#but the subtext is *there* and now it's everyone else's problem. and I love a good situationship so

[agnesandhilda]

I don't think blue lock will commit to having any undeniably queer characters in the main text (no, not even the one you're thinking of right now) but at the same time I do believe that these guys are gonna think back to these obsessive intensely physical rivalries they used to have with each other as adults and think "okay. so that awoke something in me"

[worstsequence]

[love-byers]

....wait . there are people who don't think the show is centered around will? there are people who don't think a core part of s5 will be wills culmination as a character?? there are people who don't think the entire supernatural plot will circle back to will???

besides the fact that the duffers LITERALLY CONFIRMED that will is the center of s5...

the show itself literally tells you. that is the narrative they've been pushing the entire time.

the entire first season is about finding will. every single plotline is connected to finding will.

mike and the boys are using el to find will

jonathan and nancy are working together to hunt the monster they believe has taken will and barb

joyce is trying to communicate with will to find out where he is and how to save him

hopper is a cop investigating the case, and eventually he and joyce team up to investigate further into the lab conspiracy, believing it's tied to wills disappearance

a massive chunk of s2 is about wills connection to the upside down. he's being hunted by the mind flayer and used as a spy, causing a lot of the conflict but also leading to the resolution.

now that we know vecna was behind all of that, that open so many doors for will in s5. if you use your fucking peanut brain for 5 seconds you'll realize there are lots of things we don't know surrounding will and vecna that will come to light in s5. vecna specifically sought will out and hunted him down. remember s2?

"It wanted to kill you?"

"Not me. Everyone else."

we're also getting flashbacks of will in the upside down so we can see exactly what happened to him the week he was there. clearly there's something important we don't know about. the upside down is literally frozen on the day will went missing. but will isn't important and won't be a big part of s5?

s3 is the first time will is less significant to the plot. he still has the connection to the mind flayer and his ability to sense it is still relevant to the story and helps push it along. bit still, he had significantly less lines and screen time. much of his story is portrayed as him struggling to 'grow up' and not being interested in romance like the others. there are several jokes that present will as simply being childish and reluctant to grow out of it. which a lot of people found sort of annoying. i remember seeing a lot of people enjoying s3, but wishing will had more depth and importance.

but we now know that that's not the whole truth. all of that, him being annoyed and disinterested by romance, just wanting to play dnd with the party, and fighting with mike was all subtext leading into his sexuality and the fact that he's in love with mike. that's been confirmed by actors and the duffers themselves. though will's sexuality was always hinted at, it wasn't meant to fully come to light until s4. so they tried to pass it off as will just being childish. they tried to pass of mike and wills conflict as only being about dnd and growing up. a prime example of this is will tearing down castle byers after his fight with mike. he rips the photo of the core 4 as the ghostbusters down the middle, aka where he and mike are in the center. that is easily passed off as just being about the friend group. people BELIEVED that it was just about the friend group, and that there was no way will was in love with mike. but it's now literally confirmed that he is. like it's insane how many people never even considered that as a possibility. people literally just tune out parts of the show they don't immediately find interesting. i've seen so many comments on byler scenes, for example "it's not my fault you don't like girls", saying "wait i don't remember this scene when did he say that??" people just don't pay attention or think deeper than surface level, which in this case is okay because wills sexuality was meant to be something you slowly realized. the problem comes when people just start denying its significance and refusing to see it for what it is.

if you take in all of will's story with mike and whittle it down to "stupid gay crush on best friend" i don't know what show YOUVE been watching. did you forget that will only remembered his mom and mike when he was possessed and lost his memory? that mike recounting the day they met was enough for will to break through and communicate while possessed? that will puts mikes happiness before his own? that will has literally said he needs mike and always will?

it's not a crush that will can just get over. you know we actually have an example of a simple crush and it's dustin and max. how did that work out? dustin got over max very quickly and it's no biggie. he didn't go on a monologue about how he needs max and always will. he just thought she was cool and pretty.

also, the show spends so much time getting the audience to feel bad for will and want to see him happy. you are SUPPOSED to like him. you are supposed to have empathy for him. will is written to be extremely gentle, kind, and selfless.

will is too nice to say anything bad about anyone, even after being viscously bullied and called slurs for years. even by his own father, WHO HE STILL CANT TALK BAD ABOUT!!!

no matter how much will suffers, he remains kind and selfless. he gave a girl his tonka truck knowing joyce couldn't by him another one. mike says they shouldn't give up on looking for him because will sacrificed himself in dnd to save the party. remember the whole thing in s2 about joyce getting on will for constantly apologizing even when he did nothing wrong? there is no point to that besides evoking empathy for him!!!!! he is sweet and sensitive and doesn't deserve any of this!!!!!!!!

and about bylers being delusional for thinking will and mikes relationship will be a big part of s5 and the culmination of everything in a show about monsters killing people, here's a quote from shawn levy, who has directed many stranger things episodes

"People talk about mythology and The Upside Down, and all that is huge, but the magic of S5 are the characters who find sense of belonging with other and through that connection, become heroes."

everyone loves the stranger things relationships until they're queer. when they're queer suddenly there's no time for romance in a sci fi show, the writers actually suck, and they're just baiting. lumax and their love for each other was a core plot of the season where the big bad was trying to kill her all season. there is an entire plot point about max's memory of kissing lucas at the snow ball saving her life. in a show like this, there is time for relationships and supernatural stuff because they are interwoven when the time comes. they can do the exact same thing with byler in s5. s5 is going to be the longest season thus far. there will definitely be time for relationship development.

so yeah. call me delusional but i don't think the show will end with wills feelings for mike unresolved or with them just evaporating. given everything we know about s5 (relationships and finding belonging being an important factor, noah and finn constantly filming together, leakers saying will has a love interest) and everything we already know about the relationship formulas in ST, literally all the signs are pointing to byler. the only rebuttal people have is calling us delusional because the writers just wouldn't do that. if you actually push past the heteronormativity and consider the fact that the duffers do want to represent queer people in a way that doesn't reinforce the idea that we can never find love or be happy, things will start making a lot more sense.

i'm sorry to have to say this about mike but mike is a character presumed straight who hasn't been super relevant in the supernatural plot for 2 seasons now, just as long as will. his significant plot points are related to el or will. relationship development. and unlike will, he has been an ACTUAL asshole!!!! lots of people stopped liking mike as much after s2 because of his personality change. (ofc i still love mike, but there's been multiple plot lines about mike being a dick for no reason and apologizing for it) but no one has VISCERAL hatred for him like they do will byers. not saying mike deserves hate, cause he certainly doesn't, but the problems people have with will, they only have with will. any other character doing it is fine. 2 seaons of wills feelings for mike is boring and distracting but 2 seasons of mike having the same 'i love you' problems with el isn't?

i'm not saying the sudden hate for will is because it's now clear that he's gay but im kind of saying it

some people can't sympathize with queer issues because they don't care about queer people. they don't empathize with queer people. queer issues bore them.

will byers i will ALWAYS defend you. you are safe with me pookie

[battlekidx2]

Hazbin Hotel Episodes 5 and 6 Thoughts

Wow. These two episodes of Hazbin Hotel were easily the best out of the series so far. They’re still working at a breakneck pace, but these episodes were so much more focused than the first 4 that it worked significantly better. The A and B plots of both these episodes were cleanly tied together so that no one part felt insignificant.

One of the biggest problems with the first four episodes was the fact that the split focus pulled the episode in different directions and made it so that reveals didn’t get the build up they needed to really feel impactful and pushed the Hazbin Hotel to the background so it felt insignificant in its own show. 

The second biggest problem in those episodes was that Charlie’s wish for her people, for redemption, and attempt to get into heaven to avoid extermination felt like it wasn’t the driving force it should have been. 

But these two episodes really fix that and expand on the characters really well. I’m just going to go through what I loved the most.

Alastor

I absolutely loved what we got from Alastor in episode 5. He really is the highlight of the show for me. There’s just so many layers to his character that the show isn’t rushing to peel back like it is with everyone else and it makes his character so intriguing.

I liked the fact that this episode hints that he truly does care about the hotel and wants it to succeed. It’s not only entertainment like he initially claimed. That moment where he sends Mimzy away was really telling. There isn’t even a hint of sinister subtext, sarcasm, or a joke in his voice or face when he tells her she can’t stay if she isn’t going to take redemption seriously.

The way his eyes twitch when she says he can’t seriously care about the hotel is such a great little detail.

I really like this point. The main theme of the show is redemption and showing that even someone like Alastor can care about the hotel is a direction I wanted the show to go in from the pilot, but something I wasn’t sure we would actually get. But I liked that it’s getting hinted at this early, especially since we now know there’s a season 2 and it can get fleshed out much more and can probably get to the point where he might grow into an actual mentor for Charlie instead of it being performative to spite Lucifer like it was in this episode.

(side note: I like that Charlie defends his actions against her father. She sees it as protecting the hotel, which we learn is the truth. He did do it for pride, but he also cares about the hotel and does want to protect it. I like to see that Charlie’s ability to see the best in people does pay off at least somewhat.)

That little hint of care to his actions with the hotel isn’t all we get to see of Alastor's layers. He is still the infamous Radio Demon after all, so we also get to see his pride at play.

It’s his pride being hurt by Lucifer that causes him to play up his role in Charlie’s life. It’s his pride being hurt that leads him to taking on the loan sharks alone both to remind everyone of his power and to show what else he brings to the hotel.

It’s also what causes him to go off on Husk. Husk is the only character willing to call Alastor out. He knows Alastor better than anyone else at the hotel because of their past and his ability to see through his facade. And he hurts Alastor's pride when he calls him out with the truth: That he's on a leash just like him.

The reveal that Alastor is also on someone’s leash was expected, but well executed.

This episode let Alastor’s mask slip a bit and we got to see more of his real emotions/feelings about things.

Alastor was the character I thought would have the most layers to them. Characters like Charlie, Angel Dust, and Vaggie wear what they feel a bit more openly than a character like Alastor (or at the very least their true feelings come out more frequently). There are motives and mysteries behind Alastor’s actions that aren’t clear with him like they are with everyone else and his demeanor, words, and actions can conflict with his true feelings and that’s what draws me to him so much. His usual (kinda) goofy and cavalier attitude, cold and ruthless demeanor that can come out at the flick of a switch, and infamous past make it so learning about Alastor's true intentions and introducing the idea of him changing and coming to care is very intriguing to me.

