each and every Decepticon.

I rank them, you see. In my head. I arrange them according to their strength, their intelligence, their loyalty... their order of importance."

-

"—But you seemed to have joined forces with the six biggest failures of all."

-

-

Tarn knows the Scavengers individually. He's read their files, he knows their history, he knows what they've done and where they've been so long as it was recorded.

Which, on the topic of records rq, somehow even something as minor as Fulcrum not exploding spectacularly when he was supposed to in the middle of the war was taken note of?

Which either means he was put on the list post-B'lahr-39 and just wasn't taken off it after the initial death sentencing or the K-Con sentencing, and either via spark signature tracking, or some other bullshit, they noticed he was still alive and went after him, or someone noticed him on the ground intact and unexploded at some point, somehow figured he was either alive or worth informing someone of, then went and reported it, and that little info nugget ended up in Tarn's hands.

It's probably the former, but both ways it paints Decepticon record keeping as being pretty nuts detail-wise, at least enough so that someone like Tarn can greatly benefit from it's every minor account across the history of their incredibly chaotic and spread out war.

(Maybe it's because they're all snitching and selling each other out all the time? One mech's loss of personal information is another record keeper's treasured note or smth. Idk.)

But that's all to say he should know their crimes, crimes defined and made lethally punishable by his own system, especially if each of Fulcrum's crimes were worth pursuing.

Take Misfire for example, because technically his crimes should be up there almost on par with Fulcrum's on Tarn's list of betrayals and transgressions against their own.

"-They call me Misfire. Long story. Actually, you know what? It isn't. It's a very short story involving a machine gun, a misunderstanding, and a dozen dead Decepticons."

-

Misfire killed a dozen other 'cons, and while the "misunderstanding" is never explained, him being sentenced and shipped off to prison rather than simply executed immediately for egregiously devastating amounts of friendly fire and fratricide says something about the circumstances surrounding the deaths and their evaluation of Misfire, and/or also the amounts of accidental deaths going on within the Decepticons, to give us the barest hint of context.

(What that context is though, is of course still incredibly vague. Psh, "short story" my ass >:[ )

So it wasn't a notable enough crime by Decepticon standards for a clear death sentence for some unknown reason, which ultimately means it might not have been worth the DJD's time then, but that's not the only crime here, because Misfire evaded his sentencing and justice was never served, which would have been something that would've come across Tarn's radar.

There's also this-

"Oh Misfire...

...Your timing is as bad as your targeting."

-

Even if this is just Helex taunting and mocking Misfire's poor aim, the DJD should know about his crimes, should know he shot a dozen other 'cons, and should, by all accounts, be in the process of hunting him down as well, which would make this line all the more damming if it were actually written that way.

But it wasn't? Or at least, it doesn't seem to be acknowledged by the DJD or Misfire.

Outside of Fulcrum and Grimlock's, none of the Scavengers crimes are really acknowledged.

Krok and Spinister are deserters, to what extent and how, we don't know, but what we do know is that they also hijacked a prison transport ship, kidnapped it's pilot, and freed it's sole prisoner.

Crankcase, while technically being a victim initially, has since become complicit with their actions along with becoming a deserter.

Flywheels is also a deserter, and desperately religious.

So by Tarn's standards, they're all traitors. And yet?

"-The bad news: One of your number has transgressed. He knows who he is."

-

"You should come out and meet us so I can thank you—even if my preference would've been to dispose of Fulcrum personally."

-

It's just Fulcrum he's seemingly after, only him. And sure, you could argue that Tarn's line about them coming out to meet him is foreboding and could imply him wanting to trap them via this exchange, but he doesn't insist they do and doesn't force them too. He even makes a note of how the DJD may be walking into a trap themselves, but goes along with it anyways.

It's not until after the trap is sprung that the DJD turn their attention to the rest of the Scavengers, and while yet again one could suggest that was part of the plan all along, to fall for the trap and catch the Scavs being a part of it, it's all unnecessary because they're all already traitors and we know the DJD to be opportunistic and open with their group slaughter. They tore through the Lost Light, what's one little group of nobodies compared to that?

Maybe its just the DJD being stupid and dramatic and less organized than they otherwise seem, maybe the Scav's plot armor had to be a little wack, maybe it's all an error, idk. But it doesn't add up quite right.

"-everyone knows the D.J.D. make it up as they go along. We could all be on the naughty list, and for no good reason."

-

Of course, all the above brings around another question. That being, did any of Scavengers know they were on the list?

Krok implies as sort of acceptance to the idea that any of them could be on it already, including himself, because of the DJD's odd parameters. But he also nips any confessions in the bud, and delusions warping his view and memories or not, he would know at least vaguely of some of their crimes.

"—Don't look at me! I'm as loyal as—"

"—Always done what I'm told and—"

"—Most committed Decepticon you could ever—"

-

While Krok has the excuse of a shaky grip on reality, Crankcase, Fulcrum, and Misfire do not. So... they're all technically bullshitters here; love that for them. Does that mean any of them are aware they're on the list? Not sure, but I'd assume they've at least considered it, given how throughly the fear of the DJD runs through all 'cons.

"I think Flywheels is praying."

