#it leaves a lot of space for character growth;; which in all truth; all swords undergo through their own character development through their

[tanzoshi]

𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲?

     The antihero .

ah yes, hello edge lord. it is lovely to see you again. you my dear, are the incarnation of duality, and you might think of claws and venom mixed with grace but alas, nothing near as poetic. you my friend, are mixture of what is seen as right, and what is questioned.   you follow the path of your own two feet,   you know the twists and turns of life's forests quite well if I do say so myself. and you can meander along them wonderfully. you strive to stay true to a certain sense of principles you might call your code, but whereas in reality, those would be your morals. people tend to see you as strange. sharp edged and glinting you hide behind a cloak of chain mail but really you just prefer to show off your imperfections first. unlike many who scramble to make it as if their flaws never existed, you proudly raise yours up. saying,    "this is me, this is the worst of me, now you know what to expect."   and might I say, it is quite an intriguing mindset, for truth be told, the ones that love your spikes and craters are the ones who appreciate your softness the most. you wish not to be loved as something lovable, but as a monster. for aren't we all just beasts in human skin? you are brave, but you are lonely. you know quite well how to scare off most, making even the heroes with the boldest bravado creep away with their tails between their legs. you are not a villian, sometimes you play the part a bit too well. but nevertheless you are no hero either. you put yourself first, but if one wins your trust then may the gods have mercy on those who might wrong them. you long to be a poetic mess of sorts, and well, if the ink sets in long enough you might just become that sooner or later. but for one who is so dead set on truth you sure do hide a lot don't you? please, step out of the shadows, there is a difference to not making your flaws visible and to simply acting as if you're the most despicable person in all the realms. it's because you're afraid of attachment is it not? well let me tell you a little secret, everyone is. you say you wish to be left alone for eternity but than why are you craving connection.   you wish to be known and understood truly,   but you snarl and push the ones that might be trying away. please little wolf, accept you are lovable. you are not some ravenous beast that terrifies the multitudes, sure, you are not for the faint of heart but that does not make you an inkling less perfect as you are. young antihero, step into the sun. you would do better actually reaching for the things you want rather than pining for them in the darkness.

[ks-caster]

The 100 Season 7 Episode 4 - Post-Liveblog Recap

Okay, so I liveblogged an episode for the first time - and it turned out to be a nice way to stay focused through the commercial breaks. Might continue to do that for the rest of the season.

But TBH I started doing it just so I could bitch about the CLEAR AND BLATANT LACK OF A SCENE WHERE SANCTUM!KRU REALIZE THAT BELLAMY AND ANOMOLY!KRU ARE MISSING. That was an important scene that the whole fandom, more or less, has been waiting for the entire time for various reasons. 

How do the characters react? Who figures out that something’s wrong first? Does Clarke sense Bellamy’s absence because they have a bond? Does Emori go looking for her space sister to comfort her other space sister only to find her missing? 

(Actually, she does. That’s my headcanon and I’m sticking to it. Might fic later. Accounts for Emori’s complete absence while her bestie Raven is falling apart.)

Edit: here's the fic!

Anyway, back to the episode - whoever was in charge of editing really really dropped the ball. Missing realization scene, poorly ordered Raven and Clarke scenes. The music during the Dev-and-Hope montage was a nice touch but just too loud enough that I really had trouble telling what they were saying - and the pacing would have felt better with just one show of teenage!Hope before we got 20-year-old her. The cut from Orlando agreeing to train Anomaly!Kru to 5 years later was WAY too abrupt for me to get a feel for the character and relationship development that they were trying to shoehorn in in order to create conflict at the end. I got where they were going with everything, but in a I’m-reading-a-newbie-writer’s-fanfic-because-I-love-the-story-concept-and-want-to-support-them kind of way and not in a I’m-watching-a-show-made-by-experienced-professionals-and-paying-for-the-privilege-in-ad-revenue kind of way. Disappointing.

Jumping around here for a bit: I gotta say I’m loving the makeovers this season! Hair and makeup did a great job on bringing back the old Raven without losing the maturity they gave her, giving Murphy and Emori their Gucci Royalty Vibes without losing the feel of their individual styles, and making Hope look like she can’t find quite the balance between feral forest girl and innocent shut-in who can’t bear to take a life (which is accurate to her character, of course). 

And Echo! So I really, really didn’t like her makeovers in seasons 5 and especially 6, because it felt like they were trying too hard to make her look pretty in a 21st Century kind of way. She looked softer, more vulnerable, which really contradicted her character traits - but I thought that might’ve been on purpose, to show a change in her (that she did indeed allow herself to become softer and more vulnerable for her family). And her post-time-skip (not that one. Or that one. The other one. There’s a lot of those. Bah.) look feels like a return to herself; she’s beautiful but in a no-nonsense, don’t-forget-I-can-cut-your-throat kind of way. (Is this because I just really love the butch look on woman and am myself a butch woman? Maybe. But that doesn’t mean I’m wrong.)

Side note: Where the hell did they get clippers on Penance? Those haircuts were entirely too even to have been done with scissors. I’ll buy that Gabriel and Orlando shaved their heads and their perfect round cuts were growout, but Hope and Echo? Electric clippers. Like I said I like the looks, but guys, there’s no way.

