#but also you see him becoming more active defending non as the episode pass?

[brazilian-whalien52]

Honestly I know the opinion on this is divided but by my experience with bullying what Jin was doing is a lot and unusual. Is it the best course of action? No. But he did stand up to non in front of everybody repeatedly and you could see it increasing over time (my guess without all this problems it would build up and he would take more active actions). Normally, the most you get in this situation is someone telling you some years later "I never liked how they treat you". Personally, I think it's pretty good how in a realistic way he is in fact there. He is a teenager, social circles just affect your decision making a lot in this period of your life. However, still would try to understand why is he still friends with this assholes 3 years later? That is the part that does not make sense like at all

[donotexterminateupgradepudding]

Defining the relationship between the 12th Doctor and Clara Oswald - part 1.

This is my first Dr. Who meta post; I am going to start with a topic that has had me thinking since I first saw it in season 8.  The relationship between the 12th Doctor and Clara Oswald.    When I watched each episode for the first time I didn’t pay too much attention to all of the details, but I really liked their dynamic, it reminded me of the 10th Doctor and Donna.  Not the same but similar. I now have gone back and re-watched this season to ponder the details a bit more. This comes from me trying to determine what type of relationship they have.  When 12 regenerates and runs around London trying to determine who murdered the dinosaur, he’s disoriented, blunt, and tries to figure out how to define his relationship with Clara now that he is a different person.

When he comes back to pick her up, the two of them slowly approach each other and after he states he’s made some mistakes and he’d like to do something about them he comes right out and says the following.

Clara replies that she never thought that he was her boyfriend.  To which he states that “I never said that it was your mistake.”

I’m still not quite sure what is going on here.  The Doctor is making it clear he’s a different person and he’s formally reintroducing himself to her.  When she replies that she didn’t think he was her boyfriend, she has a look of slight shock and looks a little dewy eyed. 

Did she think the 11th Doctor was a boyfriend of sorts and now is realizing that this older and very different doctor is not boyfriend material?  One part of me wants to read this as her being hurt realizing that the 11th Doctor really is gone.  Another part of me wants to think that she honestly didn’t see the 11th Doctor as a boyfriend.  Maybe this shows that she was unsure what to think of him?  Maybe she thought of him as a boyfriend sometime  - since she did bring him to Christmas dinner and have him be a boyfriend.  Clara is a great character because she plays her cards very close to her chest and keeps her feelings locked away.  What is interesting is his statement of taking the blame and stating it was his mistake.  That he did lead her on and wanted her to think of him as a boyfriend as the 11th Doctor.

He then takes her back home.  They discuss the newspaper ad and the TARDIS phone number and how this woman is keen on them to stay together.  He directly asks her how she feels on the subject.  He gives her the option that she can only be home if she wants to be home.  Clara looks upset but apologies profusely that she’s sorry; she doesn’t know who he is anymore.

Her phone rings and he insists she pick it up since it could be her boyfriend calling.

Interestingly, she tells him to shut up as she smiles and looks a little embarrassed before she tells him that she doesn’t have a boyfriend. This leads to the dramatic climax where his past self calls Clara to reassure her, that she’s likely scared and his future self is even more scared and that he uses her friendship with him the 11th Doctor to make sure she helps the 12th Doctor.  He does this full well knowing she can’t deny his request.

She almost cries after he says good-bye and it allows the 12th Doctor to directly ask her if she’ll help him.  He finally gets her to look at him and she has her emotional moment as they hug and she begins to accept the 12th Doctor.  And thus, their new dynamic is established. The Doctor doesn’t think he’s a hugging type anymore, while Clara retorts that he doesn’t get a vote.  To which he replies “Whatever you say.”  He then awkwardly suggests that they get coffee, or chips or chips and coffee.  Clara accepts the coffee.  I don’t know about you, but Clara accepting the offer of coffee sounds like a first date to me.  Both of them have first date body language, he’s hesitant but trying and she goes from being closed off to open as they walk off for coffee.

Clara beings to relax as she’s thinking - okay, we are going to get some coffee.  Since he has no money to buy, she tells him that he’ll do the fetching but he’s also not sure he’s the fetching type.  As they go off together we get this statement from her to end things:

Her body language is relaxed and natural.  He’s still a bit uncomfortable, though this is likely in part to him not knowing his new body yet and also still unsure after that intense hugging moment.  The point is she’s now looking at him and she’s more comfortable with accepting him as the Doctor, her Doctor.  Thus, the 12th Doctor will defer to Clara as the boss in their interactions in the future.

In episode 2 “Into the Dalek”, he brings Clara with him as a sort of safety.  He knows she is a compassionate person and it is clear he doesn’t quite know how she fits into his travels, but he does know that having her with him is important to him and he immediately trusts her to help him re-activate Rusty’s memories. 

I think that “The Robot of Sherwood” follows this episode nicely as he feels like he must both defend her from danger and have her attention (as much as possible).  Robin Hood is a dream for Clara and she is dazzled being able to meet a man she clearly loved of as a child.  He can’t believe that Robin Hood is real and must show that he’s “fake” to prove to Clara that he’s real.  I’d say this stems from him in the first episode telling her that she’s standing right in front of him but not able to accept that he is him.  His immediate dislike of Robin Hood and his merry men leads to great banter and only does Clara get him to realize that they are very similar men by telling Robin Hood about the Doctor’s  past.  It is clear that he’s very protective and possessive of Clara and despite his much more bitter and blunt attitude he cares about her.

Unlike some of the previous Doctors who are much more friendly the 12th Doctor struggles with expressing himself through physical contact and words that he can’t always say, he’s the opposite of 10 and 11 on the surface.

However, as he becomes more comfortable with himself and with Clara his physical distance begins to shift. For “Listen” he allows Clara to connect with the telepathic interface to try and find her dream in her own timeline.  For Clara to connect with the interface, he leans over her from the side and guides her hands into the interface before he steps away from her.  There is so much going on in this scene. 

For the 12th Doctor, this is an intimate behaviour.  If he were completely touch adverse, he could just tell her to place her hands in the interface but instead he guides her hands in with his.  His touch is gentle and there is a bit of a gap between his and hers, but this is something you would not just do with any person.  If this were intended to be a very intimate, more overt and sexualized action, they would have framed it where the Doctor is positioned directly behind Clara, wrapping his arms and hands around her while he reaches around.  Instead, he cleverly is positioned to her left and he’s at her side.  To me this shows that he’s becoming more comfortable and desires some level of closeness with her yet he’s not ready to be more forward in his mannerisms.  He’s not sure what she means to him yet. At the same time, the episode ends with the TARDIS using Clara’s timeline as an input takes her back to learn about his childhood secret.  She doesn’t tell him about her discovery, I feel it in part shows that she too isn’t quite as confident in her relationship with him yet (since she can’t be honest about it) but she protects him as well by not letting him cross his own timeline.  The TARDIS wanted her to meet the Doctor as a child so it must be important to their relationship. 

I don’t want to examine every detail between episodes 2-4, but the episode were the Doctor become much more forward and comfortable with her is “Time Heist” the 5th in this season.

As I watched these episodes a second time it got me wondering how the Doctor developed in regards to how he saw her and his relationship with her.  At first pass, my lazy read is that they are really good friends - on a second re-watch by episode 5 “Time Heist” it is quite clear that the Doctor sees their relationship as a relationship where they go on dates (that really always turn into crazy adventures). “Time Heist” starts off with the Doctor staring into her washing machine as he discusses where to go.

His suggestions/monologue are as follows: The Satanic nebula.  Or . .  the Lagoon of Lost Stars. Or we could go - to Brighton.  I’ve got a whole day worked out.