I just think that Alastor is the character that is working the best in the show right now because his plotline and development is not going at a breakneck pace. We’ve only gotten hints about why he was gone for seven years, who he sold his soul to, why he appeared to help with the hotel, etc. His character progression is also taking its time. This is the first real hint we get that he does genuinely care about the hotel in his own way and it’s 5 episodes in. This is the kind of pacing and development that the whole show would benefit from. 

This isn’t meant to be a shot at the show. I think it was put into a complicated situation because it was picked up initially for only 8 episodes (this is the type of show and large cast that needs at least twice as many) and was only renewed about halfway through the production of the first season, which I think explains why these episodes felt more coherent and fleshed out than the first four.

I really can’t wait to see where his character heads. He's still a walking question mark as of right now and every time we get a glimpse at his true intentions it's always fascinating because it's never clear cut where he stands.

Side note: I find it hilarious that Alastor created a rivalry between himself and Lucifer. The literal king of hell. Lucifer hurt Alastor’s pride and he immediately decided he would be as petty as possible towards him.

Charlie

I was always in the boat that Charlie was an interesting protagonist. The pilot set up a character that was very intriguing for the setting she was placed into. I didn’t think the three episodes necessarily handled her the best, but I think that was more a result of the rushed pacing and bloated plot. She’s handled significantly better from episode 4 on.

Episode 6 is where I think Charlie really came into her own as the protagonist of this series. The song where she stood up to heaven really sold me on her character. 

“If hell is forever then heaven must be a lie. If angels can do whatever and remain in the sky. The rules are shades gray when you don’t do as you say. And you make the wretched suffer just to kill them again.”

Up until this point Charlie felt a bit limited in her actions. It really amounted to trust exercises and the hotel residents acting out made up situations. She seemed naive and well meaning, but ill equipped to actually address the mental health issues her people had due to the fact her upbringing was so sheltered. There was the potential for more, but it wasn’t given the time I felt it deserved.

But this is where she really got to step up and call out the inequality and hypocrisy of heaven. This is where we got to see her backbone and the true extent of her care for her people. She won’t back down or accept the flimsy excuses they use to persecute the denizens of hell.

I also really liked her belief in Angel Dust. Yeah, he made some mistakes (at least from heaven’s point of view), but Charlie had complete faith in the fact that he would meet their requirements. It’s this characteristic of her’s that is intrinsic to bringing out the best in the residents of the hotel and before this point it was on the periphery (like with Angel Dust in episode 4) or implied. 

Episode 6 showed how important that characteristic is, especially to people who feel like they’re damned. (I like that Charlie is a good judge of character. It’s easy to take someone that’s privileged and naive and make them too trusting, but these two episodes show her belief in the best in the people at the hotel is founded.)

Another point I liked is that she was getting through to some of the angels. It’s a recurring gag that her presentations aren’t great. They’re written in crayon, flowery, and a little basic, but it’s the passion and critical thinking that she expresses in her presentations that shows that she can be a capable leader. 

She effectively poked holes in their argument that the sinners in hell deserve to be there and had their chance.

Her duet with Emily was really good. The way she brought back “Hell is Forever” to call the angels and exorcists out was the best (as you could probably tell from the fact that I quoted it). It also introduces a theme that the next generation will work to change things. Both Emily and Charlie want things to be different and clash with their parents who are both afraid that their child might end up like Lucifer. It’s a very clear parallel that sets up a lot of plot potential.

Charlie really was great in these episodes.

Angel Dust

I will admit I think aspects of Angel’s arc are rushed. Him standing up to Val is a big moment and I like the fact that it happened while Charlie is trying to show heaven that they are wrong about sinners, but I wish that we had gotten more time to build to Angel Dust being able to “stick it to the man” because of how powerful I think his arc is and the themes it deals with.

Episode 4 was the first time we really got to see beneath Angel’s mask and truly see the potential for change that Charlie does. We only really got hints that Angel wanted to change, but was scared to try in the first 3 episodes. We also know that he doesn’t feel safe even when he’s not around Valentino. 

Episode 4 is the turning point for him. When Val was abusing him he asked him not to hurt Charlie. His concern was solely for her in that moment despite the fact he was in the more tenuous position. He even forgives Charlie at the end because he knows her intentions are good. Plus his connection with Husk helped him find understanding so that he could come to feel like he could change. 

It was the real start of his growth and it was well done in my opinion. 

I just wish it had gotten a little more breathing room because while I do really like the plot points that occur in this episode I feel like they happened a bit too soon. (I know that it's been a few months in canon, but we didn't get to see that, so that slow progression doesn't have the impact it should)

I also liked that it called back to the pilot where she told the news that he was their patron and he ended up making them look bad because he was indulging in all his bad habits from before, but now it’s almost the opposite. Yeah, he drinks and does some drugs, but he shows his growth and proves Charlie’s point about sinners and it makes the angels argue among themselves.

Vaggie

The reveal that Vaggie was an ex-exorcist was something a lot of people made theories about. It was one that I wanted to be true because of what it would mean for Charlie and the dynamic of the hotel. I liked how it was revealed to Charlie.

This is another plot point that I think is rushed, but I think the execution is better than a lot of the other reveals that happened earlier in the series.

I feel like this reveal was a bit necessary for Vaggie’s character and the episode’s focus wasn’t split and I think that’s why I’m not as hard on it being rushed as I am on earlier plot points. Vaggie was the member of the hotel I thought suffered the most from the limited time/episode count.

The only focus she got was episode 3 and her arc in that episode was a bit clunky, which wasn’t helped by the fact that the other half of the episode with the overlords of hell was more interesting because it set up what looks like it will be a long term conflict and revealed a major plot point. 

The rest of the hotel residents got slower paced, less cluttered focus. Alastor has been subject to quite a few plot lines and is a slow burn mystery with a lot of potential for growth. Angel Dust is the hotel’s first patron and the character positioned to be the poster boy for redemption, so of course his development is given the spotlight. Husk has a unique dynamic with everyone (Alastor and Angel in particular) and is a foil to Angel Dust which makes him a central figure/mentor in Angel getting himself together. Etc.

I think this creates a lot of potential for her character leading into the last two episodes and gives her depth that I really want to see explored. I don’t really know what to say about the reveal beyond the fact that I’m really excited to see how this shakes Charlie and the hotel. How will this effect the other residents? Will Vaggie take a stand against the angels when they come for the hotel? Will we see her grief/conflict over her past actions now that they’ve been revealed?

There’s so many directions they can take this that I can’t wait for episode 7.

One smaller note is that I wish that the threat of Adam telling Charlie about Vaggie's secret had played more of a part in the episode and Vaggie actually had to choose between standing beside her girlfriend or stopping her. She just excuses herself to the restroom instead of making that choice and it felt like a missed opportunity.

Lucifer

Lucifer is a very interesting character in the limited screen time he’s had so far. The direction they took him is different from most of the other dads in Hazbin Hotel/Helluva Boss. The fact that he does care and was the person that was the original motivation for Charlie to open the Hazbin Hotel is a refreshing direction to take after all the bad dads this series has. 

He’s so afraid that Charlie will end up like him. That she’s putting her faith in the wrong people. That hell’s denizens aren’t capable of redemption. All these fears stem from his own crushed dreams from his fall at the hands of heaven. 

It’s a nice change of pace.

I also love how he’s just as petty as Alastor, taking any shot he can at the Radio Demon to one up him when it comes to their respective relationships to Charlie.

Extra Thoughts

Sir Pentious having a crush on Cherry Bomb, but being absolutely horrible at acting on it was really funny. Sir Pentious is such a fun character.

I love that the theory that Alastor made a deal with Lilith seems more and more plausible with every episode. It certainly would explain the fact that they were both gone for seven years and how Alastor was such a dominant force in hell from the start. I want Alastor’s backstory asap.

I like that Alastor’s overwhelming power among sinners is re-established here. He’s someone that you don’t mess with. And I like that the way that people don’t react to him as much as before is because of his 7 year absence. I did think it was strange that he’s so infamous for brutally toppling powerful overlords, but people don’t go running like you’d expect in the first few episodes.

Alastor and Husk have such a complicated dynamic. I really want to learn more about their history. Alastor has no problems tearing overlords that come across him apart, but Husk ended up with a deal to keep his power. Why is that? And while Alastor does own his soul Husk will call him out on things and can read him so much better than anyone else. Alastor lets these slide until he points out that Alastor is also on a leash like him. And Alastor had to have told Husk that he sold his soul because how else would Husk know that. All these things make for one of the most interesting and complicated dynamics of the show.

I do want to make clear that I think Alastor is a character of duality and contradiction. There's a hint that he does care about the hotel and the possibility of him growing to care for the residents, but he's still the sadistic and cruel Radio Demon. There's just a glimpse of change there now.

I really like the parallels between Emily and Charlie. I really like the idea that this seems to set up that the next generation is going to step up and take a stand against the mistakes of the previous generation. This one episode set the groundwork for a really interesting arc for Emily and her potential dynamic with Charlie.

I love Angel Dust. That's it. I just wanted to say that.