-

I fully believe Flywheels would know he's on the list, seeing as he's experienced being around Tarn and the DJD before.

"Why were you on the D.J.D.'s list?"

-

Spinister? I'm honestly not sure. He doesn't seem to find himself guilty or as the target of any others, be they the DJD or Fort Max. So he may just assume himself to be innocently along for the ride in an accomplice sort of way. But he's also more observant than he appears, so while he's ambivalent towards his own possible traitorous actions, maybe he knew all the others were on the list, and just wanted to know why Fulcrum was too.

-

Maybe I've just been consistently missing something through every reread, idk, I wouldn't put it past myself lol, but it nags me often when reading about it or thinking about it. So yeah... here's my ramble of some terribly inconsequential and minor detail done and over with👍

[tanoraqui]

Dungeon Meshi Liveblog: In Which Chilchuck Begrudgingly Has Feelings for his Coworkers, and Kabru Has...Something. He Sure Has Something Going On Over There.

Before we continue, I feel I should clarify 2 things:

I've been trying, ish, to avoid spoilers for this comic, but I've watched through the Golden Country episode and more importantly I'm so bad at not reading spoiler-y but interesting- and insightful-looking analysis. So, much of this commentary isn't wholly original and any particularly genius theories of future events are likely made with actual foreknowledge.

When I said on the first post that I was starting the comic because "I need to know what happens", what I specifically meant was "I need to know how the Laios-Kabru dynamic ends up, and the general geopolitical situation, so I can accurately daydream what sort of tariffs they'll set in the kingdom of which Laios is definitely not going to be the one managing the political, economic, or social minutia." Tariffs are going to be important, okay. They're a key way a nation-state interacts with other nation-states, especially one with rare materials to trade, powerful neighbors who want them, and the natural barrier of an ocean. Truly, every fantasy series ever should be required to have an epilogue or many an additional book/season/etc of a The West Wing-style depiction of day-to-day governance of whatever resulted from the story's climactic finale.

Okay, back to the liveblog.

.

Inch resting. The manga characters, having met the Mad Mage, keep using she/her pronouns for them, where in the anime they used he/him. I assume one of these is just, like, wrong - some translation choice was made before truth was revealed later in the course of publication?

But it makes SENSE that the characters wouldn't necessarily know, at this point! The Mage's appearance is pretty gender-neutral, especially as an elf, an notably gender-ambiguous race. So the characters in the manga picked one guess and stuck with it, and the characters is the very slightly alternate timeline of the anime picked another and stuck with that!

Now: having used they/them throughout this musing and previously he/him because a) the show and b) that's what I saw in fandom, I think I'll switch to referring to the Mage with she/her pronouns now. Because A) that's how the thing I'm reading apparently will be doing it, and B) they still call her "Lord of the Dungeon", which is obviously the greatest gender option of all.

...however, the manga does keep saying "lunatic magician" rather than "Mad Mage" (caps mine), which is a TOTAL failing in drama. Always alliterate, preferably archaically.

.

Orc woman: Ugh, this halffoot sucks. I'll tolerate his company only as a favor to the vegetable guy.

Orc woman after listening to Chilchuck complain about his coworkers for an hour: Nvm, this halffoot is a worthy and loyal friend of the vegetable seller, and I guess those other guys too. He's just emotionally constipated about it.

.

Laios just has these soft little fond smiles sometimes and I? want to hug him?

.

MY MAN IS BACK!! Kabru wink count: 1 this chapter, 4 total [updated as I read]

.

Corpse Retriever: If you don't report us for trying to get you guys killed so we could collect a retrieval fee, we'll let you kill those two of our guys who are already unconscious and collect that fee yourselves. We'll just take 30% of it, for not telling on you.

Kabru, internally: Hm. Well, I'm not king of this dungeon yet, but nonetheless I feel comfortable passing and executing a just judgement upon you for your many known, presumed and planned crimes. Emphasis on 'executing.'

Kabru aloud: I accept!

Kabru: [starts killing them with a classic faint, wide-eyed smile]

What a guy. He's even holding that knife so well. Look, next he's analyzing social trends and acting ruthlessly to adjust them toward the direction of the greater good!

What a guy. Truly this is a "so my type that it's embarrassing" situation.

.

I can't efficiently crop panels to show all this, but favorite parallels in these chapters full of parallels:

Kabru's breakdown of the Touden party is like Laios eagerly explaining and analyzing the behavior and anatomy of monsters (including, though we don't know it yet, calculations for killing them - though we DO see him saying that humans are easy to kill because he knows all the physical weak points!)

The references throughout these two chapters, by Kabru and his party, to the interconnected socioeconomic dynamics of the island and dungeon - the corrupted system fails to check corpse retrievers, the Island Lord as an annoying but necessary bulwark against the Elves, the dungeon growing hungrier as fewer adventurers go down because there's less money and more risk - are so so so like Senshi and Laiois discussing the dungeon biome's ecosystem and food pyramid.

