#just wanted to show the obvious parallels between that time in her life and now with this castles crumbling feature with Hayley

[iwanthermidnightz]

Castles Crumbling (featuring Hayley Williams)(From The Vault)

Upon doing research for this post I came across this amazing thread that basically laid out what I was going to say so credit to this person! I’m going to add some excerpts/background in between. The themes of fairytales and folklore have remained consistent throughout Taylor’s career. With bejeweled, Taylor harked back to the fairytale and gave it the ending she now sees for herself. She took the castle.

Love Story. Enchanted. Today Was A Fairytale. White Horse. Speak Now. The Story Of Us. If This Was A Movie. Long Live.

“The young girl happily walks through a fairy tale land but as she gets deeper into the fairy tale the atmosphere changes and it suddenly becomes dark and evil. Hayley Williams also appears as a guide to her there.” (x)

A brick is such a traditional, tired and plain boring representation of solidity. I wanted the whole song to have this sort of fairy tale vibe… only to twist the point I’m trying to make in the song which is, ‘Stop living in a fake fairytale… like, WAKE UP!’ When thinking how I could really get that across in the song I decided I’d use a house. Someone’s safe place, even in a fairy tale… you can’t forge a refuge out of magic & fairy dust. You gotta build it just as real and as solid as a stupid old brick.”

—Hayley Williams speaking about brick by boring brick

cause baby I can build a castle out of all the bricks they threw at me / my castle crumbled overnight 🏰

the folklore of it all

She may be taking back the castle (the empire) that she worked so hard to build, brick by boring brick, but she has the power to burn it all down too. Castles Crumbling as a metaphor… can’t wait to see where this leads.

[diazisms]

explain couch theory for dummies please

alright!!!

basically, couch theory started last season in 6x01. we got a snippet of the script for the buckley diaz scene at the beginning of the episode, where buck, eddie, and christopher are all having dinner together, and christopher teases buck for not having a couch.

buck is upset that bobby didn't consider him for interim captain and goes "i just wanna know what these other candidates have that apparently i don't."

christopher goes "buck, you don't even have a couch."

buck explains that the last two couches came with girlfriends (to which eddie replies "i think you mean the last two girlfriends came with couches.") because ali picked his couch when he got the loft, and they kept taylor's couch after she moved in, meaning that when she moved out, she took the couch with her.

the theory REALLY starts, though, when eddie points out that buck and taylor broke up months ago, he could've replaced the couch by now.

and buck gets a soft look in his eyes as he looks at eddie and goes "well, maybe i don't want to pick the wrong couch again."

that's kind of the root of the whole couch theory.

there's another scene in 6x01 where buck mentions not having a couch to bobby and saying he doesn't want to make a mistake again, referring to life experience.

essentially, the couch metaphor is actually something that happens in canon throughout season 6. the couch theory is the spin off of that metaphor, where it's very obvious that eddie is the damn couch.

throughout the season, there's this theme of buck searching for the right couch. it continues at the very end of the coma episode (6x11), when the buckley parents ask buck why he doesn't have a couch after they come home from the hospital.

we find out in this scene that maddie is aware of the couch metaphor because she goes "oh, that story is too long to tell while standing."

we then get a scene in the following episode (6x12) while buck's in recovery, of him trying and failing to get comfortable on his couch.

in this episode, the 118 and co are showing up to buck's apartment to keep him company, a system created by maddie to make sure buck is fine and that he's not by himself while he recovers from the lightning strike and coma.

buck doesn't want all this attention, though, and, eventually, gets fed up and goes to eddie's house.

where he immediately gets comfortable on his couch, and falls asleep before eddie even brings the beers out.

it did make the fandom lose it, thanks so much for asking.

not directly related to the couch theory, but after buck wakes up on eddie's couch, they talk about the shooting for the first time since it happened.

couch theory kind of continues throughout the season. there's a scene that's essentially a beat by beat parallel of buck falling asleep on eddie's couch with christopher falling asleep on the couch, and the buckley diaz family implications went crazy with that one.

seriously, i'm not kidding. beat by beat.

the writers, actors, producers, etc were all aware of what the fandom thought about the couch theory and how it related to buddie, also. couches were mentioned in interviews, tweets were liked, it was a whole thing.

but, i'm assuming whatever oliver says in today's (april 25th) article about the couch theory is gonna be a little more....buddie specific than anything was during s6.

anyway, after buck falling asleep on eddie's couch everyone sort of hoped for a continuation of the couch arc that involved eddie, because obviously eddie was the couch. you have buck, who didn't want to pick the wrong couch again, who couldn't even get comfortable on the couch his parents bought him, immediately fall asleep the second he sat on eddie's couch?

insanity!!!!!! it was crazy!!!!!

i don't remember if anything happened between 6x13-6x17 that was directly in canon. obviously the fandom kept going with the couch theory, speculating all the ways that the couch could mean buddie canon (there's a lot of fic from s6 that's full of couch metaphors and couch mentions)(my fics, too).

kameron gives birth to the sperm donor baby on buck's couch, also.

i forget that detail.

anyway, end of 6x18, buck and natalia are sitting on his balcony and he turns to her and asks if she wants to go buy a couch.

people died that day.

that's more or less it. i'm sure there's more that i'm missing, but essentially, the couch theory is the idea that eddie is buck's couch, the couch representing a romantic relationship.

or, not just a romantic relationship, but the right one. buck's couch is buck settling down, finding someone to spend the rest of forever with, a family, a home.

and then he got that in eddie's house, but he was too blind to see it.

alright. i think that's it! hope it made sense :)

let's pray today's interview doesn't kill us all

[squidzillaa]

Levi DID NOT reject Hange

An explanation and analysis 🦑

First things first, 5 key factors:

1. This scene is from Levi’s pov (another reason why he looks sad and upset, while saying his goal is to kill Zeke.)

2. This chapter parallels to Eren and Mikasa’s “What am I?” scene in chapter 123.

3. Wanting to live with another, is a common trope in AOT. (Isayama’s love language. 😉) 🏠

4. This is one of the most romantic scenes in AOT, I don’t know how this flew over SO many people’s heads?? 😂😂 It’s right in front of your face!

5. Isayama parallels chapter 126 to chapters 52 and 53. (These chapters contain some of the most important interactions between Levi and Hange):

“Right, Levi.?” (Hange knows what Levi meant. 👍🏻)

“Right… …Levi?” (Does Hange know the answer here? 🤔 Guess… 😏)

Next, in both these chapters, they are being hunted:

Chapter 52: Hange suggests, “Just for now.”

Chapter 126: Hange suggests, “But for now…”

Chapter 52: Levi states, “If we do nothing but run, then all we can do is get caught.” He knows if they stay, they’ll get caught and possibly stabbed.

Chapter 126: Levi questions, “If we keep running and hiding, what will that get us?” He knows the possible consequences of running away, so why does he ask anyway? 🤔😏:

Now, explanation:

Levi was only “pretending” to be asleep, in order to hear Hange’s dream. If Levi Was meaning to reject Hange, he WOULD NOT have brought it back up and then avoid the question she asked (while blushing) which was, “Oh so you heard me?” He’s not going to admit that he heard her because he is a TSUNDERE and, like Isayama said, is awkward and clumsy when it comes to romance. ;)

Hange blushes, because she confessed her love to him thinking he was asleep. In the Japanese culture, asking someone to live with you is a way of proposing. IFKK. (If you have common sense 😉, you can recognize that her blush alone shows that she meant it romantically.)

The other main ships also include a similar situation of wanting to “live” with their love interest:

(Obvious one) Eren to Mikasa

Falco to Gabi

Annie to Armin

Hitch to Marlow

Ymir to Historia

Jean to Mikasa

Eren even brings this up in an interview ⬇️, straight up telling viewers that Hange’s line was a proposal and confession! (Another big factor: Eren and Hange parallel each other, just like how Mikasa and Levi do. That’s a BIG character plot point that a lot of fans don’t recognize or realize. Which in itself already tells you who the 2 main lovers of the story are. Cue “Call Your Name.” 👥)

Levi could have interrupted her if he wanted to reject her proposal or could have straight up said “No we can’t”, “I can’t do that.”, “I don’t want that.” But he didn’t because he Wanted to live with her as well, and was probably imagining a life of just the two of them living in the forest. 💭🌲

He knows that Hange is already preparing to pull him around, so after Eren’s Rumbling announcement, that’s when he decides to get up and ask where Zeke is. He sits up because he wants her to come over to him so he can pop the question of “running and hiding.” Especially because he knows that Eren’s announcement will make Hange want to stop Eren asap. Levi needs to hurry and reask her question before they’re out of that forest and have to focus on their plans, rather than their feelings.

He asks where Zeke is to make her think he was asleep the whole time. (Buttt he blows his cover right away when he asks her what running away will achieve for the 2 of them. 😂)

Levi asking where Zeke is was NOT his first thought, because he was awake the WHOLE time. (Stop trying to make everything about Levi in connection to Erwin and his promise, this scene has nothing to do with him. 👾)

In this chapter, they both have a moment of doubt and confusion:

Hange wasn’t sure if she should continue her duties as Commander, because she’s unsure if they can stop Zeke and they’d be on the run for the rest of their lives.

Levi wasn’t sure if killing Zeke was worth it, because Zeke was willing to die.

Levi restates what Hange said, as a question, because he wanted to know if she Had a good enough reason to leave it all behind.

Levi doesn’t go against Hange’s ideas and encourage them often. Levi loves and trusts Hange SO MUCH, that he was willing to give up on his promise to Erwin and his comrade’s, if Hange had given him a good enough reason to stay. But of course he knows Hange can’t stay out of the action and that they have their promises and duties to achieve first. ☹️🤝🏻🌲 (Along with the guilt that would come with it.) To what ifs.. 🥂

In conclusion, Levi and Hange’s “freedom”, are each other. KAWWW 🦅

(Looking at Their Freedom)

[nexus-my-beloved]

Alright, welcome to my ramble about why Five/Lila in s4 makes absolute complete sense and why everyone tearing it down and making derogatory remarks make me ridiculously angry when they refuse to really think about it.

UMBRELLA ACADEMY S4 SPOILERS !

One of the biggest things I'm seeing people do/say about season 4 is that adding a love interest for Five ruined it or that Five "wouldn't do that" and that it was extremely out of character. At a glance, yes, that can make sense, but if you stop to think about it for five seconds longer than it becomes increasingly apparent that it MAKES SENSE.

Another thing people keep complaining about it the fact that Five was being a homewrecker/Five was being an awful person/etc. What people are doing is they are neglecting to acknowledge the fact that the relationship was as much as Five's persistence as it was Lila's. Lila was not roped into a relationship, she was just as much into it as he was! If you are going to call out Five, remember that you need to call out Lila, too.