[a-dauntless-daffodil]

it hurts me. the parallel of Charlie at the start of ep 1, so excited about showing her plans for the hotel to heaven she doesn't see how VERY NOT excited about it Vaggie is (cough angel kicked out by heaven for not doing enough murder cough cough), even while getting literally up in Vaggie's face.....

and then Vaggie, when Charlie comes drooping home after that all crashed and burned spectacularly- now it's VAGGIE so excited to show CHARLIE the new and improved hotel commercial she got everyone to make while Charlie was away... now it's Vaggie, up close and basically physically pressing her excitement into her girlfriend, not seeing how utterly crushed Charlie is right then

like, clearly Vaggie expected the heaven meeting to not live up to Charlie's hopes for it. Clearly she REALLY wanted to have something GOOD AND HOPEFUL for Charlie to come home to afterwards

-which would have worked too, if the Extermination schedule update hadn't interrupted the commercial airing

look at how habby Charlie was finding out about the commercial

awww

"heaven isn't homophobic" well then what do you call them interrupting this lesbian's hard won cheer-up-the-girlfriend effort huh? what was that then. not only cruel but also an insult to us queers everywhere. one of the only real sins we ever see in the show, tbh

but gods, they give each other so much CONFIDENCE, chaggie and the mutual "I can do this for her" / "She thinks I can do this and I will" synergy...

and it keeps fucking their relationship up. GODS

how they mirror and act like they're trying to literally meld into each other, while both being So Bad at actually SAYING when and why they're upset about something Serious-

when they're also clearly wanting to share SO MUCH of what they feel specifically with the woman they love!!!!

and how that sometimes blinds them both, over and over again, to the moments when (ironically) their other half needed them to be a little less sure, for a second, that things are or would be okay. Share less of their own conviction, that they got from the other one in the first place

When instead of needing answers to the obvious problem, they both needed to be asked hey IS something wrong? is there ANOTHER problem here actually??

they both put so much of themselves into each other, they both rely on the other one for their sense of self-worth and the strength they need to be The One Who Get Things Done and The One Who Always Has A Plan

that's so DELICIOUSLY fucked up. the flip side to love,

(Vaggie freaking out feeling her existence is pointless while thinking she's failed Charlie, and Charlie losing so much hope just at the thought Vaggie might not really love or believe in her)

when someone else is walking around with your heart beating in their chest because you yourself put it there

heck, their resolution in s1 ISN'T even them hashing things out or communicating better! they don't NEED that- (yet) they JUST need each other! (soooooo fucked up I LOVE it) the thing that brings them back together is Vaggie fully letting go of her angel past to focus on her life with Charlie and tapping back into her whole self for first time since meeting Charlie, it's Charlie the singer and giver of heartfelt motivational speeches having her mind blown by words meaning less than actions as her partner who lied to her is also off right that moment doing everything she can to protect what they've built

the big moment is NOT them actually TALKING about what happened or why it happened. it doesn't matter!!! (to them) Their hurt came from being scared of losing each other, they meet up at the hotel gates and just seeing the other one there is Enough!

they happily return to status quo minus some secrets and plus some more confidence in what they have.... which means the rest of this stuff, the root cause of it all, the unaddressed subtext that they NEED to be fucked up together in an active, intentional, KNOWING way but are so good at inspiring and supporting each other that it just, doesn’t, happen..... that's all still there.

(i see you, Charlie sitting alone with your story of hell book and being shocked at your long time girlfriend coming up to your shared room, being around to see you sad, you putting on a smile and trying to wave it off bc yeah she's right you AREN'T alone anymore. technically)

(i see you, Vaggie asking to be left alone on a rooftop so you can deal with a devastating blow to your whole sense of self as 100% unintentionally dealt by your loving girlfriend who WANTS to be there for you through this but who YOU can't face until you're ready to shoulder the blame and apologize to her)

(i see you both trying so hard to help each other and not letting yourselves be helped)

(because no clearly you don't need it, clearly this is all already so much better that what you used to have and you're doing so much better, and what if you're still not good enough for it actually-)

chaggie is so happily, catastrophically entertwined and i hope they spend the next thousand years suffering through it together

[dropthedemiurge]

Some language comments for Gray Shelter [Episode 5], just like I promised!

"Do whatever/however you want to. (literally: 'Do it the way your heart desires') You do things how you want to anyway."

"I'm sorry" - the translation is correct, it's just it's funny how Yoondae's level of apology to his friend he just lashed out at last time + he wants to ask him for HELP, and all he says is: 미안 (mian). The most informal and short way of apologizing possible. He's so teenager-minded still.

Even when he asks "Can I leave my stuff in your dad's warehouse?" it comes out grammatically more of a demand, like 'Let me do that'. Yoondae is talking like someone who has a lot of walls and doesn't reach out to people, he doesn't talk kindly but he's honest and straightforward and he cries easily but he's very angry about it.

I especially love his facial expression, even when he's at his most miserable, he'll make it everyone else's problem, as if being pitiful is the worst thing that could happen to him. "I have no one else I could ask for help but you >:(("

Fun fact about Korean's sentence structure, when you quote someone or express your thoughts, you put your sentence this way: "quoted phrase" and then + "that's what they said/what i thought/etc". So oftentimes, I see Kdramas use that trick when characters say a phrase... and then take it back with "that's someone else's thoughts" or "that's what you thought I'd say, right? LMAO". It's funny how the translators' way of transferring this was using the word "Sike!" xD

"It wasn't a mistake to me." "If it wasn't a mistake, then [what]? Since you started talking [about it], let me ask you. So what if it wasn't a mistake? What do you want to achieve with me?" "Can I do anything about it? In the past or now, you're the one who runs away and avoids me. I asked you, can I make a decision (do I have any choices)?" "You made the move but you want me to decide? Fine, then. Let sleep together once and end it once and for all. Go wash up first. I don't have time, I only left office for a short time."

The way they both care about each other but their dialogues and words are very sharp and bitter almost all the time, especially here, aaaah. That's the contrast that hooked me for all these 5 episodes. Soohyuk doesn't swear but he's talking to Yoondae very harshly and emotionless here, and for Yoondae harsh talk is the default, it's like Soohyuk is lowering his manners to talk on his level, to provoke him (or maybe that's also how he distances himself from the discovery that Yoondae has feelings for him).

And Yoondae is holding back his frustration and tears, but he understands the way such words were aimed to hurt him, so instead of lashing out back at Soohyuk, as he probably wants him to, he swallows and unusually calmly, almost softly says: "Let's talk when you can be honest. Because I will shut up and wait for you."

And it makes Soohyuk stand there in shock and contemplate.

I'll add next scenes in READ MORE since this post is getting long!

Here's the moment when the boss asks their youngest employee to write something more 'trendy' for their marketing text xD It's very true that trends in Korea come and go very quickly, they also love to invent new terms and phrases all the time. Like "MZ slang", there are many phrases, and the one trendy phrase the boss uses as the example is 킹받네 (king-pad-nae) which literally written as 'receive the king' but means "I got angry" - but with a teasing/playful subtext, like friends could say each other 'ah you're so cute, it makes me angry'.

If I'm not wrong, this phrase was widely used like 1-2 years ago and not really in its trendy peak as well right now but kudos to boss to even learning it xD And it's funny how translator chose to (I assume) use "[living in my head] rent-free" phrase as a substitute. Another fun fact, they ended up using some trendy lingo in their ad that translator gave us as "no cap!" but that part of phone msg was so blurry, I couldn't see which exact Korean phrase they ended up using x)

"Hyung, if you have any ask for help, say so. For you, 2 million... No, I'll try to give you until 3 million won in any way."

Can I just say that we had this character for one moment and I'm so not ready to let him go, I want Jeongwan to have his own storyline and everything and he's too sweet and also caring for strangers/his colleagues, and so he stole the spotlight for me xD

Yoondae said there's no food at home. But also, as you can see, there is: beer, water, rice that you can cook in the microwave, kimchi for a side dish and some other microwaved food. According to my Korean friends, typical Korean person (poor like student) can survive if they have rice, kimchi and also ramyeon. That's their the most basic food. Just a fun fact. xD

Also he was on his third can of beer, and he already made a drunken longing call on the verge of tears to Soohyuk, lying about being hurt and bringing trouble just so he'd return home. "Is that okay with you?" - just shoot me, please. :')

"I called [the cleaning service/you] to tell you to stop it [sleeping outside of home]" "Let's have that dinner [that I promised you] today. Wait for me."

After days, Yoondae was ready to give up, he "tricked" Soohyuk to return home just so he could tell him he'll move out and stop pushing any talk. And then, Soohyuk brought up the dinner (the feelings) that he kept avoiding. No wonder Yoondae looked so struck and confused. It just gave him his hopes back (and viewers too, but we probably should've known better with this kind of series haha)

Interesting cultural context: they are getting samgyeopsal - grilled meat, chosen by Soohyuk because Yoongdae said there wasn't anything he wanted to eat. And usually, the youngest one has to set the cutlery and grill meat, out of respect for the seniors. And here we see that Soohyuk is the one choosing the place, menu and even grilling the meat and pouring soju for Yoondae.

Once again, it shows that despite Yoondae's emotions and pleads, he is not mature enough, he is not ready to focus on other people. We know he can't plan his own future, he doesn't know what to do, and we see where their relationship stands now - Yoondae is still more of a burden than an equal partner to Soohyuk, and Soohyuk is more of a parent.

Even when they drink soju (in Korean drinking etiquette usually you don't drink alone, you toast together and drink together), notice how they don't even clink their glasses together, then Soohyuk is the only one drinking and Yoondae wants to follow him but puts the glass back. He's taking a shot later, when Soohyuk grills the meat again. They are totally unsynchronized at this point of their lives, and it's painful to watch.

"I said he [my father] was dead because that's the truth/reality for me. There was no other [hidden] meaning. I didn't plan to lie to you."

"I moved out completely. If I don't organize my life starting from doing this, then I don't think I'll be able to live like all the other [normal] people."

The fact that Yoondae started thinking about improving his life (the word 'organizing'), immediately made Soohyuk stop in surprise. So he started asking what does the normal life like others mean to him, hopeful to find that equal adult footing from Yoondae... but Yoondae's thoughts stopped there. And Soohyuk offered his own goal and life meaning: "to have a place to go back to, that's enough for me".

Here's when Yoondae thoughtfully agreed with him: "It's important to have a home", and took the meat tongs from Soohyuk, saying how high-maintenance he is. Yoondae embraced that realization, he took the responsibility (even a small cultural gesture) and even though Yoondae nagged him, Soohyuk smirked. Because it wasn't a completely hopeless situation. And Yoondae proved it, by saying how eating like this and going home together is his normal life as well. (and yet they were still unsynchronized until the very end! we can't have happy ending yet)

AND HERE IS WHERE I HAVE TO MAKE A SECOND POST! Because tumblr only allows 30 images in one, and I can't stop screenshotting the last conversation so I'm going to make another post that you can find in 'gray shelter comments' or 'dropthemeta' tags (upd. or here's the link to the post!)^^

[nadiajustbe]

I know people in HMC books speak English so there's not gonna be any kind of miscommunication between the characters, but sometimes I think about how it would be way more funny If there was some language diversity.

Howell Jenkins falls into the portal to an absolutely unknown, magical realm and... everyone speaks English. He was rather happy about it, finding it funny: it's a new, fantasy, fairy-tale based world with dragons and spells and seven-league boots and magic, and yet its habitants English. What are the odds?

However, it does not takes him long to realise (much to his own frustration) that, even though all of the locals native language is, in fact, English, it is pretty different from the English Howell himself is familiar with. He cant understand it quite well at fist, but it sounded like an odd mix of a modern language, specific dialects and an old tongue people was using around Victorian England/Middle Ages. It has so many words and unusual forms (Howell even called them "slang" once in a while), that it takes him a while to fully get every term and subtexts ms. Pentstemmon was referring to.

