#our fight is just as real & ongoing & important as yours. why are we supposed to drop our own battles to fight yours?

[butchviking]

crazy that trans ppl not being allowed to transition is considered a 'fight for their existence' while gay ppl being told not to be openly gay isnt. like technically speaking neither of those things are about our existence, neither is some kind of genocide. they're both about the freedom to live our lives the way we want. why is one so much more vital than the other? why don't BOTH of these issues matter to the lgbt+ community or whatever?

[yuurei20]

Concerning the Vil-Epel drama: I'm from a Scandinavian country and even here we have dialects. I haven't heard them myself, but my mom has and she says they are literally impossible to understand and you need a translator to speak with them. And it's not a bad thing- we don't say those people are less than or anything of the sort- it's just like holy cow we cannot understand anything they're saying, how are we supposed to communicate like this (especially when they understand us since our dialect is the 'base' dialect). If anything, it's funny because of how a dialect can make the same language not understandable, and also disappointing/frustrating that we can't talk to them because we literally don't know what they're saying. So to me it seems like part of the reason Vil wants Epel to not speak in his dialect is simply so people can understand him better and so people can actually communicate with him. We've seen in the Harveston event (if I remember correctly) that the others have no clue what Epel says before they jump the gap, and they need to ask his grandma to translate. That's an example of how if he didn't remove his dialect people would not know what he's saying. I don't think it has anything to do with negative connotations towards the dialect (I bet Vil would encourage it if they were in a situation where it would be beneficial/welcoming), but rather Vil trying to teach Epel that it's not about hiding your dialect/culture, it's about being considerate to those around you to have them understand you (like how you pointed out his granny changed to polite speech when talking to the NRC boys). Don't you think even granny would have at some point taught Epel that? (Although not in the same manner or extremity as Vil).

There seems to be some discourse going on of which I was not aware!

Thank you so much for your perspective!! It is very interesting and informative and wonderful to know!

Yes, it does seem strange that maybe no one warned Epel about interacting with people outside the village, but maybe they did!

This gets into conjecture because we have nothing in-game to confirm either way, but it might be possible that they just assumed he would pick it up through personal experience, or he just wasn't able to make the connection between their warnings and what real-world experience would be like.

Marja herself has no problem with adapting to the time/place/occasion, but as Epel is still a child with limited exposure to people from other cultures, we are watching him experience this learning process in real time!

In a way, Epel's experience at NRC could maybe be interpreted as Vil encouraging him to be more like his grandmother :> Epel was likely aware that the older people in the village adapt their speech patterns when necessary, but maybe never made the connection about exactly why?

He knew it was polite, but when early-Epel shows up at NRC, he is already in fighting mode: he has no interest in being polite, which he might have seen as making concessions and, thus, a weakness.

Bullied his whole childhood for his appearance he decides he is going to set the record straight from day one at NRC so that people know not to mess with him, and then Vil comes in.

It seems like it all connects to Epel's arc as he learns that you can be conscientious of time/place/occasion (like his grandmother), but still be proud of your heritage and strong (like his grandmother).

And you can be beautiful (like Vil), but still be strong (like Vil).

(Because Vil is Vil his wording has a lot to do with the importance of beauty, but the more I think about it, the more it seems like Vil is just trying to prepare Epel for life in a society.)

There is an ongoing theme with Epel that we see in Book 5 and Halloween where he gets jealous of people who can do things that he can't, so he doubles down that he is right and they are wrong in order to make himself feel better about his shortcomings.

That might also tie in to his frustration with Vil's restriction of his dialect!

He has more difficulty expressing himself without it, so rather than do what Vil is trying to get him to do and work on it, by Book 5 he is still doubling down and insisting that Vil is the problem, not himself, despite how he was raised watching everyone around him do exactly what it is that Vil is saying he needs to do.

I really appreciate everyone's introspection!! The more you think about it, the more interesting Epel, his family, his relationship with Vil and his circumstances become! :> He is living through his own, personal coming-of-age story before our eyes!

[aspoonofsugar]

Your Power...Your Theme

This post is born because of @waywardtravelerfart asking about a comparison between Semblances (Rwby) and Quirks (BNHA).

In general, I am not a hardcore BNHA fan, though, so I decided to drag other magic systems in this comparison.

So, I will be comparing...

1) Semblances:

2) Quirks:

3) Nen (HxH):

4) Abilities (BSD):

5) Magic (WHA):

Body and Soul

1) & 3)

Pyrrha: Aura is the manifestation of our soul. It bears our burdens and shields our hearts. Have you ever felt you were being watched without knowing that someone was there? With practice, our Aura can be our shield. Everyone has it, even animals.

Nen and Semblances are very similar ideas. Both have their root in the concept of aura aka life force and are trained through specific exercises that are based on martial arts.

More importantly, they are manifestations of a person’s soul.

This is why in both series they are linked to one’s individuality:

Ren: A common philosophy is that a warrior’s Semblance is a part of who they are.

And both Nen and Semblances grow and evolve with the person.

At the same time, both stories focus not only on the soul, but also on the body.

In HxH Gon and Killua must train their bodies just as much as their nen. No matter how much stronger their auras become, they would still be left defenseless if they forget about basic training and if they do not take care of their bodies.

Similarly, Huntsmen and Huntresses in Rwby have both Semblances and Weapons:

By baring your soul outward as a force, you can deflect harm. All of our tools and equipment are conduits for Aura. You protect yourself and your soul when fighting.

Weapons are linked to personalities just like Semblances are:

Ruby: Just weapons? They’re an extension of ourselves! They’re a part of us! Oh, they’re so cool.

It is only through the combination of weapons and semblances that one becomes strong and whole.

In order to experience humanity to its fullest, one needs both a soul:

And a body:

In short, Semblances and Nen are representative of the Soul. They are a physical projection of it. Moreover, they need to be completed by the Body to properly work.

4)

BSD abilities are similar because they clearly symbolize characters’ coping mechanisms.

They are linked to people’s personalities and their effects are highly variegated and impossible to explain through biology alone (for example, a character is able to materialize a whole room in another dimension).

At the same time, they seem to have some physical properties.

For example, it is possible to create artificial abilities and to implant them into people. The process has yet to be properly explained, though.

This can be compared to the research on aura made in Rwby.

That said, this specific research is framed negatively by the narrative because it is an attempt to control what it should not be (a person’s soul).

Similary, in BSD, such experiments are criticized as well because they violate human rights and are an attempt to weaponize abilities, which is an ongoing topic explored by the story.

2)

Quirks are instead framed as the result of biological evolution. This creates an interesting inversion compared to the other stories. Quirks are not simply physical representations of a character’s psychology, but they are a part of the reason why that character develops a specific coping mechanism.

Toga is attracted to blood because her Quirk is about drinking blood, so she naturally likes it.

Shigaraki’s destruction traumatizes him because it leads to his family’s death.

Touya’s weak constitution makes his power difficult to use, hence he develops self-hurting tendencies.

5)

Finally, Magic in WHA is something that exists outside the characters.

It is not something people are born with, but an art they can master through study and dedication.

Its origin is still unknown, but it is explained that it works thanks to specific materials:

And even human blood can be used to strengthen it:

In short, Magic is a human art that makes use of specific natural resources and a specific knowledge to create several effects. In a sense, its logic is similar to both art and programming. It is similar to art because the witches need to exercise on drawing and to be creative on their approaches to things. It is similar to programming because they must use what is basically a specific language made of symbols to create different effects.

So, Magic is not linked to a person’s soul in the way other magical systems are, but a character’s personality still emerges from the kind of magic they specialize in. This is something unavoiable... after all this is how personality works in real life as well... we all have different approaches to problems and beliefs that will emerge in our art and in our jobs.

In conclusion, all these magical systems are connected in different ways to characters’ personalities, to their flaws and to their symbolic roles in the narrative.

In these metas, there are some examples of how this happens for HxH, Rwby, BSD and WHA.

Power and Privilege

3) & 5)

Nen and Magic are similar:

With enough training, both powers can be used by everyone.

However, both HxH society and WHA society choose to keep them secret because the damage that could come from sharing this knowledge is potentially devastating.

That said, both stories also show how there is hypocrisy behind this stance.

HxH does so in an indirect way.

Nen is supposed to be secret, so that dangerous people can’t use its power for wrong reasons.

However, many hunters are not really moral people. If anything many are violent and ready to kill. The exam itself encourages these tendencies since it does not punish murderers. Moreover, it turns out that very dangerous people already know about nen:

WHA explores this theme more directly:

The secret behind magic creates inequality. Magic could be used to help much more people, but it is limited by the law that imposes witches to keep the secret and forbids them from using magic to heal.

The result is an unjust society and a paradox. Isn’t there another way to use magic that it is less elitarian?

2) Similarly, quirks create inequality in BNHA. However, the mechanisms behind it are slightly different.

Not only people without quirks are discriminated, but also people with specific powers are considered less than others.

This happens either because the power is considered weak or lame or because it is considered a villain power.

In other words, BNHA society nurtures a simplicistic and black and white vision of quirks and people. This leads to some being discriminated for their quirks and to others being excused of everything because of their abilities.

4) In BSD, we have a similar yet partly opposite situation.

Ability users are mostly dehumanized and weaponized by society.

Basically the series explores how society makes use of its more vulnerable members and objectifies them.

So, in BSD having an ability is not really a synomim of privilege, but it is rather something that can set you apart and make you a victim of your country or your organization.

Because of this,the characters struggle to both accept their powers, but also not to be defined by it.

1) Finally, the case of RWBY is interesting because even if society is founded on privilege and inequity, semblances are not really a pivotal part of it.

It is much more common for people to be discriminated because of their bodies (like the Faunus) or their social status than for their semblances. Surely, cases like those exist, but they are not particularly explored by the story.

This might be because semblances are just one of many factors that determine a personal’s stance in society. Moreover, it is not even that clear how much common people know about semblances and aura. I would not say it is exactly a secret, especially because semblances can manifest themselves in a variety of situations. Still, it seems to me that they are mostly aknowledged and accepted by common people, but not exactly pursued or studied.

Symbolically, semblances are linked to an ancient magic that has been forgotten by people. This could tie with why some people, especially in Atlas, have been dismissive of them to an extent. Whitley dismisses his own and is not interested in developing it, while Watts is one of the few characters who fight without a semblance.

It might very well be that human technology and dust make so many different effects possible that a semblance, even if important for a warrior’s own strength and individuality, is not really the only factor that determines the place of a person in society.

In conclusion, all these power systems are linked to privilege in different ways. They are used to explore social inequality or parts of the society that are either repressed or not aknowledged.

Choices and limits

1) 2) & 4)

Quirks, Abilities, Semblances and their limits are not chosen. You are born with them and the most you can do is to try and overcome the limitations or to come up with clever ways to use your power.

You can train your Quirk, so that it becomes stronger.

When it comes to Abilities instead, characters usually must train to control what are potentially dangerous powers.

There are also abilities that help other people to control their powers and modify how these powers work. For example, there is a character whose ability is about summoning a fighting avatar. However, to do so, she needs to be called on a specific phone and it is actually the one calling that commands the avatar. Still, thanks to the influence of the above mentioned ability, she becomes able to summon the avatar at will and does not need the phone anymore.

Finally, in the case of Semblances, you need to meditate and to train your semblance, so that it can evolve. At the same time, though, semblance evolution can happen also because of specifical psychological conditions.

For example, Ren’s Tranquility both activates and evolves not because of physical training, but because of stress (the first time) and emotional growth (the second). This is fitting because his ability has mostly to do with emotions, so it is telling that it evolves as he grows emotionally rather than physically.

Ruby’s semblance is instead a physical one since she is super fast. So it is fitting that it mostly manifests and evolves with her training at using it.

Finally, when it comes to semblances, you do not really choose how they evolve and what new effects you gain. They are mostly an unconscious part of yourself that grows with you.

3) & 5)

The kind of magic you specialize in and the nen power you are gonna have are things one chooses.

To be more specific, they are influenced from one’s talents, but then they evolve according to a person’s choice.

For example, the protagonist Gon has an aura which is particularly good to strengthen things, so he chooses to use it to strengthen his punch. Moreover, he really likes Jankenpon, so he comes up with a power that uses this game. It is a technique that creates different effects depending on what he chooses to “play” (scissors, rock or paper).

Similarly, Coco is good at drawing straight lines and this makes her good with basic magic, that she uses in original ways because of her thinking outside the box. Her teacher Qifrey instead specializes in water magic because he used to be scared of water when he was little and wanted to overcome this fear.

At the same time, both nen users and witches must face limitations.

Nen has limitations that are self-imposed and decided by the users.

Magic has limitations that are imposed by society and codified through law.

Nen works with the idea that the stronger the limitation you set, the stronger will be your power. Similarly, if you sacrifice something, you can obtain a more powerful effect.

For example, another character called Kurapika creates chains with different powers. One of his chains has the limitation to only work on the members of a specific criminal group. Moreover, if Kurapika breaks this rule, he’ll lose his life. Since the sacrifice Kurapika has decided is pretty extreme, that chain is basically impossible to break.

Of course, limitations do not need to be so extreme. The protagonist’s jankenpon is limited by the fact he says out loud the name of his technique and takes time to use it (both goes against him, since it gives his opponent time to prepare). In this way the power gets stronger.

Magic is a very dangerous force, so it is prohibited to use magic on people’s bodies. This includes the idea that you can’t heal bodies directly or that you can’t change the way you look. It also forbids people from using blood to make magic stronger and to put glyphs on a person’s skin.

These limitations challenge the characters and force them to think outside the box. For example, Coco wants to save her mom who became a stone. The best way to do so is  to use magic on her, but this is prohibited hence Coco keeps brainstorming about how she can do it and even thinks about breaking the law multiple times.

In conclusion, powers are often linked to the self and the degree of control and choices characters have on them is symbolic of which part of the self we are talking about.

In the case of semblances and abilities, they mirror an unconscious part.

A Quirk is a biological factor that influences one’s self instead and that everyone can try ot develop in a way they like.

Finally, nen and magic are a conscious part of the self that still mirrors unconscious tendencies.

Not only that, but abilties have limits that come from either outside the person or inside them.

POWER SYSTEMS AND THE FIVE KINDS OF CONFLICT

In stories, there are at least five types of conflict.

1) Man vs Self

2) Man vs Society

3) Man vs Man

4) Man vs Nature

5) Man vs God

The magic systems we explored are linked to at least three of these five types.

Man vs Self

Supernatural abilities are linked to a person’s interiority and personality. Often they are representative of the character’s flaw and their limits can be overcome only by the person’s growth.

Man vs Society

Power systems end up being influenced and influence fictional societies.

They can represent privilege or some wrongdoing in society itself.

Alternatively, they can be limited by society’s rules and imposed laws.

Man vs Man

It is not uncommon to have special powers used in fights. In this case, they become symbolic ways to explore characters’ relationships, themes and different value systems.

This is something that BSD, HxH and Rwby do a lot. WHA has had less fights as for now, but it is definately something that has come up and will come up more in the future. Finally, I am not too much into BNHA to comment on the series, but I would be surprised if it is not the same there as well.

In conclusion, I do not really have much to say on the onthology of powers in different narrative worlds and tbh I do not think this is really what many writers think about when they design them. I think what writers focus on is how to make interesting powers that convey a character’s personality, can be used to explore the world and give life to entertaining fights.

[noncombativednd]

What Does a good D&D game.. look like?

“Those Lost Shall Not Be Forgotten” is what the flag says. That’s the Flag to the city of New Hope. It’s written in Infernal, and it’s about the previous city “Last Hope” that was destroyed by a powerful ritual that wasn’t stopped in time. Last Hope was the only Tiefling run city and when it was destroyed, the survivors were kicked off their “borrowed” Elven lands and forced to create a new city on new lands.

The flames and the colors on the “compass“ represent the 8 major families and the common colors of their houses. Those families are suppose to be direct bloodlines from powerful devils who’s powers they used to help keep the city in control. Those houses where not spared from the powerful ritual that destroyed most of the old city; and new young upstarts to these houses are starting to learn the powers their bloodline has, as they struggle to built up a whole new city on foreign lands.

Now here’s the kicker. That’s not Lore. That was the GAME. What started up as a joke with all three of us saying “Ha! Let’s all just play Tieflings! Oh, they have high Charisma? Why not make them all part of a traveling Band!” turned into a powerful story about a tiny nation struggling to survive against those who would rather see it destroyed; with us, the players, at the center of it. Each of us started as just children of the leaders of a powerful Tiefling house, but due to our own incompetence and inability to see the real threat.. We went from wanting to run away from home.. to being 3 of the 8 council members of the only Tiefling Nation! We would die to keep this nation afloat.

We would not forget those the died that day.

Now I’m not saying a game is only good if your players decide to make a fricken flag! Or even (and yes we DID do this,too) write a song to inspire the survivors of a tragedy... but it goes to show how engaged with the game we were by the fact that we did all this because we cared. We were invested! Now, how did we do this? How did we get so invested in the game we were taking time out of our life to slap together flags, songs, and business plans for our game? I’ll tell you how. We, the players, helped create everything.

The DM didn’t write a whole lore dump we had to create our characters against, she worked with us on the spot to write up the whole things about Us, our powerful bloodline families, and what it meant for us, why the city was the way it was. We, the players, were creating it; she just helped glue all the pieces together so it all made sense. It wasn’t just that though. Last Hope, the old city. We started there!

That’s right, we started level 1 in Last Hope. We were kids of the powerful adults, just starting to grow up enough to want to get the hell out of that city and out of the shadows of our parents we didn’t like. We wanted to, but.. then we heard rumors. That whole Ritual? We are the ones that failed to stop it in time. We were distracted, we were misunderstood, and not trusted. One of our parents died and we couldn’t figure out if the Half-Elf that told us that something worse would go down meant “assassinate all the powerful families” at the funeral, or “do some strange ritual” at the park that would damage the city. We split up, and failed to think that the ritual itself was what would kill our parents, our people, our... city. Half the city was erased from the world in a moment. Then the game kept going.

