#being seen as worth helping in this critical episode is dependent on being a cop for harry

[moodr1ng]

rly insane how half the disco elysium fandom like.. completely fails at understanding even basic messaging of the game that even i got while being really bad at understanding themes lol. like yeah sure i relate hard to harrys mental health and substance use shit, and yeah, i think kim is fun and goofy, and i like their dynamic and also want to see on screen gay sex.

but like.. this is The Politics Game and half of the fanbase has taken from it exclusively "omg my blorbos meow meows babygirls" and seemingly failed to engage w the political text of the story. like ok if you came out of disco elysium and saw a man who is like.. at best 1 week sober from extreme substance abuse that has made him actively suicidal and threatening to others around him, who is desperately in need of actual, urgent help, AND who is a POLICE OFFICER, like, THEE person who absolutely should NOT be a cop, on top of, yknow, that, like, police are bad already??? a man who has canonically committed serious and traumatic police brutality due to this very instability and disregard for anyones safety and has continued to be allowed to occupy this position? and you get an ending in which his co-workers who have basically just been watching from the sidelines being like.. exasperated at him but not actually doing anything about the massive risk to himself and all these civilians safety just going "well, yknow, hes a good guy after all, and he hasnt been getting drunk and waving his police issued firearm at frightened civilians for a whole week, and he sure saw a bug, so, like, just come back to work man" and thought that was a satisfying and good ending...... after all the talk abt copaganda white ppl is the same

[ernmark]

In regards to Juno and Peter's relationship dynamic for the next few episodes following The Conversation, I'm of the opinion (like lots of other fans) that it would be really surprising if they got together this early. But it's clear they really want to be together at some level. Do you think it's possible they might become lovers? Not boyfriends, not (officially) confessing any romantic feelings, but something deeper than just being teammates.

There are really a lot of ways this can go, depending on what the big picture is meant to look like. So here’s a breakdown of a couple possibilities and some things that stand out about them:

Juno and Peter become sexual partners right away.

1) Peter has flat-out said (with Nova) that he’d be perfectly willing to get into a relationship he wasn’t into in order to get what he wants or needs. We also know that he’s been running from and repressing things long enough that his judgement and emotional awareness are… not that great right now. So yes, he could very easily decide that he wants Juno, and choose to pursue him sexually before he’s in the right place emotionally to do so. 

2) This line right here:

And he goes on like that for some time. I hear his apology, but more than that I hear his voice and I hear him… (Man in Glass)

He’s really deep in thought, and we know now that when he does that, he has a tendency to glaze over important contextual details. There is a very real possibility that Peter doesn’t realize the extent of the shit Juno’s been through (not least because Juno’s trying to apologize, not exonerate himself), and doesn’t realize the mental state Juno’s been in or just how fragile he is right now.

3) Juno is working hard on doing better, but it’s not that easy. There are days that will still be really bad, and on those days he’s going to be most vulnerable to backsliding and making bad choices. Notably, he just came back from his first proper criminal heist and (in his mind) he screwed it up big time, and he clearly blamed himself for how badly it went.

NUREYEV: Well? I… apologize if my tone seems short, Captain, but I’ve received quite a lot of criticism for my performance today already.BUDDY: You and Juno both, yes. Most of all from yourselves. (Man in Glass)

Like I said, that leaves him vulnerable to bad choices, whether he’s choosing to self-harm by getting into an intimate relationship he knows he’s not ready for, or whether he’s choosing to cling frantically to any scrap of affection and affirmation that he can find– or both at the same time. So if Peter were to push even slightly for it, Juno would probably consent (just like he did in Final Resting Place). 

4) Peter was ready to bone Juno after a few hours of knowing him, and his idea of helping Juno cope with mutilation and extended trauma by sleeping with him. To Peter, sex is a simple, easy solution to quite a number of problems. As much as Peter and Juno are in sync, as much as they work well together, they’re not great at really communicating yet. So I really do think that Peter might try to skip past the whole “boyfriends” thing and go straight to “lovers” and not fully realize why that might be a bad way to go with this particular situation.

My thoughts: this one is uncomfortably likely, but it’ll go very badly before it gets any better. Here, the source of conflict is very much internal.

——-

Juno and Peter become Close, but take it slow

This one’s a more optimistic take. Juno recognizes his own self-destructive tendencies well enough to tread carefully; Peter is so inspired by Juno’s transformation that he chooses to really invest the necessary time and energy into all that uncomfortable communication stuff.