Their languages were similar just enough to catch the full sense of the sentence, but not enough to undertand all the little details, not cultural nor linguistic. It would even worst If he wasn't a big fun of Shakespeare and old Arthurian Legends growing up, letting alone studying old English (and old Welsh) at the university.

The language also differs from the area. Michael, for example, uses so many words you can hear in Porthaven only, regarding it's unique aspects. Sophie uses a lot of Market Chipping proverbs, and even more old terms connected with hats. The language he heard the King using wheh he got his first chance to met him at the time of his apprenticeship was so long, confusing and vivid, as If it was taken straight out of old English Literature books. And yet, English.

To this day Howell — at this point long-knowing as Howl Pendragon — finds himself confusing new terms, forms of words, proverbs and sayings. Maybe, he thinks, you have to be truly born there to understand all of - although he did better than anyone else would. Sophie seems to catching up just well.

—

Abdullah ends up with a flying carpet and the magical genie, exited to give away his fist wish to find the love of his love... only to not understand a word of what the genie is saying. This is how, instead of searching for Flower-In-The-Night, he now searching through a whole Zanzib for a proper translator from English because, here's the problem, If he can't understand the genie, then genie can't understand him, and If genie can't understand him, it's pointless to even try making a wish. He knows it's English: there's plenty people all around the world visiting the market, and he had even learnt certain words, important for making a trade, but that's not nearly close to a full sentence on unrelated topic.

With a great effort and after hours of searching for a really proffecional master of languages (who charges Abdullah nearly all of his money for one single session), he finally gets to the point. Except, here's another moment. That's where Abdullah finds out the wish has to be spoken from his heart and not through the other person. Here comes another catch — Ingarian English, no matter how simple or structured is, to put is simply, badly different from Rapshutian Arabic. It's not even the same language group!

So, he sits in the small, hot room near the glamorous bottle and tries to pronounce a bunch of difficult, complex words written on a paper, the kind that translator couldn't cut or simplify to ones he's familiar with, for a whole ten (to fifteen) minutes. And, as If trying to make his task as difficult as possible, genie, when he shows up, starts randomly breaking into the language translator can't even recognise, with no talk about understanding. Abdullah assumes it may be a secret genie language only this creatures know and, annoyingly, gets along with it.

After successfully wishing to understand (and use) English, he also finds out he can't wish for anything more language-related, and he shouldn't even bother himself trying to ask for a foolish things like an ability to speak every language in the world. Language is a big part of human's essence and otherwise shouldn't be messing with, just as magic focusing on it is strictly limited.

Using this fact, the genie also finds a loophole - from now on he speaks his secret genie language half of the time, stopping only when it comes to important tasks, because Abdullah "wished to know only one of his languages" and he, apparently, knows more.

This whole puzzle takes new turns, when, while traveling with the carpet, Abdullah meets the solider. Despite claiming being from Strangia, this strange man from the forest starts speaking with them in English in first and then, noticing they're from different country, easily switches to Arabic.

As they wander together, the soliders explains that he is non less confused than they are: he didn't even noticed he could speak English before the passer-byes from Ingary noticed him, and now, being with genie and Abdullah, he also remembered he knows Arabic. He adds that he can't recall anything before his duty in the army, where he definitely used Stangian and nothing else, but it feels like an strong knowledge he has, even If he doesn't remember learning any of this. He decides to wave it off, focusing on the cats and schemes.

The solider becomes a great translator for them along the journey, up to the day the got the inn. He does not understand the secret genie language, though. Especially when from the jinnies and angels they found out there's, in fact, no such a thing as a "genie language"

The story finally clears itself when Midnight and Whippersnapper turn into humans, the Solider turns into a bewitched Prince and the Royal Wizard surprisingly seems to recognize all of the words the genie was — and still is — using.

—

Charmain runs after Sophie with a long, old dictionary she has found in the Great Uncle Norland's Library. The Royals, of course, gave their honored guest the translator, but the things quickly becomes pretty private, with the search for the gold and all this story with lubboks, so Sophie tells them she's gonna manage it by herself.

To say the Dictionary is heavy is to say nothing: it's huge and thick, containing thousands of words from Ingarian English alone, split by topics, marked with tons of colors an additional moments. Even carrying it around is a whole different type of task.

Half of the time Charmain and Sophie communicate with gestures, context clues and even sounds. When they need to say something really long and complex, they write, leaning on the Dictionary, as it's a bit faster than talking. Still, at some moments Charmain has to flip through the massive pages, searching for the right word with her finger, while Sophie has to do the same. Till the end of the day the both learn some basic words from each other's language, which makes it easier.

The poor nanny has even harder times with Twinkle and Morgan, because she has no idea about what they actually want, except they both whining and crying, one louder than another.

Translator does not come in handy that much, as it looks like these children mix languages everytime when speaking to each other. She has to guess things all over the room to finally get what they need, and usually it's the most useless things ever, like striped pants and a bunch of toy horses falling from the sky.

They see Sophie and Twinkle arguing about something, but no one gets the topic of their screaming, let alone the reason why Sophie is so mad at this angelic child. Charmain asks Sophie about it, because she heard an unusual name along the lines of their quarrels, but Sophie looks too annoyed to explain, mumbling something in her native language with some sort of anger.

The only positive side of it all is that, If Chairman can't understand English, then the lubbocks can't either. Wich means that they didn't have to be as cautious when using Dictionary as they would have to If they understood each other perfectly.

Then she has to climb on the roof, where Twinkle is sitting. Charmain tries to dismiss all his attempts to start a dialogue till she's there, huffing and suffocating as she tries to get the Dictionary with her, trying not to fall.

Twinkle seems to be really proud of himself, saying he knows twice more languages that anyone else in this magical House. Charmain flips through the pages, asking either one of is the one she knows (Norlandian, I assume).

Twinkle says no. For a second Charmaine starts to really understand Sophie's feeling, fighting the urge to hit him on the head with this massive book.

Peter does not communicate with this new guest as much and, luckily, he knows the language Charmain speaks, so they don't have to struggle with a language barrier. The way speaks might be a bit different because of the area he grew up and the amount of hiding and spells he encountered, but there's nothing they can't handle. Luckily.

Calcifer knows the Saucepan song, but other than that his linguistic knowledge is far from perfect, certainly not as good as you'd expect from a fire demon. He also cannot use a Dictionary, because it will burn the second he'll come to close to it, and If this happens their main way of communication is basically gone. He makes up for it, talking with Twinkle, Morgan and Sophie, as well as being expressive enough to understand the basics or what he feels and plans. Sometimes someone (aka Sophie) has to translate what he is saying when she's near, wich is a bit longer than Charmain would wish, but still pretty plausible. She got that he desperately needs his logs, after all.

Twinkle could have used some kind of magical bubble to get them finally understand each other fully, but, again, magic connected with languages is pretty difficult and has its important limits, so it wouldn't last long. Little 30 years old boy is enjoying his childhood, running up the stairs and beating these huge bugs, not as much caring about Charmain all this huge book in her hands.

In the end, (as he turnds out to be) the Royal Wizard Howl is right - the only languages lubbocks can understand is punching.

(Many thanks to my rly good friend @your-queen-shuri for being co-author of this concept. A bunch of ideas here are from her!)

[saccharinescorpion]

Sorry OP, feel free to ignore this ask but I need more context. I watched a playthrough of the dlcs, and I'm now checking the wiki, and the reactions to your post really confuse me. Why are people talking about Carmine as if she's this awful person. People are talking about Carmine like she is constantly bullying and belittling her brother??? When she actually goes out of her way to try to not make him feel bad??? Which is really hard because Kieran has a lot of insecurities and it leads him to assume people want the worst for him???

Am I missing something? Is there a secret subtext of "Carmine is actually really mean to her brother behind our back and that's why he's Like That" I missed or are people just making stuff up?

lol, i think you've understood more than most people who've played the game

now, to be fair to those people: Carmine REALLY does have an attitude problem, as well as a terrible temper lol (but that's what makes her so entertaining!... in my opinion) and since Kieran is the character she interacts with the most that's who has to bear the worst of her bad traits, especially when he pushes back at her. in addition, Carmine is the older sibling, so i think we have a natural instinct to side with or at least feel sympathetic towards Kieran since we see him as the "weaker" party in the dynamic. their designs and animation only reinforce this- Carmine is tall and has a lot of aggressive body language and poses. meanwhile, Kieran is introduced peeking out from behind his sister, like he's literally hiding behind her. he's short, hides under his hair, has a lot of more drawn-in body language, he's a scrunky scrimblo wimbo meow meow wet little so on and so on

so, for the record, i think it is by at least some design that we are meant to "root" for Kieran, but i think that also ignores a lot of more subtle writing- "subtle," i say, but in my opinion, it's pretty obvious, lmao. Pokemon is a series for children. but yeah, the big one is that after time it becomes really apparent that a lot of Carmine's attitude is born out of deeper things- she's harsh and kind of controling towards Kieran in a misguided display of her protectiveness towards him, her hostility towards visitors to Kitakami is born of a worry of tourists turning their home into some sort of attraction

this is dipping into headcanon territory, but i think it's also a little subtextual that Carmine's overblown pride is her trying to overcompensate for what she inteprets as being looked down on or mocked. my big thing for this is the fact that Kieran speaks with a "Kitakami dialect" (based on real Japanese dialects associated with rural areas) but Carmine doesn't. (supposedly there's some random dialogue where she talks about this but i haven't seen it myself yet) since Carmine has been at the (ritzy, attended by a lot of students from important families) Academy longer than Kieran, i've always interpreted this as her trying to intentionally not be the kid from the sticks that talks in an "uncool" way

(incidentally i looked up 'Kieran dialect' and found someone else talking about this https://twitter.com/PokeSuutamie/status/1698625784775430234)

and finally- this may just me speaking from experience- but i always thought that a lot of Carmine and Kieran's issues clearly are really heightened by the fact they're teenagers? lol? puberty dials all your emotions up to 110% and smashes all delicacy with a sledgehammer. Carmine is TRYING to help Kieran but all of her feelings are constantly at a boil. and meanwhile, as you said, Kieran's self-esteem issues constantly lead him to project on other people and assume that everyone's mocking him or looking down at him, and i think that makes people forget that he has problems with being overdramatic and lashing out too (THIS IS NOT ME SAYING KIERAN IS A BAD CHARACTER DON'T YELL AT ME)

and for the record, as much as i love Carmine, i think that GF really dropped the ball on her reconcilliation with Kieran and her overall role in Indigo Disk, which may also be a factor in players being less sympathtic to her, but i already spent way too long on this and talking about my mixed feelings on Indigo Disk will probably double this post's length lol

in short, while i have some mixed feelings on Scarlet/Violet's overall story, i definitely can't say the character writing is bad. i think they're really making an effort to think about why each character acts the way they do and what they're actually thinking/trying to do. so i think we players should, in turn, approach them with the nuance they deserve

[sunwarmed-ash]

Heyoooo Happy Monday!