Now that my baseline points are out there, let me explain:

When Five was in the apocalypse the first time, he felt completely alone in a barren wasteland. He was isolated, and young, and he wanted to get back to his family to save them. While he waited, though, he grew extremely attached to the first thing he could that gave him any kind of company: Dolores. He cared about her and even loved her, to a degree, proven by how he threatened to shoot Luther in s1 for trying to drop her out a window and by how he kissed the hallucination of a human Dolores when under the influence of Jayme's hallucination venom. Whether the love was real or not, he felt that it was, and it was a result of forced proximity and a lonely person wanting affection ("we only had each other")

When Five ended up trapped in the subway, he was lonely in yet another wasteland with more dangers than before. He felt isolated from the world around him, wanted to get back home to save his family (sound familiar yet?) but this time he was years older. He and Lila spent seven years on that subway, alone, together, and as would happen with forced proximity they got close. (I've heard people argue that they would've had a good sibling dynamic and that the romance ruined it, but the parallels between Lila and Dolores here are kind of obvious, I thought.) Five got attached to Lila, cared about her, and grew to love her (again, whether it was true love or not, that didn't matter when he thought he loved her, at least). In fact, throughout the entire show, Five has never smiled like he did when he was with Lila. He was happy. He did love her.

Often, Five is the one blamed for the relationship (that I have seen; I haven't yet seen ANYONE say Lila was also at fault). The issue is, Lila was the one who was married, the one who had kids, and yet she encouraged the relationship anyway. She didn't think she would get back to Diego, after a while. They were making the best of what they had, and personally, I don't think anything is wrong with the fact they had a relationship while in the subway - neither of them thought they would get home. Lila wasn't intending to cheat, she just didn't think she'd be able to get back to them and wasn't going to spend the rest of her life miserable. Five wasn't intending to play homewrecker, he fell in love and she encouraged it - what was he supposed to do? They were together of their own free wills. I think it's alright that they were together, but if you're going to blame anyone about it, both of them deserve blame because both of them were equal parts into the relationship.

I have heard people say that the stopping to rest was out of character and that it wasn't the same Five who fought 45 years in an apocalypse to get back to his family. That's the thing, though, isn't it? Five has done nothing but work to save his family since he was thirteen years old. 45 years in an apocalypse, a hellish two-ish weeks between saving them from a falling moon, WWIII in the 60s, and trying to get them out of a hotel that was hellbent on killing them. Then, when they get out, no powers, they all go their separate ways and he is no longer right with his family. He spends six years without them, working for the CIA, because working is all he knows how to do now (it's clear he hardly has a life for himself, seeing as everyone else's life was shown but Five had nothing outside of work), and when he gets put in another apocalypse for seven years you all are mad at him for wanting to have a break? For wanting something domestic? At face value, yes, it seems out of character, and it seems slightly selfish compared to his past actions, but when you really think about it IT MAKES SENSE HE'D WANT A BREAK. His life since he was 13 has been dictated by running himself ragged for his family's sake and now he might not be able to get home (similar to how it was in his first apocalypse). He's not at fault for wanting to go somewhere that he can rest. Wanting to have some sense of domesticity with Lila isn't bad.

The entire arc made sense! Five and Lila shared an experience with the commission. Both of them had been subject to The Handler and they could bond over it. Both had been through different apocalypses/problems (Hotel Oblivion, Lila was there in the sixties, they were now in the subway together) together, and both knew what it was like to get irritated by a crazy family (both, consequently, being subject to the Hargreeves). Sure, they fought in the past, and in past seasons their relationship would have never worked, but in that subway? In the subway it made sense. In fact, the show could have gone well either with or without their relationship, but adding in the relationship added to the watcher feeling the same level of defeat as Five did at the end. Losing everything, now having to lose his life, it gives the watcher empathy after watching the breakup.

Truly, I haven't seen anyone say that Five deserved sympathy for the breakup. He did deserve it, though: he was made to fall in love with Lila, and then the moment she found out they could go home, she was running off to leave like she was ready to ignore that they ever happened. He had been in love with her, made her gifts, called her "love", said that he "aimed to please" as he tried to make her happy, held her so gently when he'd kiss her because he was sweet and tender and this was the first real love he'd gotten to have, and he wanted to do it right. Then, the moment he told her she could go home, she was ready to leave, and she looked him in the eyes and said that "it was survival", practically throwing his heart to the ground and shattering it. They'd spent seven years together and he'd grown to love her and she made it seem like she was just biding her time and never truly loved him in the first place. Imagine how he must have felt? And yet he still loved her anyway. He'd known that she had been annoyed with Diego sometimes, and because he was in love and upset after getting his heart broken it made SENSE that he'd be bitchy towards Diego. Yes, she was Diego's wife, but Five was in love with her, and he was jealous that after everything they went through Diego still got to have her. He fought Diego to get out that frustration, even if (in my heart of heart's) it wasn't really frustration at Diego, but instead just generalized feelings of hurt. He dealt with it the way he dealt with things in the past: he fought. Five was forced to be a fighter, and it was the end of the world, it's not like he'd allow himself to cry. If anything, Five fighting Diego was the MOST in character thing they could've done after that, and yet people are upset at him for fighting his brother! That final "it's over, Five" that Lila said after breaking up the fight broke his heart, you could see that, in both his face and the way he blipped to the subway, ready to leave. He was heartbroken, there didn't seem to be a way to end this apocalypse, and again, Five wanted to rest. He loved her, she hurt him, and yet he STILL held her when she broke down after sending her family and the kids away on the train. He was strong, but you could tell he was hurting.

Their relationship wouldn't have worked anywhere besides the subway but it happening there made perfect sense, it made for a good feeling of Five experiencing defeat and the idea that he could never truly be loved, by family or otherwise. (Dolores couldn't reciprocate, Lila tossed him aside the second she could go home, Reginald surely was no father figure and there's no doubt he likely didn't see Grace as much of a mother, his siblings were always upset with him for some reason or other even if he was just trying to save them and out of this whole time, I believe he's only ever been called a good brother twice. He only got told that twice after his years of suffering for his family's sake.)

So, in conclusion, the Five/Lila arc made sense, it fit well with the story, there were good implications if you bother to think about them, Lila was just as much at fault as Five, Five was NOT super out of character for being a man just wanting a break (he even said it himself, it was a break, not giving up), and I'm so sick of hearing people just talk shit about them. Thank you for coming to my ramble, if you were a hater before, I hope I changed your mind, and to everyone that agrees with me thank you.

[cheesecakeluvrs]

I don’t think that Rogue is in any way responsible for Remy’s, or anyones, feelings however I do think that the scenes with Magneto showed how emotionally immature she can be at times - she’s still stuck in that thirteen year old girl mindset that is fixated on physical contact. Most people who have been in relationships or dated around a bit know that there’s far more to them than just the physical side but Rogue has experienced none of that, just the carefully constructed relationship that Magneto (and Mystique) wanted her to have. She went from almost killing her first boyfriend to being involved with a much older man who is able to give her the thing she’s been desperate for - physical touch. Rogue has never had a chance to experience all the in-between bits or understand that not everything needs to revolve around kissing and physical intimacy. With all of that combined its understandable that she sometimes doesn’t realise that her actions can hurt those around her. 

Then up pops Remy who is so full of life and fun and makes it obvious from the get-go that he’s into her. But he’s also been consistently shown to enjoy just spending time with her or doing things that have no relation to physical contact. I don’t think Rogue has the experience or understanding that those things can be just as intimate in a relationship as kissing or sex. Thats why she keeps fixating on the physical side and when that doesn’t work she’s understandably devastated.

For Rogue it feels like a win to realise that Remy is the one she wants, touch or no touch, and seeks him out without registering that this is a potentially cruel thing to do, because she can’t quite see outside of her own wants and needs. I think if she’d had a few relationships under her belt then Rogue would have realised that, regardless of intention, she had hurt Remys feelings with the dancing and the kissing - even if he didn’t see it, it’s not like nobody is going to tell Remy. 

On Remys part its just another instance where he is yet again nobodies first choice; his bio parents didn’t want him, Jean-Luc left him out on the streets until he was of use to the Guild then kicked him out again and the Xmen at times have one rule for him and completely different set of rules for everybody else re Antartica. Rogue turning around and deciding that she wants him barely ten minutes after telling him that she’d rather be with Magneto is only going to pick at these insecurities because Remy has his own trauma to deal with, trauma that isn’t directly related to his powers, kind of the opposite to Rouge which is a nice parallel. Again, most people who have dated would have clocked this and perhaps taken a different route. 

Anyway, sorry for the essay, i just really liked your post and I don’t think its fair to put Remys hurt feelings on Rogue. However I would have loved to have seen them have that conversation so that Rogue could have had some growth in terms of relationships. I love her but it can feel a bit one sided at times in that her feelings are always to be tended to first, regardless of what has happened.

Who knows, maybe we'll see that if we get Death Remy...

Yeah this definitely isn’t the end of the drama and all this is so true! Rogue has had so little experience with love so she is just very confused. She also can’t help the fact that she realized she wanted Remy RIGHT after rejecting him. Her whole life has been the same old chasing and yearning for touch and now she’s faced with the choice of either touch or feelings so she really doesn’t know what to do. She’s faced with all these realizations at once so maybe it’s a good things she’s not going to be getting into a relationship with Gambit right away. She needs some experience with relationships but right now she’s having way too much and I think she needs a little break to really understand her feelings.

[lesbianpraetor]

Extra Extra Initial thoughts about Furiosa now in bullet point format Summary the movie made me want to write several essays about George Miller's brain, but also I wish somebody had rained him in just a little bit. Spoilers Ahead!

-It was super obvious that George Miller was trying to expand images that he couldn't show in the first (fourth?) movie. Speciallyyyyyyyyy the History Men, Miss Giddy in Fury Road was a character by herself, but now the archetype is well and truly established with a very specific cosplaying Saruman in the desert with tattoos vibe. Also showing in detail the other two citadels, showing the green place, showing the absolutely vile way that the wretched live, going in depth with the war boys million other things as well. I personally loved it and the picaresque sense it gave the movie.

-The citadel looked soooooo similar to Fury Road it was eerie, since everything else looked so different. But I think it made an important point about stagnation and how the men at the top will keep killing the world for as long as they possibly can only even changing their methods when forced to.

-There's a whole extra movie in the vault about how exactly the wives that were there ended up disappearing. how the politics of it changed from women desperately trying to stay there to have the high life to five women deeply committed to their own liberation (with little Cheedo being the only detractor in retrospect when she is spooked by the wider world). I feel like there is a whole lit fic novel in there about them reaching a breaking point. Maybe a situation where Joe throws out all of them and only keeps the very very best because I counted a whole 11 woman in that vault, maybe the Wives from Fury Road are kidnapped all since wretched woman would not be able to give birth without any deformities? Is Angharad that inspiring? I don't think it's the first one because the fact that woman that chose to be there then decided they didn't want to live as things is much more powerful

-the other extra movie is how exactly Furiosa befriended the wives since she actually didn't spend that much time in the vault itself. I did feel it weakened my favourite reading of Fury Road a little bit, but oh well that always happens with new instalments.