The whole vibe of the party re: their respective weirdo tallman leaders. We watched Team Laios develop this, recently crowned with Chilchuck's near-tearful argument to turn back for a rest, which means we can recognize it when we're dropped into it with Team Kabru: that "this guy is SUCH a goddamn weirdo, but I already followed him into some level of hell, so I'm obviously not turning back now." Kabru's party does think he's weird - "You remember so much about other people that it's creepy." "Why are you enjoying this?" But they're also pitching in on the speculation like Team Touden all hel cook monsters. Compare:

Also!! Something something predisposed beliefs and presumptions of others... This party is so eager to assume the worst of our party, even though our party objectively saved them from perma-death twice, once from ghosts and once from being eaten by fishmen. Chichuck is greedy and bossy, Senshi smells so...notably...that he's judged to be sketchy af... Kabru is trying his best with what info he has, he knows it's not enough to pass a judgement and he wants more, but it's very...uncomfortable? To see this sort of discussion of people we know are great, when we're so used to watching monsters be killed with exquisite understanding and respect.

...I'll chew on that angle of theme more later. Man, you know how, say, what makes the musical Hamilton so good is at its heart it's just like 5-10 leitmotifs that interweave to create every single song? Dungeon Meshi is like that. Hmm a Dungeon Meshical...

.

"Yeah, yeah, we've all heard your weekly lecture about how someone responsible and sociopolitically conscious needs to take the dungeon and the throne or everyone in this region is doomed. None of us can wait to see you flip off the Island Lord to his face. Eat your rations, buddy."

.

JUST THE CUTEST, INNOCENTEST, POLITEST, HELPFULEST (WITH NO ULTERIOR MOTIVATIONS WHATSOEVER) YOUNG MAN!! LOOK AT HIS BIG BLUE EYES AND EAGER LITTLE SMILE!

[3 seconds earlier:

I'm obsessed. In the spirit of this comic: I want to eat him with a spoon. I want to take small divots out of him and lick each one carefully off the spoon, luxuriously exploring and enjoying the complex texture and flavor. Like he's a really good pudding. And then I want to see if, if he and Laios kiss, do they both explode in antimatter.

[radical-sainthood]

hello!! i’m curious as to how programming would work, especially in an online setting like tumblr or discord, and if it’s possible to program myself without the help of a handler. if so, can you break it down into a step by step guide and explain it like i’m 8 or something? lmao thanks

-🕯️

So you have asked two separate questions in this! Firstly, I can better explain about programming through online forces (both consensual and nonconsensual) and I will try to explain how to program yourself without a handler. This might be a long post folks, buckle in. I broke this up into two! Find the answer to the second question here!

I was programmed through an online source (in my case, Discord) by at least two people notably however others have triggered that programming to their advantage. To do that, we're gonna look at the base definition of RAMCOA. This stands for Ritualistic Abuse, Mind Control and Organized Abuse. I primarily underwent forms of Ritualistic Abuse and Mind Control. I will also give these folks nicknames: L and F. I'm really going to focus more on L since they instilled the basis of it but I will expand how F made it worse.

L was the first, I met them when I was about 15 and going through some very difficult things. L was very sexually abusive, and instilled a lot of beta & omega programming into us. At any point or emotional responses or behaviors could he overridden if they want to engage in sexual behavior with us. They did this through a combination of Ritualistic Abuse and Mind Control.

Early into our relationship if we refused to engage in sexual behavior they would threaten to kill themselves or emotionally manipulate us ("you don't want this because you don't like me", "you don't want this because I'm ugly", "we always do what you want it isn't fair"). We learned that their sexual pleasure was more important than anything else in our life.

This programming goes as far as having little parts who's entire jobs focus on sexual pleasure for others.

L also used sleep deprivation abuse tactics to make us easier to manipulate. They tore us apart, to the point where even now we experience panic about not being with them. This is where the Omega programming comes in, because we entered into highly suicidal states of mind, unable to function without them. We went back to our relationship two separate times despite the trouble it got us in with our guardians.

So how does this function as ritualistic abuse and mind control? Well ritualistic abuse is the use of abuse tactics in a ritualistic manner, at the same time, with the same triggers, with the same behaviors, etc. We knew if we didn't submit to what they wanted that it would only result in us getting hurt. They would often begin this behavior around the same time every day. (Which we knew and expected to the point where we would vomit around the same time every day due to the stress of it).

Mind control, or trauma based mind control (tbmc) is the use of abuse tactics to make sure to always trigger the same response. For us, that took the form of specific alters with specific jobs. If we weren't prepared to engage with them in certain ways they only had to use certain trigger phrases to bring out the alters who would do what they wanted.

F worsened this programming by forcing us to split alters that appealed to them. If we didn't have who they were looking for, they would just keep trying. They would suggest to us alters they wanted, talk about behaviors, memories or actions they wanted and would often traumatize us shortly before or after this, becoming manipulative, abusive and incredibly triggering for the sake of getting what they wanted.

F also set up and triggered a betrayal like programming in us. Alters were expected to distrust each other, often telling on each other, attacking each other or putting the body in danger to hurt one another. Alters would be isolated from people they trusted so they were easier to manipulate.

F didn't use as much threatening suicide to get what they wanted, instead they would try other tactics. They would go into full psychotic episodes, threatening to harm alters we loved or cared for, beg for our attention and talk about what they were hallucinating until we were forced to take care of them and bend to their will.