Whether or not they think of themselves as Together, whether or not they’re public about that information, the entire crew will know within minutes of it happening, because they’re all Like That. 

There’s still room for conflict, because that’s what being human is, but I expect less focus on the two of them with each other and more focus on their interactions with other characters, with them coming together for support.

This level of growth would be pretty much unheard of in mainstream media (especially so quickly), but the Vibert and Kaner are actually pretty awesome when it comes to growth and development, so it’s less of a long shot.  

My thoughts: this one would keep the focus on growth and self-care at the expense of drama, and likely at the expense of shared screentime between the two of them. Here, the source of conflict would have to move to something external, both with the plot and with the crew. 

——-

Peter doesn’t actually accept the apology

It’s very notable that we never actually heard Peter reply to Juno’s apology. We heard that he wants to stay, but we’ve also heard him juxtapose that fear with a powerful desire to flee. 

Maybe he closes himself off further. Maybe he leaves outright, fearing that he can’t be part of this family when he’s still so in love with Juno. 

Twice now we’ve seen Juno seem to give in to his feelings, only to deny Peter’s advances and leave him– once when he turned Peter over to the cops, and once in The Final Resting Place. This could very easily be Peter’s opportunity to do the same. 

In mainstream media this would be incredibly likely, because it draws out the romantic conflict with at least another season’s worth of unnecessary pining and drama. 

My thoughts: I don’t think it’s going to happen here.

—–

Peter pursues Juno, who doesn’t reciprocate

See the above for my reasoning: Peter’s seven different kinds of a mess right now, and it’s very easy for him to idealize Juno and the progress he’s made. So why not go full tilt into a relationship? That’ll fix everything, right???

Meanwhile, Juno is actively working on his shit, he has Jet and Rita and (to a slightly lesser extent) Buddy as a support network, and he has very recent past experience to tell him that diving right in would be a mistake. So he admits the desire to make it work, but politely declines.

Which Peter interprets as “you were a dick to me so you’ve got to woo me all over again”. 

Improperly handled, it could potentially get really creepy, but I think I’ve made it clear that I trust these guys.

You could get an interesting mix of internal/external conflict going on here, where they keep it friendly and supportive (thus leaning on other characters/plot for conflict) but Peter spends some time obviously pining, slowly realizes why Juno refused him, and comes to the realization that he needs to work on himself for his own sake.

My thoughts: I mean, I’d read it. 

[loubuggins]

Lou’s TITANS Review

S1 E1 - Titans

The Titans show was not as bad as the hideous trailer made it out to be, but then again, maybe it reached my standards because I had them so low. I will say that there were moments in this episode that I actually enjoyed. The acting was decent and the special effects were cool to see, but the script was only sub-par. Like most shows or movies that aim to be more “mature,” this episode depended for too much on violence instead of telling a compelling story. Which, in my opinion, they have, but it’s being drowned by the excessive gore and grimdark nature that the show creators are trying way too hard to enforce. I do see potential in the plot, I just hope they will execute it better as the series progresses. I also have many theories surrounding the show, which I go into below the cut.The pilot episode is always one of the worst in any series so it would not be fair to judge the whole series based off of one episode. Therefore, I will continue to keep an open mind in these coming weeks as we continue to dive into this new twist to the Titans’ story.

Please note that this review contains only my opinion and that I am open to other ideas, but I do ask that extreme fans of this show ignore my review, as I am critical of certain aspects of the show.  

Read below the cut for my full review containing a summary of this episode!

The episode begins with the mysterious girl we come to know as Rachel Roth. She walks through a circus tent and ominous music playing in the background along with the odd sound of a joyful crowd in a seeming abandoned place gives away that this is a dream. She makes her way to the circus ring, where we see a flashback of the famous “Flying Graysons.” The family swing on the trapeze in what appears to be a very beautiful display, until the scene takes a sharp turn towards devastation. We see a young boy (Dick Grayson) scream in horror as he watches his parents fall to their deaths. There’s a lot of emotion in this scene and we see the dream come to an abrupt end as Rachel wakes up screaming and panicking.

Rachel’s mother runs in to comfort the young girl and if you listen closely, you’ll hear Rachel mention that she has had this dream before. Judging by her mother’s reaction, it’s clear she has confided in her mother before about this dream. It’s also revealed that Rachel can feel the boy’s pain and grief. It’s not an unusual statement to make about a dream, but this theme will continue to pop up throughout the show.