Did yall read last nights Sinful Sunday update? its here if you didn't get a chance yet!

I also got tagged by @lizzy0305 for WIP Wednesday Monday!

WIP MONDAY

Detroit Become Human, Hurt/Comfort, Sad Gavin Reed, HankCon established, previous Hankvin, eventual Hankconvin

My love language is misery: (Ch 3 preview)

It's silent in the car since Connor and Hank left the station to go check on Gavin.  According to Detective Chen, the younger Detective had left work shortly after their ‘interaction’ outside the breakroom. Mentioning something about needing a change of clothes before walking out. Hank and Connor were quick to follow him out the doors and Connor’s earlier worry only compounded the longer they traveled.  “To answer your question from earlier, about me and Gavin having a relationship. sorta.”  “Sorta how?” Connor asks, needing to know everything to sort out a best course of action to help Gavin.  Hank exhales through his nose and keeps his eyes forward out the windshield.  “Before everything went to shit, and before me and Annie got together again. When we were both young and single, and fuckin’ everythin’ that moved… We hooked up, few times. But I thought- He never mentioned…” Hank huffs a little, struggling to find the right words, “I didn't think it was more than that… Always thought we were just playin’ but, what he said yesterday… haven't been able to get it out of my head since.” Connor analyzes Hank's increase in blood pressure and stress and places his hand on Hank’s knee in comfort.  “What did he say?”  Hank takes one hand off the steering wheel to squeeze it before returning his hand to its previous position on the wheel.  “That I only want him when I can’t have him. Specifically, when I’m already with someone else. I don't know, I guess, now that I look back and think about it, I can see why he said it. I’ve never been very good at maintaining personal ‘relationships.’” “I don't know, I'd say this relationship is going quite well,” Connor smiles. It eases enough of the tension hanging in the car and Hank chuckles.  “Yeah, I think that’s sorta the problem.” “He perceives me as a threat,” Connor interprets. “Big time.” “I see.” “We’ve always had a, complicated, relationship, Gav and I. But he's got some of his own additional demons on board. I think that might be what’s fucking him up now. Especially since uh, we aren't doing to much to hide our relationship at work.” “Yes, perhaps we have been playing a little ‘fast and loose’ with that line,” Connor agrees.  “Mmm,” Hank agrees. A few moments of silence pass in the car and then Connor has to ask,  “What happened to him?” Hank’s next exhale is obviously conflicted.  “Can’t tell ya that, I’m afraid. Sorry Con. It's his business, nothing personal. I just wouldn't feel right.” “I understand,” Connor says, because he does. No unintended subtext. PTSD is something Connor is intimately familiar with now, and he wants to come across as non threatening as possible tonight. “Are there any general things I should be aware of? I don't want to unintentionally set off an attack.”  “Just, follow my lead. And let him come to you. When he’s dissociating, he can’t always see what's going on in front of him.” More pieces slid into place for Connor with that confession.  “Like this morning, in the breakroom.” “Yeah, exactly.” It’s quiet another moment and then Connor says,  “He’s lucky to have someone like you Hank,” because he means it. Gavin doesn’t have a lot of friends at the DPD thanks to his almost 24/7 sour mood. And after today, he could probably use one.  Hank scoffs a little disbelievingly at Connor’s praise but meets him in the middle with,   “Yeah well, hopefully we can at least convince him to accept our help.”

@sweeteatercat @treeffles @disdaidal @tradedsymmetry @covenscribe @advictoriams @negative-citadel @writerwhowritesao3 and anyone else who wants to!! Have a great day everyone, I'm gonna try and get some sun today!

[bloodgulchblog]

Have you seen that YouTube video where some guy reads every Halo novel back to back and then reviews them? If so what did you think

The Brian David Gilbert one? Oh yeah, all my friends showed me it when it came out. (It was honestly kind of cute seeing how many people thought of me immediately.)

Rewatching it to refresh myself because it's been a couple years and a full-novel reread for me since the last time...

High fiving BDG because the Master Chief parts of The Flood were definitely the most boring parts.

He didn't have anything to say about First Strike which I think is a shame because I think it's better than The Fall of Reach and actually has A Theme I Find Interesting.

Rightful recognition of Contact Harvest as pretty damn good.

Rightful recognition of the Forerunner Trilogy as dense oldschool-style SF with deep worldbuilding. (Also the San'Shyuum thing.)

I disagree with him about, and have significant problems with, Kilo Five. He is correct that Kilo Five actually delves into some of the dark places in Halo in a way it really needed, and I would even say that its writing is extremely engaging by Halo novel standards. However, while he does notice the obvious parallels between what ONI is doing post-war and the kind of shit the CIA has pulled again and again irl, I think he misses some of the subtext I see where it feels like it justifies some shit a liiiiittle too much if you know the author's irl politics re: the military. He also doesn't seem to notice the character assassinations (particularly of Catherine Halsey) that I and a lot of other fans see/object to in those books. I kind of gaze into the middle distance with a haunted expression at the suggestion that these are the ones to read if you don't touch any of the others just because they are, ironically, so heavy-handed and feel like they treat certain kinds of evil as inevitable in a way that actually feels way worse to me than the excuse plot offered by the earlier/lighter Halo novels. (But idk, that's me? Nobody is committing a crime if they disagree with my frenzied insane person red string diagrams about Kilo Five.)

I'd swap Pariah for Dirt in the Evolutions anthology if it were me, but I think these are solid standouts.

Broken Circle is neat but really nonessential he's not wrong.

A one-sentence review of New Blood is probably not enough space to get into how fucked up the Spartan-IV program is, but yeah. New Blood is fun if you don't find Buck's first person narration annoying. (It comes and goes for me in that one.)

BDG you're an absolute sweetheart, I think Hunters in the Dark is kind of goofy in a way I cannot in good conscience ignore if I'm gonna review it. But it really really is so much fun and I love that one a lot anyway. The "it's like Halo 3... 2" observation is solid.

High fiving him again because I also found Last Light disappointing. And it is also a me problem.

Fractures!

Hell yeah these are all good pulls from Fractures, I would say Shadow of Intent is the pick of the litter in that anthology for me. Interesting that as a Kilo Five enjoyer he didn't single out Rossbach's World, which is the last we've heard about Osman and Black Box. (Also, that one is good.) I think Oasis is worth an honorable mention because I'm an Envoy stan, and the Forerunner stories are interesting but I wouldn't go for them if you don't already have a healthy interest in the trilogy.

This tangent is so fucking funny now that we know more things:

Oh BDG, oh buddy, it's really not for the people like you and me huh. (Disclaimer: I have no idea if BDG likes the Halo tv show or not and I have no desire to dig up evidence about it.)

Also, while you're here, this is the bloodgulchblog origin story:

Smoke and Shadow is fun so it's a little sad that when he ends that sentence with "whatever," I can't actually say he's wrong to. (Sorry Rion your part of the lore just.... hasn't... touched anything that touches anything else anymore.)

ENVOY IS GOOD AND EVERYONE SHOULD CARE ABOUT IT okay okay I'm cool I'm normal, anyway. Envoy is the Halo novel that restored my faith in reading Halo novels and reminded me that authors can care and know how to do nuanced, interesting themes in this space. It's great. Everyone in this book has war refugee trauma (except the Spartans which have Spartan trauma) and that's incredible to me. Please care about Envoy if you have spare room in your heart for Halo side characters.

I am cheered to see someone indifferent to the Veta Lopis stories, but I still feel petty for feeling it.

I don't have a lot to say about Legacy of Onyx here but it's always so fun seeing someone else suffer and care.

Bad Blood, the Blood is Bad now is a fun joke but lol yeah. It does have this very vital moment where Chief and Arbiter talk, though. For the first and only time in years.

PROPS FOR NOTICING THE YA NOVELS they're actually pretty nice.

"The Master Chief is the protagonist and boy does he shoot some people" is most of how I feel about Silent Storm and Oblivion too, I know they have their fans but Troy Denning's Chief books don't do much for me personally.

Renegades hadn't had its followup Point of Light yet but yeah, Spark stuff is interesting.

I had to remember that oh yeah, there are multiple books now that didn't exist when this was made. I wonder if he read them?

OKAY I THINK THAT'S ALL I HAD TO SAY as always if y'all want specific book opinions, I might have a tag for them. Or just yell in my ask box, I'm sure I can scrounge up some thoughts.