I liked that I got a better feel for Hope’s character this episode - she’s trying so hard to be like her mom and Aunty O and all the heroes they told her about when she was a child, but the truth is she’s been in one real battle, she froze, and her best and only friend died. And since her only role models were these incredibly strong people who didn’t give up, back down, hesitate, that wouldn’t be an easy thing for her to get over. (Given that Diyoza was pregnant with her for two entire seasons, I’d really like to have more time developing Hope’s character - or even the same amount of screen time but go easier on the timeskips, lol. She keeps having growth/maturity/life experience spurts so it’s hard to keep up with the development that we’re shown.

So, 5 (7? Wasn’t she 22? There’s still 2 years we missed right?) years after watching her friend die, and 5 (7?) years of blaming herself for freezing, she’s put into the same position, and she stabs some lady in the neck. Kid didn’t steal her coping mechanisms! All joking aside thought, the kid basically relived her trauma in real life - honestly her reaction was 100% valid.

I’m sure I’m supposed to be upset by Echo’s choice to kill the remaining gold-head people. But I think the only reason that’s supposed to bother me is that she promised (ish - she was real explicitly clear that she’d do what was necessary to rescue Bellamy and them were the breaks) Orlando that she wouldn’t. I think I’m supposed to care about the fractured relationship between AnomalyKru and Orlando.

I don’t. I don’t know if it’s the super-fast timeskip (it was weird enough to see the changed dynamics in SpaceKru when I deeply knew all of the characters AND we got time to see the changes play out) or the fact that I didn’t really get to know Orlando in a way that made me super sympathetic to him (I’ll get to that in a minute) or if it’s just that he was smart enough to know he was being played from the start (see Navy SEAL mom didn’t teach you how to swim and Echo again being 100% clear that killing people might still happen) and walked right in anyway. Either way, his betrayal wasn’t enough of a motivator for me as an audience member to be bothered about how things ended between him and AnomalyKru. I kind of shrugged and moved on.

More on Orlando... So The 100 has had several plotlines that center around people doing dangerous, terrible and downright ridiculous things because of their religions; see the kidnapping and conclave of freaking children killing each other to become commander, Gaia’s whole character arc + starting a new religion around Octavia/WonKru betraying that religion to go back to their old one centering on Madi, WHO IS GODDAMN TWELVE, all of Sanctum and season 6, the Sanctum conflict here in season 7, and now this goddamn Bardo Disciple shite.

Now I’m not dishing on real life religion or religious people - I happen to have one of those myself - but the plot of some-people-take-their-religion-way-too-far-drink-the-koolaid-and-hurt-people-around-them has been done and done and done on this show. And now here we have Orlando, who was a high-ranking member of his religion, drank the koolaid, cast out, still a true believer and therefore dangerous because his perspective is fundamentally skewed. I don’t know anything about this religion but that it’s militarized (they can arrest people) and think that sentencing people to 10 years of madness-inducing Geneva Convention violations and then bringing them back to their families two days later is okay. I don’t really want to know anything else, because I’m worried that the show is going to work hard on making this religion scarier than the Sanctum one (needing to one-up themselves with the big bad, of course) which just keeps making the commander religion look humane in comparison. 

Which it wasn’t. But I digress.

So Orlando was kinda’ cool, but getting in too deep with a fundamentalist who was complicit in his own abuse by said religion (and so who knows what he thought was okay to do to other people) and then it ended badly.

Cue shocked Pikachu.

Moving on. Clarke. Baby. After the harrowing experience of the radiation destroying the radio so you couldn’t say goodbye to your mom when you were supposed to go to space, then missing your time window and getting left behind on Earth, and the radio broke them too so you couldn’t even be sure your friends would leave in time until they blasted off, and then calling Bellamy every day when you knew he couldn’t hear you, and ALL OF THE FREAKING LAST SEASON WHERE YOU WERE POSSESSED AND WOULD HAVE GIVEN ANYTHING TO LET YOUR FRIENDS AND DAUGHTER KNOW BOTH THAT THAT WASN’T YOU AND THEN LATER THAT YOU WERE ALIVE and THEN your MOTHER getting possessed and you had to check to see if it was really her and it WASN’T. Clarke. 

After all that terrifying inability to communicate.

You leave Gaia behind to warn everyone of the danger. INSTEAD OF CALLING THEM ON A PIECE OF HANDY TECHNOLOGY OR TAKING A QUICK TRIP BACK YOURSELF. TO TELL YOUR DAUGHTER WHERE YOU WERE GOING. YOU DON’T THINK THAT MAYBE MAKING EXTRA SURE THAT EVERYTHING GETS COMMUNICATED CLEARLY AND IMMEDIATELY MIGHT BE A PRIORITY.

And then Gaia gets kidnapped. Honestly, cool! Not ‘cause I’m rooting for Gaia to be hurt (I don’t care all that much about her tbh) but I LOVE Indra and I want her to have more screen time and development this season - and or the chance to cut people up with her sword - and kidnapping her daughter seems like a great way to facilitate that.

*Looks at list* Oh, right, Jordan. I forgot you were here. Honestly I can’t figure out what the fuck is going on with you, and since I’ve had a whole season of not connecting with you because the story was too busy focusing on external plot... I don’t see that changing any time soon buddy. Sorry.

Oh and that FrEaKiNg PrOmO! 

My garbage boy! My chaos gremlin! My excellent-at-impersonating-a-deity-even-if-it-goes-against-his-programming! What are they doing?! 

I’m torn between NO DON’T HURT HIM and YES HURT HIM BECAUSE CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT AND BRAVERY BWAHAHAHA. At least I know there’ll be Murphy and hopefully Memori content in the next episode. That’s the good shit. It’s the only thing left about this show that still feels “pure,” not that I didn’t know what sort of darkness I was signing up for when I started but just because he and Emori are sort of the last light in the darkness, and it’s nice to get a break periodically.