Now, just looking at his suggestions, even with half a brain cell, that looks like the Doctor has planned a day full of activities.  Activities that one would generally interpret as a date; albeit a date only a Time Lord would come up with.  A Time Lord who has been traveling with her for some time.

He’s acting similar to the 9th and 10th Doctors with Rose, 10th with Martha.  Whether or not 9 and 10 wanted to date Rose and Martha is a whole other meta post.  What I want to highlight is Mr. Cranky-Stick-Insect-Doctor flat out told Clara he planned a date for the two of them.  An entire day long.

Additionally, I tried to look up more information on what it means for a couple to go to Brighton.  Some sources imply it is a good place to go on a date from London (which is where Clara lives), another thing I found was that couples that didn’t want to be seen publicly in London would meet up in Brighton.  Or it could just imply that the Doctor is being conventional and suggesting it to be tourists in Brighton, just like tourists of the Satanic Nebula and the Lagoon of Lost Stars.

Clara declines his offer as she has plans.  She tries to non-verbally let him know that she’s got a date, and as expected he’s slow on the uptake - why is she wearing make up?  Why is she in heels?

Their entire conversation seems to be the Doctor completely confused and missing the fact that she’s going on a date with a guy and it is likely the same guy she went on a date with previously which he knew was happening during “Listen”.

This then leads them to robbing the bank of Karabraxos, helping the abused species and just it is another day with the Doctor and the TARDIS helping the universe.

After their adventure to rob the bank, the Doctor proudly returns Clara in time for her date.  He’s brought her back at 7:12pm for her evening plans.

Everything about this makes it seem like he’s being a great friend (other than the fact he already got Clara’s attention and delayed her from the date in the first place). He out dated her planned date.

The Doctor then teasingly tells her to not do anything that he wouldn’t do.  Clara responds finally and directly that “this is a date.”  so after their adventure she’s finally spelled it out what is happening at 7:15pm.

Clara then realizes how she’s going out for another meal after their Chinese take out with Psi and Saibra.  The Doctor then pulls her leg that food eaten on the TARDIS doesn’t count, she asks if he’s kidding and in his deadpan straight delivery he points out that he’s kidding.  Their dialogue gets very interesting as they then banter back and forth again. Doctor:  Bye-bye

Clara: See ya.  Don’t rob any banks. Doctor: Don’t rob any banks what?

Doctor looks directly at Clara as she pauses and then nods as she replies. Clara: Without me.

Doctor: ‘course not boss.

Clara exits the TARDIS, you hear the door shutting.  Doctor: Robbin’ a bank.  Robbin’ a whole bank.

Which leads to:

The camera then pans out and he walks to the TARDIS control panel and pulls the lever.  The Doctor is in a good mood, just watch how he walks up to that console with confidence and kicks his leg up with a flourish.

And he’s pretty much in the same pose that Clara was in when she showed off her heels to him when he first asks if she is taller.

So what does this mean?  It means that the Doctor clearly saw their bank robbing adventure as a date.  It was an adventure and everything went well and he got to have hours of time with Clara before her date with Danny.  He won Clara’s attention over Danny.

I see two possibilities i.) he was still oblivious to Clara’s plans being a date and he only recognizes this as a fact when she says so or

ii.) he’s a clever 2000 year old Time Lord and damn well knew she had a date, but he just pretended to not recognize her date b/c he had much better dates planned for them.  If he doesn’t acknowledge her dates with Danny than they don’t exist since she’s having all of these “dates” with him. 

The 12th Doctor is a very competitive individual, the 10th Doctor also had a similar streak in him to out compete others but 12 is so obvious with his.  Therefore, he will compete with every man who vies for Clara’s attention by default.  She’s his friend, he cares about her and he actually needs her to care about him and give him the attention he desires from her.

After “Time Heist” the Doctor is bolder and 100% confident in his invitations to Clara.

In “The Caretaker” we get a fast montage of Doctor & Clara adventures wedged in between her dates with Danny. Or are her dates with Danny wedged between her time with the Doctor?

They are stuck on a desert planet and chained to some pillars.  Clara apologies to Danny for being late which he notices she isn’t late and she’d gained a tan in a few hours.

The next scene shows her coming out of her bedroom which is across from her living room where the Doctor likes to park the TARDIS.  As she comes out her bedroom door, she is clearly dressed up for a date with Danny.  Across in her living room he says “Fish people.”

Clara asks what they are like to which the Doctor replies:

He’s got her attention completely, he’s leaning forward his left hand gesturing to her.  He then moves his hand towards the TARDIS beckoning her to “Come and see.”  Without hesitation she hops into the TARDIS.  The next scene shows her getting into a taxi wet as Danny compliments her dress and notices that she’s wet which she explains is a freak shower.  She then tries to be casual as she pulls the strand of seaweed out of her hair.

It jumps to a scene of them running in some sort of corridor being shot at by laser guns/blasters as the Doctor then declares he hates soldiers and asks for Clara to agree with him, which she does.  With their standard case of running from danger she then gets to open her door to Danny who wants her to go for a morning run with her perhaps on the weekend? Post run Clara declares that she can’t keep doing this - her time with the Doctor is making her time with Danny difficult and it is exhausting as well as hard to explain all the oddities with her in regards to their dates.  As Clara calms down she relaxes and declares that she can do this.  She’s got everything under control.

And this IS Clara.  She has to make sure that everything she does is how she wants it to go.

The next time she willingly enters the TARDIS prepared for an adventure and the Doctor apologizes that there will be no trip today by trying to flatter her because he thinks it works on her.  Their body language is interesting as she approaches him as he backs away from her and moves the display monitor at the same time. 

They keep their distance from each other for awhile until he stops and explains that he’s going undercover and can’t tell her what it is.  The entire time their body language is cat and mouse and she even tries to sneak a look at the monitor before he flips it off.  Clara tells the Doctor that he’s being mysterious and goes on to say that as he is a clever person, he is making the mistake of thinking that she is stupid. Clara then points out that he likely can’t do undercover and teases him.  He  angrily snaps his fingers to open the doors and tells her that he will see her when he sees her.  Clara sasses back “When’s that?”, clicking her fingers and shutting the doors forcing him to reopen them repeating that it will be “When I see you!”

She suspiciously strolls around him as she slowly exits the TARDIS and even reopens the door trying to get a look at the monitor as she points out non-verbally that she’s watching him.

The interaction between Clara and the Doctor then is repeated with Danny.  He asks if she’s okay since he’s observed that every time he sees her (on dates) she comes to the rushed, in a state, or with a space helmet.  Clara tries to blow off his comments by referring to her relationship with the Doctor as a “thing” that she’s had, but doesn’t have currently.  Danny doesn’t buy this and reminds her that he isn’t stupid. 

So Clara tries to do the exact same things to Danny that the Doctor tries to do to her.  The Doctor is beating out Danny when it comes to their dates every single time.

The morning teachers meeting then introduces the Doctor as the new caretaker.  Then in front of all of the teachers he introduces himself and winks right at Clara and smiles proudly in her direction!  He’s thinking he’s so smooth! 

Clara is shocked and the Doctor seems to be giving off the vibe of “Look at how awesome I am undercover Clara!  Impressed aren’t you? You are impressed.  Tell me you are impressed.”