See, this was why it was so good. Everything was just part of the game. Our rolls, our choices, our story. We decided to get boats, and take all the survivors away when the Elves, who’s “land” the city was built on, decided that the giant explosion was our fault. Fuck em! We’d rebuild the city elsewhere, and we’d use the help of their enemies, a Dragon/Dragonborn empire. We took whatever we could and found a new island that wasn’t on the charts. There, we started to rebuild. More rolls, using an updated kingdom system to build a city, setting up defense armies using an updated army warfare system, and setting up a council of the 8 houses that made up the strongest and.. well richest of the Tieflings choose what resources would be spent on what. Our rolls, our choices, our story. The DM had never planned on this, she just.. changed things after every roll.

Now if not obvious enough, there was plenty of combat. We fought to stop the ritual, as my character who is affectionately called “En”, the fighter of the group, was knocked out in the fight, only to be woken up by Chant, the bard of our group, that had finished the fight, but too late to stop the ritual. Monsters poured out of the portal, and our parents arrived in time to tell us to help evacuate the city. Beaten, but not broken, we decided to do just that. As we fought monsters to buy time for the citizens to get to safety, En lost consciousness again as she once again jumped in the way of the blow targeting another, and was impaled by it’s horns. Tresse, the sorceress of the group, was able to finish off the monster, but En was in no shape to wake up anymore. En would have to be told what the explosion that left a giant crater in the city looked like.

En would have to be told what she had failed to stop.

The combat was just the backdrop, though. Our decision to not leave the city, our decision to investigate our cities problems, our decision to try and stop a dangerous ritual on our own; That was the story. It all added up to our story, where we now are trying to help our flegling new city grow and thrive on a large island that we found out once was home to a large empire once before. Nothing was prewritten problems, nothing was just about one player’s character, nothing was about our long elaborate backgrounds, and nothing was about the NPCs. It was all about us.

So when I talk about the game, I talk about what we all did together at the table. Not our character’s backgrounds. Not the grand lore of the world. Not just one small moment in the battle where ZOMG I Crit. No, the game was good because the DM let the players help guide the story. She took our ideas and built on them, not around them. It still ongoing, too. We had to take a break, but we’re in the middle of a tense situation as we later found the “old” empire actually still existed on the island. They had their own “magical” problems hundreds of years ago, and they had finally recovered enough to try and reclaim their old lands... our lands. Needless to say, we are not giving them up. We’ve learned what horrible things they did that killed off their own people, and we’re not letting them get back that horrible power. We will not let a tragedy like that happen again. We will not lose hope again.

We will not lose our city again.

TLDR; The DM of the game asked me to add this. At the end of the day, this is the player's game. They improvise and deliver lines for the main cast of characters, decide who they are, where they go, and what they do. They make up a majority of the game even! The campaign doesn't belong to the DM, though their job is important. They still have to manage background characters, keeping the pacing right, throw problems at the players, but the editor doesn't write the book, the authors do. The Players are the Author, the DM is the Editor.

[rhys-rambles]

FIGHT CLUB | 1999

I was introduced to the movie Fight Club around 3 years ago. It wasn’t until recently I’ve become interested in it. So here’s my Fight Club breakdown :) WARNING FOR SPOILERS!!

For those who don’t know, Fight Club is a cult favorite novel that was later adapted into a film released in 1999, directed by David Fincher. Starring Brad Pitt, Edward Norton, and Helena Bonham Carter.

The story of Fight Club revolves around three main characters. It’s told from a first-person perspective by a nameless character that’s commonly called ‘the narrator’, who has a dead-end white-collar job at a major car company and has fallen prey to what he calls the ‘Ikea-nesting instinct’. Dictated by social norms he walks perfectly in line like a docile sheep, which translates into an inauthentic, repetitive and empty life.

He suffers from a bad case of insomnia, which causes him to be neither fully awake, nor fully asleep. Sometimes, he entertains self-destructive thoughts: as he flies around from state to state for his job, he prays for a crash or mid-air collision every time the plane bankes too sharply on takeoff or landing.

During a flight, he meets an eccentric and hypermasculine character named Tyler Durden.

Tyler seems to be the direct opposite of the narrator. He’s a wolf rather than a sheep, disentangled from society, and impervious to social norms. He takes what he wants, without asking, and whenever he pleases. He’s self-sufficient, has no superiors, and doesn’t care about material possessions.

The movie later reveals that Tyler and the narrator are the same person, as Tyler is a product of the narrator’s imagination, that’s probably induced by severe insomnia combined with dissatisfaction with a dull, meaningless existence and a lifetime of repressed urges.

The narrator is addicted to going to support groups for specific illnesses because these give him the opportunity to cry, which seems to be a remedy for his insomnia. The downside of his behavior is that he isn’t genuine; he has no testicular cancer, or blood parasites, yet acts as if he does, so he can reap the benefits of these sessions.

But these benefits come to an end when another non-genuine visitor starts to join the sessions as well. This is a woman named Marla Singer, and her motive for joining these sessions is, and I quote: “It’s cheaper than a movie and there’s free coffee.”

Marla is a self-destructive, chain-smoking fatalist, who’s expecting to die at any moment, but finds it tragic that it never happens. She steals food and clothes for a living and attempts suicide by overdosing Xanax.

Even though the narrator, Tyler, and Marla are totally different personalities, they all live their lives accompanied by a nihilistic undercurrent.

Tyler seems to have figured out what causes this emptiness, and during the course of the story, his solution unfolds. Unfortunately, his character slides from a sage-like father figure to an anarchist terrorist, who’s out to destroy modern civilization. Nevertheless, he exposes a series of harsh realities about modern life that are worth contemplating.

Anti-consumerism

The anti-consumerist stance of Tyler Durden becomes obvious when he verbalizes his concern about the modern way of life. Shortly after the narrator meets Tyler, he discovers that his apartment went up in flames. After this unfortunate event, realizing that he has no friends to call, he calls Tyler. The two meet, and the narrator complains about losing his furniture, and his respectable and almost complete wardrobe. Tyler responds rather indifferently and slightly sarcastically before he begins to express his views on the matter. Quote:

“We’re consumers. We are by-products of a lifestyle obsession. Murder, crime, poverty, these things don’t concern me. What concerns me are celebrity magazines, television with 500 channels, some guy’s name on my underwear. Rogaine, Viagra, Olestra…”

It becomes clear that Tyler has quite an unconventional view of what’s good and bad. Murder, crime, and poverty are generally considered bad things, while consumer goods like televisions, clothing from a certain brand, products that help to hide aging, enhance bedroom performance, and help us with weight loss, are considered preferable.

Tyler has a contempt for the artificial, as opposed to elements that have been a natural part of the human condition, probably as long we exist. This way of thinking touches upon an ancient Cynic philosopher named Diogenes of Sinope, who believed that modern, civilized life hinders our natural state.

At the end of the movie, it appears that the narrator has destroyed his apartment himself when he was taken over by his alter ego, Tyler Durden. This deed was the first step onto the road of detachment from his property, into a more authentic way of life and to (how Tyler puts it): “reject the basic assumptions of civilization, especially the importance of material possessions.”

The narrator moves in with Tyler, who lives in a dilapidated house with ongoing leaks, power failures, and no Ikea furniture. Slowly but surely, the narrator indeed detaches from his previously destroyed property. “Things you own end up owning you,” Tyler tells him. And this simple piece of wisdom probably hits home, when the narrator realizes that he doesn’t need all these worldly goods, and is actually much happier without them.

Non-conformity

Tyler Durden is a non-conformist, and shows, again, similarities with Diogenes, who not only purposefully lived in poverty, but also rejected social norms. For him, social constructs are nothing more than a superficial layer of culture that represses our true nature.

Diogenes lived in a barrel, Tyler lives in an abandoned building. Diogenes urinated in public, Tyler urinates in the soup of a restaurant.

The narrator, on the other hand, seems to be the embodiment of conformity, as he adapts his lifestyle completely to societal expectations. The problem with this behavior is that we dedicate our existence walking the paths that people other than ourselves have laid out for us. This need to conform, the fear of falling by the wayside, this sickly preoccupation by what others think of us, this necessity to keep up with the Joneses: what an exhausting way of life, just to feel ‘accepted’.

So, what if we stop caring? What if we reject the generally accepted norms, and choose our own values, elect our own leaders, determine our own goals, regardless of the social expectations? This is a fundamental difference between the narrator and Tyler Durden, who puts it like this: “I am free in all the ways that you are not.”

Ironically, later on in the story, Project Mayhem, a terrorist organization led by Tyler that grows out of Fight Club, is a textbook example of conformity, as it’s members wear the same clothes, are absolutely equal, abolish their names, and are referred to as space monkeys that sacrifice their lives for a greater cause. We could say that by rejecting one doctrine in order to be ‘non-conformist’, we often imprison ourselves in another one.

Fighting and masculinity

Fighting and the experience of pain play a significant role in Fight Club. At the beginning of the story, Tyler asks the narrator to hit him as hard as he can. He explains his strange wish by saying: “How can you know yourself if you’ve never been in a fight? I don’t want to die without any scars.”

So, the narrator hits him. Tyler hits him back, and the two engage in a fistfight. Both seem to feel surprisingly pleasant afterward and decide to do it again. Their nightly activities on a parking lot attract the attention of other men, that are also interested in joining these non-hostile fistfights. And thus, Fight Club is born.

It’s widely known that voluntary exposure to certain forms of pain makes us stronger in the face of adversity, which could be a legit reason to partake in these fights. As the narrator states: “After fighting everything else in your life got the volume turned down.”

However, Fight Club is more than just a metaphor for dealing with hardship through exposure: a physical fight, and the violence and aggression that goes with it, resonates with the primal part of our being.

Not only the men in the story are attracted to the violence of fighting; Fight Club as a movie and novel was so impactful on its audience, that real-life Fight Clubs started to emerge.

The story shows an experiment in which the members of Fight Club pick fights with random strangers (and are supposed to lose), which isn’t as easy as it sounds; most people do everything to avoid physical conflict.

But Fight Club makes us wonder if it’s a good thing that we’ve lost touch with these primal tendencies. Should we repress this part of human nature? Or, perhaps, integrate it in healthy and constructive ways?

Self-destruction

When the story progresses, Tyler and the narrator begin to see the world through a different lens. Tyler criticizes the modern self-improvement hype by saying: “Self-improvement is masturbation. Now self-destruction… ”

This statement is slightly confusing, as the increasingly destructive nature of Fight Club, in which faces are permanently mutilated and teeth are knocked out of people’s heads, doesn’t seem to be a sustainable way to live.

But Tyler might be onto something when we look at self-destruction as the destruction of a false self.

‘Self-improvement’ often points to the accumulation of external goods: a better house, a better job, a better body, more money. But why should we endlessly want to improve ourselves? Why can’t we just be happy with how things are, and take life as it comes? Or as Tyler states:

“I say never be complete, I say stop being perfect, I say let’s evolve, let the chips fall where they may.”

We create an identity through material wealth, and social status. And as far as Tyler is concerned, this false sense of self must be destroyed, before we are free to do anything we want. Therefore, the ‘space monkeys’ of Project Mayhem live by a mantra which goes like this:

“You are not your job, you’re not how much money you have in the bank. You are not the car you drive. You’re not the contents of your wallet. You are not your fucking khakis. You are all-singing, all-dancing crap of the world.” - Tyler Durden, Fight Club

Tyler makes a so-called human sacrifice, namely a man called Raymond who works a dead-end job in a convenience store. Raymond wanted to be a veterinarian, but didn’t make it because it was “too much studying.” Tyler threatens Raymond, saying that if he doesn’t start studying within six weeks, he’ll kill him.

In this scene, Tyler points to another aspect of self-destruction: the act of letting go of fears, negative self-talk, and all distractions, so we can fully focus on our purpose. It’s the destruction of everything within ourselves that holds us back from living life on our own terms.

A near-life experience

Many people go great lengths when it comes to pain avoidance. The problem is that running from pain means running from an inevitable part of life.

The prospect of incurring pain makes us anxious, and often leads to self-indulgent decisions. That is: choosing the less painful path, even if a more painful path guarantees more success and pleasure in the future.

Tyler Durden deals with this by inflicting a chemical wound on the narrator’s hand using lye.

As expected, the narrator does everything to escape the pain: he uses visualization techniques he learned at a seminar, and retreating in his cave to find his ‘power animal’. But Tyler slaps him in the face, forcing him to stay with the pain, saying: “This is the greatest moment of your life, man. And you’re off somewhere missing it.”

For the narrator, Tyler has one central goal: he must reach bottom. After putting him through suffering, and destroying his false identity, there’s yet another aspect that must be crushed: hope. Losing all hope is freedom. And, therefore, he must reject what has rejected him: his father, and God. I quote:

“Consider the possibility that God does not like you. In all probability, he hates you.” - Tyler Durden, Fight Club

Tyler states that we don’t need God. That we shouldn’t care about redemption and damnation. And if we’re God’s unwanted children, so be it. Thereby, we lose all hope, but are also liberated from religious doctrine and fatherly authority.

Now we’re truly free. Now we can create our own meaning, and live how we want to live.

Tyler emphasizes the importance of knowing what we want in life. To achieve this, we must be willing to get out of our comfort zone and jump into the unknown without safety brackets.

The narrator, however, has difficulties letting go of security. He begs Tyler to not mess around when he lets go of the steering wheel in a driving car while hitting the gas. Tyler calls the narrator ‘pathetic’, and yells: “hitting bottom isn’t a weekend retreat. It’s not a goddamn seminar. Stop trying to control everything and just let go!”

After an inevitable car crash, Tyler states that they just had a ‘near-life experience’.

Wrap up

Fight Club is a story about rebellion against the status quo and a plea for the simple life. It criticizes the ways in which we are so hung up on security, and material possessions, and how people let social norms dictate their lives.

‘Stuff’ has become our religion. The idols we worship are Ikea and Starbucks. And the more we immerse ourselves in such an empty and unfulfilling existence, the more we start to resemble the things that we produce: manufactured products rather than authentic human beings.

Tyler shows us a way out. And even though his insights are profound, the execution is questionable. Fight Club, and its terrorist branch Project Mayhem, show us how easy it is to oppose one ideology, in order to fall into another, and how a cult-like echo chamber built on rigid beliefs could become very destructive.

Nevertheless, Tyler challenges us to be self-sufficient and disobedient to the authorities that let us down, to live authentically and in the moment, to confront our fears, to boldly step out of our comfort zones, and let the things that don’t matter truly slide.

[whitehotharlots]

It’s all religion, and it’s all profane

Over the past few days I have delved, rather pointlessly, into the messy scenery of the UK’s ongoing gender wars. My interest was equal parts morbid and academic. I hoped to answer two questions. First, why is the back-and-forth between trans rights advocates and gender critical feminists so vicious in the UK, culminating not just in the threats and recriminations found in the war’s American iteration, but in women being blackmailed and even arrested. 

The second question is why is it even happening? That is, why is the UK in particular a hotbed for an ideological war of this type among liberal-identifying people, while in the US the feminist movement has accepted trans ideology more or less uniformly and with minimal pushback. My first inclination was that it was a matter of professional survival. Perhaps academic jobs aren’t as precarious in the UK, meaning that it’s somewhat safer for people to issue heterodox opinions. But, again, the viciousness of the first question seems to rebut my assumption in regards to the second. Losing your job is bad, but going to prison is worse.

Of course, I found no clear answer to either question. UK academe is utterly unknowable to an American who’s never experienced it. I found out what “O Levels” means but after that I got kind of lost. As much as a shitty lie our myth of academic meritocracy might be, the UK makes us look like a Dutch Montessori school run by doctrinaire Quakers. If your first name isn’t proceeded by Lord, Lady, or Sir, or if you don’t have a number after your name that’s at least as high as The Fourth, there’s not much of a chance you’re going to get yourself a gig within Oxbridge.

So I delved into the viciousness, and oh boy did I get what I was looking for. The English are renowned for their dry, cutting humor, but that’s because only the best of the best come into the American purview. The majority of pedestrian UK humor is a sort of sarcasm without jokes. Like, let’s say you brought home a sausage pizza. I asked you what the topping was and you said “It’s pepperoni, mate.” And then you opened it up and it was sausage and that made me confused and slightly pissed. That’s the extent of the comedic ability of your average Brit.

The fights, meanwhile, are more direct and blunt, really a sight to behold. Again, there’s no attempts at humor, which tend to accompany the verbal conflicts of Americans. When Americans fight, we’re usually doing it to try and get the people around us to think we’re cool. When UK people fight, they just want to hurt the other person.

Of course, there’s much in common between the US and UK iterations of gender discourse. Minor disagreements are regarded as violence, hyperbolic overstatements of harm are routine, and person who uses terminology that was considered progressive up until very recently can find themself labeled a Nazi for not making linguistic adjustments quickly enough. But it’s still somehow even more rancorous in the UK. You get a sense that they’re not in it just for online clout but out of a desire to cause real, physical harm to members of the other side. 

One of the more salient aspects of UK arguments is how their insults will often consist of a simple description of a person. Sometimes you’ll get “fat” or “snaggle toothed” or something most of us would consider mean. But other times it’s like “you blonde cunt” or “you working class shite” or something else that us Americans would never regard as an insult. Mentions of religion are surprisingly common. They say “you Catholic bigot” as opposed to “you bigot,” or “you deranged Protestant” instead of “you freak.” 

This really struck me. You’d never, ever see that in America. Firstly because it’s taboo (unless it’s a Republican talking about Muslims). Secondly, because we simply do not care. Your average religious American cannot articulate any meaningful difference between Catholics and Protestants. We have no need to, because as much as we love Jesus we don’t bother with any of the messy parts of religion, such as having a faint understanding of the faiths we claim to adhere to.

This, I have always felt, is the greatest folly of New Atheism. What are you gonna do, present a scientific case demonstrating the absurdity of the creation myth? You gonna stick solely to the bible and highlight its multiple hypocrisies and contradictions? What is that gonna achieve? These people had Donald Trump autograph their bibles. They think salvation can be purchased by giving 20% of their paychecks to millionaires who preach in stadiums. There’s nothing an outsider can do to profane their religion that’s more obscene than the manner in which they practice it.