-Talking about Furiosa I'm actually so deeply sad that they casted Anya Taylor Joy for this, not even because she did a bad job, although I think Young Furiosa did a much better job, but because I have watched Queens Gambit so many times that her mere presence made me think about the movie in Doylist terms. She also just seems too Holywood? I don't know there was something about her face that made me think that she was CGIed it was too smooth. Did she even shave her head? I felt Furiosa would not have let it grow out in between escaping the vault and joining the war rig crew, and don't tell me she couldn't, everyone else had short hair Praetor Jack had a nice salon haircut. But the acting itself was good! I actually think it was an effects and direction issue.

-Since we are talking about casting Chris Hemsworth did work for me and I'm questioning if I'm having internalized misogyny about him working better than Taylor. Maybe it was the copious amounts of beard, or that he wasn't the main character but I could really inmerse myself in his character and his parallels to not Furiosa, he was a fucking lying piece of shit about that, but to Immortan Joe. Can't quite articulate waht it was exactly but I think it hit whatever Miller was trying to hit with him. Although my favourite casting was the people I didn't know from anywhere, specially Mary Jo Bassa and the Biker Crew. Burn down the media establishment where we even see actors outside of their characters, it ruins the movies.

-Most viscerally hated character from that movie was the organic mechanic though, instant visceral disgust coupled with professional disdain at this point. You are trying to tell me you couldn't even try to steam the bleeding of the man's throat? you are trying to tell me you are giving birth on the floor like a fucking amateur? he probably didn't even know the anatomy necessary to start trying to close a neck wound. And it's cannon now that he didn't create either Immortan Joe's or Rictus breathing apparatus, because they already had them before the prisoner exchange. Absolute charlatan, no this has nothing to do with me still being pissed as hell as to how he treated Angharad what are you talking about? There's one man in the movie that instantly made me think in Watsonian terms I hate his guts so much.

-And in general I felt the hypocrisy of even the men trying to be kind to Furiosa much more keenly in this movie, which is to say that I did like Praetorian Jack as the pinnacle of the archetypical road warrior and parallels to Max are very interesting and I adored how it created even more parallels to Furiosa and Max's character development in the two movies. But, I don't know, there's something about how he carried himself with Furiosa that rubs me the wrong way I just can't quite place how, might need a rewatch. Anyway Furiosa's crush on him that honestly seemed pretty unrequited from his part was fun, although I hope people don't make it the most important part of the movie (it honestly reminding me of Cheedo and the Dag, they even had a similar was it a stolen kiss moment? but I digress, the parallels between him and Max were much more interesting)

-Back to the topic of the wives there was a moment in the beggining when Mary Jobasa didn't kill the woman who claimed to be a mother and then she betrayed her, which both shows the kind nature of the green place, how it really doesn't work like that in the wasteland and how exactly the vuvalini might have been so diminished in numbers. But my favourite part about this scene was when she said "I'm not to blame" that had to be on purpose because I wanted to shout at the screen " THEN WHO KILLED THE WORLD?" so bad. The fate of the world really hinges on the simplest choices since without that little bit of snitching they just get to go home.

-Honestly just Mary Jo Bassa appreciation, she died on the third day but damn what impressive three days. If I write fic it's going to be about her and Furiosa's other mother, who made the movie pass my personal Bechdel Test with the true purpose of the original Bechdel test, to woman talk to each other in a way that let's you see the Lesbianism in their eyes.

-The scenery of the green place definitely deserves a mention as well, it felt so tiny! it felt so different from everything else of course, they didn't linger to preserve both the runtime and the feeling of it being a place almost from Furiosas's dreams. But from space it felt tiny! the space shot of the outback with the most minuscle amount of green made it feel so deeply vulnerable, and the presence of the crows everywhere made me genuinely emotional. It did clearly have enough of everything to survive and for people to thrive and be super healthy, but it seemed like every millimeter was planned to the last detail to be of the best use.

-Honestly I think the relationship between Furiosa and her mother was the beating heart of the movie, I definitely liked the first third more than anything, it felt the most like something new and fully immersed not only in the setting of Fury road but honestly more of Road Warrior in way?, I don't know closest I got to crying was at Mary's death and her little good girl when furiosa killed a man to protect their home was the cutest most uwu part of the movie. Not to mention revenge of her death is the entire point of the final confrontation.

-Also I have to mention Mr. Norton. Mr. Norton I'm free on saturday for tying up to a motorcycle, I'm sure everything you did was totally justified and also super hot, thank you for your dirty rabid woman duties it was fucking awesome how you shot a man and the quartered your former boss.

-Last comment before I forget, that scene where Jack was killed had impressive Hector vibes. Tied to the back of the chariot while hounds eat you and disfigure your corpse? More to add fuel to the fire of George Miller adoring archetypical images, and I do too no complaints, it was gut-wrenching when I realized what was going to happen. The Horde in general had a mixture of Greek Charioteers and Mongol horde I really loved it.

-Also their first fight scene together where they work seamlessly together and then Furiosa threatens his life? classic crazy wasteland, you and Max really were identical. It also cements my idea that the movie is Fury Road backwards, since Max threatened Furiosa's life first and then they seamlessly worked together. I'll have to find where all the beats parallel and how they fit together, to see if I'm right.

In Conclusion honestly excellent movie, I didn't leave with the deep emotions Fury Road made but how much it's making me think about it is deeply appreciated.

[demontobee]

Parallels between Lord Jim and Good Omens (2)

I have rewatched GO2 at least 10 times now (still counting, obvsly), and every time I notice new easter eggs that emerge from the massive web of intertextuality that Neil Gaiman created for us here.

So today, I wanted to focus on the way Aziraphale came up with the “undercover” name “Jim” for Gabriel. He read it on the spine of a book: Lord Jim.

That book was written by Joseph Conrad (a Polish-British writer with dubious ideas about colonialism) and published in 1900. The plot basically follows the life of a young idealistic seaman called Jim who has to defend himself in a trial that concerns a sinking ship which he and other members of the crew abandoned in a storm, leaving it and the helpless passengers to their fate. The ship did not sink in the end, and he was the only member of the crew who was held accountable for his deeds by stripping him off his naval certificate. The trial is where he meets the narrator of the story, Marlow, who is strangely intrigued by the young man, who seems to be engulfed by guilt and shame over his morally wrong decision to leave the boat. The narrator tries to help Jim to his feet and lands him a job as a post manager at some remote colonial outpost. There he becomes a hero by capturing a local bandit. Later he falls victim to a scheme against him, and a pirate raids a neighbouring community and kills the son of their chief, Jim’s close friend. Jim then goes there, and the chief shoots him as a revenge for his son.

I mean, the most obvious parallel is that Gabriel gets named after Jim. He, too, abandoned his ship (Heaven; and the question here is, did he know it might be a sinking ship as well?) and was put on trial and lost his position as archangel before he came to Aziraphale for help. But that’s not all there is to it.

Let us start with the formal (concerning style and structure) aspects:

narrative structure:

“Marlow has complete control over the story … and he exercises his power in increasingly complicated ways. Time is broken up: in a single paragraph of narration, Marlow will reference the past, the present, and the future. By manipulating the flow of the narrative, Marlow is able to create juxtapositions and contrasts that highlight particular aspects of the story. He is a master at withholding information …” (Source: Sparknotes)

As I have already discussed in another post, this is more or less how narrative structure works in GO, too (S2 maybe more than S1, but this still applies to both). We get minisodes from the past that directly reference and juxtapose situations in the story that takes place in the present. Take, for example, the Job minisode, which gives us information about the development of Crowley and Aziraphale’s relationship, but we also see how devastating and hard it was for Aziraphale to realise that sometimes he had to lie (or do something considered wrong in heaven) to do the morally right thing. This sequence is juxtaposed with the relative ease he exhibits in the present day when he has to lie to heaven on a regular basis (in this case, about the miracle and hiding Gabriel, which is kind of a big lie, too). The show also plays with our understanding and expectations of how time works, as S2 starts with a scene that takes place “before the beginning,” which undermines dramatic structure as it has been known and accepted since Aristotle. It is also interesting to note that in S1, we have a strong sense of an almighty narrator, since god herself is narrating the whole time and she sure lets us know that she is playing her own ineffable game here. In S2, however, we don’t have a clear narrative voice. This might make it seem like the narration is more neutral or less meddled with, but in reality, it just makes things even less reliable and situations more ambiguous, as we have no single voice to interpret them for us. Someone is definitely “withholding information” here, and I guess we’ll have to wait for S3 to get the full picture.

language/style:

“Marlow constantly ponders the "message"--the meaning of Jim's story. His language is dense with terms like "inscrutable" and "inexplicable," words that denote imprecision and indecipherability, but which also possess a certain quality of uncertainty in themselves, as words. He struggles to name things, and is often reduced to wondering if there even is a meaning to Jim's story and his fascination with it. Sometimes he concludes that the meaning is an "enigma"; sometimes he decides there is no meaning to be found at all. Words are constantly being contested in this novel; at least three major episodes center around the misinterpretation of a single spoken word.” (Source: Sparknotes)

I mean, “inscrutable” and “inexplicable”? Why not just call it “ineffable”? I also love how Crowley seems to wonder about the meaning of things (especially the distinction between “good” and “bad”), as one of the first things we here him say in S2 is something like: “Do you ever ask yourself what’s the point. I mean angels, demons, heaven, hell … it all seems a bit … point … less.” And obviously, the whole show is full of misinterpretations of words (e.g., “what does your exactly mean, exactly? I feel like my exactly and your exactly are different exactlies”), or, as we are all painfully aware, a whole way of communicating with one another (“aim for my mouth, but shoot past my ear”).

Now for some similarities concerning informal (aka content) aspects:

moral balance and “naïve heroism”:

“Even more tortured is the analysis of idealism and heroism that lies at the center of Lord Jim. Jim is a young man who enters the world motivated primarily by fantasies of daring and noble deeds lifted from cheap novels. His ideals break down, however, in the face of real danger; they are, in fact, untenable when applied to any form of reality.” (Source: Sparnotes)

That sounds like both Crowley and Aziraphale in a way. They both set out as naïve idealists, and both of them learn (Crowley earlier and faster that Aziraphale) that their (heavenly) ideals do not hold in the complex reality of life. A lot of what we see in S2 is Aziraphale coming to terms with accepting that doing the “right thing” on earth often involves breaking his heavenly rules and allowing for “shades of grey.”

struggling to comprehend own identity and moral consequences of own actions:

Both the narrator, Marlow, and the protagonist of his tale, Jim, are trying to figure out their identity. Marlow seems to tell the story mainly to kind of make sense of identity itself but also of him personally, while Jim tries to make amends for his morally wrong behaviour and tries to manifest his identity (as a hero) through action.