F isolated us even more, not allowing us to go to class, take us away from social activities with friends and putting us in near constant emotional disregulation. They would also violently sleep deprive us as a form of punishment and control. We would sleep maybe a few hours every night if we were lucky due to catering to their whims and desires.

When F broke up with us and abandoned us we stopped attending classes, nearly failed out Freshman year of college and began to throw up three to four times a day. We experienced mass splits and mass dormancies in large waves. Our system numbers surged well into the hundreds and then died back down to maybe 30 active fronters. Alters who fragmented to love them and solely them felt lost and abandoned. Our system suffered severely.

These were nonconsensual forms of programming, that we didn't entirely become aware of until later afterwards when we had time to process and research.

Consensual and intentional programming can look similar, give the same outcomes and effects to systems but with the trust and care of someone you know. Programming is difficult, it requires time and patience, the trust you put into someone can be scary, you have to allow them to interact with you and shape you at your most vulnerable.

[ingravinoveritas]

Okay but is it a good thing for people to look at your family Christmas photo and say that it looks photoshopped and edited? Just wondering since so many people have that same thought over on twitter who believe that Georgia and Anna were edited in

It's been so overwhelming to see the response to these new pics. I am sure probably everyone has seen them by now, but I will put up the visual just in case:

I think I would agree with you that, in the most general sense, saying that someone's family Christmas photo looks Photoshopped/edited is probably not a positive thing. In the interest of fairness, looking at the pictures of the other people who were photographed at the event, it does seem like it was a problem with the lighting or editing overall that is affecting every photo, not just these pictures.

One thing I want to be clear on is that I think it's absolutely precious that Michael and David did this outing together, and are spending so much time together overall while Michael is in London. We had an inkling of that up until this point, but we literally went from a blurry photo to Michael and David gazing at each other across a crowded room on press night for Macbeth, to...this...in the span of less than a month. And I am glad that their kids are getting to spend time together and enjoy all of these holiday festivities as well. It's all very sweet and lovely, and in no way is it my intention to diminish that.

Thinking about the matching sweaters (jumpers), this is where I start to feel slightly less enthusiastic. It seems that the jumpers were Georgia's idea, which makes sense, as she previously had everyone wearing matching sweaters for a viewing party for "The Star Beast" (the first DW 60th anniversary episode). But having sweaters for Michael, AL, Lyra, and Mabli isn't an accident, or something that happens on the fly--it has to be planned. So for me, that makes it seem less like "spontaneous family outing" and more like "planned photo op meant to garner publicity."

What particularly gets me is that the both the matching sweaters for DW and the matching sweaters here feels like a gimmick...but Michael and David have never needed a "gimmick." Because Michael and David just being themselves has always been enough to be memorable. I'm not sure if Georgia thought she needed a gimmick to make herself and Anna stand out or what, but to me it almost feels like the sweaters are a diversion. As if Georgia perhaps knew the four them in a photo together would look awkward, so what better way to deflect than to give everyone something else to talk about. (Perhaps the same could also be said for Michael's hat, which...why, Michael? Haha.)

But it seems that Georgia's idea worked, because right after these pictures came out, an article was published about them in the Daily Mail. So all of this put together does give that feeling of being planned, especially because the four of them were so much the focal point of the DM article, more than any of the other celebrities at the event.

This brings me back to the aforementioned photos. Again, what seemed notable to me wasn't just what we did see, but what we didn't: No photo of Michael and Anna together, nor of David and Georgia, and not one of Georgia and AL, either. Instead, we have this group photo (where no one is actually touching and Georgia and AL's arms are awkwardly hanging side by side), and a photo of Michael and David where they are, with their arms around each other and Michael leaning into David, in contrast to his much stiffer posture in the group photo.

Looking at the Getty Images page, all of the other twosome photos are of couples, and none of them have the same unusual energy as Michael/David/Georgia/AL's group photo. So I do wonder if the fans pointing out the "Photoshopped" nature of the picture (and specifically that Georgia and AL appear to be edited in) have ever considered that maybe that is just how Georgia and AL look together. Because we're not talking about Staged, or social media posts. This is them, face to face, in real life, and the difference between Georgia and AL vs. Michael and David just seems pretty striking.

(I am also aware that there was another family photo that Georgia posted in an Insta story, and it is an incredibly cute picture, but I will say that what struck me is how Georgia and AL are pressed close together, but there is a very noticeable amount of space between Anna and David, and he seems to be giving off a lot of 'closed' body language (one hand in his lap, one folded behind him). Make of that what you will...)

So yes, those are my thoughts on the new pictures. I would love to hear any observations that anyone else has, of course, so feel free to share your thoughts in the comments. Thanks for writing in! x

[beesgav]

Convincing myself to queue this before I wimp out, haha. It's my blog, I should post what I want!

Though Melody was initially created for my oc universe, I pretty quickly went down the route of "what if she were in C009 though" so. AU!

Further deets under cut

Melody "Mel" Rodriguez is in her early 20s, Mexican-American, and grew up outside of Oswego, NY. She moved to NYC to work at an arcade, where she handles both regular staff duties and cabinet repair. She's an electronics hobbyist, with that having been primarily what got her the job. While working there she happens to meet Jet Link, and the two of them hit it off, eventually becoming good friends.