(I recall a time in my mid-teens when I attempted to “A-ha!” a youth pastor with my knowledge of the story of Jephthah from the Book of Judges, who committed yahweh-approved ritualistic sacrifice of his eldest daughter. In response, the pastor informed me that he hadn’t read that part of the bible, and that his relationship with Jesus was more about the feelings it gave him than some words written down in an old book. Needless to say, he won the argument.) 

The UK is, even now, broadly to the left of the US in regards to their social safety net and most cultural matters (this is a low bar, for sure, but they do clear it). Perhaps people who us Americans would identify as liberal (in that they don’t openly want to murder poor people; they’ll often still do it, but they won’t giggle while doing it) aren’t as ideologically siloed over there. The Democratic party is, after all, an unworkable mishmash of a few dozen different concerns, and their basic strategy since the Clinton era has been to blame the incompatibility of those concerns for the fact that their governance is indistinguishable from that of the GOP. 

An American liberal therefore doesn’t focus on piddling things like principles or ideals or even whether or not a policy they support does the exact opposite of what it’s supposed to achieve. Paying too close attention to the workings of our coalition will reveal its manifest contradictions, which will in turn weaken it, and if gets too weak then we’ll once again have an evil fascist doing the exact same stuff that a good and honorable man like Joe Biden is presently doing. Instead, we must understand politics as a means of achieving self-actualization through the process of deferring our concerns to others. Those concerns are not addressed within the present system, no, and neither are our own, but worrying about cause and effect and results is not the point. It’s much more important to exist, to validate, and to listen. 

In the UK, politics is still understood as politics. It is a means of gaining and exercising power. In the US, politics falls eerily in line with our profane understanding of what religious devotion entails: an acontextual, borderline illiterate expression of ourselves, which we have been trained to believe connects us to some kind of higher power that unifies us as humans by calcifying our utter disconnectedness from one another. 

And so maybe that’s the difference? In the UK, people are delusional enough to think that politics is entered into by people who have something to gain or lose. In the US, it’s all about vibes.

[a-student-out-of-time]

Connections Review Part 3

Storm Maverick- Category 5

And we return! This will be the final part of the Connections Arc. I had initial plans for this to be 2 parts but sadly Maverick got too big and therefore he required his own part. This is by far the most divisive part of the Arc as everyone seems to be content with the time travel and harems, but as soon as Maverick ‘Motherfucker Hellspawn’ Storm got relevant it all went downhill for some. So, what do I think?

So, this is part is less ‘What is Maverick doing’ and more of what I think of Maverick. As you guys know, I am aware that Maverick is a lot older than people seem to recognize as he has his origins in Askthedespairkids. And in the context of that blog, Maverick is actually a pretty good character. You have to remember that the blog was saturated with OCs and a lot of them suffered from severe sueness or edgy syndrome. I will not make names and I will not say who made the worst OCs because that’s the easiest way to start an internet war, but the two big reasons I got bored of Askthedespairkids and quit reading is due to how poorly written a lot of these OCs were and they hogged a lot of the spotlight, and the canon characters ended up being regulated to the side-lines, which didn’t tickle my fancy at all. True, Maverick was very over the top and what he ultimately ended up doing to his former classmates in Class 75 is incredibly graphic and probably worse than some of the executions and murders canonically, but I would rather blame the general OPness of that blog. Now this is on the Mod’s terms Maverick can hopefully be hit with the nerf hammer a bit more so he isn’t as ridiculous as he was in Askthedespairkids. Furthermore, you can’t call Maverick a Villain Sue and not apply that to Junko Enoshima, because yeah, she is a Villain Sue, that’s why I don’t like her.

But things are different now. Maverick is standing on his own, against only a couple of other OCs and canon characters. Furthermore, the Mod’s writing skills have improved since the Askthedespairkids days so there’s a bit more pressure on Maverick. I think there are two issues I find with Maverick. The first is that I didn’t like him making a move during this arc. The arc was fine just focusing on time travel and the various harems and relationships of the characters, adding Storm just bloated the arc and made it much longer then needed, I feel like Maverick could have been revealed next arc and the next next arc would be the next arc we are currently getting into. This gives me serious Oncoming Storm vibes where an Arc is ridiculously long and a build up to a (hopefully) big payload. Now let me make this straight, this Arc is a million times better then Oncoming Storm, I don’t think any future Arc would be as bad as Oncoming Storm, as that was long and boring whereas the previous stuff was interesting, its just that adding Storm made the Arc very bloated and artificially extended the length of the arc making it tedious. Perhaps a forewarning to the Mod when they decide to include someone like Mikado and Junko into the story. The second issue with Maverick is…he’s basically a poor man’s Junko. At the moment I’m really struggling to find any meaningful differences between Maverick and Junko. With Juu being around we already have our big bad villain for the second Session and if I’m right, Session 3’s main villain is going to be Mikado and Session 4’s villain is Junko. I know Maverick is important to the backstories of Umeko and Kyoji, especially Kyoji, but aside from tying up those loose ends, what is the point of Maverick? Does he exist to give the Quantum Crew a practise run against Junko? And yes, his threat level is higher as he’s kidnapping an obscene amount of people and is able to block us Anons, but Maverick shouldn’t know we exist. I really, REALLLLY hope there’s a logical explanation for that because if Maverick is somehow able to sense the Anons and see how much of a threat we are, then the accusations of Maverick being a Villain Sue do hold water.

Overall, I will be more critical of Maverick now then I was back then because he enjoyed being next to poorly written characters but that safety net no longer exists and there’s too many glaring similarities between him and Junko. Now for his actions yeahhh…. I did warn you guys that Maverick is that special kind of evil but I don’t think it was until Nikei revealed about all his foster families committing suicide that it really hammered home. It’s basically vindication of what I said before. The stakes are a lot higher now because previously yes there was all the girls being kidnapped but it was just Tokyo and one demographic, but here lots of people all across Japan are vanishing and being brainwashed by Storm, so the pressure is on for the Quantum Crew to stop him. And some familiar names as well as Damian, Aiko’s pen pal and Hiroyuki, Kiroko’s younger brother have gone missing alongside Kanon. Kanon vanishing means I think Leon is going to be important next arc because we did promise Leon that Hajime & friends would help her and he’ll be willing to throw his lot in to save his cousin. And the pressure is even more on because Yuki’s been taken as well, having traded Mikado for Storm. This is going be big, especially for Sora as she’s been struggling with how much she cares for Yuki and this will be a real test to see where her allegiances lie. Especially as its unknown what happens if either Yoruko or Sora dies, because if Hajime dies, time rewinds and he uses a life but what if Yoruko and Sora get offed? They don’t have lifelines so what happens if Hajime resets, does Yoruko revert to her old self or does Sora get erased from existence as she isn’t supposed to be ‘born’ yet?

Kyoji also got some development as we see him bonding with Monaca and the newly reformed Kanade, and it’s a very ironic twist that the two characters who are often nicknamed as ‘Satan’ in the fandom are now more or less siblings. As good as a caretaker he is for them though, his recklessness and self-loathing issues are still there as it prevents him from seeing Miaya despite a meeting between them being sorely needed and thinking she won’t want to see him again even if that may not be the case, and wanting to deal with Storm ASAP despite legit concerns that it could be a trap. Thankfully Chisa and Chiaki were able to talk some sense into him and rein in some of his more destructive behaviour. Given how manipulative Storm is and we have not one but two characters who are willing to go off the handle, possibly three if Nikei jumps the gun again, its going to be a very intense arc coming up as not only do the Quantum Crew have to fight against Storm and his backers, but also keep some of the more hot-headed members of the team from being reckless. The new members of the Quantum Crew are pulling their weight though as Kazuichi offered insight into the tech that Storm could use, Chisa obviously helping to keep sanity in check and Ibuki had one of her lucid ideas and managed to suggest how Storm delivered all the VPN password codes to his victims in a way that isn’t unnoticeable which is just mailing them a vacation brochure. I’ll admit, this was really clever by the Mod as that went over my head when it was delivered, but I should know about Chekhov’s Gun, which is don’t include something if its not going to be relevant later. Lesson learnt and I need to be more alert to detail now.

And that concludes the Connections Arc as the QR Code was scanned and they saw the welcome message from Maverick and Kyoji cursing Storm’s name. And my ranking shall be a C-. It would be a solid C but the inclusion of Maverick bloating the arc out and the fact that now he’s not being propped up by terrible OCs means the writing flaws of the character are starting to become more apparent and his similarities with Junko makes me question if he is a necessary character in the story or not. I will withhold too much judgement until the next Arc concludes but I did enjoy the Arc until the Storm part so its not enough to drop into D territory so C- it is. Either way, I’ll be watching the next arc with great interest and hopefully my new method of cutting down on needless wavering is making this easier to read. See you once the Storm calms down! -Review Anon

//Once again, thank you for the reviews. And admittedly, yes, I do wish I’d held off on introducing Storm’s plans until the ongoing plot threads were resolved and everyone came home. I can see all this being the beginning of the current arc and it probably would’ve worked better. That’s definitely the biggest flaw I can see with the last arc, though it’s important for setting stuff up and my desire is not for preparations to drag out, but for us to get to what’s important.

//After the Oncoming Storm, I’m wary of writing any more long preparation arcs, especially when I’m stuck in a long depressive episode ^^;

//I’ve never claimed to be a perfect writer or even a good one, but I’ve tried to improve on my writing since my early days. I had very little idea of what I was doing back then and it really does show. I only ask that you all go into the next arc with an open mind and not let past experiences of bad writing color your opinions, which I’m sure you won’t.

//I won’t spoil anything, but this upcoming arc has what’s probably my hardest decision as a writer to date and I’ve decided to committed to it, even if it hurts to think about. 

//I do hope you look forward to what comes next ^^

[krissy-kat]

PJOverse Headcanons Pt 4:-

(Sorry my hand slipped)

Peter age 15 Harley 16

• Peter doesn't go back to Camp due being busy patrolling Queens as Spiderman

• Harley is really upset when he hears that Peter won't be coming to Camp, he had finally gathered all his courage and was finally going to ask him out but never gets a chance to

• That year Harley's father came to visit him

• "Why are you here, you abandoned us, didn't even tell us that you were a God"

• "Harley listen I'm sorry but I had to"

• "Then tell me the goddam reason"

• "So do you know about our Roman counterparts and children "

• "Yes, they live in New Rome now along with few Greek demigods and don't talk to me in circles"

• "You know that Greek and Roman demigods have recently found out about each other and before that we weren't allowed to tell you, your sister was daughter of my Roman form Vulcan and if Hera or Juno had found out, I don't what she would have done"

• Harley didn't know what to think about it, he knew his sister was a demigod when he found about his dad being a God but he didn't expect her to be a Roman demigod

• "Ok, but I still haven't forgiven completely "

• "I didn't expect you would, but it's a start right "

• "Maybe"

• Peter would still IMs MJ, no matter how much she'll deny it she considers Peter a friend, she also tells him about the on ongoing fight about how his half siblings says that his superhero persona can't be trusted and how Flash with his whole Cabin will come to defend him

• Some time later Civil War happens, Peter didn't tell Tony about him being a demigod because he thought it wasn't relevant when he comes to recruit him

• Tony takes Peter under his wing and they get close

• Tony is absolutely furious when the events homecoming occur

• "Peter, I thought we were close, why didn't you tell me that you were chasing after a murderous psychopath"

• "But Mr Stark.."

• "A building fell on you, you could have died"

• "But.."

• "I don't want you moonlighting as spiderman for atleast a month"

• "Ok, but what am I supposed to tell Aunt May about the internship"

• "You know what from next week you're going to be my personal intern, real intern this time and I'll able to easily keep a eye on you"

• "Ok, Mr Stark"

• ( Infinity War and Endgame doesn't happen because this is my Au I'll do what I want to)

Peter age 16 , Harley age 17

• Harley decided to tell his mother and sister about being a demigod and his father being a God and going to the Camp since he was 12, a month before summer vacation

• They thought it was an elaborate joke

• Harley looked up and says out loud "If you want me to forgive you, help me out here"

• Hephaestus appears out thin air

• "Aaah! What are you doing here "

• "You asked for my help"

• "It was more along lines of sending a Celestial bronze dog or dragon like Leo's"

• "You know Tony Stark, she would have thought it was a prank "

• "Ok, you're right she would have definitely thought that"

• "She's right here, you both are talking about me like I'm not here. Harley I'll talk to later about hiding this stuff from me. And you, you don't think it would have easier to tell me you were a God when you left, I would have been a lot less of mess than I was "

• "I'm Sorry "

• "I'm sorry doesn't cut it, did what Harley told us about Roman counterpart and Abbie being a roman demigod is true"

• "Yes"

• "Ok, I understand your situation but you aren't forgiven "

• "Understood "

• "Now Harley, you are grounded until your graduation except your summer vacation because of the summer Camp thing"

• "But it will be my senior year next year "

• "No buts and you (pointing at Hepheatus) will you be staying for dinner"

• "Gods don't.."

• Hepheastus steps on Harley's foot

• Harley glares at him

• "Of course "

• "What were you saying Harley"

• "Nothing "

• In Summer vacation Harley goes to Camp Half blood and asks Abbie if she wants come too

• "After the Giant war, many roman demigods come to Camp Half Blood during summer, and I'll be staying first week at Tony's are sure you still want to go to Camp Jupiter "

• "Mom's still angry at him for not telling her I doubt she'll let me stay there, I still think it's miracle she allowing you to and I'm a Roman demigod I'll be fine in Camp designed for Roman demigods"

• "Are you sure, you'll get a tattoo there and it's quite painful from what I have heard"

• "I'll be fine and I'm sure it will look badass"

• "Do you want me to come with you to Camp Jupiter, I'm sure they won't mind"

• "I'm 13 Harley, I can take care of myself besides Mom will be staying in New Rome for the first week"

• Harley was still upset she won't be staying with him at Tony's and going to Camp Half Blood

• Harley always stays the first week of his summer vacation with Tony, so he was looking forward to meeting Spiderman, no matter how much Athena Cabin said you can't trust him

• "Sorry kiddo, he's grounded and I still blame you for the lecture I received from your Mom"

• "What do you mean he's grounded "

• "His Guardian found out he was moonlighting as Spiderman, so she grounded him, he's not even allowed to visit the tower"

• "Wait he's a teenager, now I want to meet him even more"

• "Oh no I know that look, I won't be introducing you two anytime soon, you both will make my hair grey twice as fast as they already are"

• "Aww, you're no fun at all Old Man"

• Meanwhile at Peter's home

• "Please Aunt May, I need to meet Mr Stark's other protege, how else am I supposed to know whether I can be friendly with him or I'll have to compete against him "

• "I told you are grounded so no Tony Stark and Ned for three weeks and no spiderman for a month and it has only been one week so you are still grounded"

• "But he won't be there then"

• "What part of being grounded don't you understand Peter"

• "Why am I not allowed to hang out with Ned anyway"

• "He should have told me when he found out and I know it's as much punishment for him as is it for you and you both know it"

• After his grounding is over Mr Stark hugs him tightly since he missed Peter and he's like a son to him

• Peter shifts to Tower part time because there is a shortage of employees at May's work place and she has to work overtime

• Peter while IMing MJ complains that his last Camp t-shirt was torn and he misses it, three day later he get a package with 2 new t-shirts saying that she couldn't bear Peter complaining anymore

• Rouge Avengers are pardoned soon after and since Tony still hasn't forgiven them completely and doesn't trust them with Spiderman's identity he asks Peter to tell them he's his personal intern when anyone asks why a civilian was with him

• The first time he runs into Captain America he gives him the death glare that MJ taught him, suffice to say Captain America never have been scared so much from a teenager

• Peter was in the kitchen and peacefully eating his cereal when Mr Barton comes in and see him and looks at him in confusion then his face turns into a determined look

• "FRIDAY call Tony into kitchen right now tell him it's a emergency and please make a excuse if anyone tries to come in"

• It was Peter's time to confused

• "Why the hell to call me at this ungodly hour this better be important "

• "Why the hell didn't you me a warning that you adopted another demigod"

• Tony stares dumbfounded at him

• "What to you mean by that?"

• "Come on Tony, he sitting right here eating cereal in Camp T-shirt"

• "Excuse Mr Barton, Mr Stark didn't know that I'm a demigod also he didn't adopt me"

• Tony and Clint didn't know what to say

• Finally Clint broke the silence

• "I think you both need to have a conversation so I'll just leave"

• "Sooo.. you are demigod huh?"

• "I'm literal brain child of my dad and athena, so yeah I'm a demigod"

• "Wait a sec, aren't children of Athena are supposed to scared of spiders"

• "Who said I'm not scared shitless of them, it's just I have spider powers that's why I go around as spiderman"

• Uncomfortable Awkward silence

• "So I was thinking of making you a iron spider suit with nanotechnology "

• They quickly change the conversation and pretend the previous never happened

• Meanwhile at the Camp Harley was thinking how many nicknames can be given to a superhero

• The nicknames used to discuss Spiderman were getting more and more ridiculous because every name is banned as soon as it is has been heard by Chiron

• The names which have been banned till date include Spidey, the web-slinger, the wall-crawler, the arachnid and after this the people stopped feeling creative and thus SM, SpiderM, the Man of Spiders and worst one yet Sipdeydude

• The name they were referring to Spiderman right now was S-Man

• Flash was arguing with Annabeth who has been part of two Great Prophecies but Flash didn't give a dam about it because nobody says something bad about Spiderman and get away with it

• Suddenly a voice breaks the fight apart

• "Annabeth, we should get going if we want to catch the train in time, so stop arguing with my sibling about Spiderman"

• "But Pipes, a person associating themselves with Spiders can't be good, why can't he understand "

• "Yes they can, this is your irrational fear for spiders speaking "

• "I have fought Arachne I assure you it is not irrational "

• "Yes, it is now let's go we don't need to miss the train unless you want to get to New Rome a day late"

• Piper and Annabeth leaves

• The next Chiron asks Harley to do a supply run in Queens and asks him to take any two campers with him

• He was asking MJ to go with him when Flash overhears him then forced Harley to take him too because he was determined that they might able to see Spiderman

• Unfortunately while on supply run they encountered a full grown cyclops so they lured it into an alley to fight it

• Peter was just patrolling in his neighbourhood, he didn't expect to run into demigods fighting a cyclops

• Since he had a tendency to go headfirst into danger, he forgot that it might reveal the fact he's a demigod to them

• It was only after he webbed the cyclops's eye and both his legs together that he sees the demigods fighting the cyclops were MJ, Flash and Harley

• When the cyclops was trying to take web out of his eye he webs his hands to his face

• "I hope you guys will handle this situation from here"

• He swings out of there

• Harley was in a daze, Flash has turned into a overexcited puppy and MJ was suspicious because she was like 67% is was Peter

• I mean come on he could see the monster so either he was a demigod or mortal with the vision and mortals tends to ignore the demigod stuff. Also the fact that he didn't came to Camp last year when Spiderman started appearing and this year he came up with a flimsy excuse

• So after getting back at Camp while Flash and Harley were busy telling about their encounter to everyone MJ slipped out to IM Peter

• Peter was in his room in Stark Tower, and thinking back it was a big neon sign about Peter being Spiderman

• "Hey MJ"

• "You're Spiderman "

• "W-What?"