In GO2, we have a lot of identity struggles and questions of “who am I?”: Jim the amnesiac angel is the most blatantly obvious case, but we also have Aziraphale negotiating his identity constantly, e.g., in the Job episode when he asks “Then what am I?” after having lied to heaven for the first time . And I mean Crowley is just on another level of liminal identity entirely, isn’t he?

As a bonus (and I am probably going overboard here, but well), this is the description of Jim’s death:

“Then with his hand over his lips he fell forward, dead.”

  The imagery reminds me of something…ahhh yes:

Feel free to add your thoughts in the tags or comments!

[nonbinaryspy]

Meta: Timerra and Tellius

Timerra’s (belated) birthday gives me an excuse to talk about one of my favorite Engage topics: the parallels between her and various Tellius characters.

(Spoilers for FE9/10 and FE17.)

The obvious place to start is Ike. As Timerra’s personal Emblem, his build and paralogue in Engage focus on turning defense into offense to endure and protect others. This synergizes with Timerra’s Sandstorm ability as well as her priorities as Solm’s future queen.

Compared to other Emblem summonings in the game, the scene where Ike is summoned is quick and to-the-point. The Solm royals are highly competent, with a wide spy network, and already had a plan in place for when Alear shows up. They have a healthy wariness they don’t immediately display, as they welcome Alear with open arms while secretly testing if they are the true Divine Dragon. By the time Timerra meets Alear, their identity has been confirmed and bandits are already attacking, so she jumps straight into action to get Ike’s help and protect the village.

I’m sure Ike would approve of her no-nonsense approach and her focus on keeping people safe, especially after all of his own bandit fights. He has no patience for bureaucracy or noble trappings, but he understands the need for discretion when danger and politics are involved (see: his own ‘sometimes you have to fool your allies’ maneuver in RD part 2), so I think he would appreciate how the Solm royals handle this.

But you don’t have to take my word for that. Between Timerra and Seforia saying they always wanted to meet him, Timerra calling him family, Ike telling Fogado that Solm castle reminded him of being with the mercenaries, and his first Somniel dialogue saying that he already misses Solm, I think it’s safe to say there’s a lot of natural fondness between Ike and the Solm royals. Is there any wonder, when one of Solm’s main norms is accepting people regardless of their origins, possibly Ike’s defining ideal?

My favorite example of this is when Alear’s origins are revealed, and Timerra and Fogado have some of the most affirming reactions:

[ID: Four screencaps with the following dialogue toward Alear: Timerra: What matters to me isn’t how you were born. It’s what you do with the life you’re given. Timerra: If you choose to live as a Divine Dragon, then that’s what you are! Timerra: Nothing’s changed as far as I’m concerned. The you that’s in front of me—that’s all I need. Fogado: The people of Solm don’t care about origins. We care about the you NOW. And you are amazing.]

This aspect of Timerra shines throughout her supports, most notably in her relationships with Merrin and Panette. Their love and loyalty toward her stems from a time before they even knew she was a princess. They both see her as a beacon in their lives, as they wished to escape the confines of their pasts and find new futures for themselves. Timerra saw them for their ideal versions of themselves—Merrin as a chivalrous knight, Panette as someone who isn’t caught in a destructive cycle—rather than the situations they came from. Her acceptance helped them create those realities for themselves.

Anyway, unrelated to the above, just a completely random pair of images that don’t make me cry at all:

[ID: In a screencap from Engage, Timerra is saying, “No matter what’s happened, you’re still you. Let’s go save the world, Ike!” In a screencap from Path of Radiance, Ike is telling Soren, “No. It doesn’t change anything. You’re still you, Soren!”]

Another example is Timerra’s attitude toward Veyle. In the main plot, she’s one of the few main characters to express distrust toward Veyle even after the truth is revealed. However, once Veyle has proven herself as an ally, Timerra is extremely friendly toward her in their supports, with Veyle appreciating how Timerra treats her like any other friend rather than a Fell Dragon’s daughter. Again, this is reminiscent of Ike’s blend of skepticism and treating everyone the same.

I think it’s also interesting that Timerra struggles with conflicting desires for freedom vs. connection, as shown in her S support. Despite Ike’s love for people, he doesn’t always deal well with the responsibilities and expectations that get placed on him, and his ending shows he shares some of her wanderlust.

Timerra: When we connect with people─you know, really bond with them─those bonds make us stronger. Timerra: I mean, our closest allies help us do things we could never do all by ourselves. Timerra: That’s powerful stuff. But those bonds─those friendships─can feel like obligations too.

Finally, one of my favorite parallels between Ike and Timerra is a shared charm point: the fact that they live as they please, regardless of what others think, while also acting like everything they do is super obvious. An extremely ‘have your cake and eat it too’ mentality that I can only respect. 

Alear: Still, you never cease to amaze. You take it upon yourself to help root out bandits… Timerra: What, is that not normal? Timerra: I’m just protecting my people. I thought that’s what royalty was supposed to do. Alear: You say something completely radical like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. Timerra: Hahaha! That’s my charm!

Ranulf: Well…a little crazy, yeah! I’ve never worked for a leader who’s as blunt and straightforward as you. It’s pretty shocking to have a commander who doesn’t care what anyone thinks, no matter how powerful they are. Ike: Well, that’s just my style. I don’t have to be like someone else, do I? Ranulf: Why are you so confident? I don’t get it. Normal beorc just do what people tell them and try not to make a fuss. But not you. I heard you even yelled at the apostle! Ike: Yeah, that wasn’t my brightest moment. Ranulf: Then again, worrying about a beorc like this is definitely not normal laguz behavior. I guess I’m a fish out of water myself… Wait, did I just call myself a fish? Ike: Wha–? Ha ha! You’re a cat, remember!? I thought you ate fish. Ha ha ha!

Okay, that last bit isn’t relevant, but I just want to highlight that while Timerra and Fogado talk about how serious Ike is compared to them, they would definitely enjoy his secret love of bad puns. Here’s a bit of Timerra’s own sardonic humor that brings Ike to mind:

Alear: What?! How do you eat that much?! Timerra: Oh, you know. Open my mouth, bite, chew. I won’t bore you with all the details.

Of course I have to mention their love of meat, even if I don’t find that to be an important part of Ike’s character. What I will say is that Ike is shown in his supports with Oscar to have a genuine appreciation for artful cooking, so I think it’s neat that Timerra is one of the best cooks in the army. It’s also endearing that she feels bad for cooking around Ike when he can’t eat, though he tells Fogado the smell is enough.

Next, I want to talk about a couple of characters who aren’t in Engage: Mist and Elincia. I adore that the focus on Timerra protecting Ike flips his dynamic with both of these ladies on its head. Speaking of protection…I believe that Mist and Ike’s relationship mirrors Timerra and Fogado’s, with their fond, casual banter. It makes sense, since both duos are close in age.

Interestingly, despite Timerra being Fogado’s older sister, he is as protective of her as Ike is toward Mist. In Fogado’s case, he seems to almost see himself as Timerra’s retainer, given that he will one day be her advisor. He travels around to prepare himself for this role. Timerra, however, doesn’t always like this, as she wishes they could hang out more and that he would be more candid with her. While they’re clearly close, the distance still leaves her lonely.

Though it’s a different situation, Greil’s death puts Ike in the role of Mist’s protector at the same time that he gains dangerous responsibilities. He also takes it upon himself to get revenge on their father’s killer. She stresses that she does not want him to do these things if it means she’ll lose him, too, and as the game goes on, they lose some of the lighthearted dynamic they had at the game’s start. Having already lost her parents, it’s easy to assume Mist feels lonely in this circumstance. She even has her own protective streak toward Ike, such as in her battle conversations with the Black Knight and Ashnard. Like Timerra, Mist wants to stay close to her loved ones and protect them, and she joins the fighting to that end, even learning swordplay despite being a healer.

Despite their troubles, Mist and Timerra share a bubbly personality. They tend toward optimism and try to hide their cares them. Their sunniness gets them and others through tough situations. However, those around them still want to be able to support them even when struggle with being vulnerable.

In my opinion, some of Mist’s designs evoke Timerra’s, such as in the colors and flowing accessories. While the clothes aren’t super similar, I think the two of them would definitely enjoy going clothes shopping together. I also think they’d like to sing together. Timerra’s silly songs may be a far cry from the galdr that Mist and Elena safeguard, but that would suit Mist just fine.  

Possibly my favorite character to compare Timerra to, though, is Elincia. Timerra’s bangs and the fact that her hair is tied up even follow in the character design traditions of Elincia and other characters in her archetype, such as Nyna and Guinevere. Granted, Timerra’s ponytail is a lot looser than those other characters, which is an excellent design choice as she has a much more free-spirited personality.

Still, Elincia once upon a time was not so different. She grew up in secret, frolicking in the countryside with no expectation of becoming queen. As a result, she did many things most princesses didn’t do, such as chores, horseback riding, and sword fighting. It’s commented many times that due to cultural differences as well as Timerra’s own personality, her lifestyle and activities are often at odds with what others expect from a princess. While their allies might find both princesses strange at times, they end up trusting and supporting them due to their approachable natures.

Elincia is shown to have a playful streak in PoR when she is reunited with her retainers, around whom she feels comfortable enough to drop her more stately personality. On the flip side, while Timerra is more frequently playful, she never forgets her role. Even her more casual supports show this, such as when she susses out Ivy’s weakness during a camping trip, or interrupts a training session with Diamant to ask if he believes peace is possible. Many of her exploration quotes show this as well, with her referencing the other nations’ politics and even in her response if her allies die.

“My brother, my stewards…gone. It’s so cruel. But as the future queen, I will not crumble!”

Elincia and Timerra’s upbringings contrast with each other, since Timerra has always known she would be queen. Her free-spirited nature stems from Solm’s ideals and the role of its government. After Daein invades, Elincia has to travel incognito, giving her a chance to learn about the world. She develops a strong desire to protect her people. The endpoint of her character development in PoR is where Timerra is already at when we are introduced to her—Timerra has been training and traveling incognito and is ready to defend her country. Regardless of where they start, Elincia’s compassion and resolve are reflected in Timerra, who only wants to make her people happy and believes the best way to do that is to get to know them, so she can better understand and protect them.

The games’ plots present challenges that test both characters’ resolve. While Elincia has to make a variety of decisions, the one I want to highlight comes at the end of RD part 2, when Lucia is taken hostage. Elincia is told that Lucia will die unless she gives up the throne to a usurper. However, she refuses. Despite the sacrifice of someone dear to her, she will never give up on protecting Crimea. In the end, both Lucia and Crimea are safe, but it has nonetheless been demonstrated what Elincia would do under that pressure.  