One day she gets captured by Black Ghost as part of a large group, who intend to turn her and her fellows into Cyborg Men. She's the first one selected for the procedure, but before it can go beyond her being injected with preparatory substances, the 00s attack the base and free those captured, including Mel. It's at this point that she learns about Jet being a cyborg, and the revelation puts their relationship on the rocks for a time, though they eventually reconcile.

Life returns to some kind of normalcy, until it turns out that the substance within the injections are not only self-propagating, but also affecting her blood pressure, eventually resulting in a form of extreme hypotension. She's put in contact with Dr. Gilmore and given a choice: wait and hope a blood treatment to remove the substance can be developed in time, or allow what Black Ghost started to be finished and become a cyborg herself. After much deliberation, she chooses the latter.

At first the modifications are minimal- just enough to account for her blood problems- but eventually she decides that if she's already partly robotic, she might as well make the most of it and become more able to help people, which is what leads to her "upgrade" and obtaining a real set of abilities. Compared to the others, she retains quite a bit more of her organic body, at the cost of being notably more vulnerable than any of the other cyborgs. She doesn't consider herself a member of the team, but is always willing to help out if the need arises.

Melody is sociable, energetic, and has something of a thrillseeking streak, but never takes things too seriously and is decently easygoing. Though she isn't endlessly optimistic, it takes a lot to get her down, and she's quicker to frustrate than mope. However, she's so used to her easygoing reputation that she often winds up unable to express her genuine feelings, especially when it comes to things that bother or upset her. She enjoys working and interacting with the kids at the arcade, and does her best to provide a fun, safe environment even with the arcade itself beginning to go into a decline. In addition to her electronics hobby, she also enjoys home console gaming and often doodles when she's bored, though she isn't very good at it.

[neonscandal]

Hi, Neon, just found your older ask here https://www.tumblr.com/neonscandal/700397520113876992/hiif-you-dont-mind-can-i-ask-something-from?source=share

Now, after 2 years, do you want to add something for the answer? Have you know it yet about the news? I'm still sad when I read that BNHA will be over in the next 5 chapters. Whatever happen, I'm grateful and will always love BKDK !!

Also, do you mind if I ask the same ask (same format : strength, weakness & dynamic) as that person above for Satosugu, Matchblosoom and Asheiji?

I have been sitting on this, and a few other asks since I've been slammed at work while still trying to make art on the side so I appreciate you hanging in there. 💖 At this point, the end of MHA has come and gone but my love lives on.

I will always find fantasy AU gifs appropriate.

⚠️ Spoiler warning through end of MHA manga.

TBH I find a lot of what I wrote to still be spot on, likely by design since I was trying to avoid spoilers at the time so I was indirectly speaking to observations we've now seen play out in the show. The notable difference simply being that the end of MHA brought a bit more exposition into the fact that, more than being number 1, Bakugo's one track mind was solely focused on Izuku.

Without Izuku, his ranking didn't matter. So he fought tooth and nail to get his childhood friend, his rival, his inspiration back into the game. Because they were both always worth saving, they were always making one another better.

Can I first and foremost just point out that Joe is voiced by Jonah Scott and thus deserving of a little romanticization in general?

⚠️ Spoiler warning through SK8 the Infinity S1.

PERSONALITY

Kojiro Strengths

Shockingly to say, Jo is humble. He might go around preening for the crowd but, as a founding member of S, he has the ability to meet Reki where he is when he is resentful of his own lack of growth because he's been there. Maybe that's more to say that he has a bit more emotional intelligence than he gets credit for, either way, there is more than meets the eye.

Jo is sentimental. He might joke about his restaurant not being a daycare or even banter bitterly with Kaoru but he is demonstrably still a safe space for up and coming skaters and a pillar for his high school friend even if we see he felt a bit left behind when he was younger.

Kojiro Weaknesses

I just find it interesting that he's very honest but only when Kaoru is unconscious. Like, he immediately carries Kaoru away after his big injury and really only alludes to valuing their friendship when Kaoru is knocked out beside him. From what we know of their lore, when Kaoru was looking to Adam, Jo was looking to Kaoru and I wonder how much Kaoru realizes that. Or how much Carla really probably bothers Jo as another thing that replaced him.

Kaoru Strengths

We know expeditiously who the brains behind the operation are. Kaoru is really intelligent, both in terms of picking apart Adam's battle strategy with the Love Hug and in programming Carla. Let us all be glad he went into calligraphy and not straight villainy because he'd be unstoppable I fear. There'd be nothing he couldn't mansplain, manipulate or malewife his way out of.

CHERRY IS SO GENDER. That's all.

Kaoru Weaknesses

He's stuck in the past with his vendetta against Adam. That's not to say that Jo isn't locked in a similar gear but Kaoru's motivation seems more personal and I suppose that informs a lot of fanon lore (and why Cherry will never beat the allegations). Kaoru already stands at the top of the pile of S skaters but he still has something to prove and it eventually costs him.