• "You're Spiderman and you saved Harley, Flash and me from cyclops"

• "Nice one, MJ"

• MJ gave him her stop-the-BS glare

• "Ok, ok, but don't tell anyone "

• "I won't but you are a dumbass who revealed that you are either a demigod or mortal with vision by coming between our fight and now the whole camp knows some one will soon join the dots and find out you are Spiderman"

• "Would it hurt you to be a little positive MJ"

• "Yes and who else knows "

• "Aunt May, Ned, Mr Stark and now you"

• "Good, try to keep that way"

• "Ok, any other questions "

• "Well aren't scared shitless of spiders, how does that work for you "

• "Don't remind me, I still have nightmares from when I was bit by the radioactive spider at OsCorp during our field trip"

• "Interesting way of telling me how you got your power and I should go before someone comes to find me and overhear our conversation "

• "Do you have to scare me about accidentally revealing my identity to everyone, it's hardly been 10 mins since you found out"

• "Yes and bye loser I gotta go"

( I have some more ideas so there definitely will be a Part 5 just don't know when)

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 5

Part 7

Part 6

Part 8

[vanessakirbyfans]

With two films premiering at the Venice film festival, Vanessa Kirby’s star rises still higher this year. Since her Emmy-nominated, BAFTA-winning turn as Princess Margaret in Netflix’s The Crown, Kirby has continued to carve out a career that ranges from the stages of the National Theatre, the Royal Court Theatre and Off Broadway, to action blockbuster Mission: Impossible – Fallout, in which she plays The White Widow opposite Tom Cruise—a role she is about to reprise.

At Venice, Kirby stars in Kornél Mundruczó’s Pieces of a Woman, opposite Shia LaBeouf. Written by Mundruczó’s White God collaborator Katá Weber, and executive produced by Martin Scorsese, the film tells the story of a couple whose home birth goes devastatingly wrong, resulting in the loss of their daughter. Then there’s Mona Fastvold’s The World to Come. Set on the mid-19th century East Coast frontier, Kirby is Tallie, a woman who finds a deep love with her neighbor Abigail (Katherine Waterston). Casey Affleck produces and co-stars with Christopher Abbott.

Here, Kirby discusses going deep undercover with LaBeouf at a New York birthing class, the great honor of telling a story of motherhood and grief, and her ongoing fascination with bold, but suppressed female characters like Tally.

DEADLINE: What was it about Pieces of a Woman that first attracted you?

VANESSA KIRBY: I hadn’t found a character since Princess Margaret in The Crown, really, that I truly wanted to go really deep into. And so, they sent me the script for it, and then I met Kornél, the director, and I just was in love with it. It’s an exploration of grief, and how everyone experiences grief differently. I hadn’t seen a film about this sort of subject before, really. When I met Kornél, we had the best afternoon together, and I just knew that it was something I really wanted to do, so I felt incredibly lucky. Shia was already attached to it, and I had always admired him so much as an actor. Then we started the journey, and it required a lot, really. I had to go very deep into it.

DEADLINE: How did you and Shia go there together?

KIRBY: It was really tough, to be honest. It required so much from both of us, and it required a great trust and respect between us, because we knew that we were essentially creating something in the movie that then had to be completely dismantled and destroyed. A bit like they do in Blue Valentine. We were such good friends because I think we really did it together and created a really safe container to do that and to work in. And I was actually really scared to watch it. I was really daunted to watch it because doing some of those scenes was so painful. Feeling that level of grief. I found that really difficult to watch.

DEADLINE: There’s an extraordinary scene with Ellen Burstyn, who plays your mother, where she wants you to fight through your grief, and compares it to her own terrible childhood experiences. It’s so tense, it’s hard to watch.  

KIRBY: Well, it really evolved. God, it was such a privilege to go up against her, she’s just a titan, and we’d got really close and it really deeply explores the mother-daughter relationship.

I stayed overnight at her house a few times in New York when we were in production. We really got to know each other, so there was a deep love there, but also, we just thought it was so fun to play such similar and yet antagonistic characters. This movie is essentially a poem on grief, but it’s also specific to Martha as a person, as a character. It’s almost a character study on grief. How this person reacts to this kind of trauma, because of the generations of trauma and unresolved grief that’s been passed down. It was so important to have that between mother and daughter. It’s so unspoken, and I just can’t imagine if you’ve spent your whole life feeling not good enough, then you fail at the one thing your body is supposed not to. There’s a shame in that, I think. The familial shame, the shame that her mother passed down to her daughter in that she’s taught her daughter that, at any cost, you have to stand up, and you have to fight and you have to be strong and you do not share how you feel and you have to keep going, instead of really sitting with it and processing it.

I remember Ellen and I, we’d been really, really working on the scene together in the days leading up to it in her apartment. And then, on the day, I was just like, “You know what? I’m just going to shout it. I’m just going to shout at her.” And so, I screamed at her, and I just thought, “Oh my god, Ellen.” And it was so incredible, because in the first take, as I screamed at her, she just stood up and she just hit it straight back. It was just such an amazing day of shooting, because we just truly went head-to-head.

DEADLINE: Tell me about shooting the birthing scene. You’ve said it was a single long take?

KIRBY: Well, right from the beginning, Kornél wanted to shoot it as a one-take, and Shia and I were so excited by it, because it’s like a dream, really, to do that as an actor. Also, it was really important, we really wanted, right from the beginning, to open a bit like Saving Private Ryan because Shia and I talked a lot about, if you don’t have the backup, if you’re not with them during this loss, and you’re not with them in that experience, then the after effects—which is most of the movie—you’re not with them in that.

So it was so essential that we got it really right, and it was really complicated as well, because how on earth, over the course of 30 minutes, do you make it seem like the birth is happening before your eyes in real time? I’ve never given birth myself. I thought, I can’t do women a disservice by aiming to do this one continuous take and not make it like as authentic as possible because, you know, half the population are probably watching it, being like, “Well, I’ve done that. That doesn’t feel true.” I felt so nervous. I felt such a duty to it, so I was so lucky in that I found an amazing obstetrician, called Claire Mellon in London, and she allowed me to come and shadow her on the labor ward. I was there with all the midwives, and they were teaching me so much, and taking me through moment to moment. Then I was so lucky that an incredible woman let me watch her give birth, and that, to me, was just a miracle, actually. Honestly, I look back and I couldn’t have acted that. I would have been pretending if I hadn’t really seen someone go through it for five or six hours, which she did. It was the most generous thing anyone’s ever done for me, allowing me to watch. Then also, we were so lucky, we found other incredible woman, our birth consultant, Elan McAllister. Shia and I called her our Samurai, because she just helped us so much.

It’s a total honor the film got into Venice, and there are very special things about that film to me, that it’s extremely personal. For Kata and Kornél, it’s their personal story, and it was just really meaningful, very special, for me, that movie. It was so important it was to do justice to the women I had spent time with who had told me their stories, whether it be still birth, miscarriage or neonatal death, who felt that it’s still a really difficult thing for people and society to talk about in general, which was one of the most important things about the film. And that relates to Katá too.

DEADLINE: With The World To Come, what initially spoke to you about the role of Tallie?  

KIRBY: I ignorantly didn’t know that life was like that in some parts of America in the 1800s. It isn’t that long ago when things were just so tied in. You were literally owned by your household, by the man that you happened to be married to. I just found it so moving, and it touched me so deeply, and the thought that you can’t choose who you love and you can’t even choose to do what you like, to love who you want. I also love the title The World To Come, because it was from those foundations that we’re still coming out of, really. And I found it beautifully poetic.

I liked Tally because she’s such a life force. She’s pushing against… it’s just in her nature. There are so many women like that, who are this dynamic life force that didn’t want to be confined. They were told they had to have no expectations, and to quell or crush their desires, and diminish who they really are. I just loved her because she was such a bright light, really, that then gets sort of extinguished. I just thought it was a really important story to be told.

DEADLINE: On screen you make her such a big presence. Obviously, there are aspects of the costume and the hair that really enhance that, but it felt like something that came from within.

KIRBY: I mean the wig helped. But yeah, I was like, “Look, I just want this person to be someone who was born in the wrong era, that has so much potential.” I’ve always been really interested in women like that. I don’t know why I gravitate towards playing them, like on stage where I started, my favorite characters are Masha in Three Sisters and Yelena in Uncle Vanya. Those women that can do so much with their lives that have so many restrictions on them. They’re strangled by the things that they’re born into, the places that they’re born into, but also the psychological limitations that they put on themselves. And Margaret in The Crown is exactly that. I loved playing that part because it really is someone who is the biggest personality, that’s caged in this institution, that so wants to express who she really is, but is so inextricably linked with the four walls of that institution. I love exploring those people. So it was a real gift to play Tally and also to do her just before Pieces of a Woman. I left Romania and I went straight to New York to go straight into pre-birthing classes with Shia. We met in character through a birthing class. So funny!

DEADLINE: Wow. Did people recognize you guys? Any funny looks?

KIRBY: I think we might’ve pulled it off, actually. They definitely didn’t recognize me, but maybe they recognized him. I think we just about got away with it. I had a wig for The Crown so much, I don’t often get recognized. And we had to do all the exercises, we couldn’t pretend. We did lots of stuff like that.

In The World to Come, we were living in a little valley in Transylvania in Romania together, all in one hotel in the middle of nowhere, the whole cast and crew. So, we’d cook dinners in the evenings, and we just sat all night, but you really felt like you were in the middle of nowhere, and I think it’s so important to be as truthful as possible.

DEADLINE: And now you’re about to get back to Mission Impossible, right? What else is next?

KIRBY: Yes, we’re starting in September, so that’ll be nice, because I really liked that character. I just like how weird she is and unusual and she’s really fun to play, so I’m really looking forward to that. And what’s next? I don’t know yet. I’m just waiting for the right thing. With these two films, I just so loved them, and I think my aim really is just to play as many different characters as possible. Ideally as different as I can.

[littlemisssquiggles]

(Pt1) I just,,, is it bad that at this point I just feel exhausted with the Oscar bits and crumbs? Everyone is like “oh his development is coming just be patient!” But I’ve enjoyed him as a character since he first appeared and watching him get denied or overshadowed has just become exhausting

(Pt2) I feel bad because a episode like this would usually excite me!! We see the boi fight!! And he did good!!! I just kinda want to see him away from everyone else, like from jnr or rwby. Because at this point? I kinda feel like when he’s around them he’s used to help them, never the other way around, I’m just so tired

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Hello there anon-chan. Apologies for the super late response. Y’know, ironically enough your message reminds me of @ozcarpin​’s post from a few weeks back after V7CH5 dropped. They too expressed the same sentiments. As a fellow Pinehead myself whose favourite RWBY Character is Oscar Pine, I share in your exasperation of watching him be obscured by other characters when it comes to receiving his own development.

While I didn’t become a full-fledged Oscar Stan until the start of V5, I still feel you. Despite enjoying V5 in my first watch of the season, even now, it still kind of bothers me that we spent the majority of that season mostly watching Ozpin in control of Oscar’s body or taking control during moments which could’ve been used to allow the PLOT to flesh out Oscar a bit more especially when it came to integrating him into the hero team.

And of course, it still bothers me to no end how they handled his side of the story back in V6 especially during CH9. But do you know what one of the most upsetting parts about this is, anon-chan?

Even if one tries to express their frustration regarding Oscar’s writing within the series, you will always get those one or two comments that say:

“…Quit your complaining about Oscar not receiving any development. He’s not the main character!”

I was reading through some of the comments left in response to ozcarpin​’s post and I actually saw one or two folks hit them with that same remark and I couldn’t help but feel sympathetic for ozcarpin. It actually upsets me when other fans used that kind of remark to denounce criticism of Oscar’s treatment within the show. Mostly because, in my opinion, this remark misses the point trying to be made here.

Speaking for myself, this squiggle meister more or less falls into the same lane as ozcarpin. I am one of those Pineheads who hasn’t 100% been pleased with the way the show has treated Oscar and I’ve never really shied away from expressing my opinions in regards to that. However when I share my critiques of Oscar’s writing, I’m not implying that the Writers should make Oscar the main character of RWBY. That’s not what I’m saying.

I understand that Oscar is not a protagonist for RWBY. However, what I think some folks fail to miss is that Oscar is a part of the main cast or at least he’s supposed to be. When I look at Oscar, I see him in the same category as the JNR gang. In my eyes, JNPR have always been the deuteragonists of RWBY—the secondary huntsmen team of importance to complement our four main girls.

While RWBY hold the title of our four protagonists whose individual stories and team adventures help shape the core PLOT of RWBY, the narrative additionally follows the development of Jaune, Pyrhha (formerly), Ren and Nora since their stories make up the PLOT too.

As I mentioned in this post I made after watching the recent V7CH7, as a Pinehead, when I ask for the PLOT to focus more on Oscar as a character, I’m not implying that he should become the main character of RWBY. All I’m simply asking is that he should be given the same level of respect as a character as we’ve seen from others within the main cast. Because as I’ll repeat again, Oscar is a part of the main cast.

It is for this reason why I really enjoyed the recent episode so much. V7CH7, in my opinion, is the best I’ve seen this season utilize Oscar within a scene because rather than have him play background character to another character; this episode gave him some much needed attention. We actually got to hear Oscar express his thoughts and feelings in contrast with Ironwood’s and for me,it was really great.

This is what I’ve been hoping for. I just want the story to allow us as the audience to get to know Oscar more. To have him speak on screen, share his own ideologies and sentiments with other characters especially the ones he’s in alliance with. Maybe even see him use his opinions to support or challenge said characters on their views and see their reactions to it. 

We spent so many episodes debating whether or not Oscar is a character within RWBY that this episode felt like a breath of fresh air. I haven’t loved an Oscar moment this much since his Dojo scene with Ruby back in V5. 

But as much as I love the dojo-scene from V5, I can’t help but feel like that moment was more to help Ruby than Oscar. However, I still appreciate it a lot since it established a pinnacle moment in Ruby’s growing friendship with Oscar. I felt like I learnt more about Oscar as a person from that one conversation that he shared with Ruby back in Mistral than his entire runtime in V6; believe it or not. But this is just me. 

There are people in this FNDM who genuinely hate Oscar. Who believe he’s a useless boring character or not a character at all BECAUSE of the way the writing has handled him up until now.

As a Pinehead, it’s honestly frustrating when I go into forum discussions or search Oscar-related content on YouTube only to discover videos discussing how problematic of a character Oscar is BECAUSE of the glaring issues with his writing.

Because whether anyone wishes to admit this to themselves or not, the writing for Oscar Pine has not been the best or at least it hasn’t been as good as it could be. It’s been sometime-ish at best. Some might even call it subpar. Thus he’s left feeling as less of a character since the writing has done very little for him up; unfortunately.

According to some folks with the FNDM community, Oscar’s biggest flaw right now is his lack of proper development by the show which lends to him feeling like less of a character. And sadly to admit…at this point in the story, I’m starting to see their point.

Going to back to what I said earlier about Oscar falling in the same lane of  as JNPR, when it comes to the JNR trio, at least I can say that I know who Jaune, Ren and Nora are as characters. I can even say the same for Pyrhha. I know who these characters are because the PLOT actually paid attention to these characters when they needed focus and allowed me as the audience to get to know them.

But when Oscar needed attention to help flesh him out, instead it focused on other characters.

When we needed to see Oscar getting to know the team, it focused more on providing more insight into Ozpin’s character as a build up to the events of V6, I suppose. Even when Oz was removed from the story, the PLOT still didn’t shift gears and allowed us to see what was going through Oscar’s mind after what happened with Oz.

Instead, Oscar’s development happens mostly off-screen while the PLOT focused on other characters. And by the time we did get the chance to hear how he’s feeling, instead of actually showing us how Oscar felt, it’s said in a single line that makes the moment fall flat.

“…These past few days, I’ve been scared of the same things you were. I don’t know how much longer I’m going to be me but I did some thinking, and I do know that I want to everything I can to help with whatever time I have left…” 

Gee…how swell it would’ve been for us to have seen Oscar going through all those emotions over the course of those few days, am I right? But I guess that his feelings weren’t all that important if all we got from that is a throwaway line of dialogue while not receiving much of a reaction from the other characters to Oscar being perfectly fine with possibly disappearing one day.

After V6 and after having more time to think about the events of the last season,I’ve gone into V7 with a slightly more cynical approach. 

In spite of what a few folks might interpret from my more negative opinions, I’m still respectable of the CRWBY Writers and appreciative of the effort they put into the ongoing story for RWBY. 

However that doesn’t mean that I’m not going to remain honest in my opinions. In regards to Oscar’s presence within the show, if the Writers do something with his character that I genuinely liked then I will praise it many times over given how much I love it. Hence my admiration for the Ironwood and Oscar scene from V7CH7.