[hotluncheddie]

Do you think Robin 'I don't have a strong grasp of social cues' Buckley was relieved that Steve would just tell her like it is? Like when she's babbling while El has a bit of mindflayer in her leg he just calmly tells her that's not helping he doesn't snap at her he understands what's she'd trying to do but can also see how everyone else is reacting and knows it's not what's needed. And Steve 'youre an idiot' Harrington feeling the same that she just explains things without making him feel like an idiot? Like when he's freaking out about the buttons in the elevator and she acknowledges his point that yes they did work previously he has a point about that button they won't work now because they don't have authorisation now from the Russians key card. Do you? Do you think about how much they need each other and just work perfectly together so quickly and how lonely they must've been before

im gonna be real with you lovely anon. i do not give stobin enough of my metal juices, the thought about them are not thunk at the velocity they deserve.

but that changes now bc u r so right.

these examples are so good!! they're so perfect, so meant to be. if i think about how lonely it must have been for them before i might get genuinely sad. so i’m not even gonna go there.

i just think steve would come from a world with a lot of subtext, a lot of public vs private faces and a lot of grinning and barring it. so i feel like the simplicity of being around robin, having it all out on the table; how she feels, what she's thinking, what she likes and doesn't like being so so obvious. i bet its really nice, really freeing for steve. that you can just be, be yourself.

and i think robin would also come from a world with a lot of subtext but subtext she feels like she’s on the outside of, never given the cheat sheet. plus she’s gay so that’s adds a level of anxiety to the subtext she is already struggling with. has someone figured her out? is anyone else like her and she just can’t see it? very stressful. but steve just is, he knows how to navigate people, even if they don’t react to him the same way they used to. he has all the flash cards and he’ll share no problem.

also i think steve is very sensible with a strong moral compass, ultimately hes very kind. and robin is smart but not always people smart, but again she ultimately has a strong sense of self and confidence in her own thoughts and abilities. they’re such a good mix of robins creative thinking and steves linear thinking. one will notice what the other lacks but they’re confident and comfortable enough to voice it in the first place. similar enough but also different enough. they fill in each others gaps. perfect love recipe i think.

and the start! the spark! u put them together in the neutral space of scoops ahoy. they both need to be there, hate being there and look stupid. they’re constantly around each other and have the ability to constantly surprise each other. it’s a bestie recipe made in heaven.

plus they’re both kinda mean when they want to be, much easier to not get offended if ur natural instinct is to be kinda mean back.

but i think platonic love can be a hard one sometimes. so it’s lovely that theres them for representation.

ty for sending me this <3

[halogenwarrior]

Ok, one thing I see a lot of discussion and criticism about on Tumblr is the trope of “person who wants to fight an injustice/change the status quo for the better, who then does inexplicably bad things to show keeping the status quo is good”. And I think this is an interesting topic for analysis, but everyone seems fuzzy about what exactly the trope being complained about is, exactly. By some definitions of it, it is something that I very much hate and get annoyed by to, but by others it seems to go as far as “any story in which the people fighting the status quo are not every one of them unambiguous good guys is propaganda for the status quo”, which is a take very lacking in nuance. This is so common and so hated on the site they even made a whole tournament about it (@copaganda-clobberfest I would love you to see this post). While I love a story in which the main characters heroically fight to change oppressive norms in the world that seem unchangeable, it’s certainly not the only way you can tell a good story without having uncomfortable political subtext. In the end, I think a lot of the confusion comes from the fact that the trope being discussed is really three separate tropes that are being used interchangeably, so here is a breakdown of all three of them, whether they are inherently bad in in their implications and, if not, what framing would make them better. Ok so here we go.

Status quo-defending heroes vs. villains with a good cause

This is the “purest form” of the trope, one I think everyone can agree counts as it. In this version, the villain(s) kick the plot into motion by trying to fix an injustice or oppressive norm in their society, and the heroes fight against them to defend the status quo. To make the villain not sympathetic despite having a sympathetic cause, they either commit atrocities that aren’t logical to advance their goal or they turn out to be hypocrites who don’t really believe in the cause. 

Now, most of the time this is a bad thing in my opinion and I hate it, but even here the “badness” of it isn’t inherent to the set-up I described in itself, but is a result of how it’s usually framed. For one, the injustice is usually framed as only being relevant in the context of it being a motivation for the villains, with little input from anyone besides the villains who were affected by whatever the problem in society is. Because there is no one else besides the evil person/group who is fighting the injustice, it is then often framed as though the cruelty or hypocrisy of that person or group isn’t just an indictment on them, but on the very idea of fixing society. Like Pokemon Black and White concluding in the ending that because the revolutionary movement’s leader was a hypocrite that didn’t really care for the cause, the cause itself can be dismissed and anyone who wasn’t a hypocrite and thus dismissible was only manipulated into believing it’s a problem. Or in the worst cases, the fact that a group was excessively violent in fighting back proves that they really deserved to be outcast in the first place. I had a conversation about this with @bonefall regarding the Warriors (cat book series) arc A Vision of Shadows – basically, the rhetoric of “don’t be xenophobic towards rogues, they are just cats trying to survive” is only put into the mouth of the rogues themselves and the Clan cats duped into following them due to their disillusionment with Clan life. In the end, the rogues turn out to be horrible, and because there is no other voice of anti-xenophobia besides those portrayed negatively, the implication is not just that this group of cats are bad actors due to their actions alone, but had legitimate points in their believes. The point instead is that rogues are bad so the xenophobia was justified all along. And finally, the part of the framing where the implications of the existence of the injustice is ignored for the heroes of the story. The fact that the problem in society exists and the heroes, despite often considerable power and influence, don’t even think much about it let alone do anything to ameliorate it, does not interfere at all with them being framed as ideal heroes. If they are framed as flaws, it is not for their inaction but for unrelated things. 

To be clear, it’s these three things in the framing that make the trope bad. I don’t think that having someone professing to fight injustice either using clearly unnecessary cruelty or being a hypocrite is inherently bad or propagandistic writing. These things happen in real life! History is full of people being irrationally cruel/cruel in ways we can see with the benefit of hindsight are unjustified, including those who are trying to change the status quo. Seemingly random atrocities committed by a side of a conflict with a “good” goal absolutely do happen! This is not to say biased tellings of history and propaganda that make people changing the status quo look worse and less rational than they really are don’t exist, but the existence of propaganda doesn’t mean no such things ever happened in reality, that is getting into denialism territory. And people hypocritically claiming to fight injustice for their own personal goals is also a perfectly realistic plotline. Like Japan in World War II pointing to their region of the world being a victim of imperialism to justify their own imperialism, or any number of colonialists pointing to a genuinely morally bad practice of the people they are colonizing to justify themselves (even as they prove disingenuous by wanting to get rid of anything that is too unlike their own culture). And yes, sometimes such “bad actors” end up becoming the leaders and people with the most powers to enact change in society out of all the people with similar goals (though unlike in some of this fiction, that doesn’t mean that other people opposed to the injustice just stop existing). Deprived of the problematic framing, these stories can actually be interesting. What do you do if you are the resident of a fictional state that has a cruel aspect of it you are trying to fight against, but it so happens that the state that colonized yours used abolishing that practice as one of their justifications for imperialism and doing many horrible things? How do you fight that aspect of your society without being labeled as the same as the colonizers? T(I remember an article I read in a sociology class I took about social movements about just this that really stuck with me, contrasting the abolition of foot bonding with the persistence of female genital mutilation and how Christian missionaries and colonialism played into both). That could be a much more interesting setup than just having the villains being the only ones who point out the problem with a society. 

And just as another note, while I do think that sometimes this sort of plot is intentionally motivated by trying to discredit the belief of the story’s villains (like the Pokemon example I gave earlier, which I definitely think was written to address criticisms of the franchise but using a trick to not fairly address them), but I think more often it’s just a result of unthinkingly plugging into a “standard formula” of heroes and villains for a story. Someone starts out with the assumption that heroes protect their society and world from threats, and then they have to create a threat that will be a villain. But they think sympathetic villains make the story more interesting and more realistic than just evil ones, so they give the villain a sympathetic cause. However, since they only thought of the problem with society in the context of a villain motive, the problem with society is divorced from the rest of the story, the logical implications are never followed through on; heroes never think about the injustice outside the context of the villain, and are not portrayed as flawed for it, side characters might have a passingly negative opinion of the injustice at worst and are never seen actively fighting it parallel to the villains. The authors will then either not realize the characters in the plug n’ play hero and villain story they created don’t really correspond to their roles and create a story where the moral framework is completely wrong, or realize and “course correct” by making the villain do something out of character. In general, I feel this is why it is best to develop your cast as characters first, and then once you have the story and characters and motivations much more, start thinking about who, if anyone, you would “side with”, and who, if anyone, could be labeled “heroic” or “villainous”. Deciding “good guys and bad guys” before you develop them as characters can lead to all sorts of issues of the moral framing not matching the characters’ actions.

I will also note that there are some versions of this trope where the heroes do, in fact, even after a story they spend fighting for the status quo, recognize the villain’s point and try to implement the changes they wanted at the end, i.e the Black Panther movie. While this avoids the framing problems I outlined above, I get why this is disliked as well – it seems to give a message that it’s ok to repress the people who are actually putting their whole lives into advocating for change, and trust the people in power who never before showed any interest in fighting injustice to have a change of heart and reform things. A “fix” for this kind of plot would be probably be including characters who are dedicated and going to great lengths to achieve the change and are not portrayed as villains (even if they have less power to influence things than the villains), rather than having the heroes who were never invested in change in the first place be the only ones.

Villains fight for the status quo, but negatively portrayed anti status-quo characters also exist

This trope is less often bad for a story in my opinion than the first one, but nonetheless there are some framings of it that can have uncomfortable implications. In this, the main villains are fighting to keep the status quo, and the heroic main characters are either trying to fight them or a neutral third party. However, characters fighting the status quo who are portrayed as overly cruel or hypocritical also exist. On the face of it, there is nothing wrong with this – wouldn’t it be naïve to assume that no one fighting for a good cause would ever do anything wrong? But there are three ways this can be portrayed badly (if a story avoids all three I think this is a completely fine setup for a story.

The first is the “both sides are equally bad” framing. This usually involves a neutral hero. In this version, the oppressed and oppressor sides are portrayed as exactly symmetrical, paralleled with each other, and shown as equally bad in every way. The issue with this is again, not in the actions of the side fighting the status quo (like I said it’s perfectly realistic for such people to be unnecessarily extreme in violence), but in the framing that ignores the fact that, by virtue of one side having all the power and the other side reacting to that, it is inherently not a symmetrical conflict. While I agree that this is a bad framing, I do think people are still overly harsh on framings like this due to the primarily American userbase of sites like this, which leads to fictional conflicts always being assumed to be specifically metaphors for American groups or groups that are familiar to the average American audience member. Often, if a story shows members of a group to which bigotry/hate crimes/genocide is committed against to have been in power at some point and done bad things to their current oppressor when they were in power, it is decried as propaganda because the most well-known-to-Americans cases, African-Americans in the US and Jewish people in the Holocaust, were never at any point in power, so therefore the stories are either interpreted as saying one of these two groups is responsible for their own oppression or that, if one was to grant that group equality, they would respond with oppression and genocide towards their former oppressors. But I don’t think these stories are inherently problematic because not every story is a metaphor for things familiar to Americans! There are situations in history that do resemble what I just described (members of a group in power do something bad with that power, and that’s later used as an excuse for bigoted actions by another group), it’s not unrealistic to happen just because that isn’t what happened in the USA.

The second is the “political people are dangerous” framing. In this case, though both heroes and villains fight the status quo, (which again, isn’t inherently bad), but consistently anyone with a defined political motivation falls on the villain side, while heroes are plodding around fighting vaguely for personal revenge or something vague. This article https://newsocialist.org.uk/outlaw-kings-rebel-chic/ explains better than I can just what is wrong with that framing, but suffice it to say that it’s always seemed completely backwards to me; in an imagined revolution, I would feel far more comfortable trusting someone who was defined goals of the system they want to put in the old system’s place than someone who just wants to smash the bad guy and get revenge, who knows what happens afterward.