DYNAMIC

This is a really short series to extrapolate a ton from, to be honest, especially with its lack of a source material. I'm really looking forward to season 2 which will explore more of their lore specifically but any time there's an overture of disparaging banter with an undeniable foundation of affection?? I'm gonna love it. In short:

They keep each other honest - what happens on S, stays on S and, while Kaoru is hell bent on keeping his lives separate (professional vs skater delinquent), it's important to have people in your life who know the real you. All of you.

They maintain a shared goal - ultimately, friends are mirrors and the importance of that is touched on in the above. While part of their mission is to beat Adam, I think another element of that is to bring him back into the fold. Because when a homie starts acting weird, you gotta set him straight.

My sweet babies.

⚠️ Spoiler warning for Banana Fish series.

PERSONALITY

Ash Strengths

Despite every turn of his life showing him the evil of human nature, Ash still tries to do right by others. He protects the kids in his gang the only way he knows how. That's not to say he was always a good example because he had to do things that were not always on the up and up but he cared deeply about the people in his life and became the "monster" that could protect them, relentlessly.

Resilient almost to a fault, Ash's suffering is frequently short lived, knowing that he doesn't have the time to wallow. Not if it will be a detriment to his cause, not if it puts Eiji at risk, etc. He compartmentalizes his trauma and grief to prioritize the comfort and safety of others because so many people look to him for guidance. He is incredibly driven despite his age and life's challenges. This can be a strength and a weakness

Ash is brilliant. Strategically, skills wise, intellectually, he is brilliant and quick-witted, at that. Had his circumstances been different, who knows who he could have been in the scheme of things.

Ash Weaknesses

He's hardwired for martyrdom. Life taught him what people value about him and he sneers as he uses it to best them. While I love to see him able to turn the tables on so many of his abusers, it still belies that his confidence is more of a shield than anything else. When you're abused, especially continuously, you espouse feelings of guilt, shame and worthlessness. Regardless of one's resilience, you don't walk away unscathed. Regardless of one's intelligence, you still can't separate yourself from thoughts that suggest you're the reason for your abuse. Ash constantly walks into the line of fire, throws himself to the wolves, offers his life in exchange for others, leverages his experience and humiliation to shield the suffering of others'. In the end, despite what he found in Eiji, his decision to be the leopard, as it were, came from the fact that he thought that should be his fate. He did not think he deserved the softness of what Eiji offered. I disagree.

Despite making quick work of many challenges following the trail of banana fish, Ash can be hotheaded. He's emotional at times which is understandable but the worst instance of it was his overcorrection when Sing's men shoot Eiji as the fall out inextricably creates the situation that costs him his life.

Eiji Okumura. In many ways, Eiji is Ash's greatest weakness, often willing to walk back into hell if it meant an even exchange of Eiji's safety or life. But when it feels like you finally find a reason to live beyond just survival, is it not worth protecting?

Eiji Strengths

Despite the obvious culture shock, Eiji is unflappable, regardless of what he was running away from back home. From his pole vaulted escape where it all begins, to telling Ash to return to him safely, Eiji was just there for Ash and, more importantly, expected nothing in return. Both of these capture Ash's attention and quickly establishes a reciprocal relationship of respect and sympathy.

Eiji is as trustworthy as he is trusting.That's not to say he 100% has the best judge of who is deserving of his trust but his earnest nature endears him to others quickly. To the point where Shorter still does everything in his power to protect Eiji up until the point he can't. One could argue that should be chalked up to Shorter's friendship with Ash but there was a tenderness and concern to Shorter's protection that was specific to Eiji.

One thing about Eiji, he's gonna have audacity. He does not fear Ash despite the things Ash has had to do in the span of knowing him. He treats Ash as a person deserving of concern, deserving of kindness and deserving of attitude when the situation calls for it. In many ways, Ash is surrounded by people who care for him but Eiji sees him beyond his reputation and what he can do for him and it sets him apart. Even when Ash experiences things outside of what he can comprehend, when others treat Ash like a ticking time bomb to be regarded at arms length, Eiji is able to close the gap to comfort him.

Eiji Weaknesses

Despite that one year difference, Eiji is naive to the ways of the world. While it is presented initially like a cultural divide, fundamentally Eiji's upbringing, while not a walk in the park, is also so starkly different from Ash, Shorter's and other characters. A sickly father, perhaps distant mother, but he had promise and opportunities. Back home, he wasn't just surviving. This doesn't undermine the ego death of losing everything when he got injured and having to start from scratch. In truth, I don't think anything could have prepared him for the journey down the rabbit hole but he dove down it just the same. Perhaps because there were no alarms blaring about how it could cost him his life even after Skip's initial death.

DYNAMIC

Contrary to the above, I think Ash and Eiji don't always fall into the same dynamic in every part of the story. They fight for one another, sacrifice for one another, and provide protection (as best they can and in whatever way they can) for one another. Despite everything that should separate them and the one in a million chance of meeting one another, they did. While it meant both of their ruin in different ways it also irreparably altered both of their lives as they made indelible impressions upon one another.

I will never get over these two and, I suppose, neither will the rest of JJK since they're the reason for everything that goes awry.