[kisilinramblings]

I'm trying to figure something out about the miracle box. I think you're very intelligent and would love to hear your input. The five miraculous (Fox, Turtle, butterfly, Bee, and Peacock) are meant to symbolize the five Chinese elements, Wood, Fire, Metal, Earth, and Water. Which Miraculous do you think is associated with which element and why? I'm currently doing some research but the process turned out to be much more difficult than I thought.

Ah yes, it is a theory I have seen around since S1 and while I believe there’s a part of truth in this, I don’t think Thomas and his team have strictly abide themselves to the Wuxing theory when conceptualizing the five second-tier Miraculous there, thus why it is so difficult to clearly define which of these Miraculous correspond to which elements.

I mean, let’s look at the concept history of the two main Miraculous. Their concept wasn’t rooted the yin and yang initially but instead around the concept of good and back luck which later was changed for Creation and Destruction. And since opposite and balance seemed to go hand in hand, then their duality got linked to the Yin and Yang. Which then influenced the rest when the Quantic Kids concept was dropped to become Miraculous. At least, from what I know.

But an influence is not limited to one nor set in stone. Let’s take a look of the lower and last tier of the Miracle Box. While we do have the Chinese zodiac Kwamis, the power inspirations we have seen so far are drawn from diverse international sources coming from any imagery, legends, myths, folklores, superstitions, symbolism, litterature, comics, animation, etc. Xuppu and Longg are heavily eastern inspired, but Fluff takes their inspiration from the White Rabbit character in Alice in Wonderland. And Sass comes from the Ouroboros. Kaalki herited the power of Teleportation because horses were used for transportation for a were long time in human history. 

So there are a lot of source of inspirations that can meddle here. Such why the fox, turtle, butterfly, bee and peacock as animal choice in the first place? 

Let’s take a look at Gabriel (or whoever his counterpart was) in the pv version. 

He has no mask, no superpower. His Miraculous appears to be non-existent at the time. But the image of the butterfly is heavily attached to him. It’s only later in conception his “animal” takes position in the Miracle Box. 

So, I don’t think they have picked a particular animal or superpower because it invoke the Wuxing. There might be some relations but I don’t think there are any strict correlation to the whole Wuxing symbolic. For example, some of the color associated to the five elements such of the black and white were changed as they were already taken by the yin and yang tier of the box. And the order of said “elements” was probably altered so their color was more harmonious to the eye. 

And it is perfectly normal as there a making a creative show aimed at children all around the world, not an academic essay or documentary about the Wuxing theory. 

Anyway, I’ll play. Let’s start with the Wuxing itself. Please note that I rely on the informations of two websites for this. One in English, another in French. I’ve picked those two websites as the informations seem well summarized and categorized. This is merely an exercice and I don’t want to read and summarize massive amount of texts.

So let’s begin.

First, we have the Wood. Parts of its concept go with Growth and Expansion as the seed sprout out of the earth and spread itself in the sky in every direction in order to flourish. Apparently, in martial arts, the technique related to that element is to get out of the way of the opponent’s attack line and cover the space as effectively as possible.

The virtue associated to it is Benevolence. 

Next, we have the Fire. It is related to Ascension as the flame is always rising, going upward. There is association to enthusiasm and passion as well. Anyway, for the Martial aspect, fire is associated to ascending movements as well as powerful and straightforward hits. 

Its virtue is Propriety aka “ the state or quality of conforming to conventionally accepted standards of behavior or morals. “

Following up, we have the Metal. When it solidies or cool down, the metal gets contracted, concentrating its strength for the next step. It symbolizes Ambition and Progress which come with Determination and Persistence. When it comes to martial arts, the attacking and blocking moves associated to metal travel from the outside to the inside. Incisive hit are also included as part of the metal phase. They look for and aimed at the foe’s weak spots to exploit it.

Its virtue is Righteousness

Moving on, we have the Water. It symbolizes the transition between action and rest. Martially, it goes with pacification and taking a step back. So descending movements and backing off take integral part of the battle strategy like the wave which retreats... before coming right back at you.

Its virtue is Wisdom.

Lastly, we have the Earth. Earth can be extremely maniable (like clay) just like it can be extremely well compacted making it impossible to work with it. It acts as a bridge, connecting different parts. Earth feeds and protects, thus why it is associated with nurturing and security qualities. It’s also a stable element and the martial movement inspired by earth are that : grounded, unwavering. Take the hit in order to chain up. 

Earth virtues are Fidelity and Honesty.

So, now that is is said, let’s proceed with how any of those elements (or should I say phases) matches with the Miraculous of the Miracle Box second tier which are :

The Butterfly - Power of Transmission

The Peacock - Power of Emotion

The Fox - Power of Illusion 

The Turtle - Power of Protection 

And the Bee - Power of Subjection (or Domination in French)

The Turtle seems the most obvious to me as it go easily with the Earh element. The power of Protection matches the fighting style described as Shelter is a defensive power perfect to take hits. 

The Butterfly seems to go well with the Wood element. Both are about growth.  its attended use is to give designated champion superpowers in order for them to fight back an oppressor for example. So, it gives the strength to the person to grow out of their weak stage (larvae) to become a more powerful and capable one person (butterfly). Also, the Power of Transmission requires a champion in order to work. Basically, the fundamental of the power goes with collaboration with another which help covers more than one front in battle. Thus why I think it fits with the Wood element the most. 