I thought of this when I got to one of my favorite moments in Engage, when Timerra and co. have to take back the palace from the Elusians. Hortensia holds her mother hostage, assuming Timerra will bend and hand over the Emblem rings. However, doing so would doom Solm along with the rest of the world. Timerra refuses to back down, and she saves her family along with her country.

[ID: Five screencaps alternating between RD and Engage. Elincia and Timerra look resolved, while Lucia and Seforia as hostages look on proudly. Elincia: But I will see Crimea through this trial. I will give my people the future they deserve, no matter the cost. Timerra: So threaten us all you want. Take my whole family hostage, if it makes you happy. Timerra: But I stand for Solm, and I always will. Lucia: People of Crimea... Behold a true queen! YOUR queen! Long live Queen Elincia! Seforia: There she is, the future queen of Solm. And her ally, the Divine Dragon.]

Back to characters who are in Engage: the other Tellius Emblems. As with Elincia, Micaiah is presented with a series of trolley problems throughout RD. There’s a big focus in the Tellius games on making decisions for personal vs. political reasons, and whether to prioritize a loved one/a situation that is right in front of you over the bigger picture, and I think this is most complex with Micaiah’s story. This is highlighted when Sothe is held hostage and she is told to stand down to save him. This recalls the situation I already discussed with Timerra.

Like Timerra, Micaiah is a tactical thinker who has to foresee long-term plans as well as use strategic approaches in situations where she’s outnumbered. Micaiah ends RD as Daein’s queen, despite not being brought up for that role and having traveled in disguise, getting to know and love Daein’s people. Again, this fits with Timerra traveling around incognito and being passionate about protecting Solm.

Timerra expresses that Solm didn’t reach out for help when Sombron returned because they’d have to return other nations’ support when it was taking all of their efforts just to keep Solm safe. This brings to mind Micaiah’s conflicts, as she has to make difficult decisions to protect Daein from Begnion’s occupation and the blood pact, which sometimes involves rejecting outside help when a situation is too complicated, such as in her 3-13 battle talk with Ike.

Unfortunately, Emblem bond supports don’t have the scope for these sorts of complexities. However, I was tickled by the fact that Timerra invites Micaiah to sing with her, as a reference again to the Galdrs.

Speaking of bond supports…I don’t have anything deep to say about Timerra and Soren, but just look at how precious they are:

[ID: Two Emblem Bond screencaps. Soren is bowing with his hand over his heart, and he and Timerra are smiling at each other. Soren: You’re the princess of Solm, is that right? I thank you for protecting Ike. Timerra: He’s told me so much about you. I expect big things from you, talented advisor!]

Her careful approach to protecting Ike’s ring won the trust of someone with deep trust issues and a protective streak toward Ike, aww. They’re friends in my files every time. It’s also sweet that she wants to understand him and Ike better by learning about the mercenaries. I know she loves her moodier Emblem pals, but I’m sure she’d feel right at home with the whole rambunctious crew, like how Ike felt at home in Solm.

While this post is long enough without going into depth on Yunaka, as Micaiah’s guardian she also has a combination of Tellius influences, between her obvious parallels to Yune and Sothe as well as some of the themes of Micaiah’s character. Micaiah’s introduction, with her calling out to Yunaka, even mirrors Micaiah hearing Yune’s voice. For these reasons, I really wish she and Timerra had talked. I think Timerra’s simultaneous hidden wariness and acceptance of people regardless of their backgrounds would definitely play well with Yunaka’s arc. Fogado, as someone who shares Timerra’s ideals, certainly had a positive influence on Yunaka in their supports with his compassion. Plus, can you imagine the silly phrases Timerra and Yunaka would invent together?

I’ll end this before it strays too far from the main point, but I hope someone else enjoys these observations! Timerra is my favorite Engage character, and since Tellius is so dear to me, noticing these connections definitely made her character even more special.

[lackey-of-louis-du-point-du-lac]

Although I've put some distance over fan discourse now because it's a lot and very buzz right now I actually can't stop thinking about the argument about Who Is The True Big Bad.

Though I once believed that they are all bad in their own respective degrees (leaving out the murder they all commit) I recently changed my mind.

Louis' story is a story at its core about a human who has been oppressed his whole life and struggles with his Morality even before the whole "you have to kill people to survive" thing started. Louis' story is about being human in a vampire's lifestyle. And it's understandable because he sees his world as a human and himself a monster.

Everyone defending Lestat saying what he did was fine or normal for a vampire aren't wrong. It is normal for him to act violently. It's their nature as Vampires. But it's also...wrong.

Lestat is the villain because we see it in a lens of a human. Louis will always be human so his horrors will always be leveled in terms of the humanity he clings to. The cheating, the screaming, the apathy to his family and business are everything everyone sees as a horror. A tragedy. Especially to Louis. He doesn't understand it. He fears it. And it hurts him.

Louis is a connection to the world and we can't fault him for being himself, for valuing his humanity.

But for Lestat Louis is kinda the villain in his story. Or better fitting his "Judas". In his own way Lestat clings to the parts of him that he desires to fulfil about himself. To be loved. Wanted and joined in a companionship. To be a monster without apology or shame. Louis does not fulfil this and it frustrated Lestat. He acts out. He doesn't understand that acting out or the way he does it is wrong. He acts towards Louis as if he's already a well versed vampire or someone who takes to vampirism well. He expects this from Louis when it isn't FAIR for him to do so since he knows, somewhat, how Louis thinks but this doesn't stop him.

And I know this is the point of the show but also now that I've understood the show a bit better over time Louis is Lestat's lover in the truest word. I think Lestat Loves Louis more than Louis does most of the time. Louis might be full of humanity than any other vampire out there but Lestat is filled with Love than any other vampire out there.

I always thought of Nikki as "the one who got away" but the more I learned about him, he was more of a tumble and stumble into love. Lestat loved him but he never really gave himself into Nikki as much. There are parallels between Louis and Nikki (which is a post for another day) that are obvious. But what really makes Louis and Nikki different is that Nikki was made and left. Once he got mad and guilty and depressed Lestat had left. When Louis got like that Lestat didn't leave and even when he did it was far. He knew that Louis was still home.

But I digress that's not the point. The point is that Louis out of all them is not a true victim but can't ever be a true villain. Louis is so human it hurts and so we are forced to see through the lens of defining good Vs evil through it because that's what he does to himself.

Yes they all do horrible things to others and to each other but out of all of them (Claudia aside because she's really the true victim as they took a lot of her own agency away from her) Louis is not as bad. I do not think he is. Of course this does not mean any of them deserve love any less.

I just think painting them as villains is not really encompassing them all but if we have to then Louis should not be the top and most hated one. If we have to judge them as villains I think that it won't do to judge them based on opinion but rather how much agency one had and what they reacted with. Along with that how much power and what they do with it.

[mikuni14]

Century of Love - Ep 4

Whenever San says in That Special Tone: A'Tao😤 and A'Juu😤, I gain an extra year of life (previously lost with each of Kohei's tears, from I hear the sunspot). The interactions of the San's family are the highlights of this series. It's obvious that this is a good family relationship, because they all clearly recognize him as a leader and respect him, but at the same time they're so relaxed with him and are not afraid of him and his furrowed eyebrows that especially the youngest generation can call him out and even mess with a bit 😄

"Have you watched Naruto again?" raises intriguing questions 🤔: So this has happened before? How many times had he watched it? He didn't catch the homoerotic subtexts in SaasukeNaruto's relationship at all? He didn't even have the slightest crush on Kakashi and all those self-sacrificing male characters? 😆😆

A very nice scene with a crocodile toy (I think it's very popular in Thailand), showing both humor and a deep bond between Vee and his grandma. In this context, it's not surprising that Grandma was able to distract little Vee with "playing" from the fact that they were homeless. It's also not surprising that Vee is desperate to "repay" her for her kindness and care, just as San feels guilty that he "didn't have time" to repay Wat for her kindness and help.

The constant parallels between San's life 100 years ago and Vee's life now are so interesting: social injustice, lack of support from authorities and institutions, being victims of bad people and circumstances, poverty, struggling to survive in a hostile world, clinging to the only good people they have.

Despite everything, the question still remains to what extent their actions and willingness to "return the favor" are consciously beautiful and noble, and to what extent they are unconsciously selfish. In fact, what San did and what Vee intends to do are their decisions, without asking those involved for their consent or whether they want it. If Wat heard what San was going to do, would she agree to it? Would she want San to spend even one night in pain, let alone 100 years of such nights? Does Grandma want what Vee does for her? Actually even the fact that Vee suddenly marries someone and receives money for her treatment is highly disturbing. If I were Wat and Grandma, would I want their attempt to save when it's associated with their suffering (Vee is breaking the law and constantly falling victim to attacks, now even those that threaten his life)? Tbh San and Vee do what they do for themselves. Out of love, of course, I absolutely don't deny it! But really - for themselves. San wants to meet Wat again and live with her the life they were denied, Vee wants to have a beloved, comforting person by his side for as long as possible. This is very interesting, the show touched on it a bit once and I'm curious if it will come up again. Will the reincarnated Wat be terrified of San's sacrifice instead of being happy, and how will Grandma react to all of this, the fake marriage for the money, for Vee being a victim of constant attacks? (by the way, even if Grandma was healed, would she want to spend the rest of her life writhing in pain every night? San had his purpose and he endured it, but would it be a relief or a curse for Grandma? Will Vee be ok seeing his own grandma in the condition he saw San in?)

Wild theory time: I wonder if this stone was real or a fake to confuse potential thieves. It's actually a bit strange that it was moved from its previously perfect hiding place... to a bookshelf with no protection (after all, this electronic lock on a door that can be kicked open is ridiculous). On the other hand, whether the stone is real or a fake to distract, bringing it home brings danger… into that home.

My fav shots of San: romantic in pink

why he kinda 😍

My fav shots version of Vee Offroad: 😏

and 😏 from the previous ep

[luvermore]

Love Next Door and the parallels between families:

Seung-Hyo and Seok-Ryu may be the leads but there is a beautiful story amongst the "adults" in the series that truly wraps it up tight. The parents of all three kids show us just how much society and social norms can make or break a family and it's functions. This post, I will talk about envy/jealousy and pride in the story. This will be episodes 1-3 because if I did all the eps to 11 in one post yall would hate me, lol. Here we go...

Pride: Outside the obvious which is the jealousy between our leads we also see it in amongst the other characters. We see it first in episode one when the moms are arguing about our leads and their accomplishments. This is a good scene that starts the show on a foreshadow because as the story progresses, we see a lot of things about dreams & whether the kids accomplished any.

But this isn't really about their kids as both women adore the others child. This is (for lack of a better phrase) "whose is bigger" argument. Then through the other group members we see that this is a normal occurrence between the two besties. One always trying to one up the other. I'd like to add it isn't just SH and SR's mom's its also Mo-Eum's mom who, even though her daughter is successful, is still living at home, unmarried. Which, in many cultures, is an issue (mine included).

