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bonsai62 · 3 years

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I just realized something... I was talking to this person one time on a post before and as I was typing that’s when i realized something:

This is for my fellow Nobamaki & Itafushi shippers! If you guys don’t ship it then it’s okay! This is just like a small analysis in my eyes and the way I read things! I can be wrong or just love reaching on a shit ton of things but this is all for fun and I love sharing with you guys!

Let’s get started! Also, this contains spoilers!

Do you guys realize that Nobamaki/Itafushi actually parallel to each other? Let me explain in shitty English and basic grammar and vocabulary lol:

As I watch and read Jujutsu Kaisen I see a lot of parallels between characters; Gojo with Megumi or Yuji, Getou with Megumi and Yuji or Nobara and Maki... but what I want to parallel between characters is:

Yuji & Maki

1. Raw strength:

Both are hella fucking strong and for people who don’t have cursed techniques, they know how to kick fucking ass. What made me realize that both of them are the same is honestly during the baseball game. I like how we were able to see Maki and Yuji making a home run... okay well Momo fucked up Maki’s groove! Haha! But during the Tokyo vs Kyoto event, Maki and Yuji go ham on their enemy.

Yes, Maki used weapons but still, we can’t deny she got good speed and strength that is similar to Yuji’s. That’s why I wish I can see them both doing a bad ass duo fight together.

I have a small headcanon that Yuji actually enjoys training with Maki the most because I feel like he can understand someone who shares similarity in natural raw strength and speed. And Maki feels the same way and it’s a good excuse to bully Yuji as a joke. I would honestly love to see that! Lol!

2. Their story:

Yuji and Maki honestly have it bad. Yuji loosing his only family member (his abuelo) and becoming Sukuna’s vessel which leads him to a future execution. For Maki is the fact that her family treated her like garbage and having to leave her sister behind and eventually her sister dying.

Both Maki and Yuji share that same pain when it comes to loosing someone. We saw Yuji with Junpei and in the Shibuya Arc with Nanamin and Noabra. Again, Maki the same with Mai.

I think what made me even realize it MORE on how alike and how they parallel with each other are these images right here and how they worded their final saying:

In the Shibuya Arc, Yuji lost it. He lost it with Nanamin and Nobara (but luckily for Todo, he was able to pick his feet back up).

If I was Yuji, I would’ve reacted the same way because imagine having the idea you want to save people no matter what but people keeps dying around you or by you? It’s tiring and I would’ve had a mental breakdown too.

After kicking Mahito’s ass, Yuji says there is no reason anymore. For me, when Maki’s arc came it really reminded me of this:

When Mai died and was killed by her own dad. Her dad took away someone who was precious to Maki no matter how much they didn’t get along. Maki really wanted to create the Zenin clan just for Mai to be safe and free.

Again, same with Maki, I would’ve killed the whole clan too because of how in general the Zenin clan is and how they treat people.

3. Having a “curse”:

Nanamin to Yuji: “You’ve got it from here”

Mai to Maki: “destroy everything”

I don’t necessarily mean a curse curse but it’s more like final words that someone important to them said before dying.

For Yuji, he won’t die because Nanamin believes that Yuji can move forward and save the world.

As for Maki, Mai tells her to destroy everything in order for things to change (I might be wrong). It’s for the Zenin clan to start fresh. That is another way I kinda Interpreted (again, I can be wrong). Maki still isn’t done with destroying things plus she is going to move forward just like Yuji.

I have a thing that if the higher ups find out about Maki, she would be on the verge of being executed as well. So imagine both Maki and Yuji together being executed.

Now on to the next pair!

Megumi & Nobara

Again, this is just me analyzing. But if you ship Itafushi and Nobamaki, you can actually see another pair that parallels to each other but so far I haven’t seen anyone compare them yet, or it’s just me lol!

1. No rivalries:

I think what I love about these ships so damn much is that there is NO RIVALRIES. Even if you don’t ship them you have to admit it is amazing seeing a m/m or f/f getting along without being damn rivals. I’m glad Gege decided not to do that especially towards the women because it does get so tiring that two women don’t like each other for no damn reason or fighting over the main guy or other main guy. At least when Nobara didn’t like Mai or Momo, she had a reason for not liking them.

And don’t get me started with Megumi and Yuji. I was so happy to finally see two boys be friends instead of the usual, boring rivalries. I’m a be honest with you, I was pretty shocked that Gege was able to make Megumi and Yuji be so close and trust each other as friends. It’s a breath of fresh air for the two ships like omg I was happy not seeing the basic shonen bullshit with the f/f and m/m relationship.

2. Hyping up their pairs:

What I mean by hyping them up, I’m talking about the potential that Maki and Yuji has that Nobara and Megumi sees from them. Nobara since the start acknowledge that Maki is strong and vice versa with Megumi with Yuji. What made me see that Nobara knows that Maki is just amazing and strong was during the baseball when Maki was able to hit almost a home run. Nobara just knew that Maki would be able to make that home run but again Momo ruined her moment! Lol!

As for Megumi, we see while the Tokyo students came up with a strategy to win against the Kyoto students, we see him saying that Yuji can actually beat all their asses without curse energy or energy(one of those). Megumi reassures to people that Yuji can take care of himself and is very useful. Another time Megumi reassured that Yuji is strong is when he was in his bed healing from Hanami’s attacks and when they fought tiger against that one dude (forgot his name)

3. Thinking about them/defending them:

Now… this is really what made me think why Nobara and Megumi parallel with each other

It’s becasue I feel like they’re the ones who are more attached and over protective with Yuji and Maki than how Maki and Yuji are with them.

Now, I’m not saying it’s vice verse with Maki and Yuji. But I’m talking about how Nobara and Megumi expresses it. Let me explain:

While reading and watching JJK, we see how Nobara is with Maki compared to anyone else. And no, I’m not saying that Nobara isn’t overprotective with Megumi or Yuji but just the way she is towards Maki. I would honest love to see how these girls got along and how they became close!

Ever since Maki and Nobara had that deep conversation about why Maki choose to be a sorcerer, that is when I actually started shipping them because of how much respect Nobara has towards Maki and it continues to develop more and more with the two of them. We saw how Nobara got super defensive when she fought against Mai (First time) and started dissing Mai. The second time was with Momo, when she was straight up talking shit about Maki.

I love how when Nobara was talking about Maki and Yuji when fighting against Momo. However, I felt a different vibe towards it as well. What I mean by that is that I got more of a “big sister vibe” toward Yuji and a “I love and respect Maki”

But again, I feel like Nobara had some sort of feeling and attachment toward Maki ever since that fight with Momo and more than anyone else too. However, that is just me though! You do t have to agree with my reaching!

For Megumi and Yuji… First of all… Megumi would not hesitate to pull a trigger if anyone is trying to harm Yuji. What made me see that was against Kamo and the Kyoto students. I swear that day Megumi was literally about to commit murder.

Yeah, Nobara got pissed but she went easy on them, but Megumi didn’t. Oh no, he was about to commit a felony. He wanted all the smoke. He wanted that curse. I swear I even felt how pissed he was. I just feel like every time and separates, shit goes down the wrong way and everything goes wrong.

For me, shipping Megumi and Yuji is a whole ass different post but I won’t do that lmao same with Nobamaki because I can write a whole ass essay why I love how compatibly/perfect for each other lol

Bonus:

But guess what… during the Kyoto and Tokyo event, same shit happened with Megumi like Nobara: Megumi was thinking of Tsumiki and Yuji. And again, I felt like it was still different when Megumi was thinking of Tsumiki and Yuji. I find it crazy how Nobara and Megumi were thinking about two people during that event:

Nobara: Maki & Yuji Megumi: Yuji & Tsumiki

This is my personal favorite image of Nobara and Megumi. *wink wink* it’s basically the same image on who is important to to them.

Again, for Nobara and Yuji’s relationship, I just love the way it is. She gives me “big sister” energy towards Yuji and vice verse. Yuji and Nobara are those chaotic siblings that are the hyper ones while Megumi and Maki are the chill ones that can actually keep them down. There has been one occasion where both Megumi and Maki calms Yuji and Nobara down because of how they were acting and I’m not gonna lie it’s kinda cute lmao:

4. Not leaving them:

During the Shibuya Arc, Maki and Nobara separates but at one panel, Nanamin was telling Nobara and Nitta that he was going to join the Zenins. Nobara quickly picked her head up and suggested that she wanted to join him in order for her to be with Maki (this is a stretch but hey Iike being dramatic) however, Nanamin quickly declines her and tells her that it’s too dangerous. I think she was disappointed that she couldn’t go, but hey, Nanamin is a gentleman and he knows when a child is gonna end up getting hurt. I thought it was cute that she was super worried about Maki and just doesn’t care and wanting to join her.

Now, up the recent chapters, Megumi really shows us that he doesn’t want Yuji leaving him or he wants to stay by his side. Those few chapters really made my heart feel some type of way because it just the way Megumi is for Yuji and I can honestly feel how much he cares for him. As I mentioned above, I feel like everything goes to shit when those two aren’t together and I hope that they develop more and more. There has been two more occasions where Fushi doesn’t want Yuji to be left behind; one during when they were in prison and the second during the fight against Hanamin. The eyes that Fushiguro gives Yuji is full of trauma and careness.