This entire non-verbal exchange is hilarious because the Doctor is so into his undercover disguise that he thinks he’s all suave and awesome and look at how playful he is.  This is the Doctor who when he first regenerated wasn’t sure how to be happy or fun and was scared about getting coffee or chips.  Now he’s hamming it up as he’s more confident with Clara. Of course as he keeps going on about how no one is noticing him he boldly lets Clara know that his deep cover is awesome as she angrily gives him a hard time.  On top of that, Danny immediately picks up that she knows him as she tries to ignore that he winked at her. When she finally goes back to confront him, he uses his broom to keep her away from him as he remarks that she saw right through his deep cover.  He won’t give her any details, but it is clear enough that she knows he’s doing something that has to do with aliens.  Due to his status being undercover he tries very hard to push her away and not give her anymore information since whatever the situation is, he will be able to manage it himself. This episode also builds up the tension between the Doctor and Danny.  This is highlighted by the fact that as soon as he learns that was in the military the Doctor judges him and makes him a P. E. teacher implying he doesn’t like him and dislikes P. E. teachers as well.  Clara puts a lot of effort trying to get the Doctor to realise that Danny is linked to her timeline from “listen” and I’m going to say that the Doctor likely on some level knows there is something with Danny but he’s too judgemental and stubborn to admit it.  He argues that Orson Pink doesn’t look like Danny.  This could be him just being oblivious but he follows it up by questioning Clara’s observation that Orson Pink must be related to Danny.  Adding in that “Who remembers their P.E. teacher?”  This statement is contradictory since the Doctor has just associated Orson with Danny (with his nickname of P.E.) and then his statement implies that Danny is totally forgettable.  The Doctor even then uses this as a segue way to asking if “he” is here.  The one guy that she keeps going on serious dates with?  The Doctor doesn’t even look at her when they are talking and she looks very happy during his question.

I wonder if her happy/pleased look is because she’s happy the Doctor is asking her about her personal life?  She asks him if he’ll start talking like a human being if she reveals the man to which the Doctor retorts he won’t because he’s being nice.

This then leads to the mix-up where the Doctor thinks she’s seeing the other english teacher who looks like the 11th Doctor. When Clara finally gets him to tell her about his plan, since she knows him well enough to conclude that his plan is dangerous and may involve the school she is annoyed that he keeps it from her in the first place.  Though this is in part due to her conclusion because she will disapprove it, he just won’t say anything to prevent her being the boss of him. The Doctor after explaining about the Skovox blitzer that he has a plan and it requires his special watch.  He dramatically poses looking right at Clara before he uses it to make himself invisible.

Upon being invisible he then flicks Clara’s nose.  She is briefly annoyed but very quickly she goes from being annoyed that he didn’t share things with her to being completely excited by his invisible watch.  Thus, the Doctor and Clara are playing with each other again, as he hides from her in plain sight and she loves it.

This is a person who is having a blast. She’s so excited that she even giggles and she says its incredible.  The invisible Doctor then states that “Correct.  I am both invisible and incredible.”  And the two of them start feeding off of each others excitement and she’s ready to help out with capturing the alien. 

But the Doctor let’s her know he’s got this one figured out and that she doesn’t need to worry.  Instead, he jumps to telling her their next trip will be to ancient Egypt and that she should go canoodle with her boyfriend.

And then the two of them make incorrect assumptions as the Doctor tells her that he knows who she is dating through vague terms that describe the 11th Doctor and the english teacher while Clara thinks he’s referring to Orson Pink in regards to Danny.  Clara then takes his advice and runs off to actually follow his advice since the Doctor is insisting she hang out with her boyfriend.

The situation becomes a comedy of errors as Danny cancels on Clara so that he can watch the Doctor and at the same time Clara runs to the Doctor as soon as Danny cancels on her.  No date, the only other thing for Clara to do is to hang out with the Doctor and help him out!

Of course Danny messes with the Doctor’s plans and when he figures out that Clara and the Doctor know each other and worse, Danny calls him her Dad.   They both look mortified in response to this comment. 

And then the totally awkward moment begins as the Doctor decides to erase his memory - and Clara stops him by pointing out that Danny is her boyfriend.  The Doctor has the gall to say he isn’t her boyfriend and that she’s made a boyfriend error - she would not date a P.E. teacher or soldier. To rub the salt in Danny’s wounds he suggests that Clara get a dog or a big plant instead. 

Ouch. 

The Doctor is hurt and upset; this version of the Doctor can be cruel when he’s upset.  She argues back that she loves him and then the Doctor is stunned.

He’s so upset that you can see the shock, hurt, and pure disappointment in his face.  He would have been okay with the 11th Doctor look-alike as the boyfriend since she’d be dating a ‘version’ of himself.

The Doctor is literally holding back tears here.  He looks at Clara, then to Danny, then back to Clara has he has to actually compose his thoughts.

Clara said that she loved Danny.  His only retort is “Why would you say that?  Is this a part of the surprise play?” 

He’s devastated.  Clara has just openly said that she loves someone - and that person isn’t the Doctor.  Clara stuck with the Doctor after he regenerated and has still be traveling with him and they have grown even closer as a result.

At this point it is clear that the 12th Doctor doesn’t just want Clara to see him as a boyfriend like 11.  He loves her.  And to hear her tell him that she loves another person, he just can’t handle it. 

This version of the Doctor is terrible with his feelings or expressing them well. Additionally,  he isn’t good at reading others as he gets upset and tells her it is a roller coaster while he asks why she isn’t dating the bow tie guy as Clara says that he “isn’t her type” (perhaps evidence that she did not see 11 as a boyfriend) and also implies that if 11 isn’t her type - what is her type?  At the same time Danny is also reeling from the fact that there is this man, called the Doctor, who is an alien who hangs out with Clara and is clearly very involved with, but never mentioned once.  Interestingly, without missing a beat, the Doctor reveals the TARDIS and then Clara begins to explain it, but she whispers to the Doctor what else to say and he tells her to lead to the line that “it is bigger on the inside than on the outside.”  Even then when Clara needs a hand the Doctor immediately helps her out even after being hurt so much. Despite seeing the TARDIS, Danny is not convinced by the Doctor’s plans and they immediately argue until he passes Danny off to Clara to deal with as they debate what to do while Danny is completely ignored.  As the Doctor bitches about having tons of work to do, Clara asks him if he’s okay. She doesn’t ask Danny, instead she asks the Doctor - likely since he’s upset about how things went wrong and he learned that Clara loves Danny.

Clara then works on getting Danny out of the Doctor’s way and he tells her that Clara still needs to finish the job.  She told Danny about the Doctor without explaining Danny to him.  He’s right, but his attitude is incredibly aggressive and the Doctor is really hurt.  Danny was upset that Clara never told him about the Doctor and it is clear this hurt is vice versa but that the Doctor likely feels like he is owed more since he’s known Clara much longer than Danny. After this completely horrible interaction/nightmare for Clara as Danny and the Doctor have met and it didn’t go well - she is dying for Danny to say something.  He summarizes what to Doctor looks but it leads to a very interesting conversation between them. Danny: then he turned into a Scottish care taker and every now and then, when I’m not looking, you elope with him . . . Clara: I don’t elope.

Danny: Do you love him?

Clara: No.

Danny: Really had enough of the lies. Clara: Not in that way. Danny: What other way is there?

Clara: You know what I mean.

Danny: I don’t know what you mean.  I know what you tell me isn’t always the truth.

With these lines from Danny it is clear that, i.) he sees that the Doctor is a man who is competing for Clara’s attention with him [which is true].

ii.) he sees that she loves him and he can’t separate the type of love that she feels for Danny and the Doctor.

iii.) by telling her that he knows she’s lying, he’s thinking that she may love the Doctor more than him.  Maybe?

This leads into their further conversation where Clara tells him that he knows who she is - but Danny wants to know who she is - when she’s with him.  When she is with the Doctor.  Which implies that Danny knows that there is a part of Clara that only comes out with the Doctor.

Clara’s clever plan is to have Danny use the invisible watch so he can see that Clara is the same with the Doctor as with him.  Just like with the 9th Doctor and Mickey who he called Ricky - the 12th calls Danny Dave instead.  Of course the Doctor figures out that Danny is in the TARDIS with them and he tries to distract Clara by saying he’s bored and that he’ll get her back just in time like he has for all of her previous dates.