I am tempted to go with the Metal element for the Bee. The Bee Holder only need one move to paralyze their foe. One move to bring your foe on their knees. And a sting is a bit like a sword. Plus, a bee hive is a good visual metaphor of progress and determination. The bigger the hive is, the most work it has required from its occupants.

Which leaves us with the Fox and the Peacock. My first thought was to associate the Fox with the Fire element while the Peacock gets the Water one. Mostly because mirages are produced by heat and peacocks are birds that tend to live near clean bodies of water and are heavily associated to that element, but that’s not enough symbolic. Plus, when it comes to Power and their usage, I find there is more sense to reverse that attribution.

Fire and Emotions usually go in pair. How the Peacock Holder fight is by using an emotion and giving it shape. The sentimonster -- which is fully obedient to the one possessing the “amoked” object -- will attack directly and with brute force. The Peacock also apparently has a symbolic of immortality... just like the phoenix. 

The Fox Power of Illusion is more elusive. In battle, illusions buy time, distract and trick. And waters can be deceptive and give a false sense of security too. Thus why I think it fits more with that element. 

So yeah, not that sure about the last two, but overall, there you have it. 

[naruhearts]

13x20: “I don’t care what happens to me”-- Dean Worthless Winchester, John Winchester’s Death and Destiel

Oh my god!

I gotta say, 13x20 was an ANGSTY FEELSY amalgamation of meta and foreshadowing for the Big Finale Triad of 21, 22, and 23. It laid down S5 tones, key themes, and narrative direction, hoo boy!!! 

I’m sorry I posted late! Time-of-month sickness was an interruption, yikes.

I’d like to start with the Dean & Sam final scene, then talk about the major culminating implications this Father-centric episode specifically holds for our beloved protagonist Dean Winchester the shackled child — the Man behind the Mask (which S13 has been a gigantic narrative mirror of) — and the Destiel narrative/Cas in relation to Dean’s arc and character disposition *rubs hands together*

Glynn & Co made Dean’s axel-swinging between communication and miscommunication pretty clear to me in the last scene of 13x20, especially regarding the dialogue that people thought was character regression into Brodependency.

After sleeping on it, I didn’t see the same scale of toxic codependency from seasons ago a la ‘there ain’t no me if there ain’t no you.’ It wasn’t mutual. I saw it as: 1. more from Sam’s end, and 2. Dean’s willingness to protect his loved ones (Sam and CAS, in bold) combined with letting go and the textual acknowledgement of his low self-worth carrying over from 13x05 (the low self-worth he internalized across 99.6798% of his life course).

Firstly, Dabb’s subverting S5. 

He put independent Dean in S5 independent Sam’s shoes here, and it’s surely not a coincidence that Dean himself referenced their implosive S5 Michael-Lucifer mess: “Where we were last time we had front row seats”. S5 exhibited Dean’s Holding On vs Sam’s Letting Go, with lost Dean crawling to Lisa’s door and yeah, we know how that prickly-edged story went. It’s finally Dean Letting Go vs Sam Holding On. It’s indicative of S13 faithless Grieving!Sam re: Mary/Jack seeking his own emancipation and finding real introspective purpose away from the codependent strings he’s clinging to. We heard Sam’s “If we die, we die together”. Don’t fret, his current arc is constructed to get rid of this kind of thinking and move towards Faith!

Dean’s prepared to cut the codependent strings — already has via 12x22, and then in 13x05 (albeit in a suicidal grief-ridden manner. Speaking of, 13x20 this time shifted focus to Sam’s risk-taking re: Lucifer and the Apocalypse in itself. Unsurprisingly, we already witnessed this narrative train running in reverse -- early S13 Grieving!Dean and Functioning Sam swapped roles post-13x06 and in 13x11. Man, I am pumpin’ my fists).

Atop the bro dualism, Dean’s behaviour in 13x20 concerned me the most, saddened me the most, and intrigued me the most. 

:’( 

I may have yelled said that Dean has emotionally matured, eliminated toxic coping mechanisms, achieved an internal balance between his femininity and non-performative masculinity (acknowledged in 13x04; actively manifested in 13x16 onwards x, x), and gained a sense of non-combative communication and understanding (seen in 13x14), yet his low self-worth constitutes the biggest roadblock to his FULL personal growth.

Okay, I know you’ll exclaim: after Cas returned, Dean wasn’t depressed anymore! 

Well, that’s accurate and relatively inaccurate. Dean’s low self-worth is the central facet of his characteristic development, and it does have a guaranteed correlation with depression. Yes, you can feel worthless without being clinically depressed, but worthlessness is maladaptive and contributes to feeling depressed --> Dean’s depression. 

Dean’s case is a heartbreaking one. He’s been depressed for YEARS. He never really cared about what happened to him for YEARS = our Dean meta textualized in gloomy letters!!

Yes, the single individual -- the canon WIN -- that placed him back on the rails was Cas, his Everything, resurrecting from the dead. Cas’ return drastically mitigated Dean’s severe nihilistic depression (aka his rock bottom nihilistic grief when he lost Cas) BUT it didn’t necessarily fix his pre-existing depression.

S13 depicts Dean -- despite Cas’ bright presence -- as traveling the rails empty. There’s not enough coal to fuel his engine because he LACKS the mental faculties to appropriately cope re: trauma and give up his control. This is why he seems to oscillate between character progression and regression, and he still isn’t 100% HONEST and OPEN about his feelings. He’s keepin’ it in. There’s no healthy psychological unload taking place.