In conclusion, I can’t wait for Nobamaki and Itafushi to develop more and more in future chapters. Again, you guys don’t have to agree with me on this. This is just for fun and sharing is fun too! If I’m overreaching then I’m sorry I just can’t help it :(!!

I hope you guys enjoyed my lil analysis! I’m sorry for the bad writing, I’m not very good at translating my feelings as I’m typing because my brain goes all over the place lol! But please, feel free to comment or give me an ask! I’ll be happy to elaborate more for you guys!

Stay safe y’all! And good night or morning!

#jujutsu kaisen #jujutsu kaisen manga #jjk anime #jjk manga #jjk #itadori yuji #fushiguro megumi #kugisaki nobara #maki zenin #itafushi #fushita #nobamaki #makinoba #i’m just a mess #I don’t make sense #i’m sorry for being like this #I just want them to be happy

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pikahlua · 3 years

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leaks out tomorrow any predictions for 320?

Shit, is it that time already???

@oquinn53 and I have been on a tear through chapter 319 for the last week. We’ve been through probably every possibility imaginable lol. I have to credit her for a lot of this.

These may not come into play as soon as chapter 320, but these are the Chekhov’s guns I cannot just ignore:

1. Stain and Toga - If we’re really in the final act of the story, then these two can’t just be sitting out there in limbo for long. They’re gonna come into play eventually, and it could be soon. Toga has the ability to use the quirks of a very select few people, and in theory one of them is Stain. If AFO is coercing hired guns to go after Izuku by threat of force, then Stain could also be under that threat. Everyone just assumes he’s an ally to Izuku, but maybe he’s not. Maybe Toga is. Maybe Toga will defect to the heroes for her love of Izuku and Ochako. It’s worth noting that Stain’s quirk could immobilize Izuku, which is kind of what class 1-A needs right now. It’s also worth noting that the Stain arc ended with Izuku nearly getting abducted before Stain saved him. Maybe Stain will save him again. Maybe Toga will while looking like Stain. They are wildcards.

2. The UA barrier - The mere fact that Nedzu brought this up means that it has to be utilized. This implies UA will be the setting of some major action, perhaps even the finale. That could also get us back to Ground Beta for a Deku vs Kacchan Part Whatever. @oquinn53 suggested Deku could be held at UA against his will and create that Vault Scenario we’re all anticipating, and that gave me shivers. Will UA be the setting of the final battle? Or will it be the setting of the immediately next arc?

3. Vestiges - Speaking of vaults, I need to point this out because I see a lot of people missing it. The astral room the vestiges occupy inside OFA is INSIDE a vault, not outside one. That said, we obviously have to hear more from them soon. Second is practically a narrator at this point, and he will probably give a rendition of his complete thoughts at some point during this fight. That implies something about the current scenario is predictable to Second, and it could be because the scenario is familiar. Will we get hints of a flashback to finally reveal the history of OFA’s inception, or at least lead into it for perhaps the next arc?

4. Endeavor/One For All - Similar to the vestiges, Endeavor’s behavior is suspicious and implies he maybe knows something we don’t. I don’t know what exactly it is, but I’m leaning in the direction of it having something to do with completing OFA. We could be about to see the completion of OFA or learn what it would take. Some people think we may see the Second’s quirk soon. I definitely won’t rule it out. I just feel like, since it’s the final quirk to be revealed, it will have to be for another dramatic moment like with Black Whip and Danger Sense. In other words, Izuku will have an emotional episode and the proper “feeling” necessary to activate it. So what will that feeling be? I wonder.

5. All For One’s scheme - We haven’t seen any indication of surprise from AFO yet. For each scene that passes where we don’t, that means everything that’s happening is within his prediction. I actually don’t think AFO has been attempting to abduct Izuku for real until this point; he seems to have expected all the hired “assassins” to fail. The pro heroes also pointed out that AFO hasn’t tried to reveal OFA’s existence to the public. It seems more like AFO is trying to turn society against Izuku ([cough cough] real life cavalry battle parallels [cough]), and of course the goal is to break Izuku’s spirit. Therefore, I think AFO wants to convince Izuku he cannot save villains, to force Izuku to kill instead of save (re: Gran Torino’s advice). This could trigger OFA’s completion (which AFO seems to want), or it could induce an emotion in Izuku so powerful he loses himself, making OFA vulnerable to AFO’s will.

6. Class 1-A “versus” Deku - First of all, just let me say: I CALLED IT. Not that it’s that impressive. I’m sure plenty of you did as well. However, I’m not convinced it will be an all-out battle like a lot of people are predicting. There are many things about chapter 319 that feel...off (although my feelings don’t perfectly match that linked post anymore). I just want to point out that Katsuki Bakugou knows better. He’s been trying and failing to save Izuku in his own subconscious way all his life. Chapter 319 only solidifies how this is his current primary goal. I doubt he thinks for a second that Izuku can be saved by being beaten and tied down by his friends. He’s trying something new. Izuku has saved many of his classmates, and they all have to return the favor at some point. In other words, I sense a subversion on the horizon. Izuku’s goal is to flee, and class 1-A just needs to catch him or talk him down. This is that moment Gang Orca foreshadowed in Katsuki and Shouto’s provisional license training.

"What you lot are missing...in other words, ‘heart!’ Will anyone take hold of the hand you reach out? No! Even if they bare their fangs at you, if there is a life there, you must save it! To save and be saved--The essence of that is an agreement and understanding between your hearts!

“Now, conquer this! Through this life-or-death battle, show that you can come to an understanding with them! That’s the trial you face!

[...]

“I’ll have you four work together and grasp the hearts of the kids in this class.”

I anticipate a lot of kokoros going doki-doki feels in the near future.

7. Ochako Uraraka - And along those same lines, I cannot ignore the hints of introspective focus we got for Ochako in chapter 319. Katsuki won the elementary school kids’ hearts by deferring to the expertise of others and reaching out to connect with and advise the central problem child. Given how they’re in Kamino and Izuku saved Katsuki here by deferring to Kirishima, I think Katsuki’s bound to utilize Ochako to a large degree. She was the only one not present versus Shigaraki in Jakuu, where Katsuki chided Izuku for going solo (and clearly that didn’t work). Ochako is probably going to be the gateway to let everyone in to Izuku’s heart right now.

8. Ground Zero Kamino - We’ve already seen multiple callbacks to the Kamino story arc so far. I doubt I need to rehash that here. The only thing I’ll point out for your relative horror is that: the parallel moments we’ve seen so far have been...in reverse order?

Tartarus -> “You’re next” -> Kamino post-disaster location -> hero versus many people trying to catch him “rescued” by friend (or...is that another hero versus many trying to catch him situation?) -> GPS tracker (flashback)

We’ve even got the pro-heroes team-up plus someone really injured waking up in the hospital to find their friend is out of their reach...

What came before that again? Something that rhymes with ‘adduction?’ ‘Lidflapping?’

9. Yuuga Aoyama - Oh hey, did you notice how in the chapter 319 flashback, Aoyama said they should leave things to the adults? Didn’t he say something like that in the Kamino arc too?

Iiiiiinteresting...

10. “All Might wannabe” - It’s worth noting there’s one more story arc to which we’re seeing a lot of parallels lately.

The Japanese word Katsuki uses in each moment is kidori meaning “pretending.” “Hero-kidori” versus “All Might-kidori.” Katsuki even laughs at Izuku’s antics backed up by a group of their peers in chapter 319.

We’re getting a lot of Deku vs Kacchan Part 0 vibes. (And some other chapter 1 vibes in general, like Izuku sitting on the ground in Kamino just like in the classroom when the other kids made fun of him for...wanting to be a hero, among other key moments...)

11. All Might - Leading in logically from there, this could all end with a confrontation with All Might. Izuku is apparently GPS-chipped, after all, so All Might can still follow Izuku (and I mean, I did also hint this could end with All For One, just to scare you shitless). He’s another wildcard. And speaking of wildcards...

12. Kurogiri - Um, where the fuck is Kurogiri?!

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9worldstales · 3 years

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MCU Loki: Is character development what we see in episode 1 or not?

I’ve discovered there’s a debate if what happened to Loki in episode 1 can constitute character development or not so I felt like sharing my two cents about it.

So, character development.

Character development IN THIS SPECIFIC CASE refers to the changes a character undergoes over the course of a story as a result of their experiences (positive or negative) and actions (successful or unsuccessful). Change can be positive or negative as the character can improve himself but also can sink into an abyss of depravity. It’s worth to remark changes is not necessarily always triggered by something they did, it can very well be something that happened to them that caused them to change… but the point of character development, IN THIS CASE, is that there has to be a change in the character. He can’t remain the same.

So… I’ll pick Tony Stark because his situation in “Iron Man” presented plenty of parallelisms with Loki in “Loki” and not just because some like to consider Tony too a narcissist.

So, same as how Loki was taken captive by the TVA, Tony Stark too was taken captive by the Ten Rings. For three months. There Tony is forced to see how the weapons he produced were used by terrorists to kill other Americans and who called him “the most famous mass murderer in the history of America” and were honoured to have him in their hideout. They originally were meant to kill him but since they realized he could be of some use to them, they’re willing to keep him alive because they want his help, not to search a Tony Variant but to produce more weapons. Tony though, understands once they have finished using him, they would dispose of him. Tony also has the major problem of being told to have only a week of life due to the wounds he suffered.

In this part of the story Tony is just a victim, he doesn’t really get to do something, negative things are merely poured onto him.