The Doctor plays dirty as he reminders her that she’s never said “. . .no before, even in the middle of dinner [implied dinner date I take it].”  Clara does her best to prevent him from traveling with Danny in the TARDIS and it results in the explosive argument where the Doctor and Danny go straight for each other since neither of them can stand the other.  Danny sees the Doctor as an elite and the Doctor thinks Danny isn’t good enough for Clara as a former soldier.

Yes, Danny helps to save the day and Clara is caught between the Doctor and Danny vying for her attention as Danny concludes that he has to be good enough for the Doctor to approve of him.  Neither man looks at each other as the Doctor does accept the fact that Danny helped to save the world.

The episode ends with Clara and Danny relaxing as she tries to get Danny to agree with her that the Doctor is a good guy underneath everything and she reveals that she trusts him.  Danny wants Clara to trust him and since he knows men like the Doctor he doesn’t want her to become hurt as a result of the Doctor’s actions.

This is interesting since the Doctor obviously wouldn’t want to hurt Clara, the Doctor has always wanted to protect his friends yet this sets up further conflict between the Doctor and Danny. 

What I find interesting about Danny is that he assumes that Clara isn’t choosing to do things with the Doctor of her own choice and free will.  She does trust him and does crazy things - but from her perspective she’ll be alright - something that Danny does not agree with.

By the end of this episode, the Doctor’s view of his relationship with Clara has been shattered.  The man she is dating is NOT the type of man he’d like her to date and it also means that Clara doesn’t feel confident to come clean to her about him.  Danny is very upset about her lies to him.   Yet, he doesn’t realize that the Doctor is even more hurt and upset about her lies to him.  She has know Danny a much shorter time than the Doctor.  All around the end of “The Caretaker” leaves everyone  completely unhappy and disgruntled.

Clara’s conversation with Danny about her own feelings for the Doctor are unclear to me.  Is she denying that she loves the Doctor?  Does she not want to admit that she has deep feelings for this Doctor?  Or is she uncomfortable with putting a label on their relationship which would the force her to define it.  At the end of “Time Heist�� the Doctor has defined their activity as a date. He has defined their relationship to himself but not to her. 

At the same time, I think Clara refuses to label or recognize their relationship.  This would imply that Clara would have to first off define the relationship to herself and then define it to the Doctor and then to others.  It is easier for Clara to retreat to a relationship with Danny since he is much less complicated than the Doctor. 

What this shows is that at this point in time the Doctor and Clara are failing to communicate with each other even though it is evident that they are in a relationship of some sort, that includes love and crazy dates. I’ll pick up with part 2 starting with episode 7.

[ichika27]

Destruction Flag Otome

With a long title like “ Otome Game no Hametsu Flag shika Nai Akuyaku Reijou ni Tensei shiteshimatta“, manga and LN readers have been shortening it to the English title “Destruction Flag Otome” and it’s what I called it as I read the manga before the series’ announcement. The official English title for the anime series when it came out however is “ My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! “ which is a bit more closer to the English translation of the original title. I’m just putting this out there cause I’d still be calling it DFO as everything else is too long haha

Now, to get to my thoughts...

Story:

Catarina Claes (or spelled “Katarina” if you’ve been reading the manga) is a spoiled rich little girl engaged to a prince. Her attitude and personality changed when she gets a bump on her head, went unconscious for a while and got all the memories of her past life back - memories of her being an ordinary high school student. As she also realized that, unfortunately for her, this new life of hers is basically the same as the otome game she played in her past life and that she’s been reincarnated as the game’s villainess!

Having nothing in her future but death or exile, Catarina strives to change her future and avoid all the doom flags she could or have a back up in case her life gets overthrown into chaos like the original Catarina’s from the game. Little did she know that she’d change much more than her life with her plans.

Characters:

Catarina Claes - a spoiled rich girl who remembered her past life as an oridnary student when she got a bump on her head at age 8 and realized she’s now the bad guy in a different world similar to an otome game she played before. Since then, she’s become a nicer but stranger person to everyone around her. She plans to survive to adulthood by making sure she can defend herself when the time comes or have a back up plan in case she gets exiled. She’s pretty dense and so she doesn’t notice herself turning into the heroine instead.

Geordo Stuart - the prince engaged to Catarina. Geordo is well-known for all his abilities, looks and intellect. He was supposed to fall for the heroine and kill the villainess like in the original game but due to Catarina changing into a much nicer and more interesting person, Geordo falls for her instead. He’s probably the most straightforward on the guy’s side with showing his feelings for Catarina unfortunately for him, she is really dense.

Keith Claes - Catarina’s adoptive brother. His powerful but hard to control Earth Magic became a source of grief for him as a child and was the reason he isn’t with his biological family anymore. Resigned to being alone, Catarina’s kindness towards him is what made his life happier and what got him to falling for her alone which is contrast to his otoge counterpart that became a playboy. He’s pretty overprotective and is just as frustrated as the rest for having too many rivals for his adoptive sister’s affection. Out of all the rivals, he clashes with Geordo the most.

Alan Stuart - Geordo’s twin brother whose engaged to Mary. He’s competitive but feels inferior to his more well-known and much praised sibling. He ended up competing with Catarina as a child and her support towards him made him realize and appreciate the abilities he has that’s better than his brother’s. He became friends with Catarina and has fallen for her, too although unlike everyone else, he doesn’t actually realize this (it also doesn’t help that there’s a certain someone making sure he never does).

Mary Hunt - a shy girl whose engaged to Alan. Her family situation made her quiet and unsure of herself until she met Catarina who friendship and kindness made her open up. Her love for gardening is what got the two of them to bond as she helped Catarina with her vegetable garden. She grows up to be the most proactive of all Catarina’s harem with her being straightforward like Geordo but also more possessive making sure no one else gets the lead but this doesn’t stop her from being real friends with everyone else.

Sophia Ascart - with her white hair, pale skin and red eyes, other people think badly of her or outright bully her making her quiet and nervous with only her family to depend on. That is until she met Catarina who befriends her the first time they met and told her she looked beautiful. Her love for novels is what got the two to bond. She likes Catarina as well but unlike the rest, she wished for Catarina to marry her brother Nicol instead. Unbeknownst to her and everyone else, she has something else connecting herself to Catarina.

Nicol Ascart - Sophia’s older brother who cares for her a lot. He hated how everyone else treated and viewed his sister that meeting Catarina has been a different experience for him as Catarina never berated Sophia and even complimented her. He maybe quiet and doesn’t talk much but he’s smart and good-looking that he’s very popular to a lot of people (and Catarina couldn’t deny the boy’s good looks either). He likes Catarina but doesn’t actively pursue her the same way everyone else does.

Maria Campbell - the heroine of the otome game “Fortune Lovers”. She’s kind and sweet and hard-working but it’s all overshadowed with the fact that she has the rare light magic and the rumors surrounding her. Despite the bullying and her difficult family life, Maria never gives up still gives it her all although she is lonely... until she gets saved by Catarina from bullies. Catarina’s encouragement and friendship helped her and she ends up happier and surrounded by supportive friends. She also ends up falling for Catarina instead of any of the actual love interest.

Atsuko Sasaki - Catarina’s bestfriend in her past life. Acchan has played Fortune Lovers before and has given Catarina advice, hints, and some spoilers in her past life which helps her currently as she tries to avoid her doom flags. Despite being from Catarina’s past life from Japan, Acchan slowly gains a much more important role in the story as time passes by.

Thoughts:

First of all, I was super duper excited when I heard this series is gonna have an anime version as I decided to binge read the manga online before I saw the announcement. The OP is catchy as heck and is perfect for the show! The Ed is pretty good as well. The character designs is close to how it is in other adaptations which is great! The show is colorful and bright which shows that it’s pretty lighthearted most of the time (and of course something intense happens in the end haha).