Case in point? Dean’s regressed to drinking the hard booze again; Cas FILLS the negative spaces (as he’s been doing throughout S13). Dean is not disclosing the whole truth -- not saying what he’s genuinely feeling (to CAS. I discuss it x, x, x). 

Plus, Dean’s internal worries re: Death, the next apocalyptic war, Cas’ Heavenly plans, and his respective destiny/fate (Death’s “See you soon”) just exacerbate the personal instability he’s experiencing.

And then we observe Dean’s parental duty rearing its head:

To me this is what reiterated the Brodependency being dismantled in late S12/S13 (12x22 and 13x12/15 in particular). Don’t get me wrong – Dean’s mostly let go. He was willing to leave Sam behind in 13x05 after losing the one person who textually means Everything to him. 

Dean’s psyche is at a point right now where he AIN’T okay with Sam’s risk-taking. He questions his little brother’s half-baked plans and sympathizes with the close-to-here manic desperation (again, mirroring S5 and S13 Grieving!Dean), except Dean’s low self-worth puts him in the dark position: I’m doing it, all of it, for YOU (Sam and Cas) since I don’t value myself enough to do it for ME. He further says--

He obviously does, but us, the audience, know--in dramatic irony fashion--that this is NOT Dean’s entire truth.

He values his brother more than himself, and he values CAS more than himself. He cares about what happens to CAS. Nothing Else Matters. And we’re aware that Cas canonically occupies the highest pedestal in Dean’s life, which TPTB absolutely highlighted during Dean’s grieving arc, Cas’ return, and 13x16 onwards. 

(In this scene, Dean continues to tell Sam what he’s NOT telling Cas. USE THE RIGHT WORDS.)

 Cas is the love of Dean’s life, his Everything, and his Win. I mentioned before that losing Cas a second time would destroy him.

(**Dating 101: Dean therefore cannot establish a truly healthy, mutually interdependent relationship with Cas if he has low self-worth. He’s trying, but his personal losses -- more LOSSES than wins this season i.e. AU!Charlie/Mary/Jack in AU, non-confronted traumas i.e. Cas’ death, and insecurities cripple his ability to give Cas ALL of himself, out in the open!)

Although Dean HAS FAITH (Cas), the decisions he’ll formulate to protect/save Sam, Mary, Jack, and especially Cas aren’t exactly derived from mental stability. Keeping them safe is too paramount to Dean that the choices he’ll encounter could be questionable/dangerous, putting him in the line of (sacrificial) fire. 

Sound familiar? It’s deliberately supposed to sound familiar!

Jack, TFW’s Unity/Balance symbol and characteristic mirror, even stated that ‘if he can’t keep others safe, what’s the use’?

Dean will make the penultimate save-the-world (read: save my family) decision ALONE regardless of Sam’s regressive wish to die together. And I wrote that his arc is now DIRECTLY paralleling S11 Casifer & Depressed!Cas’ S11/12 arc, especially (mis)communicative 12x19 --> 12x23 ‘I Have Faith’ Cas. There’s prevalent narrative symmetry in Dean’s arc (intrinsically linked to Cas’ arc).

“You, me, and Sam...we’re just better together” indeed, and this year’s season-ender should unite TFW like last season--unite Dean and Cas--in order to change their fates/defeat Death, but Dean’s decision will be an isolated one --> one that was foreshadowed as he faced expositional Daddy Issues™ Loki by himself. And Dean may not tell Cas, just like Cas hadn’t told Dean in 12x23 about his sacrificial act.

These vastly important storytelling threads ultimately conjoin with “I don’t care what happens to me. I never really have” as the PINNACLE of Dean’s 13-year long characterization; the progressive climax sparking his death/decay so that he can be reborn and revitalized aka THIS IS IT!! Dean’s impending death and self-sacrifice for his loved ones (CAS) = the ultimate catharsis in that S13′s narrative has finally approached the IRL scenario of 13x16 ghost kid (DEAN)’s release from father figure Bad Man -- from the negative influence of all the other literal (Loki, Odin, Lucifer, James Turner) and metaphorical (Asmodeus, Buddy, Michael) fatherly mirrors permeating this season. He’ll LET GO of everything that incarcerated him since he was 4 years old: his Blunt Tool role, control, manipulation, parental abuse and absenteeism, parental duty, the heteronormative patriarchy, and the long-standing trauma slapped on him by Alastair, Amara, and Cain.

He’ll burn the remaining pocket knife of all pocket knives tethering him to his past -- John Winchester x, x He’ll self-transform.

And Dean’s S13 death would fulfill the sacrificial Act of True Love (with Cas holding heavy weight in Dean’s decision for LOVE)--

--and S14 Winning Him Back in the subverted flavour of S10. Romance tropes abound!!

 @thetwistedwillow and @sactownbrowns3 both ignited my stomach-churning feels. This is an extremely pivotal visual. The Michael-reminiscent sword and radiant halo-like lights atop Dean’s head? Yeah, set off HUGE Michael!Dean radars. Complete moral dualism with S10 Demon!Dean--selflessness vs selfishness. Free choice (saying yes to possession) vs stolen choice (demon transformation against his will).

Secondly, as aforementioned, Dean’s harbouring a LOT of traumas he hasn’t mentally confronted, with Daddy Issues™ re: John Winchester (reflected via Dean’s solo faceoff with Loki) as his overarching undealt source of trauma.