It parallels what happens to Loki for most of episode 1.

He’s beaten, taken captive, informed he’ll be killed, his execution is postponed because they decided he could be of use, he’s told he’s a murderer, a liberator of eyeballs who wasn't born to be king but to cause pain and suffering and death, all so that others can achieve their best versions of themselves. He’s also told he caused his mother’s death. And, all right, Mobius won’t immediately tell him what he wants him for, but it’s pretty clear he wants him for something.

So, back to Tony, when we have his character growth? When he reacts to all that was poured on him and react not just by fighting back in a typical Tony style (using his brain to create something that would allow him to fight the Ten Rings and escape) but also by changing things. Once he’s back home Tony announces he won’t produce anymore weapons.

The man who said...

Tony: Is it better to be feared or respected? I say, is it too much to ask for both? With that in mind, I humbly present the crown jewel of Stark Industries' Freedom Line. It's the first missile system to incorporate our proprietary repulsor technology. They say the best weapon is one you never have to fire. I respectfully disagree. I prefer the weapon you only have to fire once. That's how Dad did it. That's how America does it. And it's worked out pretty well so far.

...becomes the man who say...

Tony: I never got to say goodbye to Dad. I never got to say goodbye to my father. There are questions that I would have asked him. I would have asked him how he felt about what this company did. If he was conflicted, if he ever had doubts. Or maybe he was every inch the man we all remember from the newsreels. I saw young Americans killed by the very weapons I created to defend them and protect them. And I saw that I had become part of a system that is comfortable with zero accountability. I had my eyes opened. I came to realize that I have more to offer this world than just making things that blow up. And that is why, effective immediately, I am shutting down the weapons manufacturing division of Stark International until such a time as I can decide what the future of the company will be.

This evolution makes sense. It feels believable. Why is that?

Let’s go back to Tony Stark.

Tony stark didn’t mean to be ‘the most famous mass murderer in the history of America’, he was sure his work was protecting people, he didn’t realize it was used by the bad guys, likely because he just accepted his legacy of son of Howard Stark and didn’t bother to think at it any further.

When he discovers things aren’t how he assumed, after a moment of discomfort in which Yinsen had to motivate him...

Yinsen: I'm sure they're looking for you, Stark. But they will never find you in these mountains. Look, what you just saw, that is your legacy, Stark. Your life's work, in the hands of those murderers. Is that how you want to go out? Is this the last act of defiance of the great Tony Stark? Or are you going to do something about it? Tony: Why should I do anything? They're going to kill me, you, either way. And if they don't, I'll probably be dead in a week. Yinsen: Well, then, this is a very important week for you, isn't it?

...he started fighting to change them. It fits with Tony’s personality, it makes narrative sense, it’s well presented, it’s believable on a psychological standpoint (yes, a person like Tony Stark would do this) and from an empathic standpoint (yes, if I were in Tony Stark’s place I would do the same).

When Tony gives his speech in which he shows he has changed, he surprises the people who have no idea what he went through, but not the viewers. For the viewers his reaction is perfectly believable.

So why, for a part of the fandom, what happens to Loki doesn’t feel equally believable since his experience parallels Tony? Why part of the fandom feels there was no character growth at all?

Well, I can’t answer for everyone, everyone probably has his own reasons but merely by keeping up the comparison with what happened to Tony Stark we see how the thing doesn’t work the same.

A premise here, I know there will be people tempted to think Mobius is the stand in for Yinsen because Mobius is likable and, ultimately, he’ll become Loki’s friend.

He’s not.

Yinsen was held captive by the Ten Rings, his life in danger same as Tony. There’s a moment in which they even threaten him and Tony has to stand in to save Yinsen’s life.

Mobius, as far as Mobius and Loki know, is not another prisoner of the TVA, he’s there willingly. Yes, he’s operating under the false belief he has been created by the TVA but he’s not aware of it. In that moment, as far as Mobius is involved, he’s a willing operative of the TVA, someone in with authority, in control of Loki’s life...

Mobius: Mmm... Luckily, he believes in himself enough for the both of us. And, hey, if it doesn't work, I'll delete him myself. He's really arrogant.

...and the TVA is his purpose, his life and he believes it to be real.

Mobius: It's exactly the same thing. Because if you think too hard about where any of us came from, who we truly are, it sounds kinda ridiculous. Existence is chaos. Nothing makes any sense, so we try to make some sense of it. And I'm just lucky that the chaos I emerged into gave me all this... My own glorious purpose. Cause the TVA is my life. And it's real because I believe it's real.

He doesn’t feel threatened by the TVA, coerced. He’s doing what he does because he believes he’s playing the good guy.

Mobius: All that time, I really believed we were the good guys.

So no, Mobius here is not the equivalent of Yinsen, he’s the equivalent of Abu Bakaar, the guy who tells Tony he’s ‘the most famous mass murderer in the history of America’ and wants to persuade him to cooperate with the Ten Rings, in the same way Mobius wants to persuade Loki to cooperate with the TVA. Keep this in mind because it’s relevant and easy to forger since we know how things will develop in other episodes.

And okay, now let’s go back on track.

Let’s talk of the motives that caused the change in Tony Stark.

Tony is shown by Abu Bakaar something he previously wasn’t aware of, how his weapons are used to kill Americans, that, by building them, he became an accomplice in killing Americans, which was something he didn’t want, hence the change.

Loki is shown… the events of “The Avengers” which he was aware of and which, of course, doesn’t impress him much…

Loki: No. And I remember. I was there. Anything else?

…as the show didn’t play the card of the sceptre influencing him as they say in the official web. Mobius doesn’t tell Loki ‘you did this but you weren’t in control of yourself, you were manipulated by the sceptre’ no, Mobius tells him ‘you did this’ and Loki’s answer is basically ‘yeah, I know, so? Why should I care?’

So Mobius moves to the events of “Thor: The Dark World” and, more specifically, to how Loki ‘caused’ Frigga’s death.

This is something that, in theory, can work as equivalent of Tony Stark being told his weapons are used by the Ten Rings to kill Americans. Loki clearly didn’t want any harm to befall on Frigga, whom he loved dearly. We know that in “Thor: The Dark World” he sufferd a lot for her death, blamed himself and changed (or better, in the authors’ original intentions, he mostly reversed back to how he was before “Thor” but this is a topic for another meta).

For who doesn’t remember the movie in “Thor: The Dark World” after Frigga’s death Loki:

- agreed to help Thor

- brought him and Jane to Svartalfheim

- put up a show for Malekith according to Thor’s plan without betraying Thor

- protected Jane TWICE, the last time risking his own life to save hers

- stopped the Kurse from killing Thor by stabbing and killing him and, in the original plan for the movie, he was also meant to die doing so. Even if you go by the ending the movie ultimately had, Loki has protected a human, cooperated with saving the universe from the Dark Elves and saved his brother’s life instead than letting Thor get killed.

It’s quite a change from how he was in “The Avengers”.

Then great, we’ve something that could push him to change, right?

Wrong.

For start because what Mobius says had happen to Frigga in truth hadn’t happened yet and wouldn’t have happened to THIS LOKI as he wasn’t carried back on Asgard because he escaped with the Tesseract. THIS LOKI has escaped and so wouldn’t end up captive on Asgard, wouldn’t be jailed and wouldn’t be there when the Kurse would intrude in Asgard’s prisons so there’s no way he can do something that would lead to Frigga’s death. Problem solved.

We continue with the fact that Mobius can’t prove to Loki this would have happened had Loki been carried on Asgard. Let’s forget how the version of what happened he gave to Loki is wrong and misleading. Even if he’d been absolutely truthful, what he does is to show Loki a video... but how can he prove this is the future that was meant to happen and not a lie he’s telling him in order to manipulate him? Tony saw his own weapons being in the hands of the Ten Rings, one of them exploded in front of him, wounding him, he disassembled some of the others, he’s sure the Ten Rings has them. But how can Loki be sure what Mobius is telling him is true and not just an illusion? A lie?

But whatever, the series tries hard to sell us through Loki’s reaction that he believed Mobius’ words about this being true because he totally loses his cool at that scene. So, okay Loki believes so will this change him the way it changed him in “Thor: The Dark World”?

Nope.

Tony changes because he does something to actively prevent Americans from being killed by his weapons, he shuts down their production and he involves himself personally in the fight against terrorists with a weapon only he controls, the Iron Man suit.

What does Loki do to prevent Frigga’s death?

Nothing.

His attempt at escaping might have been made more urgent by this piece of info but was something Loki had tried to do from when he’s been taken to the TVA… and in the following episodes Frigga’s fate will be completely forgotten, as if Loki has stopped worrying about it entirely. When talking with Sylvie about Frigga in episode 3 he doesn’t use it as a motive to explain why he wants to gain control of the TVA, to change his mother’s fate… nor it’s something that inspire him to fight the TVA, because that role belongs to Sylvie and Sylvie only. When he’ll try to persuade the other Loki Variants to help him, again he won’t mention Frigga, just Sylvie. Frigga won’t get mentioned not even when Loki will reach The Citadel at the End of Time and Miss Minute will try to tempt him. She’ll offer him glorious power and Sylvie, nor her nor Loki will try to bargain for his mother’s life instead. No, from episode 2 onward what Loki learnt in episode 1 goes forgotten, so let’s focus solely on episode 1.