That morning, the mother wakes up to her alarm and we can tell by her appearance that she is exhausted and under a great deal of stress (Hm...I wonder why?) After taking her medicine she lifts her shirt up to reveal fresh scratch marks on her side. It’s never made clear how she received them, so to take a shot in the dark, I’d say they came from Rachel. When she enters the kitchen (wearing a nurse’s scrubs), we see Rachel quietly eating surgery Trix cereal and a cup of coffee. These may seem like minor details, but they bugged me greatly. Anyone who has seen the animated versions of Raven knows she’s a tea and waffles kind of girl.

Anyway, there is a tense conversation between mother and daughter that reveals the magical power that the girl has. It’s obvious that she can’t control it and it’s revealed that she doesn’t know what it really is or why she has this “darkness inside her.” Her mother seems to know something about Rachel’s powers, but refrains from sharing that information. It’s also worth noting that Rachel mentions being able to feel her mother’s emotions and using that empathy to know that she is lying.

After a dramatic scene between mother and daughter that makes Rachel look like Marvel’s Silver Banshee, we see the teenage girl hop on the bus headed for school. It’s fun to see one of my favorite characters in such a normal setting and I felt some compassion towards the poor girl. It’s clear that she has a good heart, but in typical Raven-fashion, she doesn’t know what to do about her more demonic side. Though she doesn’t appear aware of her demon heritage yet. I honestly would have liked to see more with her in school. We see her bullied on the bus, some random guy stands up for her, but brushes her off when she tries to thank him later in school. The whole thing seemed so insignificant, that they should have either cut the whole scene or added to it. This series seems to have an issue with priorities. If this season is meant to be about Raven, then let the focus be on Raven.

After the very short time in school, we are taken back to Rachel’s home where she is greeted by her mother and a random thug holding a gun to her mother’s head. The man makes Rachel’s mother reveal she is actually not Rachel’s mother, but before she can go further the man shots her point blank. The scene is unnecessarily graphic, as is most of the action scenes in this show. In a fit of rage, Rachel releases her soul-self and attacks the man. This all happens in a bit of a blur and while the CGI could be better, I didn’t find it as horrible as others did. After knocking the man unconscious, Rachel runs off and the focus shifts over to Detective Grayson.

I want to add that I have a theory as to the identity of this woman posing as Rachel’s mother. I believe it is Alice Williams (Roth), Raven’s aunt in the comics and older sister to Arella. In the comics, she is married and living a normal life with her family, but it's not like this show is hesitant to change a character’s backstory. Therefore, I think the woman is Alice Roth since her comic book counterpart is also very religious and she looks similar to Arella in appearance. My only other guess is that she was from Azarath, but I think my Aunt Alice theory makes more sense. It is sad though because I liked Aunt Alice.

Moving on to the bat boy, we see Grayson alone on a stakeout holding the file of some other thug who avoided charges against him for abusing his daughter. In a scene that looks like it came straight from Gabriel Picolo's Titans Zine, Dick looks over apprehensively at a briefcase sitting in his passenger seat. After some hesitation, he finally uses his thumb to unlock the case. Next, we see the thug with his other buddies in an alley (DC loves their alleys) as they begin the process of a drug deal. This is when Grayson, decked out in the Robin costume we have seen so much of, swoop in and fight them like some homicidal maniac. Nothing about this part is in character for the boy wonder. He brutally kills the criminals in an assortment of creative, yet painful ways. In the end, he goes to the man he was supposedly only after and beats him to death, but not before saying “If you ever touch your daughter again, I’ll find you.” This makes no sense once so ever and again, I blame the writers and the entire crew for not catching this mistake. It was very noticeable, and before the scene cuts again, we get the now famous line “F*** Batman.” After the horrendous fight (more like slaughter), we see Dick play the emo song that he so conveniently had on a record while cleaning the blood off one of his throwing R’s. We also get a nice long look at Brenton Thwaites shirtless, because the Robin fangirls need their fix I guess.

Back to Rachel, we get another ridiculous song as she takes a bus to Detriot. She finds her way to a soup kitchen and while she is there, a woman approaches her, offering to take her to a youth shelter. As Rachel is being led down a dark alleyway (seriously DC, again with the alley?), Her reflection (which I’m going to call her demon side) warns her not to follow. Trusting her instincts, Rachel runs away from the woman and attracts the attention of the police in order to escape.