Loki tells Dean: “The truth is, [Odin] despised me, but he was my father. I’m sure you understand. What would you do for your father?” 

And Dean stabs Loki’s hologram. He stabs the metaphorical father figure who neglected his sons. He stabs another narrative embodiment of John’s ghost, foreshadowing that Dean’s death = John Winchester’s final death. It’s time to deconstruct and conquer his influence.

(Gabriel was an extended mirror of both Dean and Sam, too. Gabe, the little brother whom deadbeat Daddy Chuck never paid attention to. ‘Ah, big bros, right? Always think they know best’ Gabe, who stabbed and killed deadbeat Loki. Gabe, who subsequently ran away from home, was used and tortured beneath Asmodeus’ control, embarked on a revenge trip, and didn’t feel good about it. Dean and Sam themselves knew what it felt like to be manipulated. While it’s true that their traumatic experiences are subjective, they share common Deadbeat Father-adjacent life courses.)

What beautiful and consistent silent storytelling!!

And oh look, narratively associated to this ^^ is the reappearance of Dean’s John-linked BAG OF EMOTIONAL BAGGAGE--

I can’t can’t can’t wait for him to let go of it PERMANENTLY! 

And of course, Cas’ death remains his immediate significant source of undealt trauma (same links above:  x, x, x)

*looks at Dean’s serious, intense, and emotionally laden expression* *clutches chest tight* *blinks away tears*

I additionally wrote something about Endverse!Cas and D/C (mis)communication a few months ago which I feel is relevant again:

And we know HUMAN Endverse!Cas was representative of that, a sad, depressed, and hollow depiction of the wrong choices for the right reasons who festers (AND DIES), in part because of Dean’s wrong choices, and also because of his own consciously uninformed, narrow-minded choices that led to this literal apocalypse of mind, body and soul.

5x04 laid down what Cas (and Dean) shouldn’t become. If both Cas and Dean (TFW) continue to fail in learning their lessons regarding healthy interdependence (where control must become equality; ignorance must become understanding; intransigence must become compromise; stonewalling must become transparency; lying must become honesty; silence must become communication), Endverse will be their life.

Thankfully, they’re learning as of S13 onwards and I’m ECSTATIC. Slow but sure progress (13x15′s conveying the shift), yet they still have to use the RIGHT WORDS.

Endverse!Dean, who never gave up his control to Cas nor listened to him, was himself consumed by the NEED over the WANT and an authoritarian means to an end. He lost everyone. And Endverse posed an ultimatum for Dean (and Cas’ own characteristic progress): keep your control forever, and you’ll have one destination–no growth, no life, no freedom. 

Full circle!

Dean Winchester must die so he can live.

And what are Dean’s WINS (plural) by dying? Saving people instead of losing people--saving Mary, Jack, Sam, and Cas. Saving the world. Reuniting his family unit. Interacting instead of performing. OUTING INSTEAD OF HIDING. HIGH DEPRESSIONLESS SELF-WORTH INSTEAD OF LOW DEPRESSIVE SELF-WORTH.

Better yet, Dean will undergo character development in relation to his loved ones (and Cas). With high self-worth, Dean’s capable of learning how to value HIMSELF independently. In turn, without personal obstacles he’ll learn how to sustain HEALTHY interdependent relationships and COMMUNICATION as well as learn how to WHOLLY GIVE HIMSELF to others (Cas).

Tell Cas he’s not expendable, Dean. Disclose the real reason YOU “needed him back”. Expose your feelings, choose Want over Need, and push away your rejection fears! Cas loves you dearly—let him know that his love for you is reciprocated. Nothing but good things ahead!!

Gosh, this post is way longer than I expected—thank youu for sticking to it! Circumstances shall get worse before they get better, and it’s totally necessary to ensure our characters meet the final demise of their prisons.

BTW, I still can’t believe we got a borderline blatant onscreen bi!Dean (and Cas insert) treat!! What’s by is by! Overall I’m incessantly praising Dabb’s spectacular work so far + Glynn and Rich Speight Jr’s craft in this ep!!

Very little sub is left in the text, my friends. TPTB are rendering years’ worth of meta increasingly explicit in S13. I can only HOPE and expect that 13x23/S14 brings us past the Point of Know Return subtextual boundaries and into full-blown textual narrative! Authorial intent EXISTS. 

**I know, I know--S14 wasn’t confirmed as the last season and S15 is fair game. The plot accordion, as per usual, re-emerges with the slight overhaul/pullback of characteristic arcs and narrative plot due to season renewals, but I’m Endgame Positive that slow progress is SURE progress. Imho Dean and Cas are so close in saying everything from saying nothing. THE UNSAID WILL BE SAID.

Bracing myself for the last 3 episodes—they’ll burn us in awesome ways!! 

[vulptilla]

i've been thinking for a while now is it ok to ask of your oc's? the not hawke oc you've tagged casim. it's nice to see you have a (former) templar oc even you're anders positive! who is this guy?

Ohhhh, you sweet anon! ♥♥♥ You literally made my day. I’m always eager to talk about my oc’s (and also other people’s oc’s!) So it’s always ok and really, really appreciated to ask me anything about them. ♥

My friend and I have been rp’ing for an year now in DA setting and after my first two mage oc’s I had this thought that I wanted to challange myself and try if I could credibly write a templar character, even if he’d be only a former templar. I’m not very fond of the Templar Order (as you probably know already), so it was and still is quite challanging to reach the right mindset for a character that is not aware of any oppression. (Though he will be soon enough. I just wanted to leave some space for character growth and not make him too perfect from the beginning.) 