Now for the episodes... they rushed the childhood arc a lot and cut off a lot of things that isn’t part of Catarina’s harem which is sad cause the manga sort of did the same (although it retained some backstories for certain non-harem characters). It would’ve been okay but they rushed the beginning only to add filler episodes in the middle of the series. Don’t get me wrong, I liked some of the stuff they added as they gave a bit more focus of some of Catarina’s harem members but it’s still sad we never got to see focus on the other people Catarina helped and influenced (like her parent’s argument regarding Keith or the gardener who taught her and his connection to the family, etc.). They did give Anne’s backstory screentime though so that was good.

I also don’t know how to feel with them revealing early on about Acchan’s “role” in Catarina’s new life. Like, a few hints here or there is nice but they gave the entire reveal before the finale even happens. It’s not really that bad if you’ve only watched the anime but for me, personally, I liked the reveal in the manga better cause it felt more intense and dramatic. Their flashback about Acchan and in her POV was awesome but it would’ve been nice if it was shown when that reveal happened. That’s just my opinion though.

Overall, it’s pretty fun and good and where else can you find a reverse harem + yuri harem at the same time? I’m not sure if any other series tried this before but this series certainly pulled it off nicely. I don’t usually like dense harem protagonist since the romance part of the show gets nowhere but it works very well in a way for this show. Plus, we can’t really argue that they fell for her too quickly when her new life is basically in an otome game which, if you’ve played a bunch like I had, knows that it’s kinda normal? lol

A new season has been announced for next year which follows the 2nd part of the series with new characters joining in. It’s exciting cause unlike the first part, Catarina has no idea about this as she passed away before the new game for Fortune Lovers was released so the new members of her future harem would be a surprise not just for us but for her as well!

And with that, thank you for reading this far! Hope the next season would be just as fun and entertaining as this one. I know I didn’t include a certain character in the “character” section of this but I’d rather not put too many spoilers here just in case new people decide they wanna watch it. I do hope the popularity of this series starts the “reincarnated as a villainess” story trend for anime cause I’m really hoping for “Observation Log of the Fiance of the Self-proclaimed Villainess” to get it’s own anime version. That one’s pretty good, too!

Also, I ship Catarina with Acchan haha. I have since the manga reveal so the added stuff about her and the flashback with her life with Catarina was very fun (and heartbreaking) to watch. 2nd to that are Keith and Alan who got some sweet moments with her. I do ship her with everyone else and wishes she could gain the harem ending though haha.

[fullmetalirin]

Fullmetal Alchemist OG vs. Brotherhood: On Endings

One more post before the final analysis: as I compared the beginnings of the series, I'll also compare the endings. The ending can tell us a lot about a series and the author's intentions. What things did they want to resolve and how, and what did they want to leave us with?

Fullmetal Alchemist

Let's review the ending of OG first. OG had a climactic final confrontation, but it was a pretty restrained affair: Ed vs. Dante alone, and then Ed vs. Envy alone. It was very personal in nature, with Ed fighting alone to rescue his brother and discover the truth behind the homunculi and the Philosopher's Stone.

The true confrontation was philosophical in nature. Dante deconstructs the guiding principle of the series up to that point, the law of equivalent exchange, and reveals it to be a lie: there's no guarantee that hard work will pay off. There is no justice, she tells us; there's just us. The hero is stripped of his moral certainty and shaken to his core, but stubbornly clings to some hope that there is still some justice in the world. Hohenheim offers a parting gift: that Dante may be right, but by freeing yourself from the logic of equivalent exchange, you can also gain something for nothing.

For our climactic belly-of-the-whale moment, Ed straight-up dies. Al overcomes the hesitance and impotence that has weighed on him all series, and uses the immense power he's been granted to sacrifice himself for Ed's true resurrection in a mirror of Ed's own sacrifice for him at the start of the series.

Ed refuses to accept this. He wants to have it all. But he cannot get it: though he partially restores Al, he himself passes through the gateway, leaving the brothers separated. But meanwhile, the background characters who never bought into this nonsense in the first place are doing great. Rose is healing, Izumi is willing to teach Al, and Mustang's rebellion is a success.

It's a bittersweet ending: the heroes survive, gaining some of the things they sought but losing others. We are left uncertain about their fate, encouraged to reflect on what we've seen and what they've learned. It's a contemplative ending, meant to stick with you: it's on the audience to write the ending of the story, through living their own lives.

Now we'll compare that to…

FMA Brotherhood

Let's catch you up on what happened in the intervening time in Brotherhood real quick:

WINRY FINDS OUT SCAR KILLS HER PARENTS OH NO WHAT'S SHE GONNA DO oh nothing because Ed talks down the hysterical woman. What a relief!

LAN FAN LOSES HER ARM OH NO oh wait we have super prosthetics so she just gets automail and she's fine.

GLUTTONY SWALLOWS EVERYONE but it's okay they get out fine and also Ed finds something useful in there so actually this was good for the heroes.

BRADLEY TAKES RIZA HOSTAGE but does not actually kill her or anyone and Riza is still able to leak information to Mustang and escape when it actually matters so this is totally pointless except for sidelining the female action hero for a while.

FATHER SHOWS UP OH NO WHAT'S HE GONNA DO oh he's going to tell Ed he needs him alive for his plan and for some reason he can't just beat Ed into a coma so actually Ed is free to act with total impunity.

BUT OH WAIT HE TURNS LING INTO A HOMUNCULUS except actually Ling is still alive and will end up totally fine.

BRADLEY TAKES WINRY HOSTAGE WHAT'S HE GONNA MAKE ED DO oh he's just going to tell Ed to keep doing what he was already doing. Okay then.

Mustang was apparently friends with Riza's dad and Riza has the secrets of flame alchemy tattooed on her back, because this is shonen and everything has to have a convoluted explanation.

Envy frees Kimblee and makes him track down Scar who is also with Marcoh because adding more characters into this tangled mess is definitely a good idea.

Pride invites the Elrics into his house and Bradley shows up to menace them but not actually do anything. Pride continues to act like the most precocious kid ever I presume because he gets off on it? Is he already planning on jumping to Ed at this point?

Ed meets Olivier and is immediately imprisoned so Ed can twiddle his thumbs while we watch Olivier take over the plot for the next few episodes.

SHOCKING TWIST that Amestris was formed for the purpose of transmuting everyone into a Philosopher's Stone which is so absurdly over-the-top I cannot even

WHY DOES FATHER LOOK LIKE HOHENHEIM??? Because he tricked Hohenheim into giving him his face and actually Hohenheim is totally innocent because why have complex morally gray characters when we can atomize any possibility of that instead. (Also Father's original form looks absolutely nothing like how historical homunculi are drawn or described except that he's in a flask, even though homunculi's flasks are obviously artificial wombs and not literally part of their bodies why do I need to explain this.)

After several episodes of wheel-spinning the characters suddenly decide it's time for the finale so a hideously convoluted multi-front battle ensues.

They're fighting Envy and SUDDENLY RIZA POINTS A GUN AT MUSTANG OH NO CLIFFHANGER HAS ENVY TRICKED HIM no Envy turned into Mustang for some reason and Riza saw through it because the villains spent all their competence points killing Hughes.

Mustang curbstomps Envy because he's a Gary Stu but Ed doesn't want him to be consumed by vengeance because it was… so much better when he sadistically burned a homunculi to death for no reason at all?

RIZA'S THROAT IS SLIT AND MUSTANG HAS TO DO HUMAN TRANSMUTATION oh never mind she gets healed by the cavalry BUT SUDDENLY THE HOMUNCULI SHOW UP AND FORCE HIM TO DO HUMAN TRANSMUTATION ANYWAY… somehow… and OH NO HE GOES BLIND but he can still fight because he's a Gary Stu so it doesn't actually matter. Nothing ever actually matters.