Some believe Loki in episode 1 changed because he admitted he didn’t like to hurt people, that he’s a villain and helped to cooperate with Mobius.

Mobius: Loki? Nowhere left to run. Loki: I can't go back, can I? Back to my timeline. I don't enjoy hurting people. I... I don't enjoy it. I do it because I have to, because I've had to. Mobius: Okay, explain that to me. Loki: Because it's part of the illusion. It's the cruel, elaborate trick conjured by the weak to inspire fear. Mobius: A desperate play for control. You do know yourself. Loki: A villain. Mobius: That's not how I see it. You try to use that? Loki: Oh, several times. Even an Infinity Stone is useless here. The TVA is formidable. Mobius: That's been my experience. Listen, I can't offer you salvation, but maybe I can offer you something better. A fugitive Variant's been killing our Minutemen. Loki: And you need the God of Mischief to help you stop him? Mobius: That's right. Loki: Why me? Mobius: The Variant we're hunting is... you.

Only… this doesn’t really work.

Why?

Loki has tried escaping and has been forced to realize he can’t, that’s why he cooperates, that’s why he gives Mobius an answer to what he asked for...

Mobius: Do you enjoy hurting people? Making them feel small? Making them feel afraid?

... why he agrees with his accusations...

Loki: I know what I am. Mobius: A murderer? Loki: A liberator. Mobius: Of eyeballs, maybe.

...and ultimately accepts to work for the TVA.

This parallels Tony refusing to build armies for the Ten Rings, being tortured and, ultimately agreeing to build weapon for them, at least verbally. And let’s remember if it wasn’t for Yinsen’s words Tony might have given up. It’s Yinsen who encouraged him to fight back.

So this doesn’t constitute Loki changing, just accepting he’s powerless against the TVA and must play along with them. Playing along with someone isn’t something new for Loki, the episode even lampshades it.

Mobius: Well, let's start with a little cooperation. Loki: Not my forte. Mobius: Really? Even when you're wooing someone powerful you intend to betray? Come on.

So no, him being forced to accept the TVA is powerful and therefore deciding to cooperate with them is not a change. This series sets it as a normal Loki behaviour… as well as the fact it’ll immediately turn out he intends to betray them.

Loki: Very nice. I mean, it is adorable that you think you could possibly manipulate me. I'm ten steps ahead of you. I've been playing a game of my own all along. Mobius: What, charm your way in front of the Time-Keepers, hustle them, and seize control of the TVA? Am I getting warm? A double cross by history's most reliable liar.

And what for? Power, glorious power.

Loki: I'm going to overthrow the Time-Keepers. And, uh, cards on the table, I could use a qualified lieutenant.

Loki: Oh, yeah? What about you? Your years-in-the-making plan was to tear the place down, create the ultimate power vacuum, and then just walk away. I'd never have done that.

Nothing of what happened on this episode changed what the “Loki” series claimed to be Loki’s character prior to the “Loki” series. At the end of it he’s cooperating with someone more powerful than him so that he could betray him and take the power from him, which is how this series claimed all the Lokis (except Sylvie) were.

There’s no change.

There could have been, what happened in episode 1 could have worked for Loki in the same way it worked for Tony Stark but it didn’t. The authors even stated that his friendship with Mobius started in episode 2, not in episode 1, likely when Loki believed Mobius was sticking out his neck for him and offering him his sympathy.

Loki: Okay. Why are you in there sticking your neck out for me? Mobius: I'll give you two options, and you can believe whichever one you want. A, because I see a scared little boy, shivering in the cold. And you kinda feel bad for that ice runt. Or B, I just wanna catch this guy, and I'll tell you whatever I need to tell you. Loki: I don't need your sympathy.

So we’ve a problem.

The authors rambled more often than not on how much episode 1 changed Loki, how what they called ‘Mobius’ therapy session’ was good for him… but failed to show it in a way that would make sense with the settings set by the series.

If the series states Loki is one who, prior to arriving to the TVA, was used to cooperate when intended on wooing someone powerful he intends to betray and ends with him being willing to cooperate with the TVA after discovering it’s powerful so that he can betray it later, we go exactly back to the starting point. There’s no change, not in this episode.

His words about not enjoying to hurt people but it being merely a play feel like a forced admission of a truth he couldn’t possibly not know and his admission of being a villain isn’t followed by any genuine attempt at changing something in himself. He just acknowledged the role the TVA wanted on him… because he’s trying to woo them so that he could betray them later on.

If we want to stretch things A LOT we might assume seeing Frigga’s death worked for him in the way being told Odin died worked for Thor in “Thor”. It made him more determinate to protect the person he loved, a.k.a. Sylvie… but it stands up poorly, in part because Loki completely forget Frigga, and how she’s going to die in the TVA approved timeline, in part because, although the Loki and Sylvie love story has cute moments that make you wish you could root for them, in truth that too is poorly constructed, with Loki falling for Sylvie for hazy reasons in less than 12 hours (according to the series because she doesn’t want glorious power, according to the authors because she’s a female variant of himself), in part because… well, it doesn’t really feel consequential, it feels more like it’s me forcing such reading because I’ve heard over and over that what happened in episode 1 is supposed to matter, it’s supposed to have changed Loki somehow and so I’m grasping at straws to fit it in the story when it’s actually just forgotten.

So, the real problem is that the series doesn’t bother showing us Loki changing as a direct consequence of what happened in episode 1 in a way that’s relevant and directly consequential.

Sure, it made many happy to have Loki confirm out loud what many in the fandom already figured out, how he doesn’t enjoy hurting people, that it’s all a play.

Sure, it seems self reflection to have him admit he was a villain.

Sure, since many were deluded into thinking the people at the TVA were on the good side, it might feel like an improvement to see Loki agree to side with them.

Sure, the episode, with its parallelisms to what happened with Tony Stark, made us hope it would lead Loki to ultimately do like him.

But when all is said and done, if you look at the scenes in contest and then watch the following episodes, none of this goes anywhere and it couldn’t go anywhere.

We know originally episode 1 was planned to be very different and end just the same, with Loki accepting to cooperate with the TVA. This means the only things that were relevant in the plot that had to be in episode 1 for the series to work were Loki being captured by the TVA, being forced to acknowledge its power and accepting to work with it.

The so called and overly incensed ‘Mobius therapy session’ wasn’t something so fundamental to the plot the story NEEDED it to work and, ultimately, the story forgot it, to focus on Sylvie and on how SHE was the one who changed Loki (as well as Mobius, albeit Mobius changed him in a smaller measure) turning what happened in episode 1 into some sort of ‘Eastern egg’ for who needed to have his mind refreshed on what happened in the other movies in which Loki starred, albeit as the scenes are decontextualized, if you don’t remember well the movies, you’ll end up drawing the wrong conclusion.

It’s sad because Tom Hiddleston’s performance as he watched those scenes was great, possibly the best in the whole series, I mean I heard plenty of people who totally felt for Loki, me as well, because his pain was so raw, so palpable, and this episode just had this BEYOND HUGE amount of potential to turn Loki into another Iron Man… so it’s so very sad to see that in the end it was all dissipated like a soap bubble, never used so that Mobius and Sylvie could be the ones to cause the change in Loki. Which yes, it’s understandable as the story wanted to give them more relevance but feels like a complete waste of an otherwise good opportunity to have Loki decide for himself, due to what he had learnt, a different course in his life.

But whatever, that’s it. Sad, a waste, but that’s the story they decided to tell us, so it comes to no surprise some weren’t sold there was character development here, while they were willing to buy it in “Iron Man”. The story just didn’t build up on what happened in episode 1; it used it like a filler.

Of course though, people can have other reasons than the ones I’ve listed not to see character development. I can’t speak for everyone who didn’t see it… but I’ll say the ones I listed still could work for many.

Lastly, it’s worth to remark this doesn’t mean episode 1 isn’t enjoyable... it is. Hiddleston’s performance is so damn awesome I’ll never get tired to remark it, Wilson does great and this episode brims with potential. But the sad thing is that it remains unfulfilled, episode 1 just doesn’t deliver what he seems to promise, a change in Loki.