As I’m seemingly not capable of short and compact answers, The Essay™ is under the cut. 

Casim is the second son of a minor noble family hailing from Starkhaven. I have this headcanon that especially in those significantly pious cities like Starkhaven it would be common practice that at least one of the younger children of noble families would often be sent to the Order because it’s probably considered respectable thing to do and it probably makes the Chantry respect those families more. Casim is the one from his family since his older brother would inherit their father’s lands and titles. 

Since Casim is born and raised in very religious and also very privileged environment, he never had any reason to question the Order and it’s values and methods, at least not before his little sister’s magical abilities started to show. First he was shocked and actually shunned Cecilia for months leaving her letters unopened even while he knew well enough that she had literally no one else to lean on. Because of his templar training and everything he had been told about mages and magic ever since he was a child he was afraid and unsure if Cecilia would even be the same person anymore, but at the same time he still wanted to protect her at any cost. After all, she was his dear, beloved sister, for the Maker’s sake. Soon he realized that above all else she would be dangerous for herself more than anybody else, which was actually true because she wasn’t taught how to use and control her new powers and she was basically left alone with her struggles since both of her brothers were absent and their parents were absolutely mortified about the fact they had a mage in the family, which was considered an unbearable shame in their social circles, and therefore they wanted to hide her away and pretend she didn’t even exist. They basically kept her locked up in her chambers and let her out only now and then, when they could have been absolutely sure no one couldn’t see her. They also refused to take her into the Circle because if they had done so, then every noble house in the city would have known they had magic running in their bloodline.

After an accident with Cecilia’s magics that nearly got both of the siblings killed (she accidentally set a gazebo on fire and Casim rushed to her aid as he had always done and thought he would always do, no matter what) they had a heated argument about the situation. At the same time Casim actually kind of wanted to respect Cecilia’s wish to stay at their childhood home but he was also too afraid that any day soon he’d receive a letter informing him of his sister’s early death and he just couldn’t make himself to ignore the situation any longer (as their parents wanted him to do and what they did themselves; they actually had hoped she had died in the fire so they could have told everybody she had died of an illness and so they would be spared of the shame of having a mage in the family) while Cecilia was constantly in grave danger at home. He just loved her so much and wanted nothing more than her to be safe, even if that would have been possible only inside the walls of the Circle. He knew that even if he would have ended his promising career in the Order, he still couldn’t have stayed at their family manor keeping his sister safe from any harm forever, so eventually he decided to tell the truth about Cecilia to his Knight-Commander. Casim had just risen to full knighthood then and he thought, as naive and young he was then, that he would, naturally, be assigned to bring Cecilia to the Circle. He knew that she was very shy, introverted and extremely wary of strangers and he just wanted to spare her for any unnecessary stress and harm. Things just didn’t go as he had planned since the Knight-Commander decided to assign four other templars to bring Cecilia in without Casim’s knowledge. When he heard about the Knight-Commander’s plans it was already too late and the party had taken the road. He left his duties at the barracks immediately and rode back home as fast he ever could only to find their yard burned to ashes and all the templars sent for his sister lying dead in the ground. Cecilia was also badly burned but still barely alive so she could tell him what had happened. She told him that one of the templars had drawn his sword on sight and she had been so scared and even while she hadn’t had any intentions make any resistance or to do any magic, it had happened anyway and she had accidentally summoned a firestorm. After that Casim confessed that everything that had happened was his and only his fault since he had been the one who had told the templars about her in the first place. He couldn’t do anything else but to beg for his sister’s forgiveness. He had never meant anything like that happen, he just wanted his beloved sister to be safe. At any cost. In the end she chose to forgive him and they had just enough time to say goodbye to each other before she died in his arms.

After everything that had happened Casim didn’t feel comfortable to stay with the Order any longer. Many of his colleagues and even some of his closest friends openly resented him and didn’t trust him anymore because then everybody knew he had hidden the truth about his mage sister for years or so. He also blamed himself about his sister’s fate even though they both had known that she eventually would have met the same fate one way or another without any proper education how to use and control her abilities. Even though he left he still respected the Order and it’s members who had sworn to protect innocent people, but nevertheless he felt that being a templar just wasn’t for him, at least not anymore. After all, being a templar wasn’t actually his childhood dream or anything like that, it just had felt a better option than holding an office in the court or something else boring as heck his father probably had planned for an alternative. Casim had just wanted to do something good in his life and back then he had thought being a templar would be, well, exactly that. 

After Cecilia’s funeral Casim travelled all around the Free Marches as a wandering sellsword. His parents were highly disappointed in him and blamed him for ruining the family’s reputation, so they had basically disowned him. He had no place to go and for a quite a while he had no desire to stay anywhere for long, so he always left a town or village when the regular customers in any local tavern began to remember his name when he stepped inside. After couple of years of aimless wandering he ended up in Kirkwall and met our other oc’s. 

(I’m actually shipping him hard with my other oc, who happens to be a former circle mage with very, very horrible and traumatic past with templars. It’s no secret, I’m sucker for the concept of forbidden love. I know it’s considered highly problematic but actually I want it to be so at first. I want it to be painful in the beginning when they’re both struggling with the burdens of their pasts and former positions. She of course struggles a lot more than him, but still. What I’m trying to do with them is to get them both to realize that today they actually are equals and they actually could form a healthy relationship if they both are ready to put quite a lot effort in it to make things work between them, since there’s always a risk that they would unintentionally slip back in their old roles as the oppressor and the oppressed, which would be extremely unhealthy and I wouldn’t want that for either of them. They both are also very inexperienced when it comes to romantic relationships which definitely won’t make things any easier for them but… we’ll see. If it won’t work, then it won’t. I’m not gonna force it if it won’t.)