Up to and including…

FMA Brotherhood Episode 61: "He Who Would Swallow God"

THE BAD GUY WINS! FATHER ACTIVATES HIS TRANSMUTATION CIRCLE! HE BECOMES GOD! ROCKS FALL, EVERYBODY DIES! Except oops, nevermind, turns out Hohenheim spilled the souls of his Philosopher's Stone all around the country offscreen and now they, for some reason, are helping the guy who helped trap them and destroy their country at no benefit to themselves. Somehow, they were not absorbed by the transmutation and can somehow free the souls of Amestrians. Somehow.

Seriously. This series has always been careful to surgically remove real tension from the story, but now it’s just atomizing its desecrated corpse. Everything, up to and including the villain succeeding at all his goals, will be reversed on a dime so the heroes can win. There is no longer any possibility that the heroes might get anything other than an absolutely perfect victory. This is terrible storytelling. It’s sacrificing all narrative coherence on the altar of one cool scene.

Ed shows up for five seconds to yell at Father but is useless because Father deactivates alchemy. This is followed by several minutes of Hohenheim ranting about how awesome he is and how important this confrontation is to him personally because why focus on the protagonist when we can spend all that time on his awful deadbeat dad.

Hohenheim's Stone is activated by the circle of the moon's shadow. Sure. Why not. Nothing else in this show has ever made sense, why start now.

Ed looks on in awe as Hohenheim exposits on the exact effects this will have on Father. Father shoots an energy blast at them and Hohenheim deflects it. Another energy blast, this time May deflects it because alkahestry still works and is perfectly suited to this because it's magic. Another energy blast, and Hohenheim blocks it again. But oh no, he's losing strength, so the protagonists play support for him.

Then we cut to Scar vs. Bradley. Bradley asks why he's using alchemy if that's against his religion, and asks if he's abandoned God. Scar does not answer.

How is Bradley defeated? He's blinded by the sun when the eclipse finishes and that negates the Ultimate Eye.

Seriously? Seriously? HE WEARS AN EYEPATCH. IF HE CAN SEE THROUGH AN EYEPATCH WHY CAN'T HE SEE THROUGH BLINDING LIGHT. Also how has this never happened in any of the other daytime fights.

Scar gets one hit on him and that kills him when the immortal legion which is explicitly made the exact same way as him have multiple lives because what is consistency. But what's this, Bradley manages to stab him in his last moments! Oh wow, is a major character actually going to die in the final battle??? No.

Then Bradley talks for a straight minute about pretentious nonsense. Wow, and here I was thinking OG had too much talking.

Then what Tumblr has helpfully informed me is our great disabled WOC representation sits there and demands to know if Hitler loved his wife, then she helps Scar over to his transmutation circle so he can learn the very important lesson that it's wrong for him to hate white people so now he's going to save them. Thanks, brown people! Still no answer to Bradley's questions. If they're answered earlier, you are free to tell me about it.

Bradley… ages to death? Why?

Alchemy is powered by tectonic movement, apparently. That is a reasonable but incredibly boring answer that does nothing to explain why soul goop empowers alchemy. (Also I guess they're slowing down the planet's rotation by doing this?)

Alchemy's reactivated so Ed finally does something and it's to… smash Father's throne. Wow. Great contribution, hero. Father throws another energy blast at him and Hohenheim defends.

"When will he run out of energy?" "I don't know!" And this is why I don't like Brotherhood homunculi. There's no sense of progress or scale. They're boss monsters who are always exactly as strong until they suddenly die. The battle lasts as long as the author wants it to.

Ed makes one substantial attack on Father who then shrugs it off.

Mustang is sad he's useless. CAN'T RELATE.

Ed asks what the homunculi's motivation is and gets a non-answer.

Kimblee is still alive in Pride because NO ONE IN THIS SHOW CAN EVER DIE. He nosells the soulstorm because he's just so special. He's mad that Pride is lowering himself to entering a human because for some reason he cares deeply about Pride's honor. Then Ed… turns himself into a Philosopher's Stone so he can enter Pride's mind, kills Pride, and turns him into a human baby? That's bizarre even by this show's standards.

Honestly that whole thing is so random. Pride does absolutely nothing during the battle with Father, then all of a sudden he grabs Ed and everyone else is like "sure whatever we'll leave you behind with the supermonster" because they've read the script, then Ed beats him in five seconds. This really looks to me like the author was going "Crap, crap, Ed hasn't beaten a single villain the whole story, quick, give him some token contribution."

FMA Brotherhood Episode 62: "A Fierce Counterattack"

Why does Trisha's soul have giant boobs in the OP.

Father is just absorbing people directly now because suddenly that doesn't need a circle.

Hohenheim leads the charge and gives a hero rant.

Father frees the souls in his Philosopher's Stone to make zombies. Why has no one ever done this before. What is even the point of this.

Izumi is horrified when a baby touches her because this show just loves hammering in how she's a frail woman traumatized by her inability to have babies.

Father uses Hyper Beam.

We spend another age talking about exactly who's going to go to the final battle. Olivier has to stay behind because she has a broken arm but the blind guy gets to go on ahead.

The Hyper Beam atomized half the building but Al and Hohenheim were somehow able to block it without dying. Ed's automail has taken damage but he can still move it because injuries are for losers.

Father smacks Hohenheim but he's still not dead.

Mustang burns the entire courtyard because what are power limits. (He explicitly says that actually every other time he's used fireballs he's been holding himself back, because this show just cannot stop escalating the Stu Power.) Riza is helping him aim because women get support roles. Mustang preens about clappy transmutation being awesome. Why does he even need to do that? He already has a transmutation circle on his gloves.

Then it's just three straight minutes of everyone blasting Father while Father just stands there looking grouchy. Greed attacks him and Father drops the shield to try to absorb him, but it doesn't matter because he can still raise walls at will without even clapping.

It looks like they might actually get a hit but Father pulls an energy blast out of nowhere. It destroys Ed's arm but somehow not any other part of him. Why doesn't he use his soul drain again? Why is anyone engaging in melee attacks against him when they have a whole battalion of soldiers to nuke him from orbit?

And now Ed and Ed alone is conveniently impaled just enough to immobilize him without giving him life-threatening injuries. This is so Alphonse can make the big sacrifice of repaying his soul to restore Ed's arm, because Truth is just such a nice person who trades so fairly in this. Somehow no one is able to attack Father during the long time they spend discussing this as he slooowly lumbers forward. Where did Greed go? His whole thing is invulnerability, he should totally still be mobile.

Shouldn't Ed's arm be mismatched on account of him losing it when he was way younger? And the fact he has automail welded into his shoulder? But the arm has just grown over that and somehow works fine. I guess Truth took care of that too because he's just so nice.

Ed screams a lot because that's his only emotion.

Yeah Greed is there, just watching this. So is everyone else, including the soldiers.

FMA Brotherhood Episode 63: "The Other Side of the Gateway"

And Ed is just punching him now. Because it's not like this series has "alchemist" in the title or anything. Everyone just stands there.

Then despite being weaker than he was before, Father is somehow able to pull out another nuke and then move super fast to grab Greed. Greed nobly sacrifices himself to kill Father because only homunculi are allowed the sweet release of death. But he still gets to talk with Ling for like a solid minute first about how totally irresistible Father's pull is.

We get a Sad Flashback Montage. Altogether I think it's longer than Al's sacrifice, and more people look sad. This show just has no concept of pacing. Putting noble sacrifices back-to-back diminishes the effect of each.