#mcu loki #mcu iron man #loki laufeyson #loki odinson #frigga #mobius m mobius #sylvie #tony stark #ho yinsen #abu bakaar #9 worlds study

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chrysalizzm · 4 years

Text

i uh. realized people follow me now because of uh. you’re human tonight on ao3 asdjgfs

i have content!! behind the scenes content as promised. i do outlines for my fics as a general rule of thumb just because i personally can’t write things to a satisfying finish if i don’t Do That, and so - here are my chapter/plot outlines for you’re human tonight ^^ (i have no idea if this is interesting content or not i thought i’d put it out there because i think outlines are kinda fun hhhh)

chap 1 fundy

subtitle: an inkling

fundy makes an iron golem gone wrong, dream makes it go boom

chap 2 purpled

subtitle: uh oh social interaction

purpled shelters a fugitive, gets his house explosion-proofed as thanks

this is probably gonna be the only chapter with a funny title hh oh well

update: it’s not and i’m pleased with myself for branching out with my dry humor

chap 3 sapnap

subtitle: dust to dust

sapnap’s dying via wither effect, and he knows respawn’s around the corner but goddamn if it doesn’t hurt til then. dream skids in around the nether fortress corner, drops all his weapons cradles sapnap’s head in his hands, has always taken death much harder than anyone sapnap’s ever met. at the last few seconds, when death creeps up like a shroud, dream starts to hum to him hoarsely, pressing his forehead to sapnap’s, and in the final moments sapnap doesn’t hurt at all. the last thing he hears is dream whimpering. he visits dream’s bunker the next day, knocks on the door over and over, but there’s no sign of life there. sapnap shrugs, bites his lip out of guilt for forcing dream to sit there watching him die (if temporarily), and moves on.

the chapter that introduces dream’s primary ability of soothing hurts. put a lot of emphasis on the fact that sapnap ached up until the moment dream started humming, because for dream to do that is pretty frivolous considering once sapnap died he’d respawn and the hurt would just disappear but dream wanted sapnap to have a peaceful last few seconds. emphasize how abnormal it is that withering stops hurting.

chap 4 ponk

subtitle: beaches dry of sugarcane

dream visits ponk after george burns down the first tree. when ponk arrives to the second tree to move in, he realized dream made the tree flourish, grow healthier and bigger.

chap 5 sam

subtitle: fuck this shit i’m out (edit: the official subtitle is “oh god oh fuck”, i changed it last-minute)

dream picks sam’s brain for manhunt strategies while the latter is mining for redstone. sam stumbles upon a spawner and reels back, trips, nearly misses the moment dream sweeps him behind him and his eyes flash beneath the mask and when sam gets back up, dazed, there’s nothing but the splay of cobwebs all over the walls.

chap 6 punz

subtitle: lines drawn

in an unrelated skirmish, punz drives his sword up to the hilt in dream’s chest, relying on respawn for dream to not feel any pain and for punz to get paid. dream doesn’t die. this is understandably alarming.

can we get some funnies in chap? just a few laughs?? a lil funny for mr luke punz man?

can we get some panicky dry humor for real tho because punz strikes me as someone who copes with morbid humor and dream spluttering up blood is def a situation that punz would not know how to deal with

chap 7 wilbur

subtitle: so about that date

wilbur makes platonic moves on dream while dream fake texts his fiance under the table. wilbur also accidentally vents to dream about his little brother tommy and how afraid he is that tommy will get himself hurt for how reckless he is. dream siphons some of his anxiety from him, smiles as they depart from one another. wilbur notes that dream is shaking when they leave.

chap 8 skeppy

subtitle: get wrecked noob

dream walks skeppy through some pvp. when skeppy demands a rematch w tommy and gets a lil stage fright kinda sorta thing, dream siphons his anxiety and his nerves and goes full soccer mom with bad and skeppy loses 5-2 but like!! he won!! against tommyinnit!! HH

is there any mental image nearly as powerful as dream wastaken, the soccer mom

chap 9 jack

subtitle: mandatory volunteering

after tommy goes on another one of his destructive rampages lmao, dream enlists jack, newest-comer, to help him rebuild stuff bc underclassmen have to do whatever upperclassmen tell them to do thems just the rules. after rebuilding a statue near the community house, dream pats it fondly, and when tommy sneaks back to set in on fire for shits and giggles, he finds that it’s fuckin fireproofed AGAIN

rebuild efforts, i promised monuments rebuilt so thats what theyre gonna fuckin Get

chap 10 antfrost

subtitle: twist the knife

ant on what ends up being an unpublicized manhunt: dream stops the manhunt because he’s triggered a raid and by the time the hunters get there, alarmed by the screaming and the fire and dream’s unresponsiveness, the villagers are all dead and there are raider corpses everywhere and dream is lying near the bell on his side, whimpering. (what the hunters don’t know - dream tried to fight off the raid but was overwhelmed and witnessed the village get slaughtered, he took the pain of the villagers that weren’t dead but were dying.)

segment: There’s a reason they do the manhunts, and it’s not just for them to horse around and try to kill one another for a few days. Antfrost is the newcomer but he’s always been good at reading people and from the outset he knew that Dream was someone filled to the brim with the restlessness that characterizes humans, that never-settling wanderlust, and his brain works too fast for the rest of his body sometimes, and he just needs an outlet. It’s part of why he eggs Tommy on in their little war games, why he holds onto those discs even though he doesn’t need them, why he gets that delighted look on his face when someone tells him that Tommy’s griefed them or stolen from them or otherwise ruined their morning. Antfrost thinks the only times he’s ever really seen Dream silent, Dream waiting, Dream unmoving, are when Dream is

chap 11 karl

subtitle: head in the shallows

karl, sapnap, george, and dream have a sleepover after mcc 11. karl, nearest to dream, wakes up when dream starts tossing and turning from a nightmare. when he tries to shake dream awake, dream’s eyes fly open and he slams his fist into the wall behind him and the earth, the literal earth, the entire slab of it, shudders like an earthquake. sapnap and george sleep like the dead, so it’s just karl and dream staring at one another. finally karl asks, concerned, “do you want some tea or water or anything?”

chap 12 hbomb

subtitle: a maid’s burden

“i want to dress up as a maid for fundy,” says hbomb with false bravado. fundy’s fiance levels a very impassive look at him for an awkward minute or two and just when hbomb thinks he’s misread dream and fundy’s relationship dream says “i’ll get you a wig” and the entire chapter is just dream idly twisting the fabric of reality to get hbomb the items he needs to put the outfit together

pranks, i promised pranks, theyre gonna get pranks

chap 13 alyssa

subtitle: message in a bottle (edit: official subtitle is “ship in a bottle”)

alyssa’s leaving, at least temporarily.

alyssa tells dream it’s getting dangerous on his server, doesn’t relish the expression that brings to his face, but he holds her hands and nods and bids her safe journey. when alyssa returns, running for something (later we’ll learn she had heard that dream was bad, that he might be dying), she finds that her house is completely inaccessible by everyone save her, placed in complete stasis by someone.

start of the chapters leading up to festival arc. build unresolved tension in this one.

chap 14 niki

subtitle: life doesn’t discriminate

wilbur and tommy are relentless, they waste no time; niki is willing to wait for it.

the night before the duel, she goes to dream and holds a sword to his throat and demands he call it off, even though she knows it’ll mean little because of respawn, tells him she won’t stop hunting him down until he gives up l’manberg. dream smiles a little sadly and pats her hand and her fright, her rage, it simmers back down, and the anger that had swarmed her and made dream out to be the devil dies down until it’s just her friend, who was playing along with tommy til it got serious and he got cocky, who’s just as in over his head as she is, and maybe niki’s soft but she likes that about herself, that she’s always the first to forgive. niki is looking at the healing cut on dream’s neck, uncovered by any bandages, when dream shoots tommy, a clean shot that causes no suffering.

a long chapter, probably. i think at some point in this i want to mention niki’s respect for dream for apologizing during the first pet war, for not letting things get any bigger until fundy came back. some parallels can be drawn here - that dream let the fire die down in the initial stages of the pet war, that dream won’t let go of the l’manberg war now, and it occurs to niki that she doesn’t know dream nearly as well as she thinks she does if she expected him to act exactly the way he did during the pet war. she’s got what she’s wanted - dream’s remorse, proof of dream’s humanity - even though it’s not in the form niki wanted it.

chap 15 eret

subtitle: crown of thorns

the king in name only consults with the true leader.

they’re both upset about pogtopia’s exile, eret arguably more so because they think their early betrayal of l’manberg somehow butterfly-effected into the current dumpster fire, and as they talk eret works themself into a full panic attack reflecting on things that were, things that could’ve been - and the tide washes out all of a sudden, and eret’s left with the same looming hollowness they’d been feeling before, no dregs of the panic, they’ve never had a panic attack that left them feeling normal after - but dream is now wheezing like he’s about to die and eret immediately walks him through the panic attack, levelheaded even as they’re confused out of their mind.

chap 16 quackity

subtitle: water to blood

quackity is a snake in the grass.

quackity at schlatt’s side during the few weeks of his presidency. he knows schlatt from before, has been his friend, so he knows when his friend is acting off. the cynical, straight-faced humor is still there, his completely bland delivery and brazen showmanship, but it’s twisted to the left somehow, to make it so that those qualities that make up his friend have rotted, hurt people. quackity eventually goes to dream after schlatt first overdoses with a lot of questions, maybe even to confess that his allegiance has begun to shift because he can’t go to pogtopia and he can’t go to schlatt - and dream just gives him a long, sad look before lightly patting quackity’s shoulder and says “i can’t guarantee anything - just that you’ll be safe” and shooing him off and as quackity heads back to manberg he realises all the hostile mobs are avoiding him like the fucking plague.

it’s big q!!!! fattest ass in the cabinet!!!!! pog!!!

fun fact this chapter’s subtitle was almost “chekhov’s gun” until november fucking 16th of 2020

chap 17 tommy

subtitle: most disputes die and no one shoots

tommy learns how a legacy dies.