⚠️ Spoiler warning through end of JJK manga. 😭

PERSONALITY

Will there ever come a time when I tire of writing about Satoru Gojo or Suguru Geto? No, I think not. I saved them for last because I felt like I'd probably have the most to write here but once I started thinking about it.. every single one of their strengths in turn becomes their weakness and leads to their undoing.

Gojo Strengths and Weaknesses

Gojo is strength. Tipping the scales with your birth had to make the list somewhere. He was an infallible weapon wielded by the higher ups until he became too unruly... but what could they do? He was the closest thing they had to otherworldly power. In many ways, without him, sorcerers didn't stand a chance. They conflated him with a god and it went to his head. It allowed him the hubris to gamble on a mission he knew could change the world.

Gojo's status makes him untouchable. In a society that prioritizes strength, Gojo was unmatched. Limitless is such an apropo technique for someone so far removed from others... or is he far removed from others because of his Limitless? Either way, by the time he meets Geto, he'd already been a weapon, been an anomaly for so long. He was raised without an equal, he is not unused to being the strongest and the responsibility that that entails. He's intelligent, pragmatic, and extremely capable. However, finding an equal in Geto made him greedy. Confident. A dangerous combination but, had he not always known such impregnable loneliness, perhaps things wouldn't have gone as far as they did. Regardless of the imperfect comparison (since being a Special Grade has a massive disparity in strength) these extremes created such a desperate need to never know isolation again. He was alone before Geto and suffered the weight of the world after Geto. It created an unprecedented sense of sentimentality, it drove him not to burn Geto's body. Even finding stronger students, people who could stand shoulder to shoulder with him, would one day surpass him... and he still couldn't really let them in.

It takes time and experience but, eventually, he has an adaptable worldview not defined by imposed obligation. This is informed by trauma but it becomes the catalyst for how he lives the rest of his life which is marked with the lofty benevolence of someone who doesn't have to interfere in the trivialities between sorcerers and curses/curse users but does if only to prevent others from experiencing similarly devastating loss or alienation. What he does after Geto defects does nothing to redeem Geto or salvage their relationship but, from that point, Gojo appreciates and protects the privilege of being young in the only way he knows how, by forging them to be strong in turn. It's not exactly a moral compass, one could argue it perpetuates a system that still exploits children but the response, as we've seen with the series end, sorcerers don't have the privilege of choice.

Gojo is out of touch with those around him. He can plot causation, infer complex logic, rehash history, etc. but it does nothing for the broken boy said to be his best friend. While he becomes aware of this weakness and tries to address it with Yuji (by having Nanami take over), it's too late. The damage had already been done.

Geto Strength and Weaknesses

Geto is no stranger to grueling and hard work. As an outsider to Jujutsu Tech, imagine coming into the fold, the only sorcerer of your family with a grossly unpalatable technique. Assessed to be the strongest after being plucked from relative obscurity and you stand at the top of the mountain with someone who won the genetic lottery with all the audacity to boot. We don't have much insight into Geto's whole back story but we see enough of Yuji's immersion into the jujutsu world to know that it isn't easy. But Geto made quick work of becoming an adept sorcerer, one who could keep up with the likes of Satoru Gojo even. Even as the strongest, he still must have had a bit of a bitter taste as he came to learn more of the world.

Geto is humble. Such that he earns respect and admiration from Nanami and Haibara respectively. His technique, almost an ill fit for someone who sought to be so pure, so noble, is unpleasant but it bestows such great power upon him. I imagine he had to rationalize it somehow. The sacrificial means to a suitable end in his mind. He is polite (but can absolutely be a little shit) and tries not to let being the strongest get to his head, frequently chastising Gojo for his behavior. But this practice of being humble in the face of such obvious power eventually creates a situation where he feels he is owed.

Geto has an inalienable sense of responsibility. It lends itself to his humility and keeps his moral compass pointed due north. Moreover, its what informs Gojo's reliance on his judgement. His worldview is simple, human even. Those who are strong are meant to protect. I think it further gives meaning to his discomfort every time he uses his technique. As if to say "in order to protect, I must suffer. Because I have great strength, I must be prepared to sacrifice,". This A + B = C mentality only works in a simple world without variables. But the world is unfair, curses are unpredictable and, sometimes, humans can be monsters. So when his worldview changes, it fractures something deep within him because of his simple but unyielding principles and inability to accept the world for what it is: a sea of gray.

DYNAMIC

They diametrically complement one another by design. In many ways, they differ to an extreme that begs the question of how they ever found any middle ground. But they did. And there was love. Or affection should you prefer. But it didn't make a lick of difference.

[tevos]

Ok, anon post has very good points, but i have to disagree with this one

do you choose your friends and your integrity or do you sell out, absolutely destroy whatever goodwill you've built up with seven by repeating your mistake and betraying the rest of your friends the way you did seven.