However, if the Writers do something with Oscar that I didn’t enjoy or I didn’t personally feel was as good as I would’ve liked it to be, then of course I’m going to admit that when asked of my views (case in point: V6CH9) 

That being said, I’m not saying all of this to make it seem like I’m bashing you for your own opinions anon-chan and if I sound that way in my response then I humbly apologize.

What I’m basically saying is, as a fellow Pinehead, I hear your frustrations. On some level, I feel your frustration and exhaustion and share in it with some of my own. But in a hopefully much nicer tone that you’ve heard from others, I will say that perhaps there is a bit of truth to what others have said about waiting a little while longer for Oscar’s development. 

What I mean by that is, perhaps we should at least give the full season a fair chance. I’m not telling you to bottle up your frustrations. As a matter of fact, to quote, Shannon McCormick—the VA of the other half of our Man with Two Souls—what I’m saying is let’s try and “keep the faith” fam.

As of now, we are at V7CH7. We still have 6 more episodes to go before V7 concludes. As I said, CH7 did real good on Oscar and since promise of this season being an exciting one for Oscar is still in the air, let’s at least see where it goes from here. Perhaps things might pick up for the third act? 

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t starting to lose confidence for this season being a better Oscar-worthy one than the last until CH7 renewed some of my hope.  . With Oscar advising Ironwood to quote, “talk to the people you’re most afraid to”, I’m hoping that this was an indication that we might be revisiting the plot point with Oscar confronting Ruby again about telling James the truth. 

I’m hoping that CH7 isn’t the only episode we’ll get to hear Oscar speak his mind and it makes me interested to hear what he hopefully has to say for CH8.

So yeah, to reiterate—I know it might be a little tough fam but, let’s try and hold strain till the end of season. 

Admittedly, V7 is still pretty young and there have been elements to Oscar’s character and overall purpose in the plot of this season that have been teased a little for part of this season that I’m looking forward to seeing come to fruition:

Oscar confronting Ruby about revealing the whole truth to Ironwood (possibly with the last question from the Lamp of Knowledge)

Oscar unlocking his semblance which has been alluded to be a ‘great and powerful’ one that would possibly be the envy of his comrades, according to Ruby Rose.

Oscar receiving more clarity about the nature of the Merge from Ironwood (since he seems to know more about that).

Oscar reconciling with Ozpin within his mind and aiding in his reconciliation with the hero team.

Oscar helping Ironwood with his Baobab—possibly at some point suggesting that Atlas finds a way to get in communication with the kingdom of Vacuo to seek aid before their inevitable fall since Tyrian mentioned that’s what will be needed to thwart Salem’s plans for Atlas.

Oscar officially joining JNR and reviving their original huntsman team (possibly JNPR 2.0 or ALPN—one of those two, I dunno. My money still remains vehemently with JNPR 2.0)

Will these subplots actually be done? And if done, will it actually be good? Will it be disappointingly bad again? Or maybe it might be surprisingly better than we ever hoped for our boy? Will this be the case or not?

Don’t really know, to be honest. I couldn’t tell you even I wanted to. The best thing we can do for now fam is to wait and see what the rest of the story brings for Oscar and then make our own final judgments based on that once the story is fully complete. That’s pretty much all I can say.

I’m not sure what your thoughts on the recent episode were but for what it’s worth, I’m hoping that it might’ve renewed some of your hope for Oscar this season too? Even if it’s just a smidgen.

But let’s wait and see fam. We’ve got a cordial dinner episode with Formal Oscar coming up to look forward to. Here’s to seeing what that episode brings for us Pineheads.

~LittleMissSquiggles (2019)

[neo-culture-mafia]

나는 작별 인사를하러왔다 (filler)

It was hell and I needed a beacon of light guiding me to heaven.

“We’re so close, guys.” Jisung said, already knowing it wasn’t a good use. He’s scared like most of us. Mark is spaced out and I could tell it was out of guilt. He couldn’t do this anymore.

Jaemin’s hands were gripped onto my thighs as he carried me on his back. “Another hour and we will be there.” Jisung was reassuring everyone. 1 hour to what? Being sent back in the other direction?

~~~~~

Ringing the buzzer seemed like an electric shock that tried to be lethal; yet wasn’t quite strong enough. My hand tingled as Jaemin moved back to the small group with me still on his back.

The suspense was killing us more than our exhaustion. Our mouths were dry and pruned from the lack of water and our minds were aching with the constant thoughts running through our heads.

“Why isn’t anyone coming out?” Jisung bounced a little, staring through the bars to the estate’s front doors. “Calm down. It’s okay-” I was cut off by the front door opening to what seemed like the devil himself: Lee Taeyong.

He was followed by Johnny, Taeil, and Doyoung. They traveled in a pack as if they were preying on a hurt animal. Taeyong approached after taking his good old time walking down the driveway. He started slow clapping as he approached.

“A...A+ for effort. I have to give you that.” Taeyong slithered to the barred gate and stared at the raggedy looking kids who had shown up. “Tae-” I was cut off with the whip of wicked reality that shattered my mindset...but mostly...my heart.

“Who are you, again?” He asked and my eyes automatically became misty. Not with sadness -- don’t get me wrong...with rage. “Because you definitely look like someone I knew...and trusted.” He spoke bitterly. “You do too.” He pointed into the group to Mark. “And the rest of you just look misguided.” He sobbed at the rest of the dirty looking boys.

Johnny couldn’t meet my eyes. Neither could Doyoung or Taeil.

“Now I will reward some of your efforts.” Taeyong said and Jisung started shaking. He was baiting everyone on but I already knew what he was about to do.

“All of those who were misguided...come back...eat...sleep...study...train...be family.” Taeyong said and the boys looked at each other. “For those who decided to misguide them...well your duty was served when it was, I suppose.” He said. “Neve-” Jaemin began to say but my hand slapped onto his mouth.

Taeyong cocked his eyebrow at the awaiting group. “Wipe slate clean...never even happened.” Taeyong smiled, bringing comfort to those not affected. Shattering the ones who could barely stand anymore -- silent torture.

It was silent before Mark spoke up. “Go.” Was all he said and the boys whipped around to their leader -- their rock. “What?” Renjun choked. “Go. Get your lives back.” He said motioning towards Taeyong and the warm looking house behind him.

“But...we need yo-” Chenle began tearing up and grabbing onto Mark.

“No. Chenle.” He said sternly, making the boy retreat a couple of steps. “You don’t. You never needed me in the first place.” Mark said and his voice got hoarse as his chest started rising and falling more quickly.

“I’m...I’m the one who got you in this mess...and it needs...needs to be fixed.” Mark continued, his knuckled cracking as his fists balled at the sides. “So my last order as your boss: Go. Go home.” He said and my chest dropped...he admitted to defeat so easily.

“Mar-” Jaemin tried fighting his real boss. “No. Go...before I fuck up your lives even more.” Mark said and distanced himself farther away from the group. They all turned toward Taeyong; scared and confused. “Put her down...and your rooms are awaiting you.” He lured them in. “Now.” Mark barked and Jaemin faltered and gripped my thighs one last time.

“It’s okay.” I whispered. “Just let go.” I said and he obediently dropped his hands. I fumbled myself into the cold concrete of the sidewalk. My legs cracking a little on the way down. Jaemin wanted to turn around and help but I pushed him away.

“Go. You’re so close.” I said slapping his hand away.

He looked into my eyes with his and I could tell he was scared. “Jaemin.” I began and a tear cascaded down his face. “I’m scared.” He confessed quickly and looked to me for comfort...but I had none to give. “It’s okay, Jae.” I said rubbing his tear away and he just froze.

“Go.” I said again and he stood up. Tae opened the gate to the boys who were so close to freedom. Jaemin was the last to catch up to his friends only a few feet away.

He guiltily looked back at Mark who stood far away from the gate with his eyes trained to the floor. “I’m sorry.” Was all he said and turned his back to walk through the metal gate to freedom.

“Glad to have you back.” Taeyong patted Jaemin on the back as they were all lead away by Taeil.

I watched enviously as the boys got to walk in the lit and warmed house. “Where’s Hyuck?” Taeyong inquired and I looked up to him. “...” “Cat got your tongue?” He asked and I grit my teeth.

I slowly rolled over on my stomach and put my self in a push-up position. I slowly and painfully got myself to stand. I made one walk and I felt warm liquid ooze out of me and paint the cement below me. I got one step, then another, and another.

With each step, my rage overflowed a little bit more and more. Till I was barreling myself towards the stupid gate keeping me from happiness. I waddled and shook the gate. “You fucking bastard.” I bellowed and some looked on in shock. They’ve never seen my rage get so dark.

“You stupid, no-good, dumb, terrible, evil-” My shaking of the gate was cut off by me falling to the ground. We all saw as Doyoung and Johnny jumped into action to come grab me, but remembered their places.

“I. Hate. You.” I seethed and I could see pity in Tae’s eyes.

“I tried. I tried to bring back what you said was most important...family.” I said and he just looked down to me. I could tell I was breaking through his barrier and was getting into his mind.

“And you turn away me and Mark?” I asked and he just stood their silently.

“He had been there for you the most, Taeyong. And you know that more than everyone. Who the fuck was there when you almost died from a warehouse explosion? Mark! Who was there when you tried to take your own life because you felt as if you weren’t good enough? Mark was! Who was the person you said you would die for any day? Mark.” I screamed and Mark picked me up.

“No. This isn’t fair.” I screamed and thrashed around in his arms. “We came this far! Where the fuck are we supposed to go?!” I yelled for someone to answer.

“Back to Hyuck? Where we left him because one of you closed the tunnel doors?!” I said and Taeyong looked down to the ground as Mark tried to walk me down to the street and off the sidewalk.

“Where me and Hyuck almost died because you only thought of yourselves?!” I continued and Mark was getting emotional at the on-going nightmare. I could make out Taeyong rubbing his eyes, silently hoping I made him cry.

“Goodbye...Taeyong.” I called and he immediately turned away, walking up the driveway and into the house swiftly.

~~~~~~~

“Please put me down.” I whispered to Mark and he acted as if he didn’t hear me. “You’ve been walking for an hour,” I said and he just kept walking.

His arms were around my torso and it was almost as if he was a tree and I was a koala. “Pleas-” “I need this.” He mumbled and didn’t make an effort to put in any expression or feeling.

I ducked my head into his shoulder, a rubbed his neck a little. “You’re all I have left...I need this.” He confessed and I just melted into him more.

I could tell what he meant. He needed to feel needed, wanted, or in control of someone...something.

He needed a purpose...even if it was just to get us a block farther away from that house of broken dreams and ongoing nightmares.

The ongoing traffic next to us never stopped as he walked for another hour...and another after that.

He didn't put me down until I slipped from his grasp. The ground had stuff on it and he slipped backwards, and onto his back, me falling directly on top of him with a grown sounding beneath me.

He didn't get up either ... He just laid there. "...Mark..." I called softly. My knees were burning as I lifted off of them to stand. "y/n...why are you even trying?" He called out softly.

The gross night crawlers around us going on with their usual lives. "Mark. We're not doing this here...we need to get back to Hyuck." I said and started pulling at his hands gently. My legs began to what felt like shatter as he pulled me down and onto him. "What's the point?" He asked again and I was hurt.

I just looked up to him whose eyes were still trained straight ahead into the night sky, barely being granted from the visual obstruction of the bridge above us. "...no..." I spoke in a hushed whisper. "We need to go back." I shook my head, getting back up slowly but surely.

"Just go without me...I'll only slow you down." He bitterly said, rolling onto his side to face the street of traffic. "Mark. You're the one with the working pair of legs." I bitterly said and and kicked his back lightly but I ended up toppling to the ground in agony and a loud scream.

"y/n!" He quickly scrambled to his knees and held a hand over my mouth. "We need...we need to get back." I gripped his collar and pulled him closer. "We need to get back. Find Hyuck. Fix our legs. And regain ourselves." I said with my teeth gritt and he must've understood very well from the way he stood up and immediately grabbed my legs and picked me up -- our journey continued down this damn street where the street lights flickered and no one dare spoke to one another.

It was comforting

[orionsangel86]

Season 14 – Desire and Happiness – Ongoing themes and Endgame flirtations

Right at the start of Season 14 we were presented with a question. “What do you want?” It was repeated, over and over again by Michael, as well as Sam in Andrew Dabb’s premier episode:

The themes of this season have been quite clear. They are about identity, desire, choice, and finding ones place in the world. What is it that these characters want out of their lives? How do they view themselves? What desires do they have and what makes them happy?

Over the course of the season so far, the question “what do you want” has developed into an exploration of happiness and what it means. Specifically, the impression of happiness vs actual happiness.

This started predominantly in 14x08, with Castiel agreeing to a deal with the Empty Entity that he would be taken right when he “finally gives himself permission to be happy”. This textualised something that has been present in subtext for several seasons for Castiel; that he never allows himself pleasure. Specifically it has been a recurring theme of Dabb era that Castiel is holding back. Remember Lucifer’s words in 12x07:

“I was inside you. I know what a weak, duty-bound, pleasureless dullard you are”.

It was also subtly hinted at in 14x01 in this conversation between the demon Kipling and Castiel:

KIPLING: Castiel, you sure I can’t get your anything hot and black?

CASTIEL: Coffee has no affect on me.

KIPLING: Hm. Me either. You know, not anymore, but it’s like saltwater taffy or infants -- you know, I just like the taste.

Kipling, like Castiel, isn’t affected by coffee. Unlike Castiel, Kipling drinks it anyway because he enjoys it. he derives pleasure from it. Wouldn’t Castiel also derive pleasure from coffee? Perhaps, but he won’t even allow himself the chance to try it.

The subtextual theme has been mainly shown through his refusal to ever accept offers of food or drink (it is worth noting that food and drink have been symbols of pleasure taking in the show since day 1, specifically the metaphor can be applied to Dean who uses pleasure as a distraction technique and Sam who also limits the pleasure he allows himself and only partakes in very controlled circumstances – see any Sam x food meta as it is fascinating).

For Castiel, happiness is something he can’t allow himself to have, so a HUGE question that the season has now given us is just what WOULD it take for Castiel to allow himself happiness?

This question goes hand in hand with the opening question of the season “What do you want?” What does Castiel want? Well, it does seem like there is at least one creature out there who knows the answer to that:

The happiness theme continued in 14x10, by presenting us with a Dean, trapped inside his own head, distracted by a vision of contentment by Michael in order to prevent him from fighting against possession. Dean reiterates over and over that Rocky’s Bar is all he’s ever wanted. That it’s his dream. But the truth is that this is an unhappy, lonely life. As an audience we are meant to contemplate just how miserable this empty bar in a storm must be, especially when it is made very clear that Dean has no one to share it with.

The conversation with Pamela touches on the theme of want again when she asks the following:

“How come you only want what you can’t have? Besides you don’t want me, you just like to flirt. I’m psychic so I kinda know.”

It’s in the negative space, but it’s still pretty clear. If Dean doesn’t want Pamela, what does he want instead? 

This dream bar of his doesn’t even come close to Dean’s true happiness. If it did, then that question “What do you want?” would have been answered. 

(Though on a deeper level it might be worth taking a listen to that song that kept playing on repeat)

Instead, we get closer to knowing Dean’s true feelings in 14x13, though also indirectly. Dean makes a wish on the pearl which was supposed to free him from Micheal, instead it brought back John Winchester and started changing the world around them. 

Dean desired to see his father again, but upon realising what it meant he would give up (Cas and Jack and his current family) he knew he had to reverse the spell. Dean reiterates his true feelings twice in the episode:

(x)

(x)

This makes it clear that at least the path to happiness lies in the present, and the potential future Dean can have with his current family. His happiness doesn’t lie in his past, nor in some hypothetical “apple pie life” his father dreamed up for him.

The theme of want and happiness for Dean is an interesting one, because his actual wants and desires are never addressed directly. Like with how Amara thought Mary was what he needed when what he really needed was to remove the weight he has carried since her death - that he was forced to grow up too quickly.

Like with Mary’s resurrection, what Dean desired from the pearl wasn’t John Winchesters return, but a chance to put to rest the shadow of his past, as he so aptly discussed earlier in 14x05 with Sasha (in another episode written by Meredith Glynn so you know it is meant to connect):

“Let it go. The past is... There's nothing you can do about it now, so it's just baggage. Let it go. You'll feel a lot lighter.” 

Dean’s desire was to let go of his own baggage, and by confronting John Winchester in 14x13 he was finally able to do that, as well as put his fathers ghost to rest. 

Whether or not the show will now continue to explore Dean’s true pursuit of happiness remains to be seen, but it does appear to be moving in that direction. 

14x15 once again explores this theme of the impression of happiness vs actual happiness. This time though its all for Sam. 

Sam comes to the pleasantville-esq town of Charming Acres and is practically immediately taken in by the picturesque apple pie life presented to him. He is manipulated by the Mayor of Charming Acres into forgetting who he is and instead plays a role of a happy husband to an idealistic 1950s style wife. He was forced into a fake happiness. In fact, fake happiness was exactly what this episode was all about:

MAYOR CHIP: The world  kept getting worse, and they called it modernisation and no matter what I did, people would turn to drink or drugs, they’d move away. They just weren’t happy.

...

MAYOR CHIP: I remade this town. I gave everybody new names, new lives. I made everybody happy.

Chip inflicted his own very limited view of happiness onto everyone around him, including Sam, who clings on to the fake happiness just as Dean initially clung onto to his “dream” bar: 

But Cas was able to snap Sam out of it by invoking his family, the people who love him and need him. Just as Cas pleaded with Dean and made those all important cracks in the fantasy in 14x10 before Sam finally pulled out the trigger word. Just like how in 14x13 the Winchester family reunion was nice for an evening, but it wasn’t truly real. Because Cas wasn’t there, Jack wasn’t there. Dean didn’t have his TRUE family with him, and because of that John had to go. 

In 14x15 Dean asks Sam about his happiness:

DEAN: Really happy huh?