a compendium of tommy watching the madness consume wilbur. it needs to be emphasized in this chapter that wilbur becomes an entirely different person when they’re ejected from manberg, that he becomes obsessed with the legacy he’s created and watching it crumble is what twists him; when dream gives tommy his crossbow, tommy, out of desperation and a need to have an older sibling again, asks what’s wrong with wilbur; dream’s face hardens and he asks tommy to take dream to wilbur. it’s a terse meeting, the only one they have before techno and before wilbur completely loses it and demands the tnt; wilbur says a lot of things tommy doesn’t understand (it’s complex mythological jargon hinting at dream’s status as a god but could be misconstrued to refer to dream’s status as simply the world owner) and at one point wilbur sneers, “are you trying to play god, dream?” and dream lurches forward and grabs wilbur by the wrist, and there’s a completely silent moment where tommy feels the air suck out of his lungs and there’s an off buzzing in his ears and he fancies he hears something that sounds, just a bit, like dream, whispering desperately wilbur wilbur wilbur it’s me it’s me listen listen listen then a shrieking, acrid wave of no and tommy reels back and when he looks up dream has staggered back, his hand to his mouth, blood dripping from somewhere beneath his mask, sounding like he’s gagging or maybe he’s sobbing, as wilbur shrieks in a voice that is entirely not his “get out get out if i can’t have l’manberg...” and tommy understands, finally, as dream sprints out. that’s not wilbur.

a distinction needs to be made perfectly clear in this chapter, as with schlatt’s chapter: it’s not them. they’ve been twisted out of control by something bigger than them, something that wants to toy with the young god running an oasis of peace for his people. it doesn’t need to be outright said in this fic; in another we can delve into the madness and who did it and why. for now, just make it clear it’s not explicitly anyone’s fault.

chap 18 techno

subtitle: colosseum

dream had to let techno in first, you know.

techno and dream have interacted often - the duel, the championships, they’re friends more than acquaintances now. but techno was called in by someone wearing his brother’s face that he honestly doesn’t recognize from his voice and when he arrives at spawn, before tommy fetches him, he sees dream sitting cross legged waiting for him and they talk about the situation, dream giving techno a quick brief. when tommy comes, crying “techno, this way, this way to pogtopia”, and crossbow bolts are being fired at techno, dream gives him a lil wave goodbye (or what techno thinks is a lil wave goodbye but what actually turns out to be putting a swiftness effect on him).

“that’s not my brother, dream,” says techno, and dream’s mouth wobbles and he says, hoarse, “i know.”

techno Suspects, but only knows that dream has world-manipulating powers and thus standard minor god powers. he doesn’t let dream know he suspects.

chap 19 bad

subtitle: run devil run

bad trusts dream, perhaps against his better judgement.

dream comes to visit bad and skeppy on neutral grounds in the interim leading up to the festival that everyone on the server is side-eyeing and side-stepping. bad considers his friend and the owner of the world as he gives dream an impromptu tour through the escape route he and skeppy have dug out, wonders with a little reproach how dream could let things get to this point, then, soft, gentle as always, acknowledges that dream is only human kindly. when he says that, though, dream’s face crumples, as though those words hurt him more than any criticism bad’s given him in the time he’s known him, as though bad had driven a blade into his heart, and bad doesn’t understand but he lets dream run away from that. when a small flock of creepers explode over the tunnel the night before the festival and bad grumbles that he has to fix it, he learns dream left him with a fortified escape tunnel.

a/n: i’m sure the irony isn’t lost on you.

chap 20 tubbo

subtitle: cadmean victory

what say the sacrificial lamb?

tubbo is coming to terms with the fact that he might not make it out of office in one piece and it’s not his first time respawning but the older members of the server always, always did their best to shield the younger ones from death. he runs into dream by complete coincidence while he’s avoiding pogtopia (mostly wilbur) and manberg (mostly schlatt), caught between two strangers wearing his friends’ faces. he looks at dream, who looks back at him impassively, and tubbo starts to cry, because it finally hits him that even with his death and respawn nothing will be fixed, nothing can change, the poison’s run too deep into the veins of dream’s beautiful little world and now nothing can be right anymore and it feels like he’s shattering into tiny, aching shards - and then dream kneels before him, takes his hands, presses his forehead to them, sighs like his heart’s breaking, and tubbo feels a small calm thread back into him as dream stands abruptly, jittery. dream, with hands that shake, grips tubbo’s shoulder, hovers for a second, then his head jerks up and he bolts into the forest, clambering up a tree with admirable ease and disappearing away into the leaves as schlatt suddenly emerges from the bushes nearby with a joyous, plastic “hey! tubbo!”

chap 21 george

subtitle: lantern burns low

a moment in the night; george is visited by a specter.

dream comes, pale, and asks george if there is anything wrong, is everything okay with you? takes george’s caught-off-guard face in his hands and says george george george, are you - and george catches a glimpse of dream’s powers (is he safe safe does he hurt no but fear but anxiety there are dregs hush now quiet now he is safe all quiet quiet quiet he’s safe) and he says, stricken even as the constant thrum of nervous energy he’d kept with him fades out, “dream what was that,” and dream presses his hands to his mask where his eyes are and says, despairingly, “they don’t get to have you too,” and staggers back out.

george is the first person dream overtly “comes out” to. this is also why george doesn’t see dream til the festival.

chap 22 schlatt

subtitle: the empty throne

dream visits schlatt in his office.

schlatt, possessed by madness, has no idea what he’s saying but it feels right, it’s exactly right, everything is in his hands, and when dream approaches, his hands facing up, is he there is he there yes yes yes tainted polluted this is twisted this is madness madness madness dream reels back, shaking, and schlatt leans in and leers, not even knowing what he’s saying, “you can’t even fix it, young god,” and relishes the way all the color drains from dream’s face.

chap 23 dream (edit: this monster ended up being split into three for pacing purposes and also if i left it together it was gonna be. h. 14K WORDS. also the drama of a cliffhanger at what most people thought was going to be the last chapter was too good to pass up don’t @ me

subtitle: do you feel like a young god?

running, running, running again

finale!! dream takes everyone’s old hurts into himself, takes the madness from schlatt and wilbur, promptly passes the hell out because no one should be doing that, wakes up, gets the shit hugged out of him, and explains a little, and gets told that he’s loved over and over.

i uh! take questions! i like talking about this story, there’s a lot i still want to show, and even apart from that i just really love mcyt haha

#mcyt #young god #chrys writes #you're human tonight #yg meta #long post

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akimmito · 4 years

Text

Heroes are made by the path they choose

Previous | AO3 | Next

___________________________

Chapter 5

Paris News @ParisNewsTWT

Two more victims are confirmed as a result of the bomb, on the way to the hospital an eight-year-old boy and a fifteen-year-old teenager die. We regret the loss and our condolences to the families.

______________

Byakko is the first vigilant to appear on the scene, watching from the rooftops the development of the situation. She was the first to be able to warn the others if they should also arrive, the officers argue while the bomb team checks the perimeter to determine if there are more devices or if there was only one, the forensic team is waiting to move the two bodies. Byakko grimaces, the scene is terrible to watch.

"Byakko, give your report." Max's voice sounds on the other end of the line, only getting the images from the security cameras surviving the explosion, which gives him very little coverage of the scene. He only sees police and paramedics.

"The bomb squad checks the perimeter. You should send someone to see the wounded and find out their condition. I will stay here and speak to the police to offer support. "

"Be careful. "

"Always."She smiles and jumps off the roof to fall behind the coroners, she approaches them to discuss the events and gather information, they will be in charge of investigating further in parallel with the police, as they usually do when they decide to get involved in any case.

While Byakko plunges into the crime scene, Pyxis enters the hospital to await the victims who are still alive. He draws everyone's attention, his black costume with violet and silver is striking enough surrounded by so much white... that and that he's one of the vigilantes, the mask definitely gives the attention call, at least it is not a kind of helmet like that of Byakko. He adjusts his black hair as he stands uncomfortably in an emergency corner, it would be easier if there was someone else with him, but everyone is waiting. He's sure that Felix must be returning from Romania and that Marinette must be preparing to return to the MT without her employees suspecting.

"Pyxis, can you take a picture with my son?" A woman approaches him, looks concerned." They'll take him to emergency surgery and he's scared. "

"Uh, sure…" He grows shy as he walks behind the light brown-haired woman, she also looks scared. The good news is that the hospital has safeguards or it would be an easy target for Akuma, he's relieved that Hawkmoth didn't think to use them until a year before the end of his reign of terror. The Akuma created by emotions born from traumatic problems are much more dangerous than the common ones, they are dangerous and the situation that just happened can become a trigger.

As they advance to the space where the child waits on a stretcher, sends a message to Max so that he can get the information from the families and they can be located, it is better to avoid more victims in the tragedy. When he has done so, he approaches the little boy with a friendly smile.

"Hi, what's your name?" He slides into the chair next to him.

"Francis. "

"Nice to meet you, Francis. I'm Pyxis, do you know me?" The boy nods, his eyes sparkling with excitement and fear. "I know you are afraid, I also have fear all the time. "

"Really? But you fight the bad guys and don't panic. "

"Yes, we are scared, but we can't let him beat us or the bad people will win too." At that moment the doctors enter, the boy's mother took a picture of the interaction of the two, much more natural than just posing. "I will keep an eye on you, we will see you when you return. "

Francis is encouraged and says goodbye when nurses and doctors take him to surgery. Pyxis sits for a moment and then gets up, just in time to see the commotion. One of the wounded is transferred to the area where he's located and seeing a pregnant woman with a completely unmade leg is distressing. They don't leave her for long in the area, different doctors come and talk to each other and to the paramedics. It's a distressing little chaos.

"Hi." He leans over to the young woman and places his gloved hand on the bloody reddish hair, reminds her of Nathaniel's and the mental image doesn't help him smile to calm her down. "I know it hurts, I know you're afraid, but the doctors will find a way to help you. "

She barely nods, shedding tears, her gray eyes look almost glass, the blood runs where the tears flow.