We also find out something important in the rivalry between Hye-Suk and Mi-Suk, they were, at one point, on the same level but Hye-Suk could afford college while Mi-Suk could not.

Which is why we again see pride taking precedence over family at SH's opening when Mi-Suk blatantly lies about SR's job in front of her old frenemies.

Completely ignoring the fact that her daughter is obviously having a hard time. But still needing to prove that she has a one up on her friends.

The next scene is super important because we see SR's breaking point that she's been leading to since being home. Regardless of what we now know is her real reason for returning home, she's exhausted. She just want's to be Bae Seok-Ryu and not Bae Seok-Ryu, the pride and joy of the Bae family.

And even though she seems to come around, it's only because she believes what they (minus her two bffs) believe, that she has to at some point go back to over doing it.

Envy/Jealousy: We also see a lot of foreshadowing through this, one of the most interesting things you see in ep. 1 is Hye-Suk's obvious jealousy of her son and best friends relationship.

Something that Mi-Suk may not know but sees that the relationship between mother and son are not the same. That's why I find the scene where Mi-Suk asks if he's dating interesting because, she would probably know better than his mom. But this proves she doesn't see just how fractured the relationship is. Mi-Suk is maternal in every way and pretty much raised Seung-Ho. So she has a more soft and nurturing relationship with him than we see with his mom. Where that one proves to be awkward and stoic. Meanwhile, he is very airy and light when talking to Mi-Suk or her husband. He's at ease even when they are cross with him.

We see this again in episode 2 when he goes to Mi-Suk's house and has breakfast and even complains that he hasn't eaten. But in Episode 3 he tells his mother he doesn't normally eat breakfast and the entire meal with the family is quiet and awkward. I would like to add here though, that he may be telling the truth about not eating since we have seen that he doesn't prioritize it over work but, the point stands. Even though he may not eat a lot of breakfast, he easily went to Mi-Suk's house and actually asked for it. But, in his defense, that was his life growing up so...can you blame him?

The problem though is that this leads Hye-Suk to believe that both men would be happier with her gone than at home (something we as the audience know is not true but more on that later). Another subtle gesture we see with him is at his opening. His mother comes in and politely shakes his hand while Mi-Suk jokes about him being a picky eater and even pats his back/butt?? I am not 100% sure but she pats him like a mother would do their child.

But I also want to point out another obvious seen where SH's Co-CEO thinks that Mi-Suk is his mother. But not just that, but the way SH seems to laugh it off while his mother & Mi-Suk seem uncomfortable. It's not a big deal to him because in his eyes they are both motherly figures in different ways. Hye-Suk is his mother who he loves but can't quite get too close to. While Mi-Suk is the mother that helped raise him, got him to eat, and mother's him to death.

I am going to stop here because this post is already super long! I'll do the next few eps after I watch todays episode because I have been dying to get some closure to SH and his family dynamic because they all love each other and have the ability to turn their relationships around if they just TALKED. KK brb. Enjoy this one for now.

[beebopboom]

The Second…….Ball?

A bookshop, Eden, and something more?

In part 1 we discussed

the structure of the bookshop being similar to 17th century French gardens, a maybe hidden Tree of life, the idea of timestreams relating to the roads and rivers, and all that to just say the bookshop perhaps all of Wickber Street is their version of Eden

Part 1.5 was just a couple theories that have been floating around my head concerning

the book of life

the rings and a fly

the bookshop

a coffee

honestly I'm probably going to do a little editing. It’s not a necessary reading 

But finally made it to part 2 where I'm going to dive into some out of order events and two different parts of the same story being played out at the same time plus the actual main plot, specifically in the last two episodes - though there is probably more earlier in the season

you can imagine the jumble that has been brain and why it took longer than I wanted to get this out.

Background Info

In part 1 I mentioned that the Tree of Life was mentioned in two particular books in the Bible - Genesis and Revelations. Now we’ve discussed the Genesis part - Eden - and now we are going to talk about Revelations - New Jerusalem

The Book of Revelation is the only apocalyptic book in the New Testament and it's where the Second Coming comes from - written by a John. It was mentioned in season 1 and I’m going to be making a lot of references to it throughout this.

New Jerusalem is the place where all true believers will spend eternity with God and is said to have pretty similar features to Eden - the rivers, the Tree of Life, the wall, and a square shape. Something that this place is also said to have is 12 gates.

The New Jerusalem. Armenian manuscript by Malnazar and Aghap’ir in New Julfa bible, 1645

Oh lookie there mighty similar design to 17th century french gardens

But anyway want to take a guess at what has 12 windows?

*I used the fire to show what windows are connected to the bookshop*

Ok but let’s get into the actual point of this I’ve talked enough about set design

Have we already seen a version of the Second Coming? Why yes we have

In episode 5 we are following two different stories cutting back and forth between the two - Aziraphale’s and Shax’s

Now before I get into this I’m just going to say that I know Good Omens is a parody to actual Biblical events and who knows what is actually going to happen in season 3 besides the man himself. We do know that this season was setting up for the next and that parallel scenes are a favorite. So these are just some parallels I noticed if you place some characters into the roles of others and it could very well turn out to be wrong

Shax’s Siege

The thing about Shax’s character is that she is always looking for opportunities to get ahead and make connections that could benefit her later. We see it in 1941 and between then and now she has worked her way up from desk duty to Hell’s rep on earth.

And when she finally gets permission to attack the bookshop she actually takes up another role. Or shall I say multiple.

It is very obvious that once Shax gets to Earth she is out of her league - bitten off more than she can chew so to say - and yet she still wants more and is very good at manipulating beings to get there.

So she wants to storm the bookshop with legions of demons but only gets about 70. The thing that is interesting about there approach is you have demons coming from all four roads and she arrives last. And this is where we jump into Revelations.

In chapter 13 it talks of two beast - one from the sea and one from the land. The beast from the sea is said to have 7 heads, 10 crowns on the horns, is like a leopard with feet of a bear and the mouth of a lion, and one of its heads is said to have a mortal wound that is healed. This description has been likened to the four beast in the Book of Danial chapter 7 which were symbols of the four kingdoms - Babylon, Medes-Persia, Greece, and Rome. Some say this beast is the Antichrist as it is empowered by Satan to persecute Christians, blasphemy against God, and cult-like worship.

But all that to say I think that the arrival of the demons from all four sides was meant to kind of represent this. With the four beast representing the four kingdoms arriving on our four rivers roads. It’s not a perfect parallel but it is not meant to be - it’s meant to be a shitty rendition of what is basically Armageddon.

Now the second beast is mainly referred to as the false prophet. The only description is that it comes from the ground, two horns like a lamb but having the voice of a dragon. It has all the authority of the first beast and makes the inhabitants of earth worship the first beast, it breathes life into the first beast. It performs great signs like making fire come down from the Heavens to the Earth and causes all to be marked with the mark of the beast. Some call this beast the antichrist because it is performing miracles similar to that of Jesus.

This is the role I think Shax is trying to play - somewhat successfully. She arrives coming up out of the lift and through actions we see later kinda fulfill some of the rest of these points.

She also kind of jumps back and forth between these two beast with her authority - almost like she is not actually meant to be here, that they are all out of order. Mainly trying to be in the Antichrist position.

Shax is working the best with what she got.

But let’s switch over to our other story before we get to the confrontation

Aziraphale’s Ball

In his part of the episode we have been following him around as he invites people to this “meeting”. Crowley is also there for a little bit until he is brought back to reality so to say by Nina and eventually goes to confront Gabriel.

But back to Aziraphale who is going shop to shop in alphabetical order as is on the list on his clipboard. And this is where we start to get some Revelation parallels.

Whereas the Shax parallels started in chapter 13 Aziraphale joins in at the end of chapter 20 with the mention of the Book of Life - or in other words the list of names that are let into this New Jerusalem, that were God’s people.

Aziraphale having a list of people that he is inviting into his bookshop, a notorious place where he doesn’t want humans I feel is pretty significant. But all doesn’t go smoothly and he has to convince some people to come - I could go into each person he talks too but mainly he is using books and christmas lights to convince the people who don’t want to come. But what could those represent?

Books - eternal life for authors

Christmas Lights - the light that Jesus brought back into a world of darkness

Giving out the books/fruit of the Tree of Life so people will come to the ball/paradise hmm Aziraphale?

Interesting that we don’t see Mr. Brown’s shop on this list isn’t it? Keep that in mind.

But we continue on to Aziraphale decorating the Bookshop. With two scenes of him doing this one - moving the bookcases, or interior walls, and two - bring the chandelier down

In chapter 21, John is said to have seen New Jerusalem and New Earth descend from the Heavens - noting that there was no temple,

This could be paralleled to the scene where Crowley is looking into the Bookshop watching as Aziraphale has a chandelier descend from the ceiling.

It’s also important to note at this point that Gabriel arriving quite literally upended their lives and inadvertently set off the very same events he didn’t want to happen, The Second Coming. With him acting as a Jesus parallel.

But back to what is happening with Aziraphale. People are starting to arrive!! And he is changing their clothes?

Revelation 22:14 - Blessed are those who wash their robes, so they may have access to the tree of life and they may enter the city by the gates.

Washing their robes is meant to symbolize a full cleansing from sin that they must be free from to enter New Jerusalem

So Aziraphale is changing (washing) their clothes to make them acceptable for the ball (New Jerusalem)

Now you may be wondering how would you even prove that it happened? The seamstress conversation is how.

On one side it probably was how people from the time period Aziraphale is trying to create talked but it’s also removing the nature of the “sin”

Aziraphale does not even know what she technically does and yet it is still changed. When Mrs. Sandwich later tries to say what her job is she can’t actually say it and has to describe it - all using sewing terms. She even calls out at one point that the “devil may take it.”

But why? Aziraphale doesn’t even know and if he did I doubt he was care very much - unless something else was at play here.

Heavens standards - which in this universe includes adultery as bad, as a sin. We see examples with the references to Solomon and Gomorrah and “Thou shall not commit adultery Pulsifer”

The way she describes it as well leans towards this angle as well. With the “in want of the tender attention of a wife”

But back to Jim though who throughout all of this has been our Jesus parallel - he is out mingling with the people for the first time dressed in a wonderful blue suit.

Revelation 22 - The throne of God and the Lamb are in the city, and His people worship Him. There is no night and no need for other sources of light, for the Lord Himself gives the light, and they reign forever.