SAM: I mean I guess I was happy, but, it wasn’t real. You know.

DEAN: Well, not a lot of happy going on around here.

SAM: I hate this place right now. I hate it. Everywhere I look I see them. I see Maggie. I guess its why I am so desperate to get out of here. why i kept running as ragged. But I gotta stop that, i can’t keep running. This is my home. This is our home. Dean I just think I need some time.

Sam clung to that fake happiness because he couldn’t see any real happiness in his real life, but he admits at the end that the bunker, and the people in it, are his home and he just needs time. Which is far healthier than running. 

The message presented in this particular theme appears to be that Sam and Dean are on a similar pursuit of happiness, where they have both now had a taste of a fake empty happiness that didn’t actually give them what either of them truly want. Neither of their “fake happy” experiences answered that all important first question. 

Just what do they want?

Castiel however, instead of being on a pursuit of happiness, is running in the opposite direction. Continuously denying himself any semblance of pleasure that could lead to his untimely demise. 

What does Castiel want? I think even Cas himself is afraid of the answer to that question.

Instead of answering these questions, the show continues to show us what the characters do not want. Which is why its important to pay attention. Sam appeared happy leading the AU!Hunters, and he is clearly devastated to have lost them, so perhaps Sam is the easiest to answer for. He already began the season in a pretty good place. After all, Mary textually states that leading is something Sam was born to do. (Is anyone else getting boy!king Sam flashbacks?) We know that Sam certainly doesn’t want that apple pie life because that was exactly what his fake happy place was. Sam seemed completely happy in the bunker playing Chief before everything went wrong. Sam’s issue going forward may be his struggle to rebuild that level of confidence among hunting parties beyond the AU!hunters that Sam came to view as his people. But this is just speculation.

The one thing that is extremely obvious when it comes to Dean’s happiness, is that his family is around him. Dean needs his family close by. His lonely bar in the middle of a storm with his family far away is certainly not his real dream life. After 14x13 ended so symbolically with Castiel returning home to an emotional Winchester family, it is clear that Castiel’s presence is a huge factor in Dean’s happiness. But then we only need to watch the first 6 episodes of season 13 to see just how true that is. 

In my episode review for 14x10 I wrote this about Dean’s wants:

“ Why doesn’t Dean want the beautiful Pamela? Why has he conjured her up as unavailable in the first place? What is it he wants instead? These are all questions now being posed to the audience and kept unanswered. Though perhaps a good place to start searching for an answer is in the song that plays on repeat over the entire dream sequence. “Searching for a Rainbow” by the Marshall Tucker Band is a song specifically about a weary traveller who keeps moving in the hopes of finding a mystery lover at the end of the rainbow. Not exactly subtle, though surprising seeing as Supernatural continues to pump out the company line that romance isn’t welcome here. I guess that doesn’t stop Dean from subconsciously dreaming about finding love – though not with a beautiful woman apparently. No he just likes to flirt with them.” 

Dean’s endgame arc has been subtly hinted at throughout the show since Carver era began. It involves romantic love. Perhaps it hasn’t been textually stated yet, but the subtext is still very much pushing it this direction. I expect that eventually when posed with the question “what do you want?” Dean may simply answer the same way that Jamil did in 14x01: “peace and love.” But Dean certainly won’t be lying.

This is why Castiel’s deal is also so significant. The only thing we know for certain about Castiel is that he has consistently shown that his dedication to the Winchesters and Jack come first no matter the cost. Like Dean, he is extremely loyal to his family and their well being. But is it enough? The evidence so far suggests not. Castiel just being with his family is not a big enough trigger for the entity to come and take him away, so whatever true happiness Castiel is denying himself, it is something greater than family. The Entity does appear to know the answer though. As in the gif example right at the start of this meta. The Entity brought up “love” showing that it was an important factor for Castiel. Could it be that love is what triggers the deal? 

Are both Dean and Castiel really in pursuit of love? 

My money is on yes. Obviously.

Though since these are endgame themes, they are unlikely to come to any conclusion within the next 5 episodes. I suspect that the exploration of want and happiness may come into play specifically in Jack’s upcoming arc, and his terrible choices which appear to reflect those of the Rit Zien class of angels. But as far as getting any of Dean, Sam or Cas to answer that all important question?

Well I’m pretty sure that’ll stay in the subtext for now. Though I would love to be wrong about that.

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 240: PLIFF

Previously on BnHA: Shigaraki “Thanos” Tomura gleefully reduced an entire city to dust while laughing maniacally. You know, villain things. He almost turned Re-Destro to dust as well, but Re-Destro got around that by chopping off his own legs. Like it was no big. I still haven’t quite managed to process that yet. Anyway, so everyone was real impressed by Tomura at this point, because how could you not be, and to sum things up, Re-Destro basically accepted him as his lord and savior and handed the Meta Liberation Army over to him. So now Shigaraki Tomura, noted crazy person and heir to All for One’s empire, who has just upgraded his quirk so as to be able to destroy basically anything within an unknown range without even having to touch the thing directly, and who has also pledged to destroy the entire world, has an army. And he also has Gigantomachia, who was watching him all hearts-in-eyes while he did his thing. So all in all this has been a very productive arc for the League of Villains. And meanwhile, the League of Everyone Else may want to think about changing their name to “League of People About To Be Incredibly Fucking Screwed.”

Today on BnHA: The League of Villains, in what is clearly the best rebranding move since New Coke, renames itself the “Paranormal Liberation Front”, a.k.a. PLF, a.k.a. PLIFF because that’s what it instantly became in my head and you can’t stop me. Among PLIFF’s Finest is newly initiated member Hawks, whose mystery bag is finally confirmed to have contained exactly what we all thought it was going to contain. I don’t even want to talk about that. I’m still in denial. But also weirdly thrilled. I’m terrible. Anyway, so Hawks is all “:) we’re fucked,” agreeing with the consensus the general fandom has come to over the past week, and palling around with his new best friend Dabi as he frantically tries to come up with some kind of plan. Maybe the heroes can try rebranding themselves as “the Supernatural Emancipation Cavalry.” That wouldn’t really solve anything, but it’d be funny to watch the villains come to realize they’re being mocked. Sorry but y’all brought this on yourselves.

(All comments are my unspoiled reactions from my initial readthrough of the chapter. I did a quick edit for grammar and clarity immediately afterward, and added a few ETAs in the process, but aside from that there are no changes.)  

so I received an ask from a very kind anon warning me to be careful of spoilers for this chapter. thank you, anon! rest assured that I have been very cautious, and am pleased to inform everyone that I’m diving in spoiler-free this week. so bring on your Kacchan hero names, your Best Jeanist heads, your new Deku quirks, and whatever other twists you want to toss my way, manga. but especially that first one. this arc has been fantastic, but now that it’s wrapping up, I miss my kids and I would like to check in with them soon. they grow up so fast and time is precious

so apparently the title for this chapter is “Power”, which could mean lots of things, but I imagine it’s not something that bodes well for our heroes. honestly does anything bode well for them at this point. they’re not having much luck on the boding front

oh cool, a time jump! so this is apparently now one week after “the deadly battle.” wow, way to sum everything up in the blandest terms possible while still being accurate. like, yeah, that is what it was, but somehow it doesn’t quite communicate the full magnitude of what actually went down, you know?

anyway so the town basically looks like it got hit by a fucking meteor

new crack theory that a time-traveling Shigaraki Tomura is what actually killed the dinosaurs

wow would you fucking look at this

I guess this is the BnHA version of “an unfortunate training exercise”

also I like how they didn’t think it would be believable that one sleepy boi could cause all of this destruction, so they amped it up to twenty fucking guys instead. sob. why did they even bother giving Tomura an army. he is an army

lol the bullshit continues

“reporting to you live from Deika City, an innocent and wholesome country town in no way affiliated with an extreme right-wing quirk supremacist movement, where citizens recently found themselves victims of an entirely unprovoked attack by no fewer than twenty, and definitely more than six, villains. the brave citizens proceeded to fight them off, and definitely killed them all and didn’t surrender to them and elect their leader as their new god. also the president of Detnerat just happened to be there. just coincidentally. he definitely was not the one who instigated the entire thing. when asked for comment, Mr. Yotsubashi responded, quote, ‘nonsense, I’m no hero. would you call a man a hero just because he fought off an army of villains alone and selflessly sacrificed his own legs to ensure that justice prevailed? would you call that heroic? poppycosh. that’s just the kind of man I am. I wouldn’t call myself brave. ‘humble,’ maybe. ‘handsome’, perhaps. but a hero? no. I’m just an everyday, all-around good type of person, that’s all.’ so there you have it. truly a courageous figure. a gallant example of truly stellar fortitude and virtue. we need more Yotsubashi Rikiyas in these trying times. back to you, Jeff”

anyway, so the media in BnHA. fairly gullible, huh?

so now the report is concluding with a statement that the investigation is still ongoing. uh huh. damn they really got away scot-free with all this, huh

and we’re cutting to a close-up of sushi! oh my god. Compress have your dreams finally come true at last

yesssss oh my god. I’m so happy for him

(ETA: on my second read-through I paid attention to try to see whether or not Compress had finally gotten a new robot arm, but it’s impossible to tell. he’s only using his right hand here, and later on when he goes on stage with the rest of them he’s wearing his usual trenchcoat and gloves. I’m just gonna assume he finally got the upgrade he wanted, though. nice to see you so content, Mister I-Ran-Around-A-Lot.)

excuse me, what, Dabi? he didn’t even do anything?? as opposed to you, who basically just set yourself on fire and glared at Frogurt for half a dozen chapters?? don’t hurt yourself climbing back down from that high horse you punk

lol what

I don’t even have to scroll down to the rest of this page to immediately know this is some bullshit. she’s not dead. out of everyone in the League she’s probably third most important after Tomura and Mr. You-Didn’t-Even-Do-Anything above. her quirk is too plot-critical for her to actually be dead. you’re not gonna kill off the ONLY GIRL IN THE LEAGUE OF VILLAINS, either. Horikoshi who do you even think you’re fooling

ah, yep

Togaaaaaaaaa omg. I’d hug you but you’d stab me. but I’m so happy to see you my precious baby girl

and it actually makes sense for Twice to be mourning the clone, though, and I’m glad they showed it. because he of all people understands that the clone is the person to at least some degree. like, it’s nice that he doesn’t just view them as disposable and he respects them. he’s so nice omfg

anyway so it looks like he’s back to being crazy though

oh well, it was nice while it lasted. at least he doesn’t appear traumatized anymore. and he has a boyfriend now too. where is Giran anyway

now fucking Skeptic is walking in like he’s on the set of a fucking sitcom

[canned audience laughter]

nice touch on the following page with Hanabata starting to refer to Re-Destro as “The Supreme...” before catching himself and amending it to just “Re-Destro”

oh wow

damn, LoV, y’all went from poverty straight to the .01%. talk about an upgrade

oh my god there’s a secret passage

oh my god it leads to a secret basement

trying not to think about the last time we were in a secret villain basement. this isn’t like that. relax. that arc is over now. deep breaths

holy shit

this is like the fucking Mines of Moria. complete with a Balrog. jesus christ

omg look who got himself a BRAND NEW SUIT AND TIE ENSEMBLE oh shiiit

is that a fucking fur-lined coat. Shigaraki Tomura has officially upgraded to KHR Villain status. what a little shit. I adore you, you son of a bitch

and I thought he destroyed all the hands?? come on dude, I know it’s like your signature look, but I was hoping we were going in a different direction from here on out. ah well

wow, Horikoshi

just once. just once I would like this man to leave a plothole unaddressed for more than one page. god I love this manga

anyway so they’re fully lampshading the fact that this one hand somehow miraculously survived, and they’re all “I guess it’s his trademark, huh?” yep, that’s right. his lewk. now be quiet, you two. which of us is doing the recap here

so now RD is up on stage showing off the weirdest fucking wheelchair I’ve ever seen, and singing Tomura’s praises

it’s remarkable how quickly his ego adapted to his brand new role as head of Tomura’s PR. he almost seems to be enjoying this more than when he was the leader

oh shit??

A NEW NAME?? oh my god. edge of my seat. can’t wait. take it away boys

LOOOOOOOL what

sob this makes it sound like they do ghost investigations. is there a League of Villains Buzzfeed Unsolved AU. this is what happens when you put the otaku in charge of the name

just. why paranormal. they thought it sounded cool?? and am I really supposed to type out PLF and not pronounce it like “pliff” in my head moving forward?? yeah, that’s not happening. you guys are now PLIFF. congratulations

thank god they’ve still got Tomura to lend legitimacy to this whole ridiculous operation. god, there’s something I never thought I’d say. Tomura why are you now the part of the League -- excuse me, PLIFF -- that I actually take the most seriously. god

y’all heard the man. whatever we want. this is happening. just remember kid, you gave me permission

holy shit you guys is that motherfucking Carvel!?!? I was staring at the panel all “WHO IS THIS” and wondering if they’d somehow brought Kizuki back to life, oh my god. I’m fucking dying send help. he looks like Galaxy Express 999. my brain is short-circuiting

anyway so everyone is all HOORAY WE LOVE THIS and they’re all cheering

HOMBGLKDF

DSLFKSHDLGK HEY BOY, HOW ARE YOU LIKING BEING A MEMBER OF THIS NEW HERE VILLAIN CULT. WHERE’S THE FUCKING BAG, HAWKS

SDFKSJDLFKSDLKFH A FLASHBACK AHHHHHH

I CAN’T TURN THE PAGE OH GOD NO SOMEBODY ELSE DO IT

OH MOTHERFUCKING SHIT

my jaw just. fucking. -- -----------

okay Hawks. fucking explain. how did you do it. is it a fake?? surely it’s not the real deal?? oh god, the memes have now become terribly real. I have no choice but to embrace this with even more stupid jokes and memes as a coping mechanism or I’m gonna lose it

but for real, they didn’t seriously do my boy Jeanist like that. Paramount Optimal Jeanist did not survive a point-blank attack from motherfucking All For One just to get shanked by Hawks so that he could get good with PLIFF, only to be, and I quote, “too late...!”

(ETA: and on readthrough #2, Dabi does indeed bring up the fact that this might not actually be Jeanist’s corpse. “setting aside the issue of whether he is who you say he is...” so even he acknowledges that shenanigans could be afoot.

but he seems convinced it’s a real body at the very least. though did it never occur to you that he could have just picked it up from the morgue, dude? that’s gonna be my go-to theory for now at any rate.)

is now a good time for me to bring up something I’ve been wondering about for a while, which is how Bakugou is going to take this? yes, Bakugou. “okay makeste, I know he’s your favorite and I know you miss him, but what kind of mental cartwheels are you doing in order to make this situation with Hawks and PLIFF somehow relate to Bakugou Katsuki, whom we last saw twenty fucking chapters ago, and who has absolutely nothing to do with this?”

well I’m glad you asked, and you see, it’s because (a) the internship, and (b) because we already know Katsuki blames himself for at least one hero’s downfall as a result of what happened in Kamino, and I could easily see him having a similar response to Best Jeanist’s injury and subsequent disappearance. like, we already know this shit is all over the news. and Bakugou knows Jeanist personally. and so now what with him being missing, I can’t help but wonder if he’ll blame himself again for being the reason Jeanist was there at Kamino, and lost a lung, and so forth

and I realize this tangent is coming sort of out of left field, but seeing as this arc is finally wrapping up, and we can expect to cut back to the U.A. kids again soon, I just figured I’d bring it up now, because we’ll see if I’m right or not shortly

anyway. so let’s get back on topic. best dead Jeanist. oh god

but it seems like it did, at least, finally convince Dabi of Hawks’s sincere villainous intentions. so we have that one minor win, I guess. congratulations Hawks, now you know about the secret villain basement and their new rebranding. was it worth it you bastard

oh shit. actually, maybe it was. because now he understands just how incredibly screwed they are sob

so he doesn’t know for sure about the Noumu yet. so Tomura still has that little ace up his sleeve. fucking great

but him knowing about the Detnerat thing is big, though. so now the heroes know not to trust any of their equipment, or any of their lackeys like fucking Slidin’ Go. that’s something, at least

and you gotta love the whole “equal to, if not greater than” bit, sob. never in my life have I ever seen something so egregiously understated. “Shigaraki might be more powerful than the heroes at this point” yeah, you think!? god

holy shit Re-Destro calm the fuck down

Tomura’s telling him to get lost, and he’s immediately making himself scarce lol. good riddance

and Tomura is now kneeling dramatically and pounding his fist on the floor. okay

hey

I take offense, sir. “League of Villains” had a timeless air about it. and more importantly, you couldn’t abbreviate it to the sound that someone makes when they plop down tiredly onto a couch

oh shit!!!!

THIS LAST PAGE HAD BETTER BE A TERRIFYING PANEL OF THE HIGH END NOUMUS, OMG. I’M HOLDING MY BREATH

GODDAMMIT IT’S JUST ANOTHER SEXY CLOSEUP OF TOMURA’S FACE

I mean, can you actually call it that at this point? can you actually “grant” something to someone if they already have more of it than they know what to do with?

but I mean, we know what he really means though, so fair enough

oh ffs now he’s saying “but first there’s something I’d like you to do for me” oh my god enough with these side quests!

he wants him to transport something, apparently. ARE YOU HATCHING SOME NEW SCHEME oh gosh

oh my god and meanwhile Hotwings is becoming canon right before our eyes holy shit

of course!! he’s fucking thrilled!! everything is just!! so great!! right now!! :)!!!!!

oh my god Hawks

“Endeavor, and everyone” I see what you did there kid

(ETA: and as far as I recall, Endeavor doesn’t even know about his undercover mission yet. I wonder how he’s going to react when he finds out. your adopted son is now best friends with your presumed-dead son! and in mortal danger omg.)

wow. wow. and that’s the end of the chapter. fucking shit

so! lots to process! Hawks really did it! the absolute madman!! and Dabi fucking loves him now, which is great, if you like things that inevitably end in tragedy. then that’s great for you. but otherwise I guess it’s not so great

so I wonder if our next arc will be the Undercover Hawks Antics arc, or if we’ll be getting back to Deku and the gang. I’m guessing the latter because it’s been a while, but it’s definitely exciting to see this particular plotline finally advancing and becoming more intricate

so basically I have no idea what to expect next week. which is amazing. I’m so fucking excited. now if Horikoshi could just leave us all a little pity disclaimer clarifying that no Jeanists were actually harmed in the making of this chapter and that it was all CGI or some shit, that would be great :/

[lil-miss-methodical]

On My Block Season 2 threw down the metaphorical artistic gauntlet & there ain’t a Squad gully enough to pick it up. 