"Pyxis, will you allow us?" One of the doctors talks and he nods, walking away. He leaves the care area and watches the small chaos, some family members congregate and two bodies are taken to the hospital morgue.

Since becoming Pyxis there had been no terrorist attack, after Hawkmoth, Paris seemed a little bleak and gray. Tourism had not diminished, but it certainly was not as lively as it had been years before and just when everything seems to be recovering, Akuma and terrorist attack, an incredible combo. It gives he a bad feeling.

__________

Agatha @WhiskyMyLife

Pyxis is in the hospital cheering for the victims and their families. He's quite an angel, absurdly adorable for an adult man with an alpha male voice.

#OwnParisAngel #MTPyxis

Héros parisiens @MTHeroes

Byakko at the Louvre and Pyxis at the hospital. Will Black Metal appear? They are the closest to civilians.

#MTPyxis #MTByakko

_________

While at the MT headquarters, the other members gather around the round table in the main room where the mother computer is located. Max keeps his eyes on every security camera trying to find something, he even rescued the last few hours before the explosion of the corrupted files, maybe it's time to replace the cameras technology and make them connected to the MT database, just someone with the Oracle level of Batman partners could access that data and that would help them more. Max nods to himself by opening a file to start the project, but leave it that way until the current problem is addressed.

"I think the heroes should go too, now that they're back to business. The negative feelings surrounding the situation should be enough to justify their patrolling, as well as generating much more hope than the MT can offer. "Felix speaks after a few minutes.

"Yeah, that will help lower negative emotions. Red Fox, Rakkīgāru and Abeilla, you three will go to patrol the surrounding areas, be on the lookout for any butterflies. We will provide support if any situation arises. "Marinette gives the order and the three mentioned nod, soon, Kagami, Nathaniel and Chloe transform and Kaalki opens a portal for them in front of Notre Dame.

"We'll be watching the communications." Marinette smiles and nods to Kagami, she was just beginning to relax and a terrorist attack happens. The bad part of this is that there is no cure that can save you all, you just have to accept the natural course of life, even if it was caused by someone else.

When they are gone, there are only five left in the room.

Max programs one of the screens to present the international news about what happened, they can't get news about anything related to prodigies outside of France, but since this has nothing to do with it, its broadcast is not prohibited. Among the images they can see Byakko with the officers and as it's live, in the distance they can see the Red Fox figure passing by. So used to running on the rooftops, they know fast routes to move and thanks to the improved skills of the wonders, they come quickly wherever.

Damian frowns, annoyed at having to do nothing, but he can't just complain when faced with such a situation. They have sent all those who can be useful, he would not be for the simple reason that he despises people and doesn't have a good relationship with them. He is aware of the comments, even though just being on two patrols was enough to earn him a reputation as an infamous demon boy. Stupid woman and her sensitive brat.

"If an Akuma appears, we will go except for Sabik and Equuleus, they will stay here and handle the situation from a distance. As long as our new villain doesn't know that the snake is active, the easier it will be for us. Damian, you will join as Thuban for the protection of civilians, Akuma born from such situations are dangerous and we can't trust the miracle cure. "Dealing with civilians, perfect.

"Yes, mother." He sits with his arms crossed, he doesn't like it, but at least they won't leave him relegated to staying with Max and Luka, it would be frustrating, although he understands that their positions are important. He prefers to be in the field and face his enemies head-on. His mother has not even taken him to any of his case investigations, he only goes with Felix and occasionally with Kagami; He can also be useful and even better than them.

"Byakko and Pyxis will maintain positions and, if necessary, help protect civilians. "

Everyone makes some kind of confirmation.

Luka slides into the chair next to Max, slips on the headphones to be part of the connections, and helps check out video from some of the surrounding cameras. The tension is palpable in the room, everyone is silent and there is only an occasional small conversation.

Marinette pulls out her phone and makes a publication, in addition to sending a message to Hugo to take out a certain amount of money and buy medical supplies to be sent to the hospital, in addition to making a donation to families and the city to repair the damage caused by the bomb. Max is also doing his part and a statement of commitment is given for KanTech to replace all cameras in the city with much more advanced ones that help detect artifacts (he has certainly been working on something like that associated with two other companies, including Wayne Tech). Felix says nothing, he's in Romania for everyone and it's not even his city, but he can be supportive considering that his friends and associates are from there. Maybe tomorrow.

_____________

Marie L. @MarieLenoir

It is outrageous that an attack like this happens as we try to recover from the impact of the butterfly's return. I hope the MT catches the one responsible.

Max K. @MaxKan_Tech

I promise to replace every security camera on the streets of Paris for the greater security of my fellow citizens. I will not allow them to catch us off guard again, I will work with the MT and the police for a more adequate follow-up.

Polaris Vermilion @Elgato_Solaris

In a few years, Paris will belong to Lenoir. @MarieLenoir will become a @BruceWayneOfficial for Paris. Remember my words, she already has an animal shelter and seven of the fourteen Akuma shelters are funded by her, recently rumors have been heard that Lady Black will also be a wine brand.

Héctor de Troya @EpicAdveturerHector

@Elgato_Solaris She's affiliated with the Graham de Vanily, is a business partner of @KanTech and Sabine & Tom Boulangerie.

Héctor de Troya @EpicAdveturerHector

@Elgato_Solaris She finances two arts schools, one in Paris and the other in Bremen, she's also co-owner of a Spanish publisher (anyone explain this to me?) and has recently started to finance a project for the protection of endangered birds in America.

Polaris Vermilion @Elgato_Solaris

@EpicAdventurerHector Our own billionaire philanthropist.

Lalaland @ LaLa-235Vick

@Elgato_Solaris @EpicAdventurerHector Actually, it's estimated that within three years she could enter the 100 richest people in the world, if the rumors of various businesses under the signature of Lady Black are true.

Theo @ ArtisgratiaArts_009

@Elgato_Solaris @EpicAdventurerHector @ LaLa-235Vick Is it really important? They are making it a trend and it's more urgent that victims know our support.

_________

ALERT MONARCH

AKUMA! AKUMA AKUMA! AKUMA!

Location: District VI.

Escape routes: ****

Nearby shelters: ****

Emergency number: ****************

______________________

Marinette wants to hit her head against a wall, she really hoped there wouldn't be an Akuma in the distressing situation, but her hope was in vain. Max quickly locates it through the cameras, at least after the first attack they learned that the Akuma are a white point when infrared vision is activated, luckily, that option was incluided along with the night mode.

"The Akuma is moving toward the Luxembourg Palace, is the senate still in session?"

"Why would the Akuma go to the senate?" Damian questions without understanding, that he knows the Akuma don't lose reasoning, they only focus on the trigger of their negative emotion.

"Maybe he's not going after them, maybe he's just taking it as his route..." Marinette mutters, biting her left thumb, they're following the Akuma's route through satellite cameras. "Well, we will find out. Team, we have an Akuma to face. "

"I'm going to get dressed..." Damian mutters in a bad mood, they are going to transform and leave immediately, he still has to get dressed and will be relegated to taking care of the civilians. Annoying.

Max is watching to see if he begins to use his powers, but he is only moving. It looks like out of a Neon Genesis Evangelion chapter, if someone asks he, as long as it doesn't come up with a biblical name, enough for him. He decides to transform to make transportation easier, especially since Thuban will also have to pass later.

Ladynoir is the first to go through the portal, followed by Jade Shield. The portal closes immediately, only to reopen when Damian appears dressed as Thuban. This time, it opens next to the Church of Saint-Sulpice, since a building was built next to it that serves as a refuge, he runs to the populated sectors to help them, especially if the Akuma decides to attack.

From his location he has a direct view of the Akuma, its size is not very subtle and he wonders what kind of ability it will have. A large golden rhombus flying over Paris is something that easily attracts attention.

Suddenly a chirp is heard that stuns everyone, the children near him start crying from the pain. The screeching is followed by a thick layer of smoke that quickly covers them.

Damian begins to feel airless and in front of him, his biological mother appears.

____________

Jason @IAmYisus_XD

I was calmly watching the news when one appeared about Paris, an terrorist attack after almost ten years without having one. That's not important, were there two vigilantes on screen? Since when does Paris have vigilantes?

Little Little Sun @ ErasmusLS_564

@IAmYisus_XD For seven years? I went on vacation to Paris, I was caught in a bank robbery and they appeared, the MT. A group of very cool vigilantes, they are 10 in the team and they only needed two to solve the problem.

Jason @IAmYisus_XD

@ErasmusLS_564 Seriously? It wasn't like bank robberies here, was it?

Little Little Sun @ ErasmusLS_564

@IAmYisus_XD It was not the same lvl of insanity, but according to the news these robbers had already robbed large banks in London & Spain without success in their capture. It was incredible to see Suzaku and Corvus destroy the group without wreaking havoc or damage to the plce

Roy @RoyHarperQ

@IAmYisus_XD @ ErasmusLS_564 Can you give us their names? I would like to know more.

Little Little Sun @ ErasmusLS_564

@IAmYisus_XD @RoyHarperQ Sure. Women: Suzaku, Seiryuu, Byakko, and Genbu. Men: Black Metal, Caelum, Pyxis and Corvus. Child: Thuban, is the most recent and is a little demon boy according to twitter. He stays close to Suzaku or Corvus, theories say that heis his son

Jason @IAmYisus_XD

@ ErasmusLS_564 @RoyHarperQ Wasn't they 10?