As she waits in an interrogation room, Detective Grayson comes in to talk to her. She instantly recognizes him as the boy from her dream and without beating the bush, pleads for his help. I don’t criticize this though, because Raven was never one for tact. Grayson, however, is rightfully shaken up by her declaration but decides to investigate further. He makes the mistake of leaving the mystery girl alone and while he is gone, she is kidnapped by another cop.

Grayson follows them to an abandoned house, where he finds Rachel tied to a chair and about to have her heart cut out by the Acolyte. Now, this is where things start getting interesting. Before Grayson shows up, the Acolyte shares his villain monologue to Rachel, revealing that he intends to kill her in order to stop Trigon from coming, which is the exact opposite of what I thought his plan was going to be. It would be very different if the so-called “bad guys” of this show try to stop the end of the world from coming, rather than start it, and I honestly wouldn’t mind a refreshing twist to Raven’s story. However, in another surprise turn in events, Rachel loses control and her demon side takes over. Releasing her soul self, she performs a reverse exorcism on the Acolyte and kills him in a very disturbing and unpleasant way. I frankly don’t want to go into the details. By the time Grayson comes in, her soul self is back in her body and Rachel is panicking in her chair, claiming to have no memory of what had just taken place.

During all of this, on the other side of the world in Germany, we have our first look at Starfire (Anna Diop). The alien princess wakes up in a smashed car in the middle of the forest with a dead man beside her at the wheel. Dazed and confused she stumbles out of the car, only to have another vehicle racing down the road with men shooting in her direction. She takes off into the woods and after getting away from them, she somehow ends up at a gas station bathroom. She looks through her purse and it’s clear she has lost her memory, most likely from the accident (that probably was not much of an accident). Out of her purse, she pulls out a key that looks like the kind you would get for a locker or storage unit. The key also has a circular keychain with a picture of a cartoon frog. She also finds her passport, which says she’s an American citizen named Kory Anders. This leads me to believe she has been to America before, so it is possible she has met the boy wonder as well, but that is just my prediction. Not that this detail is of any importance, but the passport also says she is born on November 11th, 1991, which would make her 27 years old in the show. Just a fun fact.

The last item she pulls out is a hotel keycard, which leads her to the hotel the card belongs to (again, who knows how she arrived there). While she is there, a concierge seems to recognize her and Kory finds out she lives on the entire top floor of the hotel. When she arrives on her floor, she looks around to find any clues as to what happened to her before she lost her memory. All she finds is her apartment a mess, a half-packed suitcase, and a cell phone with a picture of her with her and some guy. Oh, and a beaten man tied up in her closet.

The first words out of his mouth were “Okay, don’t hurt me! I’ll tell you! They found her!” It isn’t clear at first who he is speaking about, but it is revealed later to be Rachel. As Starfire tries to retrace her steps, we start to get a taste of her character and what she has been up to up until now. Not a whole lot is made clear except that she was undercover and that she looking for Rachel. My theory is she was working for the JL in an undercover mission. She happened to stumble upon a much bigger scheme that has something to do with Rachel. She tried to do some digging but got too caught up in the crossfire. The crash was supposed to kill her, but she survived. Unfortunately, she lost her memory and doesn’t remember her original mission or the girl who changed it. Her hunt for Rachel will bring her to Robin, who she has already met before, but may not remember. Dick helps her and tries to recover her memories. Again, I think that her passport being American means she has met Dick before.

I have also heard that someone may have hired her to go undercover and find information about Rachel and that someone may have been Bruce. It would make some sense so I could get on board with that theory as well.

In the end, when moving to a store similar to Best Buy and it’s clear from the green animals playing on the TVs in the background that this is Gar’s (Ryan Potter) 3 seconds of fame, and let me tell you, I was not disappointed. The security guard follows a trail of video games down a hall where he finds a large, green tiger, shuffling through the games like how a cat plays with a toy mouse. As a lover of tigers and a major Beast Boy fan, I absolutely adored seeing him growl at the guard and take off with an Xbox game. Ryan says he picked Fallout 74, whatever that is (I’m not a gamer). Still, it was so much fun to watch and I thought Gar was the most in character so far, even if it was for only 3 seconds.

It’s obvious that this show will depend heavily on Ryan’s acting skills and Robin stans in order to stay relevant. Considering I’m only interested in the former, I’d give the series a thumbs down. However, I know from experience that any show’s pilot episode is usually its worst. Therefore, I plan to judge each episode by itself and will judge the season in the end. That said, I’d give this episode a 3 on a scale of 1 - 5, with 5 being the best. I say a 3, because while it gave an interesting storyline, but lacked in execution.

Rating: 3/5