The third is the “absurdly high standards for going too far” framing. This is where there are both heroic and villainous characters fighting the status quo, but the standards of ethical conduct for who is framed as villainous are unfairly weighted against those fighting the status quo. For example, not just people who go above and beyond in their cruelty are condemned, but anyone who uses violence in any context. The standards are so high here that it makes it seem impossible for a character to do anything to react to their horrible circumstances that would be effectual at all without being condemned as a villain. For example, in the third Wings of Fire arc, where the narrative seems to focus more on how you should only kill the leaders of the oppressive HiveWings and trying to understand and empathize with them than the actual act of stopping the injustice, and despite this focus on targeting the leaders still treated a group being threatened with genocide trying to use mind control on the leader of the group alone to prevent said genocide as making a horrible mistake they had to atone for. Or, even if the status quo fighters are extreme in their cruelty and should be framed as wrong, they are also framed as one-dimensional, unsympathetic monsters, often while the actual oppressors are afforded nuance and sympathy. I think this is also what people’s issue with Avatar the Last Airbender is – in spite of the main plot being the heroes trying to overthrow an oppressive empire’s status quo, and the two negatively-portrayed rebels genuinely harming civilians unnecessarily, Hama is portrayed as wrong not just for hurting civilians but for using bloodbending itself (even to free herself from prison), and Jet Li is portrayed less sympathetically than similarly traumatized and wronged teenagers fighting for the main villains. Now this isn’t a condemnation of any nonviolent movement being portrayed positively – I think a very good story could be made out of the struggles, failures and successes of a nonviolent, but disruptive and far from passive, movement in a realistic world. Most of the hate for pacifist characters seems to come from not the pacifism itself but the use of deus ex machina and contrived circumstances in their worlds to make sure they always win and never have to make compromises (i.e criticism of Steven Universe, Undertale, or Avatar the Last Airbender again). 

Villains disrupt status quo, but villains’ goal is worse than status quo

I sometimes see these types of stories get lumped in with the other two tropes in blanket discussions of the tendency for stories to frame fighting the status quo as bad. This is when the story does fit the formula of “heroes defend status quo, villains fight it”, but the villains are not fighting for an ideal that would be good and noble, were they not murdering tons of people or being hypocritical about it. No, here everyone agrees their goal would be worse than the status quo. They want to take over the world and enslave everyone, or destroy the whole world, or sometimes they are fantasy fascists who take the preexisting bigotry in the setting to extremes rather than aiming to fight it. 

Now, there is totally a place for stories like this in the world, and I often enjoy them as much as stories about changing the world for the better; sometimes it’s good to hear a story about finding good things that already exist in the world, seeing they are worth protecting, and fighting for them. But sometimes these stories can fall into one of the same traps as the first trope. Not the parts about the villains being the only context in which fighting an injustice is brought up, since in this case the villains aren’t fighting an injustice. But the part about an injustice existing in the world, and the heroes solely being focused on fighting the villain and not fighting the injustice to the point that it seems they are callous and accepting of that injustice, and yet they are not framed as flawed and wrong for it. The world they are protecting is flawed, and yet these supposed paragons care only for the protecting and not for the fixing, even though the protecting is certainly something good that has to be done. This is the problem that Harry Potter (whose villains fall nicely into the “fantasy fascist” category I mentioned earlier) falls into. 

So does avoiding this mean that, if you want to write a story about protecting something good in the world, you have to make your setting a utopia? I really don’t think so. You can definitely write a story where the main characters’ main goal is fighting the existential threat to their society/world because that’s the emergency happening right now, but clearly also make an effort to fix the problems with their society. But another interesting thing you could do is writing the “problematic” framing but purposefully. The heroes fighting the horrible threat to the world are uncaring, or at least not as caring as they should be, about the injustices of their society, and this is framed deliberately as a flaw on their part. They might have many virtues and lovable traits, and you root for them because they are fighting something far worse and they are justified in doing that, but they are also intentionally very flawed people in their outlook. Add in characters who are part of a group being oppressed by that society, and the choice they have to make between fighting the threat because it must be fought, but for the sake of a society that will be ungrateful and never care about their contribution and keep being horrible, or resigning from it all in protest to keep their principles but thus neglecting to stand against something monstrous. There are just so many interesting and not problematic ways to frame a story beyond “everyone fighting the status quo is good, everyone supporting it is bad!” Even though, as I said, I love stories like that and I’d love to see more of them.

[marvelstars]

One of the discarded scenes from ROTS which I regret where taken down other than the dialogue in which is made obvious Palpatine uses darkside energy to turn Anakin into Vader was this scene between Anakin and Padmé on Mustafar where Padme tried to kill Anakin with a knife before deciding not to because she still loved him but this was enough for him to think both Padmé and Obi-Wan planned to kill him together. This scene makes a lot of sense for their character arc in the movie.

Before their meeting on Mustafar there had been this growing tension that stayed subtext between them for most of the movie in which Anakin is asked by Palpatine to stay more and more time around him, linking Anakin to his political manouvers towards building the Empire at the same time Padme, Bail and Mon Mothma are developing the beggining stages of the rebel alliance, including developing some links to the separatist side.

There´s a moment, which is in the movie, where Padmé asks Anakin if he can talk to the Chancellor about giving up his war powers and start elections once again, which makes Anakin mad because

1.- That´s not supposed to be something decided between individuals but on the Senate

2.- He´s already been accused by part of the Jedi Council, including Obi-Wan, for being too close to Palpatine and getting benefices from that relationship when Anakin didn´t ask anything of the Chancellor, it was Palpatine decision to ask Anakin be put in the council to "keep him informed" while the Jedi Council accepted the offer to ask Anakin to spy on Palpatine using that opportunity.

Anakin didn´t decide any of that. he simply questioned why he was put on the council without being a master, which later he understands is because they want him to spy on the chancellor.

3.- So now Padmé is also thinking he must have some kind of good relationship with Palpatine which can be used to address the situation at the Senate but in reality Anakin doesn´t have any control over what Palpatine does or doesn´t do.

This is such an interesting tension because while Padme and Obi-Wan show worry over Anakin´s emotional state Palpatine has made sure to isolate them from Anakin by putting doubts not only on Anakin´s mind about them but also on them about Anakin. They start lying to him about those secrets meetings in which Padme´s discussed the creation of the alliance and while she wanted to tell Anakin she knew he was too close to Palpatine and defensive of him to be able to trust him with the information.

What´s tragic was that Anakin agreed Palpatine needed to give up his powers once the war was done, sure he believed Palpatine has been a good Chancellor so far and he agrees the Senate needs to become a more able goverment body to make decisions quicker but this doesn´t mean he believes Palpatine should stay in power indefinitely, this is in part why he was so excited in the movie to end the war because he thought everything would be solved that way, if the war ended he could leave the Jedi Order to built a family with Padme without worrying about Obi-Wan´s well being, his debt with the Jedi Order for their training would be paid, Palpatine would give up his extraordinary political powers which would lead towards the Senate and Padme being less wary of him and Padme and him could be married openly without fear of reprisals.

Anakin´s big tragedy in ROTS for me was that he wanted to help everyone of his loved ones, do what they wanted him to do, including Palpatine, even agaisn´t his better judgment, which only resulted in him being manipulated by Palpatine and distrusted by everybody else.

The problem was that Palpatine started to low key accuse Padme and her coalition of senators of betrayal to the republic(he isn´t wrong but the republic is now a dictatorship) and while Anakin didn´t believe him he also knew they have been holding secret meetings on Padme´s appartment but he decided not to say anything on the matter, much of Anakin´s cooperation with the Chancellor had to do with Anakin trying to disuade Palpatine of the idea Padmé was a traitor and the obvious consequences this would bring for her and their secret family.

So when Anakin was sure Palpatine was the sith, he told the Council who attacked Palpatine, got killed and Anakin tried to stop Master Windu from killing the Chancellor fearing only Palpatine knew how to save Padme of dying, Palpatine kills Windu and Anakin joins the Sith and attacks the Jedi temple, Padme was aware of all of this and planned to kill Anakin herself.

Their hug on Mustafar was about this, that´s why Padmé takes some time for herself before going out of her ship to meet Anakin but when Vaderkin starts ranting about them becoming leaders of the Empire, kill Palpatine and make everything as they wanted it to be, Padmé knew for sure how truly lost in madness Anakin had become, so it makes sense for her to try to kill him but decide not to because she knows Anakin wasn´t fully in control of himself and that Palpatine was in a big way responsible for the state her husband was but also that she and Obi-Wan didn´t notice it until it was far too late.

I honestly think it was a last minute decision by lucasfilm to change cut this scene because even in Stover novel, when Padmé knows Anakin is not with Obi-Wan and her and that he isn´t on the ship, she starts crying, saying sorry over and over again to Anakin before she starts giving birth? Why would she apologize to Anakin after all of this if she didn´t do anything to him? or didn´t plan to do? it doesn´t makes sense, it makes more sense she did plan something but could not bring herself to do it and that´s why she decided to ask him to run away with her because she knew Obi-Wan was coming to kill Anakin and he had a bigger chance than her on actually doing it.

Well, I think this makes for a full story which considers Anakin´s and Padme´s character arcs and I think this would have made a great addition to the tragedy within Revenge of the Sith. This moment confirms Anakin truly did lost both Obi-Wan and Padmé even before their confrontation on Mustafar and how he was way too insane at the moment to notice what was happening and gives Padme´s political arc a nice ending because she´s indeed one of the founders of the rebellion, the mother of Luke and Leia despite the tragedy of losing her husband to Palpatine and the darkside.

So in the end after both Padmé and Obi-Wan tried to kill him, Anakin knows nothing of the evil things he did served for anything, he´s now completely at the mercy of Palpatine, the Republic is lost anyway, nothing of what Padme, him or the Jedi Order did could stop it from becoming an Empire, Padme and their baby are dead and he´s become a Sith now betraying not only his loved ones but himself as well. He´s now completely dominated by the darkside and lost everything and everyone in the process, including Palpatine because he knows now everything in the "friendship" was a lie to make him fall to the darkside.

This covers some plotholes the actual ROTS movie had and completes the tragedy for all characters involved.