I hope people who've seen season one and now season two realize that what's taken place before their eyes is called elevation. This is how an ongoing show is supposed to handle things. Season one laid down a foundation for its audience and season two did not make the silly mistake of disregarding that foundation but instead pulled that bitch from under the audience’s feet to give us that freefall feeling and then used it to cushion our fall - reminding exactly why we loved it. it had me hyped, made me laugh, made me cry - often all in the same episode. Things that I thought were gonna happen didn’t happen how I thought they were gonna happen and that's how they kept me perched, on edge, interested even through sleep deprivation.

These were the same characters I’d grown to love in season one. Despite the hardship, despite the bullshit they returned to us the characters whom we’d grown to know and love and unveiled them just a bit more. When jamal rolled in money - I felt as though i was rolling in the dough. When Monse was telling Cesar what to do I was nodding along as though she was me, as though her opinions were mine. When Jasmin spoke I listened for a lesson was being given. When Cesar or Ruby cried - we all cried.

The musical scale out did the last and I didn’t even know that was possible. from the very first song they used to open the show and place all of us in our feelings - to the return of the track that left such a huge mark last season. They music not only to alter how we feel moment to moment, but to make authentic the era, style and culture the show is marked upon.

The Breakdown:

This season is broken down into two variables - solo hero's journey & and overarching theme.  The former can be elements as such: 

- Ruby's battle with PTSD

- Monse's battle of solidifying her feet instead of running

- Jamal's fight to be shine, be seen, be respected (and that has as much to do with audience as with Squad)

- Cesar's unsettled feeling of being alone (although he and we really learn how much he has)

- Jasmin staking her claim to her position

With season one ending in a death of a loved on and a wound of his own - we find Ruby healing. At first he's in a state of denial...This is a reality many black and brown people find themselves suck in, not about the mishap no, but about the trauma that comes with it. Like Ruby, we disassociate. We go with a 'it's life, bad shit happens, yet I'm alive and I should see the blessing in that and keep pushing forward' mentality that does not allow us to first dissect that trauma and journey through that pain as we should. The show acknowledges that damage and thus we end up having seemingly unlikely people help Ruby he's not only on a journey but deserves to allow himself to take that path to real recovery. Jason Genao did such a wonderful job - from the simplicity of wanting to unwind with some spontaneous party organizing to the quick emotional windup that taunts when something reminds you of your trauma.

Monse is the character I relate to the most because I see myself in the nature of her traits while also being able to identify with her internal struggle. Being abandoned put puts a complex within an individual that most people cannot understand - def it's that first abandonment is by a parent who we're taught is supposed to love, protect and be there for us. People who are abandoned can either gain traits of being clingy or having issues forming a bond or leaving. Monse of course like most has a duality of this. The bond is important to her and she'll do anything to maintain it but on the other hand she has a sense to leave when stuff it too uncomfortable. We see this several time in this season alone. But the real lesson for Monse is not a reprehend on her fears or traits but reality of being loved and accepted. No matter what you do, where you go, you love us and we love you and we'll be waiting when you get back.

Jamal is that character doesn't get the respect he deserves - that in story and from the audience that watches the show. The show took this in hand this season. As Jamal never ceased to remind the squad of his work on their behalf he steepled his worth asl and the actor that plays him, Brett Gray, yet again flexed his comedic chops for the masses yet again. I think Jamal doesn't understand how iconic he is, how amazing he is for those in story and out. He's coming off of that high of being on the heels of an adventure.

Jasmin also got shine this season. They humanize her without changing her, dimming her light or having her apologize for who she is as women have to do when the world feels they're too boisterous, too loud in tone, look and voice. She loved herself enough to remain true to herself and those who took the time out to see who that was, got to love her. Like all the characters she was opinionated, and even when the whole crew don't realize it she has something to add to the squad - thus what allows her to be the honorary member of the team. Also Jessica Garcia is another comedic genius in the element.

Cesar went from being in the hard place of his brother's gang to being in what seemed like an impossible place of no gang and seemingly no protection. Exiled from the Santos he's literally homeless and isolated from his last remaining relative. He find himself shipping from one one home to the next, exhausted with having to adapt to different family cultures. This was interesting because as they show we are ironically who we are in part do to our family living styles at home. There were a lot of jokes about Cesar's one color tanks and knee high shorts but when he starts surfing from house to house you get to see this 'culture' of how these people lived from an outsiders perspective - the man chilling vibe he received with Monse's dad. The rushed, lively, full feeling of Ruby's home that at first felt crowded to him. The eccentric way Jamal ran his bedroom. Even the weirdness of Chivo and his 'family'. While these aspects of these difference threw him of kilter at first he learned to appreciate and truly love each and everyone for those same difference. He learned the art of gratitude because people tend to treat their homes as their safe places - not just for heir forms but their identities. We can be exact who we are in the face of our homes. As he thought he had nothing, those around him that loved him welcomed him into their safe space - despite the physical danger. This bonded his relationship with these people even more because there's a difference in saying we're family and you showing that I'm your family. And yes it was beautiful to see them credit the two black men of the parenthood for taking this kids life seriously and holding court for him. It was beautiful watching him come to love and appreciate Jamal and understand the wealth that comes with this friendship and making a strong brotherhood (def considering the war of gangs between brown and black men).

Every character must thread their given path to meet in a middle of shorts with everyone else. And noticed I didn't say they must complete the journey - travel it alone. We get the the end satisfied but still with the knowledge that the work is yet to be done. Ruby's PTSD and pain did not magically dissolve. Monse's abandonment issues didn't evaporate into nothingness. Jamal may have sculpt his worthiness yet the anxiety of 'what's next' still snipes at him. Cesar may have learned to appreciate what he does have but lost in the aspect of independence and what that means in the face of those around him that he loves and how to make that not mean being alone. Jasmin may have Ruby and us kneeling at her feet learning the error of our ways but she still got 3 other members to break.

It is these individual journeys that push the narrative forward, that reveals the overarching theme so to speak. Without these journeys there's nothing to carry the overarching theme. This is what I call great writing because it forces the threads to connect but still allows all individual characters to have their own position in the story that equals out.

The Revelation of a Theme:

Everything about this season was about family. When we watched Spooky, Mario, and Jasmin help guide Ruby through his symptoms of PTSD and trauma, what we were witnessing was family at work. When Cesar, Jamal, and Ruby laughed while rolling their eyes in disbelief of Monse's leaving for good speech - thats was love. When they tell her you'll be back and we'll be here...that was the understanding of family. When we see those around Jamal grow to see his worth by working to this appreciation its an aspect of a real family’s effort. The sacrifice, and support that came both for and from Cesar was hella representation of family. Jasmin’s whole storyline is the representation of new family.

This season didn't truffle with pointlessness. They didn't find conflict by creating false hate between the characters. They didn't drag this aspect of 'let's blame Cesar' or have that be an easy tension between him and Ruby. As a matter of fact their bond was deepened. Ruby had no hate in his heart for Cesar, instead he embraced his brother in the street and they cried, for themselves and each other.

This whole season was about being willing to sacrifice, being willing to be selfless for those you love. Everyone allowing Cesar to live with them, Jamal allowing it to be 'our' money, Monse's dad not trying to force her to stay away from her mom despite his feelings where Julia was concerned, them risking it to clean the money, Jamal giving up the gnome. Their rush to burn the money when they thought it would put someone else life in danger.

It was this concept of sacrifice and selflessness that sends Cesar after Latrelle in hopes of freeing his friends when Ruby comes to him distraught.

Cesar on most scopes is not a killer. As he told his brother he's not cut from the cloth of gang life. We see him called pussy for not being about that life. For not being able to end a life over turf wars, money, or Ill-intent words thrown his way. But as everyone had to show what they were willing to do for the concept of family - so too did Cesar. Good or bad - we saw what Cesar would be willing to pull the trigger for.

They all loved eachother, with that love came a protection and a fight to rival any and all that didn't have good intentions. This season was love. It was family, sacrifice, acceptance, respect. Ruby was willing to heal for it, Monse willing to stay for it, Jamal willing to fight for it, Jasmin is willing to be patient for it, Cesar was willing to kill for it. OMB is about this diverse mix of kids who have this bond that they've learned to nurture. It's speak on who they're allowed to be because it and how far they're willing to go to keep it.

In my last review my byline was "On my block, squad means family" and this season has proven that for this crew,  squad still and always will mean Familia.

How do you define family and how do you allow it to define you?

Other post/aspects to be on the look out for:

Mario/Ruby vs Spooky/Cesar Cesar X Monse - The breakdown Monse Family -The genius Jamal/Jasmin Jasmin/Ruby

Don’t forget to follow me for future post and reviews!

[lupinepariah]

Jormag is Such a Mood

As I wait for episode 3 I feel like I'm twisting in the wind as I worry that ArenaNet might let me down with the coming story. I hope that this is the turning point for them that I wish for, where they'll stop relying on cheap shlocky shock value to tell their stories. After a while, it's easy to feel numb and cold towards X or Y character that one cared about dying because you sort of expect it. It's an unnecessary amount of suffering and death.

There's been an ongoing shift in the stories they've been telling and a strong message regarding mental health interwoven within. It covers topics like invasive thoughts, trust, and how we suffer because we're too afraid to talk (let alone talk to one another). I think that these messages are important and more relevant now and to their contemporary audience than ever before. Kralkatorrik's torment was a literal representation of the suffering that invasive thoughts can cause, it was also almost a treatise on how to combat them too with Kralkatorrik challenging them by stating the truth whenever they spoke, supported by the Commandrer and Aurene. It's just a shame that Kralkatorrik had to die.

I get why he did and that's not a bad message either. If a person is in an extreme amount of pain then allowing them to end that pain is compassionate and empathetic. In doing so, they humanised Kralkatorrik and completely changed how the Elder Dragons are perceived. In that moment, everything was made anew and they could tell stories with their dragons that they would've never had the chance to before. There might be other dragons out there who're decent people, or those who're just being tormented.

With Jormag, they remind me of a frustrated therapist. I mean, frankly, that's exactly what they remind me of. "Maybe you should listen."

What they're doing with the Commander is necessary to help those with cognitive dissonance to reach the same conclusions but it's also a frustrating bout of dramatic irony. The player's character is being stubborn, foolish, and quite frankly dumb. I appreciate what they're doing though, if indeed I'm right. I mean, they built up the trust with Aurene so that Aurene can convey things to the player. Not the player character, the player. Bangar, for example. Aurene told the player that there's no purpose in killing Bangar and that I find especially pertinent. This is why I have so much fragile hope.

Jormag sounds like someone who genuinely wants to help. Yet they're misunderstood, demonised, typecast, and no one wants to listen to what they're actually saying. Worse for them is that in the narrative there's a proper mind controller at play—be it Abaddon, Jormag's torment, the deep sea dragon, or perhaps even all of the above—and that isn't immediately clear to the player. You need a good sense for intrigue plots and general observational skills to pick up on that.

Anyone paying attention would've noticed how Jormag is constantly telling everyone that they want to talk, not fight. They're asking questions. They're being persuasive. What they're doing isn't mind control. Yet what happened with Rytlock and Crecia at the end of episode 2 was mind control, it was outright mind control. That isn't Jormag's power. What's even more odd about that is how they yelled about their voices not being their own, Jormag has no reason to broadcast that through them. There's more going on here.

There's so much frustration and anguish in Jormag's voice. I have to give it to the voice actress of Jormag for pulling that off so successfully, and to ArenaNet's sound direction team too. I mean, it's unmistakable. If you know what you're listening for, Jormag sounds very, very frustrated. They really want to help, they want to get you to listen because you don't know what's going on. They're just so opposed to suffering and that's something they reveal to you plentifully in their whispers.

I mean, look at how everyone needs therapy! I will harp on this because it's relevant.

Rytlock — He's always running away from his partner and son to find ways to be worthy of them without realising how worthy he is. This is why he tells us in Path of Fire that he needs a win. He's obsessively looking for ways to overcome his own self-esteem issues, Rytlock has very poor confidence and a lot of invasive thoughts regarding his own self-worth.

Crecia — From Crecia's perspective, Rytlock ran because he's unreliable and afraid of responsibility. She also questions whether she had any part in it, whether it was her fault that it happened. This has left Cre with some fairly bad abandonment issues and codependency, she's looking for anyone to be her rock and to help provide her with safety and emotional stability. Someone who won't run away, basically. This is something that Bangar is exploiting for his own benefit.

Braham — He's made a lot of mistakes. The spirits distrust him, he's been too cocksure and egotistical in the past and it's gotten him into trouble and each incident has only sullied his reputation further, and on top of that he has serious mommy and daddy issues. Yet he's a big, strong norn! He's a meaty meat-shield, he can power through anything. He doesn't have any need for emotions. This is why he's always falling to pieces and anything that the Commander does is just putting a band-aid on it and little more.

Marjory — In her relationship she has to be the strong one, she's taken it upon herself to be masculine in order to protect Kasmeer. The problem with this is that she's not facing her past or even talking about it. There are things in her past, deaths, that haunt her. Such as that of Belinda whom she's unable to let go. If you don't talk about your losses, you can't ever let them go.

Bangar — Riddled with feelings of inadequacy. He feels as though he's the least successful of the imperators who've all achieved greater things than he has. Smodur and Malice played a greater part in the treaty, after all, which Bangar stood against because it was Smodur's idea. Bangar is strongly opposed to Smodur as Smodur is the successful charr imperator that Bangar has always wanted to be. He wants to be important, to be remembered, and this has driven him to want to be Jormag's champion. Furthermore, his cognitive dissonance has fed into xenophobia. Since Smodur wanted a treaty, Bangar's hatred of Smodur festered into fears of what humans might do to the charr again, given the chance.

Ryland — Daddy issues. Daddy issues. He's Mr. Daddy Issues. I mean, he has a technological version of sohothin. Did anyone else notice that? There's so much in the way of daddy issues here. He recognises that his father is incredible but he feels like his father has no value for him, that nothing that Ryland could do would ever, ever be good enough for the great Rytlock Brimstone. He's turned to Bangar because he needed a father figure, he needs someone who'll be proud of him.

This is why Guild Wars 2 is driving me crazy right now.

I mean, we have a bunch of characters who're desperately in need of therapy. We have a game that's had some generally positive messages about mental health. On top of that we now have a therapy dragon who's just so frustrated that no one's listening to them, because all they want to do is help ease the suffering. They're tired of suffering. The culmination I'm hoping for is that we end up with Jormag on our side because that would make sense narratively. It's where they seem to be heading.

I mean, if we had Jormag with us? All of these poor babies could get therapy. Between Aurene and Jormag they could finally get the help they need. They all need to talk! This really NEEDS to happen! This is why it's so frustrating because I share Jormag's frustrations. I've encountered so many people in this real world of ours who need help, who need therapy, yet they snub this advice because they feel it suggests there's something flawed about them instead of realising that every living person needs therapy sometimes.

Tyria needs a source of therapy. Jormag freed from their torment would be an amazing way to handle that. I mean, Fraenir called it the Age of the Dragon. I want to see that! I'd love for there to be a Grand Dragon Council or somesuch, where the kindly dragons free of torment congregate to discuss how they might best help Tyria. Each dragon has something they could bring to the table. Jormag has therapy. Which Tyria needs so, so badly.

Plus, it would further the positive messaging about this topic. I want ArenaNet to please, please do this. It'd be an amazing way to tell people that therapy isn't a dirty word. Jormag is so perfectly suited to fit that role. I mean, everyone loves Jormag anyway and no one wants them to be evil. I don't think any Elder Dragon beyond Aurene has had the kind of following in the fan community that Jormag's accrued. They're incredibly popular.

I'm not going to be childish and dump the game if Jormag ends up being a reductivist moustache-twirling villain but I have to speak about this. It would be so, so disappointing and it would stab all the good messaging they've done regarding mental health in the back. It would undo the good they've done. Plus, it would make very little narrative sense. I mean, we're supposed to be easing off of this whole MURDER EVERYONE thing, after all. We know that killing Elder Dragons just makes everything worse. So why not let Jormag live?

Guild Wars 2 is dangerously close to becoming my favourite game. It's just time for hope to shine through the darkness. There's been enough death. There's been enough murder. And there's certainly been enough suffering. It's time for things to change. The best way to indicate that would be to have Jormag join forces with Aurene.

Then Dragon's Watch could get the therapy it needs, along with Bangar and Ryland.

So many people in Tyria need therapy.

Maybe they should listen?

[theonyxpath]

Or at least the Hunter Kickstarter nears its end!

With only a few days to go, we’re thrilled with how Hunter: The Vigil 2e has been received, and how your pledges have enabled us to create a lovely looking version of the book, get it into stores, and fund some sweet extra projects to further flesh out the game line.

Like all our KSs, that’s a bunch of extra heavy lifting, but it sure is worth it!

Hunter: The Vigil 2e, is the last of the big core game books for 2nd Edition we needed to update, so HtV2e really represents a milestone! Back years ago, as we pitched and re-pitched a 2nd Edition for Chronicles of Darkness, then known as nWoD, it would have been hard to imagine getting to this point. The obstacles seemed insurmountable. So, yes, it is very sweet to look at the shelf and see us with all these fresh new 2nd Edition books and lines.

Since we started doing our new lines and 2e updates on Kickstarter, we’ve also used KS to give us the chance to put out useful Stretch Goal reward books. Various game line Companions, Ready Made Character books, Jumpstarts, and more! Which means that now we have a ton of CofD projects that came out of KS Stretch Goals to get caught up on (just look at the Progress Report below), so we’re focusing our efforts on those and a couple of the bigger supplements right now.