Like i sorry if this is harsh but seven literally dosen't give a shit about the band??. Be it in the demo or povs, seven's feelings for the band are mostly reduced to indifference. Mc themselves comment in ch 4 that it dosent seen to matter to seven if they live or die. I certain that even amy said that the band as just a way to spend time with mc and if they werent part of it, seven would just move on and forget about them. Not to say that sev dindt love them, they very much did. I just dont believe that mc leaving would cause any significant conflit between them, especially post reconciliation. (Sorry for the rant, i just really like infamous)

i don't necessarily agree with this myself, but i think until seven explicitly makes her feelings clear in the text itself, it's fun to speculate!

personally, i think seven's cared for the band and mc for too long to just cut those feelings off, much as she might want to, and she's suuuper obvious about still caring - which is easy to see, from an objective perspective, but these characters (mc and the band) grew up with seven, and the seven who they're interacting with in the present day is a very different person to the seven who they knew, back then. like, COMPLETELY different. playing the extra patreon content for past!seven had me lowkey gasping out loud at times. she is so open, and so affectionate, and so giving, and it's so obvious that she grew just a little bit too close with the mc, that having to carry on without them has led to a reinventing of herself. i think even past the pain that she carries, the trust issues, the hurt, she is a completely different person because of that experience. she is, i think, still learning who she is as a single unit without her codependent best friendship (regardless of the platonic/relationship route), and still at the point where she's kind of keeping everybody else (avina, most notably) at arm's length to prevent that whole codependent situation from happening again.

i think i vaguely remember reading that ask and amy's reply that you mentioned, but it's not fresh in my memory so i could be way off the money, but i believe it's more that... mc wanted to try something new out (singing in a band), and so seven wanted to try the new thing out, because seven wanted to be around mc (and vice versa). it could've been anything. it just so happened to be a band with their peers who became their tight knit circle of friends. seven definitely had a closer relationship with mc, she knew the mc for longer, but there was always love for the band. and i think the mc was closer to the rest of the band than seven was - they were very much each other's 'person', and where i get the impression that the mc was just so happy to expand her friend group with the others, seven could have taken them or left them because she already had mc and that would've been enough - not necessarily in a healthy way either lol. because of that, we see seven in the present showing a lot more animosity towards the mc, and a lot more indifference towards the band. if she didn't care so much for the mc, if their bond wasn't deeper, if, even, she wasn't just a little bit in love with the mc (i genuinely think this might be the case even if the mc's feelings are totally platonic), i think she'd also show indifference towards the mc. but she can't. she cares too much, she isn't an actor, she can't hide that shit and pretend she doesn't feel it, so she pushes all of that energy into the opposite direction and it comes out as pure vitriolic hatred. and the worst thing is, really, the mc believes it.

seven's problem is that she gives too much of a shit - about the band, about the mc - but it's just easier for her to mask it with the band because she isn't/wasn't in love with them. the hurt goes deeper, with mc, because the love went deeper. and i'll tell you why i think she does still care for the band (not to say that i don't believe she is just a tiny bit indifferent towards them, because i do, actually, think she's come a long way towards healing that particular hurt with her success in soft violence, but healing from losing the mc is a whole other kettle of fish): 1. she jumps in to break up the fight with underground wastebasket. 2. she's glad that your band wins the first round. 3. she defends the band (although, admittedly, mostly just your mc) against the cheating allegations.

and just breaking that down a bit, because i have thoughts:

1. having read seven's pov of the afterparty fight scene (a while ago and only once, so go easy on my memory), i got the impression that her first thought was that her band (soft violence) were involved in the dispute. that's arguably why she rushes into the fray to see what's going on. but as soon as the fight breaks out, and if the mc doesn't join in, seven's immediate instinct is to break it up and pull rowan out of it. sure, she's not gentle about it, but her first instinct is to protect.

2. when your band wins the first challenge, and your mc looks over at seven, your mc who has grown up with seven since you guys were like eleven years old, your mc who used to know seven as well as they knew themself, sees the expression on seven's face and, to paraphrase: 'she looks satisfied, but that can't be right...' but you're absolutely on the money. seven is satisfied with your win, that you have proven your spot within the competition after such a rocky start, after people like blake have been tearing your band to shreds in front of everybody. there is still a part of her that wants the band to succeed, even if her feelings towards it are very complicated.

3. seven defends your honour, your band's honour, throughout the entire game. even when she wavers and doubts, she defends you against the people who are now closest to her - her own band members. and i do chalk a lot of this down to defending the mc specifically, but i'm including this anyway.

obviously, this is just my read on the situation, and i could be way off but... i don't think by much, you know?

to address the point directly though, damn sorry i have a lot of thoughts on this, i think that if we do get the option to ditch the band and go solo, seven would have a different opinion on it depending on how it takes place. i can fully see her supporting the mc in this - this is the band who voted her out, essentially, and much as she may still care for them, i don't think she'd have much of anything negative to say to an mc that she's reconciled with who wants to take a different path. what the band did was fucked up, much as they try to downplay it as 'business', but i really do get why the mc stuck with them. if you're playing a very fame hungry 'i want all the attention on me, i'm better than the band' mc, then absolutely i can see that turning seven off and her having a fair bit to say about it. wouldn't it just prove all that she's been telling herself about the mc, in the last three years since she left the band? that the mc cares more about their own fame and popularity than the people in their life - that those people are dispensable, disposable, replaceable? it would be interesting to see it explored, anyway, but honestly i'm really just here for the ride, regardless. i love these characters, i'm enjoying seeing how they develop and what influence i can have on them hahaha.