Thanks for asking! ♥

[rafaelribeirosoares]

I was not expecting this much fun! And if you ask me to compare the last two Thor movies to this one, I can’t say for sure, but I don’t remember them to be as funny as this one! The crowd laughed hard. I laughed hard! I had to contain myself because I was bursting into laughter every now and then, and when I noticed it, I thought to myself that I should be a little bit quieter… But no! People were laughing as well!

The film begins explaining what Thor has been doing for the past two years, as it does for Hulk as well later on. The God of Lightning returns to Asgard with an important prize, the Crown of Surtur, which added to the warm of the Eternal Fire (or Flame), Surtur the employer of Ragnarok, a prophecy that foretells the destruction of Asgard would actually plunge the realm into nothingness.

Thor arrives at home and quickly uncovers Loki’s identity since he was disguised as his father Odin. This is not the same dull and plain Thor that I remember. He has grown and there are several references to his personal growth across the whole movie. Once the Crown of Surtur is locked within the Asgardian vault, Loki and Thor set out to earth to retrieve his exiled father. Ah, I forgot to say, Heimdall was banished and branded a traitor due to Loki’s command while disguised as Odin and was replaced by Eomer of Rohan… Clearly not, his name is Skurge.

Marvel Studios’ THOR: RAGNAROK..Loki (Tom Hiddleston)..Ph: Teaser Film Frame..©Marvel Studios 2017

Loki and Thor then set their course to Earth to find their father and after a brief, unexpected but very exciting interruption, they find him at the fjords of Norway. They were late, Odin was deprived of his link with Asgard and his final moment was upon him. His life force was keeping something imprisoned and with him out of the way, Hela, Odin’s firstborn daughter would emerge to take Asgard and continue the conquest that she and her father had begun ages ago. But she wouldn’t stop by just nine realms.

And so it happened. Hela appeared right before Thor and Loki once Odin was out of the picture and she stomped their asses on the spot and Mjolnir, Thor’s hammer, was shattered to pieces. In their moment of despair, Loki asked the guy in charge of the Bifrost to teleport them back. Hela was not born yesterday and she got into the teleporting beam as well, kicking both Loki and Thor out of it, thus leaving them to their fates through the stream of time and space.

Thor is captured on another planet by a former Valkyrie and forced to fight in the arena. He was matched right at the start with none other than the Hulk. He finds Loki afterward and together with Valkyrie and the Hulk, the Revengers (lol) planned an uprising with the other gladiators in order to bring down the Grandmaster, the boss of this futuristic steampunk inspired city named Sakaar where they are imprisoned.

  The Grandmaster

  With a lot of humor and action in between, the Revengers (lol again) reach Asgard and come up with a plan to stop Hela from reaching her Godlike status, since she only grows stronger while on Asgard. Heimdall managed to steal the sword that activated the Bifrost and led the refugees to a safe haven while Hela was on her business to resurrect the bodies of fallen Asgardians. So in the end, the people of Asgard managed to flee in a huge spacecraft, but Ragnarok was unleashed and Surtur turned the mythical realm into a massive wave of dust! Boom it’s over, roll the credits.

“Marvel’s Thor: The Dark World”..Asgard..Ph: Film Frame..© 2013 MVLFFLLC. TM & © 2013 Marvel. All Rights Reserved.

It is time to set the fanboy aside and talk about this awesome movie! First of all, let’s talk about the action. It is top notch. There’s not much science to it, I confess and I’m one that prefers battles with science, abilities, and calculations. But it is not really measured in terms of strength, agility, intelligence and power/stamina. They’re entertaining despite that fact, but I believe that a little more science in the big fights would not hurt the movie in my view, but would surely hurt the pace of it.

Comedy. Ladies and gentleman, this movie rivals Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2 and could potentially be a little bit above it if we count the times that I laughed out loud inside the theater. It is that good! And there are some jokes that are completely unexpected! What a breeze of fresh air Thor: Ragnarok is!

As for the story, it was very well paced with a smart part that caught me entirely by surprise! On the past MCU movies, we’ve noticed that the set is being prepared for Infinity War and Thor: Ragnarok is not an exception. The characters evolve as the film plays out and we get a clear picture of everything that is happening. I haven’t felt lost at any point during the movie so you probably won’t feel like that either. The only point that comes to my mind is that Hela could have been greater as a villain for someone who wears the Goddess of Death title… Right? She is quite comprehensible actually. She comes back to Asgard and says that now that Odin is dead, she is the rightful queen to the throne, which is correct. And she only really kills the Asgardians because they oppose right at the start without any diplomatic attempt… After that, she only raises the dead and tries to find the sword to activate the Bifrost so that she can go and conquer more worlds… Which in truth, it turned out to be a long waiting time for the Revengers (last lol) to appear and deal with her. Apart from that, everything is awesome in my book!

Thor: Ragnarok is definitely worth your time and your money. It has an 8.2 out of 10 stars at IMDb and an amazing 96% at Rotten Tomatoes! Go watch it! You’ll crack your ass laughing above all else!

Thor: Ragnarok – Was Thor This Funny Before? I was not expecting this much fun! And if you ask me to compare the last two Thor movies to this one, I can't say for sure, but I don't remember them to be as funny as this one!