[fennelockley]

Exodus in Immortal X-Men #13

Gillen has always done absolutely fantastic with Exodus - and if I'm to be honest, I only discovered Exodus through his works - but you can tell Exodus is a favourite of his with how brilliantly he's been portrayed; and this issue is phenomenal.

This is basicly me just dumping all my thoughts because I loved every moment and I want to dissect it all! Obviously major spoilers below!

The only thing I'd love more than what they're currently doing, is if they'd listen to him here. Let him at Sinister, that'll be a cat fight for the ages!

And I find it funny that Kate completely glosses over his threat and talks of action and just seems... "you want Sinister out?" Whether this is her mistrusting him because of the Sinister strain, or this is one in a very long line of comments where the council keep glossing over Bennet and just assuming he's stupid.

Speaking of council members being dismissive to Exodus. Whether Destiny can ~obviously~ just see ahead and/or she knows Bennet is capable of reading subtext and also has the same motives as her. It's interesting that by the end, Destiny and Exodus have generally shared the same view points.

Quite possibly the absolute best panels for Exodus ever. Selene isn't just any old foe, she's extremely powerful and been around 10x longer than Exodus has. But Exodus doesn't flinch. The writers are really developing Exodus Omega abilities, he's a master of telekensis and the comment about taking her apart molecule-by-molecule is extremely interesting.

Exodus has been hugely underused as a powerhouse previously, but he's an incredibly formidable person that is well aware of his capabilites - and nor does he have the morals to hold him back from showing them. And while it's not evidently in play here, he's stronger the more there is belief in his powers - and that includes his own belief in himself.

And it once again proves Exodus is a man of action, want something done? He's going to do it, even if its not ethical or pretty.

Storm stops him, and its Omega v Omega, Exodus little telekentic bubble shield is so cute.

And I might be blinded by my own fanaticism of Exodus, but Storm blindly stopping every form of conflict is detrimental to Krakoa. Exodus is right, he's protecting Krakoa from a major threat.

Once again another council member that just sees him as a power loon, but Krakoa is exactly what Exodus fought his whole life for, if anyone is going to protect it, its going to be him.

This is it. The absolute pinnacle of this issue and Exodus arc as a council member.

Magneto originally said he placed those on the Winter table as a way to saite and keep an eye on the most powerful individuals that are most likely to cause problems. I assume him and Xavier thought they didn't notice.

Exodus did.

With Exodus' compliancy, they forgot what he was truely capable of and assumed they had him under their thumb. They forgot that Exodus accepted because he wanted to, he was compliant because he decided to be. Krakoa is ruined, there's no reason for him to be compliant anymore.

I'd like to think this is a thinly veiled threat. Exodus went along with them even though he despised them and their beliefs, but he has no reason to do so anymore. Now what path will he take? What will he decide to do now he's on his own?

And there's the mental breakdown. Exodus is an interesting character because a mutant utopia is ALL he wants. He doesn't have alot outside of fighting for his goals, and then maintaining Krakoa. The others will disperse back to whatever they originally did or otherwise did - but Exodus? This is his ENTIRE reality, there is nothing else for him. His entire reality and reason to fight has completely shattered before him - he's left floundering.

Something that's particularly bad for everyone else. Exodus is notorious for taking the reigns if no one else will fight for what he thinks is right. Regardless of his methods.

Will he accept that the council has decided to disband and allow a democracy rather than a ruling cabinet? I can see him perhaps appreciating letting mutant kind as a whole being able to decide their own future, but where does that leave him?

I'm incredibly excited to see where it goes for him. And they better not just never mention him again Exodus could lead a very interesting path now, where does he fit in with society now the only purpose he's ever felt he had has been removed?

Absolutely stunning issue, the level of detail on Exodus' character is astounding. And the art work is as beautiful as ever!

[napneeders]

//unorganized rambling about both stuff I loved and hated in s2

ANYWAY!!! Ed and Frenchie so tragic and all the more so because there's never any kind of closure. their dynamic in 1-2 is so masterful because they have a pre-existing personal relationship and that never goes away no matter how much they're both wearing their masks. they could have had a friendship, but after his heartbreak, Ed needs to destroy that chance along with everything else. it's tragic!! he picked probably the two Revenge crew members he could most easily identify with, only to turn them against him.

but imo Frenchie feels for Ed to the end. he's sad for him in the impossible birds scene. he feels good when Ed expresses confidence in him - even in the fraught circumstances of hiding Izzy and not being sure he's fooled Ed - it's better to let himself feel good, live the reality that Ed is setting - because Frenchie knows about making reality himself, but he also knows when to concede that power (that's his defining strength if you ask me, not his ability to scam or please but the ability to assess the situation and choose from his strategies) - the cheerful little musical interval that starts as Ed's talking to Frenchie, continues as Frenchie walks through the ship, and ends abruptly with the overpowering reality of the hidden room is so good to me, a little creepy, a little sad.

and to go from that to the disappointment and hurt of Frenchie escorting Ed off the ship - still the messenger - and Ed lashing at him in such an impersonal way. to Frenchie's unimpressed expression and unenthusiastic clapping (but he still starts clapping when he sees everyone around him but the trauma crew do it - ugh my baby boy) after Ed's apology. it's only a glimpse but it's so raw. but for that to be it? it's not even an unreasonable reading that after a) Ed's horrors (which arguably Frenchie might be happy to put in the box if Ed offered him anything real) & b) Ed's inability to address them in any meaningful way, Frenchie's just done with him - like the crew are as a whole - rebuilding with each other instead - that's a good storyline! but there's also the missed opportunity of revisiting that relationship. not just for its own sake (or to satisfy my particular taste) but because it would be a SORELY needed opportunity for Ed to interact with the crew, and to face some of the themes of the early season - like that paternal role Ed takes on as part of his suicide mission. sure, partly that's addressed in the gravy basket, but the trouble is, no one else was there.

for the midseason in general, I love that they spend so much time on the crew negotiating how to be with each other in the post-horrors era. it's just that any progress in Ed's relationship with the crew is massively glossed over. to the point that I'm not even sure how we're meant to read that relationship in 6-8; cursory suggestions that all is fine now aren't exactly contradicted, iirc, but they're not backed up by anything either. I assume the core problem is trying to do too much in too little time, but it feels like some massive miscalculations were made in regards to what can be left to implication. and then possibly the implications were left to implication.

anyway. I'm well aware not everyone might read as much into Ed and Frenchie's relationship as I do, but that's kind of the point - season 1 managed a balance of text and subtext, including avenues for interpretation, really well, and that continued in the early second season, but then it just kind of fizzles out. even new threads I thought were picked up in the later season - Stede's real pirate arc - are just dropped. it's frustrating.

[alicent-vi-britannia]

The narrative of episode 17 of the first season of Code Geass

Counting down from this episode, the next four are pretty much Suzaku-focused. What sets this specific episode apart is its narrative. There are four characters who are in conflict between their duty and their hearts. Let's start with everyone's favorite:

Lelouch: At first, he assumed that his duty aligned with his heart since he believed that he had found the knight protector for his sister in his best friend, Suzaku, whom he always wanted to have on his team. Besides, he thought that this wouldn't interfere with his other duty of getting rid of the White Knight. But it turned out that his best friend was his worst enemy on the battlefield, the pilot of the Lancelot. At the moment, Lelouch is pressured to make a decision: either eliminate once and for all the only obstacle that prevents him from taking the definitive victory against Britannia or spare his life. Lelouch, apparently, doesn't choose anything as the reinforcements arrive, but even doing nothing is a decision and this reaffirms to us that there are people that Lelouch isn't willing to sacrifice, something we already saw with Shirley in episode 14 (if Light Yagami If he were in his situation, he would have killed his best friend without hesitation because, for him, his ego, his goal of being the God of the New World, is more important; for Lelouch, his loved ones are equally or more important than his revenge and his goal of creating a new world). In the end, Lelouch can only laugh at the irony because he is forced to choose duty. He must continue on the path of blood, even if he must destroy his loved ones and his humanity. This is the litmus test to become the demon that can destroy Britannia. And the thing is that he will try to honor both his duty and his heart, as seen in the next episode, which will turn out badly, because Suzaku is a problem for Lelouch's plans and Suzaku doesn't want to join Zero.

Suzaku: Britannia through Cornelia tests Suzaku's loyalty once again by forcing him to execute the man who once mentored him, Tohdoh. Thus, Suzaku finds himself torn between his principles (and the respect he feels for his sensei) and his duty as a soldier in the service of the empire. But, just as happened in episode 13 with the Japanese Liberation Front, Zero takes that decision-making power away from Suzaku because he intervenes and he persists in his idealism. In any case, Suzaku always opts for his moral code. He didn't shoot at the Japanese Liberation Front like the rest of the soldiers or kill Tohdoh, although he could have done so.

Tohdoh: He is willing to end his life because the person he had sworn allegiance to, General Katase, has died. In other words, Tohdoh is someone who puts his duty first. But then Zero appears and gives him a reason to keep fighting by assuring him that he can fulfill his heart's desire: free Japan. Now Tohdoh takes on a new duty to the Japanese. At first glance, he is the character who came out the best… Until you stop to think that Tohdoh is collaborating with the murderer of the man he served.

Euphemia: the princess must choose her new knight protector. The thing is that she feels coerced into doing what British society and her royal duty expect of her. In fact, a slight parallel is drawn here with the choice of the picture that it is to win. Surely she thought that the artist who had a mixed genetic heritage and who painted a house deserved the prize, but she couldn't declare him the winner, but rather the nobleman who painted the Emperor in one of his speeches because the Britannians, especially the nobles , they are better than everyone else, including the colonists. I don't think it's a coincidence that both paintings are placed next to each other. Euphemia literally had to choose between Britannia's traditional values or her own liberal values, in which merit was more important than title. This is the subtext of the scene in the museum. Ironically, Britannia's hypocrisy and racism push her to choose Suzaku, an honorary Britannian, as her knight justifying himself on his talent and skill (that is, merit) and this marks the turning point of her narrative arc, which will lead to taking a more active role. So, she tries to reconcile duty with what she considers right in her heart.

Episode 20 of Code Geass proposes a similar game of dynamics in the sense that there are several characters who are conflicted with something particular, but we will talk about that when I write the post. I want to see if this post gets enough love to be able to talk about secondary characters and the narrative of the series.

Anyway, there will be many things that we will be talking about in depth. I hope to upload a new post this week.