God and Jesus finally walking among and interacting with their people - and Jim seems to be having a grand ol time

yes i’m putting Aziraphale into Gods position- tricky business there i know

There is also some more references with the Candelabra’s that are around the shop - both the 3 and 7 versions. These guys have a bunch of different meaning but the ones that really stick out is The Holy Trinity and the Seven Angels or the Seven Churches

(I also had this whole bit planned about the temple which is said to be destroyed in the Second Coming of Jesus because it now holds no place in Jerusalem because God and Jesus are now among them and relating it to the Second Temple. I’m a bit iffy about it though just with some of reasoning but that was the basics of it - I might end up coming back to this at some point)

But all this to say that Aziraphale has basically made his version of paradise - unintentionally mirroring what is said to be the real one

The Collide

And our two stories meet….somehow. We left off with Shax in chapter 13 and Aziraphale in chapter 22 so quite a bit has to happen to get them to the same place - and it does a little bit out of order

Things come crashing to a stop quite literally when the demons throw the brick? wall piece? through the window. Shax makes her threats particularly to the humans. Perhaps because they don’t have the Mark of the Beast? Which they would need to buy things and as we know from Jim earlier, they aren’t selling

But the next big event is Jim walking out of the bookshop

which has been linked to this pose

and continues Shax’s story into Revelations 14

Revelation 14:14 Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and on the cloud sat One like the Son of Man

but he is also start Aziraphale’s story back up when he goes back into the shop - just going backwards now

Revelation 20:5 The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection. How fortunate and holy is the one who has a share in the first resurrection!

Mr. Brown then gets grabbed and thrown out of the shop, remember how his shops name wasn’t on the list? His name is not in the Book of Life therefore he is thrown into a Lake of Fire

Crowley then brings the humans back outside telling them to go back to their shops thus removing them from New Jerusalem and reversing judgement

and then he exits the stage as well and our jumping around really begins with episode 6 - so quick-fire

Shax gains confidence in her attack as soon as she notices Crowley has left and while this is happening Aziraphale put the chandelier back…. from wherever it came from. Effectively undescending New Jerusalem and putting that behind them as they work to meet up to where Shax is at in the story.

Aziraphale starts setting up the portal and tells Shax she is not welcomed here

Revelations 14: 9-11 - Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.”

Demons throw trash into the bookshop and Aziraphale runs off to tell Jim to hide leaving Maggie and Nina to deal with Shax

Revelation 14: 17-20 Then another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle. And another angel came out from the altar, who had power over fire, and he cried with a loud cry to him who had the sharp sickle, saying, “Thrust in your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth, for her grapes are fully ripe.” So the angel thrust his sickle into the earth and gathered the vine of the earth, and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. And the winepress was trampled outside the city, and blood came out of the winepress, up to the horses’ bridles, for one thousand six hundred furlongs.

Maggie is then manipulated by Shax to let the demons in the shop

By this point I think the true role of Shax has come into play and it’s a nod back to Madam Tracy. The role is in Revelation 17 - The Whore of Babylon - the epitome of sin, ruler over 7 kingdoms, quick with her tongue and good with her words, draped in the finest clothes of purple and scarlet 

Demons start to enter the shop and Aziraphale activates the portal - Shax discorporates Eric and we see Jim’s position on the stairs above everyone

Revelation 15 - The Seven Plagues - yes I know they haven’t quite got to anything else besides the portal and even then they don’t use seven different things but this chapter really is just setting up for the next and I wanted to mention one thing before moving into the next

Revelation 15:8 And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, and no one could enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were completed

the smoke coming from the demons discorporating and the fire extinguishers while Jim is absent

Demons start stepping into the portal - Maggie, Nina, and Aziraphale have to come up with another plan - Demons push book selves over and Maggie and Nina start with the fire extinguishers

They have now gone up the stairs to the second floor of the bookshop for the first floor has been over taken by the demons - Aziraphale charges Shax to leave this place - Shax starts to insult Aziraphale

Revelation 18:2 With a mighty voice he shouted: “ ‘Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great!’She has become a dwelling for demons and a haunt for every impure spirit, a haunt for every unclean bird, a haunt for every unclean and detestable animal.

Jim is sent away after asking if anyone wants hot chocolate

I don’t have anything to compare this to. I just think it’s interesting that Aziraphale(and Maggie and Nina) were offered hot chocolate and declined, especially with all the talks about coffee vs death

Maggie and Nina continue with the fire extinguishers - and then they start with the books - no more fire extinguishers or books and Aziraphale pulls out the old Halo trick

Revelation 16 - Bowls of Wrath - now the chapter with the actual description of the seven bowls. By now we have seen all of the moves Aziraphale, Maggie, and Nina pull but I really wanted to point out the comparison of the last bowl particularly what happened afterwards and the Halo so,

Revelation 16:17-20 The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and out of the temple came a loud voice from the throne, saying, “It is done!” Then there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder and a severe earthquake. No earthquake like it has ever occurred since mankind has been on earth, so tremendous was the quake. The great city split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed. God remembered Babylon the Great and gave her the cup filled with the wine of the fury of his wrath. Every island fled away and the mountains could not be found.

All demons are discorporated with Shax unconscious on the couch

Revelation 19:2 for true and just are his judgments. He has condemned the great prostitute who corrupted the earth by her adulteries. He has avenged on her the blood of his servants.

Revelation 19:20 And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshipped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur.

and with that it is over

so yeah that was a lot and it’s not perfect but remember when it was mentioned back in season 1 it was among prophecies that were not entirely accurate and that it was a rushed, only kinda planned attack. So really I just view this as very quick run down version of the Second Coming where there is not enough players

plus you have Crowley’s side to this story which seems to be the reality - dealing with the actual problem that has been going on throughout the season (Gabriel) instead of hosting a Ball or trying to make a power play

but if you made it this far have a little treat in the spirit of the holiday season, or if you don’t celebrate anything than just for getting to the end of this

New Jerusalem was also described as "the bride, the wife of the lamb” - and we all know that Ball was for Aziraphale and Crowley, as much as he may deny it, so really Aziraphale was saying “let’s get married, I’m your wife now”

[runabout-river]

Wolf/Rabbit parallels between Yuji/Mahito and Megumi

Watching the anime, the end of the fight between Yuji and Mahito became prominent on my mind again. We see Mahito utterly defeated and running away for his life, slowly chased down by Yuji who promises him that he'll kill him without remorse now and every time he gets reborn.

The scene even gets an overlay of a snowed-in landscape, driving home the imagery of Mahito being chased as a rabbit, small and defenceless, by a big and white wolf. The anime adds some extra scenes into this e.g. by showing us a rabbit with a broken leg.

The representation of this turn in power dynamics is extremely visual (Mahito's new facial expressions, him running away, the split panel with Yuji on the left and Mahito on the right with Yuji's hitherto unseen cold demeanor that's Sukuna-like) with an extra metaphor added on top with the prey animal and predator.

It's really striking though that Gege decided to use this prey and this predator: a white rabbit and white wolf. Two animals mostly associated with Megumi. Yuji himself is mostly associated with a tiger.

For the above metaphor, the rabbit and the wolf are adversaries with an obvious showing of who kills who. For Megumi though the rabbit and the wolf are companions and two of his shikigami that are still alive - except with the white and black wolfs/dogs reversed.

If we were to try and apply this imagery and metaphor onto Megumi, we could come up with the theme that Megumi is his own and biggest enemy right now. His dog and his rabbit existed in harmony with each other but now there is internal strife caused by trauma that ripped those shikigami apart into a state of prey and predator.

If Megumi had been mentally stable (which is an impossibility after all the suffering he was pushed into) he could've reacted to Yuji entering his inner domain by retaking his body. But he's obviously in deep pain and resignation because of outside influences - Sukuna's torture.

Those influences most likely have also caused inner turmoil where Megumi's mind, his heart, his desires, his duties, his concience, everything is working against each other leading him to be in a state of powerlessness. His Cursed Technique and body have been literally used against him as well.

In the next chapters, Yuji and the others will try to bring Megumi to fight back and defeat Sukuna from the inside. From the looks of it, this will be a tough call because Megumi already lost his will to live. Whoever will take the lead on that help and who will contribute what is unimportant right now.

The thing is, even if/when Tsumiki's soul itself starts to talk to Megumi, he'll still be completely defeated because what he had cherrished and wanted the most in his life died at his hands and won't come back. Even if Megumi wanted to listen to Tsumiki and Yuji, parts of him won't get up from that floor he was trapped on for a month completely alone.

In the Mahito metaphor, Yuji is represented for some reason as a white wolf. The anime shows this better with additional black wolves at his side. Yuji's colour scheme, overall but especially in that fight, is black however.

The very first shikigami from Megumi that had been killed was his white wolf and that by Sukuna's Finger Bearer. When we apply the Yuji/Mahito metaphor to Megumi, the white/black inversion of colours becomes significant because it pulls Yuji - the white wolf - into Megumi's struggles.

It also pushes the fear that Yuji will be killed by Sukuna to the forefront. Megumi's metaphorical white wolf might get killed directly by Sukuna who had previously killed his literal white wolf indirectly.

There is also comfort there though when your first fallen friend spiritually guides you back to the light. Megumi just needs to see and understand that and finally find the conviction to live for himself without being bound down by Tsumiki and her death.

(The association between Yuji and Tiger Funeral though is also there. Tiger Funeral did not have a design reveal and I think Gege intentionally made that decision so Megumi could be the first to summon him right after Yuji saves him to show us their bond.)

[willow-p012]

Kotoko & Shidou Parallels

Religious themes

Molech; Shidou's first voice drama. Moloch, a Canaanite deity associated in biblical sources with the practice of child sacrifice.

Yonah; Kotoko's second voice drama. The book of Jonah is the account of a reluctant prophet called by a relentless God to proclaim repentance to a wicked city.

"The ends justify the means"

Kotoko is quite obvious for this.

Q: Which is more important, the goal or the means you take to achieve it? A: The goal. Isn't that just obvious?

She outright says it, you don't need to dig deep to find out this is a belief of hers.

For Shidou, it is generally agreed upon that he thought the ends more important, and this is continously proved throughout the text.

For me, no matter whether it's according to the law or in any other context, it's only normal to help each other in a family.

He also only seems to show outward regret after it all fails. When the ends fail, the means are no longer justified.

Saviour roles

Kotoko is Keiko/Lucky's "saviour".

Through her acts of vigilantism, Kotoko does in fact save someone. Keiko (the name I'll be sticking with) approaches Kotoko multiple times, clearly admiring her for what she did and wanting to be like her. In Keiko's eyes, she's considered 'good', even if that's not cut and dry. But, she saved a "victim" figure, and that's actually a big difference between her and Shidou.

Shidou is the prisoner's "saviour".

As it stands, he is helping people who have hurt other people in one way or another. These are not cut and dry "victims" as Keiko was. Through his more gentle acts, he does in fact save people. Mahiru is very thankful to him, and because of his good acts, despite it not being cut and dry, he is generally perceived as a gentle and 'good' person.

These saviour roles are both ways for them to feel good

Kotoko wants to like herself, as mentioned in Harrow: Laugh and I can get to like myself. She wants to feel good about herself, feel worthy, and her vigilantism (and the saviour role she takes up through it) is the way she tries to achieve it. While her sense of justice certainly plays a part, it's not all it is. She is most definitely using it to take her anger out and feel good about herself.