Then an extended sequence where Father gets a dressing-down by Truth. Last-minute contrived sympathetic moment where he's terrified of being reabsorbed by the Gate because he just wanted to experience the world. Too little too late, show. You cannot fix your complete failure to humanize him at all during the story with a last-minute reversal. Not every villain needs a humanizing sympathetic last moment. Sometimes it's better to just let them own their villainy. Like Dante!

(And given the way this show has handled previous villains I also get the impression we are supposed to laugh at how pathetic and scared he is, which makes me profoundly uncomfortable.)

Then everyone hands Ed a bunch of ways he can get Al back and he nobly refuses them and I'm sorry but I hate this. Him turning down one thing is just barely acceptable, but this utter deluge of possibilities just turns it into a farce for me. OH NO HOWEVER WILL WE SOLVE THIS TRAGEDY well actually there are a ton of solutions but we're going to turn them down to rationally come to the objectively perfect solution. There's no desperation, no tension or emotional weight. Also HE TOTALLY SHOULD HAVE USED HOHENHEIM, LET THAT DICKBAG BE GOOD FOR SOMETHING.

(Also, how on Earth is a Philosopher's Stone – a zillion lives – for one life an equivalent exchange?)

So instead Ed gives up his ability to use alchemy. Credit where credit's due, he does bring up Nina during his long, long speech about how very humble he is, which is a good callback. (Even though he really doesn't have that much reason to remember her in this continuity.)

TRUTH: That is the right answer, alchemist. You have beaten me.

And this is where it really clicked for me. This isn't about sacrifices, or moral choices, or tradeoffs. This is about winning. It's the gamer mentality: there is a perfectly optimal solution that will solve all your problems, and you just have to keep trying until you find it. Anything you lose you can get back if you just try harder. You never have to face any actual loss or consequence for your actions, because the world is fundamentally fair and just and will bail you out of everything if you can just figure out the right cheat code. That is the exact mentality OG so scathingly attacked in its conclusion, and I concur for all the reasons I've already stated. This all leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth.

When Al returns, May is hysterical but Hohenheim keeps a stiff upper lip.

Then Mustang declares he's going to… continue the Fuhrer's wishes? Of "national security" read: genocide?

Then Hohenheim reflects on his history with Homunculus because he's the real protagonist with a real connection to the villain. Armstrong tells him they'd have surely lost without Ed and Al despite all the evidence to the contrary. Y'know, maybe if Hohenheim didn't have to incapacitate himself shielding Ed's useless self he could've just solo'd Father with his superpowers. Also, if they were so integral why aren't they getting told this.

Then we continue following Hohenheim as he gets to calmly come to terms with his own mortality over Trisha's grave. Then he finally, finally dies.

I don't know why they keep doing the pixellated skin cracks. It looks so weird.

And then the ending montage is Hohenheim's entire life, because he was the real protagonist all along.

FMA Brotherhood Episode 64: "Journey's End"

We open with Mustang fixing Ishval. Team Mustang helpfully informs us they are doing this because they were so helpful in defeating Father. See, brown people, all you need to do is shut up and help the white people some more, and then they'll fix everything for you!

Marcoh is somehow still alive. He has a Philosopher's Stone because Brotherhood is just tripping over the things. He explicitly says it's made of Ishvalans and then says he wants to use it to heal Mustang's eyes "for the sake of Ishval". Wow. He instead nobly uses the souls of genocided brown people to heal the spine of a white dude, because being disabled is such a terrible, terrible fate no one could ever live with.

Cut to Scar. He's going to help restore Ishval's culture and religion, which I guess is cool with alchemy now? Also he's gonna be helped by an Ishvalan in the Amestrian military because the series really, really wants to hammer in that the oppressed have to work for the oppressors to get anything done.

Olivier seems to have saved Scar just to punk Mustang and oh my god is she still using kisama for Scar? Why is she such an awful person.

We cut to the Elrics, for once at a relatively reasonable point. Al is still recovering from muscle atrophy. Boy, it sure is a good thing there was an utterly nonsensical Deus ex Machina that prevented him from starving to death. Otherwise the heroes might not have gotten absolutely everything they wanted.

Oh, Fu died? So one character was polite enough to remove themselves from this hideously bloated cast after all. Good on you, Fu.

Ed ships Al and the little girl. Ew. Is this revenge for Al shipping Ed with his surrogate sister?

Ah, Al wants to learn alkahestry so he can save people like Nina in the future. That's good but really just hammers in how ridiculous it is alkahestry isn't common knowledge already.

Winry is being a nag and Ed is being a tsundere. Het culture continues to baffle me. He awkwardly proposes with equivalent exchange. Winry jokingly says equivalent exchange is nonsense. If only.

Ed is taller than Winry now. Boy it sure is great his growth wasn't stunted, that would almost be a consequence.

Ed ends by affirming equivalent exchange.

May is adult height in the ending photo, so yyyyeeeah that wasn't just stylistic, that was a little kid Al was crushing on.

WHY IS YOKI STILL ALIVE

Conclusion

So, uh, yeah, I'm honestly not impressed by the final boss fight. It's more a montage of everyone showing off their best moves than, you know, a fight. OG's battles with Greed and Sloth were much more visually and tactically interesting to me. I also don't like the battle royale aspect, and Al's sacrifice feels so tepid next to actually bringing Ed back from the dead. I did actually mist up a bit at Hohenheim offering to sacrifice himself, but it was ruined when my logical brain reminded me of the context and how yeah, there is no reason not to sacrifice him and he 100% deserves it. Honestly, though, I don't think I would have minded if the show had actually committed to its obvious desire to make Hohenheim the protagonist? He really is better-suited to it. He has an actual personal connection to the villain; he's the one making an actual sacrifice by turning against him; and he's the party member with the most power (except maybe MUSTANG THE MOST SPECIALEST). I genuinely think his death by the grave would have worked as an ending to the series, emotionally, if he had been the protagonist from the start. But then we'd have to have an old geezer as the protagonist of a shonen and that's just unthinkable.

For real, though, Brotherhood's finale is a great shonen finale. It is very prettily drawn and well-animated, and adequately wraps up the massive tangle of storylines with a feel-good bow. Everyone gets what they want and everyone's happy. The heroes' beliefs are affirmed. All problems are solved forever.

It's also all flash and no substance.

I read an interactive webcomic once, called NanQuest. As to be expected from an interactive story, it was pretty spiralling, and had a rather open-ended conclusion that left some mysteries unanswered. In the Q&A afterward, people hounded the author with questions, asking him what was going on with X, why didn't we get resolution on Y. I was right there with them.

In response, the author said something that stuck with me: "[The story is] like life. It's messy, not clean. No last words."

Now, you can say that's a load of crock, just a lazy author covering his butt with some pretentious platitude. And you might not be wrong. I certainly feel the same about a lot of works I feel are too open-ended. But in the case of NanQuest, I thought it made perfect sense, and put some things in perspective for me. Because you know, he's right. In real life, we don't always get to wrap everything up to our satisfaction before the end. Some problems are bigger than us. You can't dismantle a system of racism in a day or even a year. You can't always save everyone. You can't always get a perfect narrative finish to your subplots, a perfect fairytale ending. You don't always get last words.

We love stories because they're a world where we can get all those things. That's a comforting fantasy... but after I'm finished it just fades into the mists as I get up for another flawed, imperfect day in my life. And… maybe I'm just weird, but when a fantasy is too happy, it actually makes me feel worse. It doesn't mean anything to me when you say that these perfect people who had everything stacked in their favor got a happy ending. That makes me say, "But I'm not those people. This happy ending is for people who aren't me, who are better people than me." It's when I see horribly flawed characters go through awful trials and still make it out in the end that I can allow myself to think maybe I'll be okay too. It's through imperfections in stories that life bleeds through, that we are able to take something back with us. And I, personally, think that verisimilitude is worth some visceral dissatisfaction at the imperfection of a narrative.