Memento Mori art by Drew Tucker

We’ve had some great feedback on how Hunter: The Vigil 2e has been updated from first edition. Not all positive feedback, but critical feedback that actually goes into why a previous version worked for the poster. Something that developer Monica Valentinelli appreciates, as it’s commentary she can review and consider. Much appreciated, as it’s often a tricky situation when doing a new edition.

Which is not an uncommon situation for Onyx Path, considering we started our efforts way back with the V20 game line. We started with basically an assemblage of previous editions with only those changes we needed to make, and each 20th Anniversary core book moved the dial more towards actual new editions. (In fact, the devs for both Wraith20 and Changeling20 were told to think of them as the new editions both lines never got back in the day).

Meanwhile, we fully intended that Exalted 3rd and CofD 2e would be created as new editions, although we were still restrained since there were lines the IP owners didn’t want us to cross. After all, in the end, it’s not our stuff but game lines that we were shepherding. Which is fine and I think our teams walked those proscribed lines pretty darn well.

Our own stuff, Scion and Trinity: Continuum and Scarred Lands, have started with new editions of established material from previous editions, with the same balancing act, and now are moving to new material. Scion with books that expand the basic set-up from the core four books – Origin, Hero, Demigod, God – and Trinity with expanding the Continuum starting with Assassins.

You can check out our monthly PDF releases for Scarred Lands to see where the inevitable Travis Legge is taking that world; what previously unexplored parts we’re now visiting.

And then with Realms of Pugmire and They Came From Beneath the Sea!, we are creating new worlds, and so while the challenges of adapting from an existing setting or game line aren’t there, there are other kinds of challenges.

But those sound like a blog for another time.

Terra Firma art by Sam Denmark

One of our across the board challenges is something I hit on last week, and that’s getting out the word when any of our new projects goes live. We have this blog every week, and the Wednesday On Sale blog that Impish Ian puts out that trumpets what is now available every week.

Every.

Week.

For pretty much the whole time we’ve been in business, we have made _something_ available for you to get a hold of every single Wednesday.

With our kookie production schedule, that hasn’t always been easy! But we thought, going way back, that having a regular release day was important for all of you folks. Maybe it’s just my old “comic-book day” giddiness coming up from my past to haunt me, but knowing there’s something coming each week is pretty cool. I think, at least.

Right now, we’re pushing hard to get the word out about a specific _way_ you can get our books, and using V5 Chicago By Night as our shining example, by which I’m talking about our books being sold in your local game stores.

The more our community members go into their local stores, the more those store owners will start to ask their distributors to get those books from our sales partners. That’s Studio2 in the US and Modiphius elsewhere. And while ordering, they might become aware that Studio2 also has Scion 2e, Pugmire, Changeling: The Lost 2e, etc!

So, it’s a continual building thing. But you only need to make that initial ask at the store. Or if they have it, and you buy it or even just talk about it in the store, that will clue in the store owner that there is interest in the book, and they’ll tell the distributor, and so on.

These are the traditionally printed and bound books that we are talking about here. We still have PDFs and PoDs on DTRPG, but these are books that were made in order to get a whole bunch of them into stores – so let’s make that happen!

To bring it all together – if you want V5 Chicago By Night, and you should as it is the most universally praised V5 book we’ve seen come out yet, then please:

First check your local game store.

If they don’t have it, please ask them to order it.

The store can order from their distributor, who will order from Studio2 in the US, and Modiphius anywhere else that’s not the US.

You too can order the book from Modiphius‘s website if you are not in the US. If you are in the US, you can order it from Indie Press Revolution.

And as always, the PDF and physical book PoD versions of V5 Chicago By Night are available on DTRPG.

Chicago Folio art by Michael Gaydos

So that’s the big push. Here’s a couple of other things we talked about in the meeting today.

We’re prepping for the Legendlore KS, as that is supposed to start pretty soon. One thing I’m really interested in, to continue our talk of updating game lines, is Legendlore‘s core intrinsic idea of transporting you, the player, into a fantasy realm. What does that mean today vs when the comics our game is based on were originally created last century?

Developer Steffie de Vaan has carefully built this very core idea into one that works for all people who might be into playing – folks who dig roleplaying what they might be like in the Legendlore world, but also folks who want to pick who they could be in a fantasy world. The key idea is to have this movement from our real world into the game world happen in a way that is fun for the player, not a forced situation that might cause folks harm if they feel excluded or shamed by it.

Another thing is that I’m working on illustrating a project, and in order to do it, I dug out the original art from my archives so I could figure out how I did the art back then, and do it again. I’ll let folks figure which project I’m creating the art for:

Last week I mentioned that if you have questions about Onyx Path, our creators, business practices, whatever, that you can come to us with questions. I included the names of the main folks who cover our game lines, the person who looks at how all our various pieces work together, and my own email address separated out on one line so it would be easy to catch.

This invite was to both our fan community, and to our creators. So far, no one has in fact contacted us, but we want everybody to know that this is an ongoing thing, not just one blog and done, and that the door is always open.

It’s pretty simple: we want everybody involved as we ride, boldly ride, towards:

Many Worlds, One Path!

BLURBS!

Kickstarter!

Hunter: The Vigil 2nd Edition for Chronicles of Darkness has only a few days to go! We’re headed towards 400% funding and are over 1700 backers and are shooting right through Stretch Goals, like the Storyteller Screen Stretch Goal, the T-Shirt, and the Tending the Flame: Cells chapter for the Hunter Players’ Companion! With lots more to come!

Join the Vigil!: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/339646881/hunter-the-vigil-second-edition-tabletop-roleplaying-game

Next Kickstarter: Legendlore!

Onyx Path Media!

This Friday the Onyx Pathcast Terrific Trio look deeply into the dreaded METAPLOT – what is it, really, and how to fight it and how to use it! As always this Friday’s Onyx Pathcast will be on Podbean or your favorite podcast venue! https://onyxpathcast.podbean.com/

Tune in for even more shows on Twitch this week! We’re going to have V5, Chronicles of Darkness, Scion, Pugmire, our two excellent chronicles of Hunter: The Vigil 2nd Edition, MORE Vampire: The Masquerade, Changeling: The Lost, Changeling: The Dreaming, Mage: The Awakening, Scarred Lands, Werewolf: The Forsaken and a third Vampire: The Masquerade game! 

I’d like to shout out again to the Hunter: The Vigil games running this week, which along with the Kickstarter have proven very popular! You can subscribe to our channel over on twitch.tv/theonyxpath to catch up with any episodes you missed!

Come take a look at our YouTube channel, youtube.com/user/theonyxpath, where you can find the following videos uploaded last week alone (for a largely Pugmire-themed week!):

Pugmire: Paws & Claws: https://youtu.be/XOzLa9NadOw, https://youtu.be/bAcPMFpk1D8, and https://youtu.be/e4bfrCS6YFA

Changeling: The Lost – Littlebrook Reunion: https://youtu.be/wipvrJqvm8c

Changeling: The Dreaming – The Last Faerie Tale: https://youtu.be/OAiD9mAjbeo

Scion: Behind the Screen: https://youtu.be/v9Wo38rl5-Y

A special shout-out to our Last Faerie Tale Changeling crew have been producing some superb content for us!

We’re back with the Onyx Path News broadcast live from our YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/zKo1h7bLPE0 Matthew discusses new releases, Kickstarters, and other projects currently being worked on!

Do subscribe to our channel and click the bell icon if you want to be notified whenever new news videos and uploads come online!

The Story Told RPG Podcast continue with their excellent Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2nd Edition chronicle right here: http://thestorytold.libsyn.com/the-78-laments-episode-3-riders-in-the-sky

And if you missed it, here’s the Story Told‘s review of Trinity Continuum: Aeon http://thestorytold.libsyn.com/episode-40-trinity-continuum-on-overview

Red Moon Roleplaying‘s V5 Cults of the Blood Gods “The Family” chronicle continues on their YouTube channel, Spotify, their website redmoonroleplaying.com and everywhere else good podcasts might be found! https://youtu.be/3w3x6j4APBc

More new Occultists Anonymous for all you Mage: The Awakening fans out there:

Episode 84: Summons, Seers, & Souls The cabal gather together, working to help Network summon forth an Imp from Pandemonium to gather information about their new Seer ‘ally’. Atratus reaches out to the Free Council for their input as well.https://youtu.be/sDt8WvOqW5o

Episode 85: Remodeling Plans Songbird is accepted at the table of the Thunderbolt Guardians who are masterminding the assassination attempt on the Vampire Prince, though Red Dread is not pleased. Wyrd and Atratus discuss a dive into Wyrd’s Oneiros. https://youtu.be/5qLaBZEP6Cc

Please check any of these out and let us know if you find or produce any actual plays of our games!

Electronic Gaming!

As we find ways to enable our community to more easily play our games, the Onyx Dice Rolling App is live! Our dev team has been doing updates since we launched based on the excellent use-case comments by our community, and this thing is awesome! (Seriously, you need to roll 100 dice for Exalted? This app has you covered.)

On Amazon and Barnes & Noble!

You can now read our fiction from the comfort and convenience of your Kindle (from Amazon) and Nook (from Barnes & Noble).

If you enjoy these or any other of our books, please help us by writing reviews on the site of the sales venue from which you bought it. Reviews really, really help us get folks interested in our amazing fiction!

Our selection includes these latest fiction books:

Our Sales Partners!

We’re working with Studio2 to get Pugmire and Monarchies of Mau out into stores, as well as to individuals through their online store. You can pick up the traditionally printed main book, the screen, and the official Pugmire dice through our friends there! https://studio2publishing.com/search?q=pugmire

We’ve added Prince’s Gambit to our Studio2 catalog: https://studio2publishing.com/products/prince-s-gambit-card-game

Now, we’ve added Changeling: The Lost 2nd Edition products to Studio2‘s store! See them here: https://studio2publishing.com/collections/all-products/changeling-the-lost

Scarred Lands (Pathfinder) books are also on sale at Studio2, and they have the 5e version, supplements, and dice as well!: https://studio2publishing.com/collections/scarred-lands

Scion 2e books and other products are available now at Studio2: https://studio2publishing.com/blogs/new-releases/scion-second-edition-book-one-origin-now-available-at-your-local-retailer-or-online

Looking for our Deluxe or Prestige Edition books? Try this link! http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Onyx-Path-Publishing/

And you can order Pugmire, Monarchies of Mau, Cavaliers of Mars, and Changeling: The Lost 2e at the same link! And NOW Scion Origin and Scion Hero AND Trinity Continuum Core and Trinity Continuum: Aeon are available to order!

As always, you can find Onyx Path’s titles at DriveThruRPG.com!

On Sale This Week!

This Wednesday, we will be releasing the Advance PDF of Distant Worlds for Trinity Continuum: Aeon on DTRPG!

New Mysteries, New Worlds, New Aliens, and Alien Heroes!

Distant Worlds expands the setting of Trinity Continuum: Æon with new worlds, new alien mysteries, and rules for playing actual aliens, the secretive telepathic Qin. Inside, you will find:

• Further information about the eight extrasolar worlds described in Trinity Continuum: Æon, including new dangers and new opportunities for adventure.

• Detailed write-ups of 10 new planets, including one that is home to a recently contacted intelligent alien species.

• New technologies for interstellar travel and colonization, as well as a wealth of new devices created by aliens, and new Edges and Paths specifically for interstellar explorers and settlers.

• The secrets of humanity’s alien allies, the mysterious Qin. This section includes descriptions of four Qin interstellar colonies as well as rules for creating and playing Qin characters and for designing and using custom-made Qin biosuits.

Conventions!

More conventions will be listed for 2020 in the weeks to come-

And now, the new project status updates!

DEVELOPMENT STATUS FROM EDDY WEBB (projects in bold have changed status since last week):

First Draft (The first phase of a project that is about the work being done by writers, not dev prep)

Exalted Essay Collection (Exalted)

RUST (Working Title) (Scarred Lands)

Under Alien Suns (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Mission Statements (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Adversaries of the Righteous (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Novas Worldwide (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Exalted Essence Edition (Exalted 3rd Edition)

The Clades Companion (Deviant: The Renegades)

The Devoted Companion (Deviant: The Renegades)

Saints and Monsters (Scion 2nd Edition)

M20 Rich Bastard’s Guide To Magick (Mage: The Ascension 20th Anniversary)

Wild Hunt (Scion 2nd Edition)

Redlines

Dragon-Blooded Novella #2 (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Hundred Devil’s Night Parade (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Trinity Continuum: Adventure! core (Trinity Continuum: Adventure!)

They Came From Beyond the Grave! (They Came From!)

Assassins (Trinity Continuum Core)

The Book of Endless Death (Mummy: The Curse 2e)

N!ternational Wrestling Entertainment (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Contagion Chronicle Ready-Made Characters (Chronicles of Darkness)

Second Draft

Exigents (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Crucible of Legends (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Many-Faced Strangers – Lunars Companion (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Kith and Kin (Changeling: The Lost 2e)

Development

Heirs to the Shogunate (Exalted 3rd Edition)

TC: Aberrant Reference Screen (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Across the Eight Directions (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Contagion Chronicle: Global Outbreaks (Chronicles of Darkness)

M20 Victorian Mage (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

Manuscript Approval

Scion: Dragon (Scion 2nd Edition)

Masks of the Mythos (Scion 2nd Edition)

Trinity Continuum Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum Core)

Scion: Demigod (Scion 2nd Edition)

Post-Approval Development

Scion LARP Rules (Scion)

One Foot in the Grave Jumpstart (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2e)

Editing

Legendlore core book (Legendlore)

Pirates of Pugmire KS-Added Adventure (Realms of Pugmire)

Terra Firma (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Lunars Novella (Rosenberg) (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Buried Bones: Creating in the Realms of Pugmire (Realms of Pugmire)

Monsters of the Deep (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)

Tales of Aquatic Terror (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)

Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition core rulebook (Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition)

Titanomachy (Scion 2nd Edition)

Player’s Guide to the Contagion Chronicle (Chronicles of Darkness)

Contagion Chronicle Jumpstart (Chronicles of Darkness)

TC: Aberrant Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Post-Editing Development

City of the Towered Tombs (Cavaliers of Mars)

W20 Shattered Dreams Gift Cards (Werewolf: The Apocalypse 20th)

Cults of the Blood Gods (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

Hunter: The Vigil 2e core (Hunter: The Vigil 2nd Edition)

Trinity Continuum: Aberrant core (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Deviant: The Renegades (Deviant: The Renegades)

Indexing

They Came From Beneath the Sea! (They Came From…!)

ART DIRECTION FROM MIKE CHANEY!

In Art Direction

Trinity Continuum: Aberrant – Pinging some bigger names in comics… granted guys I’m a fan of, but still bigger names.

Hunter: The Vigil 2e (KS) – Almost done on KS.

Cults of the Blood God (KS)

Mummy 2 – Starting to contract the rest of it.

City of the Towered Tombs – Recontracted.

Let the Streets Run Red – Contracted.

Deviant

Legendlore (KS) – Contracted for KS, b&w art coming in, color sketches too.

Technocracy Reloaded (KS) – Art out for WW approval.

TC: Aeon Terra Firma – Contracted.

WoD: Ghost Hunters (KS) – Cover contracted.

Tales of Aquatic Terror

Pirates Extra Adventure – Loboyko lined up for this one.

Scion Titanomachy – Just got art notes today.

In Layout

Yugman’s Guide to Ghelspad – Ongoing.

Contagion Chronicle – With Josh, interior proof coming.

Vigil Watch – Ongoing.

TCfBtS!: Heroic Land Dwellers

TCFBtS! Screen and Booklet

Ex3 Lunars

Scion Companion

Proofing

Dark Eras 2 – Sending back to Aileen for errata input.

Trinity Continuum Aeon Jumpstart

Chicago Folio – Awaiting errata from dev.

Pirates of Pugmire – Aileen inputting changes from proof 1.

Night Horrors: Nameless and Accursed – At WW for approvals.

CtL Oak Ash and Thorn – Inputting proofing comments.

Geist 2e fiction anthology – Going to WW for approvals.

At Press

Geist 2e (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2nd Edition) – Shipping to backers, PoD proof ordered.

Geist 2e Screen – Shipping to backers.

DR:E – Shipping to backers, PoD files uploaded.

DRE Screen – Shipping to backers.

DR:E Threat Guide – Helnau’s Guide to Wasteland Beasties

Memento Mori – PoD proof ordered.

Wraith20 Anthology – PoD proof ordered.

Dragon-Blooded Novella #1 – The Silence of Our Ancestors (Exalted 3rd Edition) – Backer PDF being sent out.

Trinity Continuum Aeon: Distant Worlds – Advance PDF for sale Weds on DTRPG.

Today’s Reason to Celebrate!

Almost just went with our first birthday today, but saw a few more relevant to our (my) interests and so have added them in with notes:

1904 – Dr. Seuss, American children’s book writer, poet, and illustrator (d. 1991). Has anyone _not_ been influenced by his work? If not, perhaps you will and your heart will grow three sizes that day.

1922 – Bill Quackenbush, Canadian-American ice hockey player and coach (d. 1999). Honestly, I have no idea who this guy is, but love that his name sounds like a character played by Groucho Marx.

1930 – Tom Wolfe, American journalist and author (d. 2018). Perhaps the person who was the inspiration for the Tremere and/or Ventrue illustration in the very first edition of Vampire: The Masquerade. Also did some writing.

1942 – Lou Reed, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, and actor (d. 2013). Take a walk on the wild side.

1952 – Laraine Newman, American actress and comedian. Under-appreciated original Not Ready For Prime Time player on SNL.

1962 – Jon Bon Jovi, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, and actor. WW legend Chris McDonough is JBJ’s biggest fan, and looks a lot like him. Also, pretty sure Chris is the artist who did the clan pics mentioned above.

1980 – Rebel Wilson, Australian actress and screenwriter. Loved her in Pitch Perfect 1&2. There is no 3rd one.