Shidou is.... Pretty damn obvious.

I need to be punished… but I need to stay alive, or young lives will be lost. I… I don't know what to wish for anymore. I'm starting to think… that I want to live. That I want to be forgiven. Despite being so riddled with sins…!

But there are lives that need safeguarding/So hey, prolong my life, I’m indispensable

His role as a saviour is his excuse for living, and not just that, but a way to say he can't die yet. He's indispensable, you can't take this from him and huh he's alleying himself with Es and taking hold of a purpose with both hands, refusing to let go, wonder who that sounds like.

Don’t you dare stop now/I want a reason for judgment execution, I want it/Give me the next target

"I know what's good for you"

Shidou treats children like they have no autonomy, no ability to choose what they want to do. Even if Amane does secretly want to eat the pancakes, he shouldn't be approaching it the way he does. He acts like it's something she's supposed to want. It's a problem he repeatedly runs into throughout the series, with both Es and Amane. This already fulfills the phrase, and I wouldn't doubt this issue may extend beyond them in Trial 3.

Meanwhile, Kotoko has her entire "Useless weaklings should just shut up & let me protect them" thing, even if it's not neccesarily surrounding children. While I do personally believe this was said in order to scare Keiko away, I don't doubt that the way she views these "weaklings" isn't entirely false; while she almost undoubtedly sees herself as "too weak" at times and almost seems primed to end up falling into the role of these weaklings she despises, it's not as if she wants to acknowledge that. And notice the way it's phrased, "Should just shut up", like "swallow your complaints, I know what's good for you".

[scaly-freaks]

im curious about the relationship between Alicient and Rhaenyra in your fic, it seems like Alicient is trying to save Rhaenyra and her boys, is it out of guilt? And what about Rhaenyra, how does she feels about Alicient now, is the power dynamic (her being a scorned princess and Alicient the most powerful woman in Westeros) stopping her from letting her true emotions show? This context of Rhaenyra losing the war and keeping her head is so underdeveloped yet it's so interesting and intriguing, thank you for exploring it

Aaahhh I just finished answering a comment on AO3 along this same vein! Coinky-dink!

Alicent is - plain and simple - massively in love with her princess still. In fact, Rhaenyra is currently in the same position as Amara, aka this pretty songbird trapped in a cage, being fed lovingly by the hands of her captor who she has complex feelings for (and vice versa). It's almost insane how much Aegon's life parallels Alicent's in this, because he claims to not understand why his mother would be so kind to the sister she helped usurp, but then he's kind to Amara despite making it very obvious her options outside of him are limited.

Rhaenyra definitely is conflicted about Alicent. She notices things like her soft red hair but labels it a taunt. She still remembers burning with jealousy when she found out her father visited Alicent every night after their wedding, and the hell it was to be aware of it. I think when Alicent visits, she's relieved to have another adult on her level to speak to, and she probably wants to give into the Stockholm Syndrome when the Dowager Queen is obviously tender with her (as much as she can be). But it might not be in her best interest to get close to Alicent again. Otto Hightower is still alive after all, and the king would happily go against his mother if it means spiting his sister some more; if anything, when Aegon realises Rhaenyra is opening up to Alicent again (thanks to the spies at Dragonstone) he'd probably shut his mother out of the small council. Currently, Alicent probably mentions things that happen in the small council to Rhaenyra without being asked, and that pipeline of information can be very useful (even if it's just supposedly mundane stuff a lot of the time, for instance grain shortages, or the threat of a plague).

Rhaenyra's figured out by now that her stony attitude keeps Aegon's attention fixed on her alone, to make her life a misery, but that lessens the attention that might fall on her boys (hunting down the Strongs, or taking away the two youngest). He hates her and she wants to keep reminding him of that so the others can go free.

I think she also is aware Aemond and Aegon aren't the bestest bros in all of Westeros (unlike Sunfyre and Aegon) so Rhaenyra could very well decide to sit back and wait for something to go down between them. If it does, she has two legitimate sons from Daemon who are still technically in the male line to the throne (Egg is currently 5th and Viserys is 6th, so it's really not that far considering how volatile dragon wars are and how suddenly infants can die - Jaehaerys is still at a very vulnerable age).

Despite it all, deep down, Rhaenyra knows Alicent better than anyone else currently alive (because how much does Otto truly know his own daughter when he can't even predict when she'll go against him). She still makes exceptions for her, decides that it isn't Alicent's choice to do this to her, that Alicent is still just the nervous, nail-biting, people-pleasing tender young girl she used to be. She's giving into the Stockholm to feel less lonely and return to the old warmth of her childhood companion that she used to know.

p.s. Alicent definitely chose to do all of this to her, to be a part of why Rhaenyra is currently in a cage, but that's the complex nature of the situation I suppose.

[gigglygloatinggremlin]

I don't know if anyone's still alive here, but way back when I still cared about OUAT, I had a little AU cooking where Rumplestiltskin adopted Zelena.

Do I have your attention? Good. So remember when Cora swindled Rumpel into changing her payment in the contract from HER first-born to THEIR first-born? What if he DIDN'T though?

Cora's first-born is not Regina.

So he's standing there absoltely baffled when a ginger toddler appears in his castle. He checks what's up. Is this thing working? Why yes, his magic mumbo-jumbo responds. That's your payment, Cora's first-born. Take it or leave it. So he takes her in.

Zelena proves to be a promising witch anyway, so it's cool, but still stings.

What this accomplishes for Zelena as a character is that her whole thing with Rumpel is no longer projecting her daddy issues onto him, it's her BEEFING with her actual DAD.

Because surprise, surprise, you stupid reptile! You are still the most important person in her life, thus, for the curse to work she has to take YOU out.

I mean he tries to prevent that, he really does. But her mother did sell her to Rumpel even if she had actively tried to prevent that. Her actual father is probably dead in a ditch. Her previous adoptive father hates her. And her sister is a literal princess being raised by both of her parents. Even if it isn't Regina's fault she seemingly had it better from the start (it's very hard to write this with a straight face, but as far as Zelena's concerned, that's the truth), in Zelena's heart, her sister can't compete with the man who raised her.

So Rumpelstiltskin does what Rumpelstiltskin does best and drops her like a hot potato. And on the next day Rumpel starts coaching Regina.

Great, now she's green.

Also, Zelena knows why her dad needs that stupid portal, in my mind she's grown up on stories of her older brother, lost and alone in a cruel magicless (gasp!) dimension, and how they need to find and save him. And in all her teenage overcompensating glory, Zelena decides to look for Baelfire herself. Then Rumpel will see how great of a daughter she is, and that she totally won't have to commit patricide, and she, her dad, big brother and magic will all live happily ever after.

Zelena goes to the different worlds she does have access to, which leads her to Oz, because why is it that they can hop between these worlds and not to the one Baelfire is in? Maybe if she goes to Oz this time, from there she'll find a path to another world, and from that one to another, and if she keeps hopping between different dimensions, she'll come across the right one. After all, the wizard of the Emerald City is from there. He got there somehow, if she could just figure out how, then she's golden.

But then the whole thing with Glinda happens, and it is not pretty. Zelena's had eighteen or so years of direct exposure to magic and Rumpel's rancid vibes, she should have grown up absolutely vicious in this AU. I want her to drag Glinda and read her for filth. Like, what do you mean "Dorothy must have powerful magic to have defeated an evil witch?" When a house falls down on you, you die, it's basic physics! This is a child that is lost, she is not interested in your sorceress secret society, she wants to go back to Kansas, lady! So you always wanted to get rid of the Wizard, huh? Well, why didn't you?

(Glinda in this show to this day makes me so irrationally mad. What on Earth was that storyline?)

The obvious parallels between how she was treated by Glinda and has been treated by Rumpel give Zelena a reality check and upon returning to Rumpel's castle, no closer to finding Baelfire than she had been before leaving, Zelena has an explosive argument with her adoptive dad. Zelena takes out the RECEIPTS that have been piling up throughout her teenagehood. The argument ends with her yelling that Baelfire is so hard to reach now, because he just wanted to get away from Rumpel that badly.

Zelena’s officially disowned, but still alive, so that's cool.

Zelena takes permanent residence in Oz and stews in her misery. The only thing that can make her feel better is making her dad’s life harder. She probably meddles in his relationship with Belle a lot. Maybe she even gathers the courage to try and connect with Regina.

Speaking of vulnerable young women who lost their safety net and are at the mercy of powerful geriatric men.

Hades enters!

Now, you’ve lasted this long, but I’m gonna ask you for some more patience.

Hades in this AU is just a Little closer to the source material.

And by that I mean he asks a woman’s father for her hand and then kidnaps her.

You cannot tell me Rumpel wouldn’t have agreed immediately. Zelena can be and has been enough of a nuisance and an outright obstacle to his plans that he’d want her OUT of the picture no matter what means he has to take.

Now she’s trapped in the Underworld, tricked into eating the pomegranate seeds, biting her tongue lest her dear husband has the bright idea to spike her wine with Lethe water. His family is SO WEIRD, her sister-in-law offers to adopt her because of a loophole that would let her see sunlight for half a year, but her brother-in-law WILL try to seduce or rape her if they’re ever left alone together and her father-in-law keeps moaning in her and her husband’s basement. “Sure, honey, I will help you overthrow your creep of a brother. Of course, you’ll take the throne. Who else? Your bajillion nieces and nephews that have been eyeing the position for millennia? Pfft, you’re so funny, darling.”

Speaking of family. Sitting side by side, they judge her birth mother and her adoptive brother she’d never got to meet. Both leave her unmoored and emotional, but in completely different ways. Maybe she gets closure with them, maybe she doesn’t. Time goes by, and Zelena dreads there won’t be any familiar faces left to see at the trial.

Finally, she sees her father there. And her husband thinks she’s excited to punish him, but, in reality, Zelena knows Rumpelstiltskin. He will not be staying dead for long. This is her chance to escape. Then she can kill him again.

In conclusion, Zelena obliterating Hades with a lightning bolt is less of a sacrifice and more of a divorce in this AU. I want her to be a mirror to Regina after the gang rescues her in a way that Zelena is a great sister, but she’s still evil. I know that’s basically canon by the end of the series, but imagine the opportunities of this dynamic if it had only 15% of its canonical emotional baggage. The absolute chaos of it. Wait, does that make her Henry’s aunt times two?

Do you see the vision now?

Did the vision come to me when I was re-watching St Trinian's and heard the snootiest, brattiest, most British "Daddy" in all cinema history? Yes, it did.

Edit: Y’all, I just remembered Baelfire would be alive in this actually! Can you imagine the drama of him coming after Rumpel? Him trying to convince Zelena to return their father to the world of the living? Like Orpheus? And succeed? And Rumpel has to live with the knowledge that had the roles been reversed, he would have failed and Baelfire would have been stuck in the Underworld forever? Can you imagine that?!?!