What were Brotherhood's last words? The things it wanted to make sure happened before the end? A comforting lie. The world is just, it says. As long as you work hard enough, you can achieve your dreams. It doesn't matter how many sacrifices you have to make or how many people you have to hurt, because you can fix that too, in the end.

What were OG's last words? A hard truth. You can give everything you have and still lose. You can't have it all. At some point, you have to recognize that you're better off leaving the scab alone. There was no justice in Trisha's death. In trying to fix it, to assert justice onto the world, they only hurt themselves more. In trying to fix that, they hurt more than just themselves. But maybe, if they can accept that, they can find happiness in what still remains to them; maybe if it's possible to lose something and gain nothing, it's possible to get something for nothing too. Maybe. We don't know. It doesn't pretend to have all the answers. It's on us to complete this story, to take these lessons into our own lives. That's not a fun ending. But it's still, in its own way, a good one.

[ramblesandmumblesofanerd]

Weekly Review: Samurai Jack Season 5 Episode 8

Warning: Lengthy Post Which Contains Saucy Spoilers

Previously on Samurai Jack…

The search for the lost magical sword finally begins as Jack and Ashi search the crater of the last time portal Aku destroyed. But, as Jack recalls the day he lost his blade, he realizes that he did not lose his weapon; it left him. As the Samurai begins to meditate in an attempt to find his blade through a spiritual journey, Ashi fights off and destroys not only an entire army, but also the very woman who has tortured her for years; the High Priestess, her own mother. Jack, meanwhile, realizes the anger he has felt ever since Aku destroyed all of the time portals has blinded him and learns to balance his emotions once more, granting him an audience with three gods who bestow the sword to their chosen warrior. Now, with a newfound luster, Jack and Ashi begin their journey to Aku’s lair to finish what was started fifty years ago.

We begin the episode in distant space, as a strange, rectangular prism floats harmlessly in the vacuum until some stray asteroids push the vessel to Earth. The moment is ominous as all sounds prior to the object’s crash landing is slightly muffled in the void of space, making you feel slightly uncomfortable while you wonder what is inside it

Meanwhile, in a desert town resembling India, Jack and Ashi congregate in the equivalent of an airport terminal, as they are about to board an enormous camel which is no doubt pointed in the direction the two need to go. Jack tries some of the local cuisine, only to temporarily have his head turn into that of a fish. Ashi passes on trying the food.

As Jack and Ashi board their transport, space seems to be quite scarce, as a large group of green anthropomorphic tigers board with them. What follows for a brief moment is awkward, as the two warriors slightly fumble in their confined space. Ashi even notices that something is poking her...Jack’s sword. (...ugh.)

The moment doesn't last long, however, as Jack notices the tigers are literally spelling out their intentions to him, their shirts adorned with letters. Jack and Ashi defend themselves from their inevitable attack, in spite of more awkwardness, and eventually make their escape, opting to continue their journey on foot.

The next minute or so consists of more bonding between Jack and Ashi, as they find a small oasis to drink water from and make familiar hats out of the local fauna. They gaze into each other's eyes for a moment, yet remain silent as they smile and continue their journey.

As the two warriors forge ahead, the encounter a heavy sandstorm, which forces them to take refuge in a huge, monolithic, rectangular building. The two marvel at the advanced design of the place as they begin exploring the vast hallways. They soon realize, however, that this place was once a prison vessel, but no prisoners remain, only poisonous leech like creatures, one of which bites Ashi. Jack, ever quick thinking, sucks the venom out of Ashi's wound before it spreads, and determines leaving to be the best course of action, as a loud roar is heard in the distance.

The two try to make their escape, but the two take are confused by the ship’s design, losing their way to the exit. As they both apologize to one another for their current situation, they quickly try to navigate through what I have named the MC Escher Prison Ship, before finding a large, dome like cell that has been broken, much like the others before. It doesn't take them long to discover what once resided in this cell, as its resident has been the one chasing the two warriors. It has a monster made entirely of poisonous space leeches, which soon swarm Jack and Ashi. The two put up a good fight, but are overwhelmed by the sheer number of leeches, forcing them to make a tactical retreat.

As they run, the two warriors find a door with an automated scanner, which grants them access due to them not being prisoners. Inside is a wide variety of weapons and a computer system that tells Jack all about the monster, designated as Lazarus 92 (I would have gone for The Leech King, but okay), and how to defeat it with a specific device...or at least it would have had Jack not been distracted by Ashi testing one of the guns. Regardless, Jack tentatively takes the device, hoping to learn how to activate it when the time comes, as Ashi arms herself with a shield and spear-like weapon.

The two warriors creep through the halls, with Ashi taking point while Jack fumbles with the device. As the creature makes its next attack, Jack admits he cannot figure out the activation sequence. The two swap places, Jack now defending Ashi while she hides behind her shield with the device. Lazarus is smart however, using a nearby pipe to send a portion of itself to her. The leeches attack her, eating her leaf clothes before she can kill them.

So, yes...Ashi is now naked. Again.

Jack is flustered about this, but Ashi, having been raised in a non-traditional environment, doesn't catch on as to why Jack is acting so awkward about her lack of clothes, or why Jack would make her wear his robes (oh, sorry, his gi) for “protection”. Regardless the two fight on, as Lazarus separates itself into multiple copies to surround and overwhelm it’s prey. Ashi continues to fight with all if her skills while Jack makes one desperate attempt to activate the device, finally managing to do so before the leeches finally overtake their new meal. Jack and Ashi both scream, but before the leeches devour them, the device fully charges up and electrocutes the leeches to the point of killing them.

As Jack and Ashi recover, panting from the pain of both the leeches and electricity, they gaze upon one another. Then, without a word, the two kiss passionately to the tune of Dean Martin’s “Everybody Loves Somebody”.

Cut to credits.

Well, this was...an interesting episode to both watch and review. While I was expecting Jack and Ashi to bond in these recent episodes, I was not expecting their relationship to become this intense. On the one hand, I can see why they’ve have become more romantic and passionate. For one thing, Ashi has seen Jack’s heroism across the land and has this come to admire Jack in many regards, showing her evolution as a character. Plus, now that Jack has been reinvigorated by the gods, she has noticed his undisguised physic. Meanwhile, for Jack, I can see how he has come to admire his new friend just as much as she does for him. When they first met and truly interacted with one another, he felt concern for her in spite of her intentions to kill him. He saw a lost soul in need of help. Then things came full circle when he was the one in need of help and Ashi saved him from The Omen’s influence. Also, the Samurai has quite clearly noticed the former assassin’s skills, sometimes being left flabbergasted by her finesse. Plus, he has also grown to like her on a physical level, as shown a couple episodes ago after the Omen was destroyed. So, in essence, this relationship was feasible from the start.

On the other hand, however, it will take time for me to get used to this newfound sense of romance between the warriors. It’s not that I hate this romance, far from it (I ship it like a harbor), it's just that prior to this development I saw their relationship as more of a “father/daughter” or “teacher/student” style rather than romantic. But, again, there were subtle hints in earlier episodes, so I can't complain too much about this, even if the relationship does feel a tad rushed in spite of the aforementioned hints. Plus, this relationship gives Jack a reason to fight in spite of the time portals being destroyed. Maybe now Jack can accept that he cannot get back to the past, but he can make a new life alongside Ashi once they defeat Aku. But, that will have to wait for the next two episodes, the final episodes of Samurai Jack.

In the meantime, never stop rambling, TM

Oh, and Genndy. My man. Good choice on the music.

Reblogs are always appreciated. YouTube version https://youtu.be/3O0D4EgW6vY