Little Little Sun @ErasmusLS_564

@IAmYisus_XD @RoyHarperQ Yup. Augur doesn't come out, but we know it's there. He's a kind of sentinel, we know why they communicate with him.

Roy @RoyHarperQ

@IAmYisus_XD @ ErasmusLS_564 Who is the orange fox-like one? He also appeared in the news footage.

Little Little Sun @ ErasmusLS_564

@IAmYisus_XD @RoyHarperQ Oh he. I'm not sure of his name, but Paris is quite unique. It's as if Batman and Superman protecting the same city, the vigilantes are in charge of the crimes and the heroes... of the big problem. I can't say more.

Jason @IAmYisus_XD

@ ErasmusLS_564 @RoyHarperQ Heroes and Watchers? What is there? Gotham 2.0?

Little Little Sun @ ErasmusLS_564

@IAmYisus_XD @RoyHarperQ No... The city just has its own fun stuff.

__________

If the other identity has not been mentioned, I will not say it. Marie: Ladynoir/Suzaku Felix: Jade Shield/Corvus Chloe: Lady Abeilla/Genbu Alix: Byakko Kagami: Rakkīgāru/Seiryū Nathaniel: Red Fox/Caelum Luka: Sabik/Black Metal Max: Equuleus/Augur Marc: Pyxis Damian: Tunin/Thuban

#maribat #dickinette #dick x marinette #ml x dc

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starship-imzadi · 3 years

Text

S5 E12 Violations

This opening immediately brings to mind the "repressed memories" craze in psychology in the 1980's and 1990's. The "fad" has since become regarded as incredibly harmful and dangerous as human memory can be quite malleable and undependable. A lot of people were treated to believe they had repressed memories of horrible abuse and sexual trauma in their childhoods, made horrible accusations, for events that never actually happened. Not only do these fabrication create real trauma and ruin relationships, they also delegitimize the actual trauma and abuse others have suffered and very much remembered from their childhoods.

Now, that isn't quite applicable to this episode, but this episode has some heavy moments and perhaps the worst abuse, out of all the abuse, Troi suffers through the series, and I want to address it the best I can.

"father, you know you're not supposed to probe someone's memory unless they've given you permission."

A.k.a. you have to get consent

"you are right, but sometimes with a beautiful woman I cannot help myself."

Red flag?! But not the red flag we're looking for. (Still: not appropriate) Beverly's laugh doesn't seem like acceptance to me, rather it's the socially acceptable way for women to cope with remarks that certain men think are flattering but are actually creepy. In a post #metoo world my hope is that as a society this is understood better than when this episode aired. I'm sure for many women it's just as evident as it ever was.

To be clear, this memory reading isn't sexual. What it is, is intimate. For whatever reason no other type of telepathy in Star Trek is depicted as a high form of intimacy, except for the now forgotten telepathic link that Troi and Riker have (which was formed because of the closeness of their relationship). But, to have access to someone's mind would be an incredible vulnerability, the sharing of one's mind a great intimacy, and the invasion of one's mind a great violation. A strong analogy for these is sexuality.

I want to make this distinction because there are violations and intimacies that are not sexual, and I think allowing for a broader analogy makes this a stronger story.

This conversation between Geordi and Data about memory feels like exposition to explain the concept to the audience. But, it seems to misrepresent some of the finer points, like how human recall and triggering recall actually works, how neurological structure and age factors in, how trauma effects memory, or in fact how humans encode specific memory or general concepts (like remembering the layout of your childhood home.)

"perhaps you would like to resurrect solve memories"

Is Beverly flirting with Picard? Or just teasing him

This scene with Troi brushing her hair and drinking hot chocolate is.... incredibly frustrating. Because of the "on again off again" or complete neglect of the story between Troi and Riker's relationship. Why have we never seen this part of their relationship before? Where does it fit it? I've seen people question at which point the memory becomes manipulated, wondering if Riker would ever force himself on Troi...which I would categorically say: no he would not.

"imzadi we can't, not when we're serving on the same ship"

"have you stopped thinking about us, just answer that" "I can't stop thinking about you"

They're clearly on the Enterprise, and Riker has a beard, and it could feasibly be somewhere in the past three and a half seasons. As the audience we are not privy to the original memory free of Jev's manipulations.

"Do you know what she was doing when this happened?" Riker's voice is so gentle.

Beverly's little smile as she walks in and sees Riker talking to Troi is exactly how I feel. "I miss you. Please don't stay away too long." Is so sweet and a bit heartbreaking.

Now, we see an apparent memory of Riker's. Troi's memory seemed to be hazy and pink like an old romance filter might be in black and white, but Riker's memory is distorted and stretched, and both have distorted and slowed audio. By contrast, Keiko's memory had no visual or audio distortion at all. Riker's apparent memory is feasible like Troi's.

Troi's assault is what almost everyone focuses on, because the "violation" of the episode is seen as an analogy to rape and because this element is inexplicably used again in the film Nemesis. However, I would like to point out that the two memories shown up until this point are both memories of vulnerability. The memory with Troi isn't just about sex, it's about the intimacy she has with Riker, a relationship they both want but don't feel like they're allowed to have. Riker's memory is of vulnerability of those under his command, as he has to actively make a choice that will kill a crew member to save the rest of the ship. His crew is ultimately his responsibility, their lives are in his hands, and he has to carry the responsibility of their deaths under his command.

Now we see Beverly's apparent memory. Her's is also a clear instance of vulnerability: seeing her dead husband's body. This memory is most likely of the three we see to have some reality to it. We do know that her husband died and Picard was the one to tell her and Wesley of his death. (It's mentioned in the pilot episode and in "The Bonding")

Rethinking the search parameters is incredibly clever on Geordi's part and he deserves more credit for it. It's almost... intellectually refreshing to see rather than a simple solution, and I applaud the writer who wrote this bit.

If Riker wasn't still in a coma he would be right by Troi's side.

"I'm remembering something from a few years ago" so, it is a memory, they're all actual memories, up until a point. "It's not Will, sombody's taken his place." when the person in her memory is hurting her the face isn't initially shown, we can't see who it is. But, before when the memory was safe and positive, we could see Will's face.

(the background soundtrack is a little too much and the whole sequence of Troi in pain makes me really uncomfortable.) And Worf and Picard.... don't react except Picard, very conservatively, places a comforting hand on her shoulder. Which fits with his decorum and all things considered is really, really sweet.

"A perverse source of pleasure perhaps. A need to exercise control over another." Even though Troi's memory was romantic or sexual in nature and through Jev's manipulation has the strongest direct parallel to literal sexual assault, rape is ultimately about power, the assertion of power, domination without consent. It is in direct opposition to intimacy, sexual or non sexual. intimacy is vulnerability plus trust and safety, regardless of what that vulnerability is.

I just realized the Ullian coats remind me of paper snow flakes.

I've seen some people confused that after everything that has happened why Jev would jeopardize himself by going to Troi. He seems to honestly like Troi, in whatever way he can, but at the same time is not in control of his impulses and desires, and whatever he likes about her is warped into his sick desire to overpower her. It's fantastic to see Troi fight back; Jev talks about how fragile she is, and it's important that we see that she is in fact NOT how he sees her.

"this form of rape" here is the first time the word is specifically used BUT I want to reiterate that Troi, Riker, and Beverly have all been subjected to this trauma.

It's good, and nice to know, that they will be getting counseling and help to process through what has happened. It's not always but on occasion TNG acknowledges that its characters have suffered with potential long term ramifications.

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catharticboredom · 4 years

Text

This post was initially written however many months ago when the game was first out and I only came back to it now, so it’s probably all over the place and very rambly and may train of thought then might have been diff to now, but anyways these were/are just my general thoughts about how i would potentially rewrite TLOU2 to not be shit. Again it’s just more of my scattered thoughts so there is not much cohesion or structure, but whatever

I feel like revenge plots are so fucking stupid in the setting of a post-apocalyptic setting. Like unless you 100% know where the person you want to go is, why the fuck would you go across the country to a place where they may or may not be. Like I get “rEvEngE mAkEs yOu dO sTUpiD thINgs” but, this is obfuscatingly stupid, like as in shit writing. I’m pretty sure the reason they scrapped the “Tess ruthlessly tracks down Joel for revenge” storyline for the first game was bc they realized how stupid it was.

So what if it was like this: we see Ellie and Joel’s life more in Jackson, where we spend more time in it, similar to the segments where we see “everyday life” in the WLF camps. It is here where we would establish more of Dina and Ellie’s relationship + the trio’s (ie those two + Jesse) friendship. Maybe we get more of Joel and Tommy interacting with each other, where maybe things are still tense but they are mending their relationship. The museum scene doesn’t happen yet though.

The one scene where Ellie confronts Joel in the bar, maybe because she sees a dead Firefly, and then Joel gets caught in a lie or something, or his story doesn’t match up with what he said last time, or Joel starts acting guilty/strange. Maybe this is where the big fight between the two happens, maybe later, but anyways, Ellie decides to straight up leave town, or at least run away for a bit. Maybe Ellie goes home to pack her shit, and Dina, seeing how distraught Ellie is wondering what’s going on/is everything alright, but E is like “no I just gotta get out of this place (Jackson), I’m sorry”. Dina can then be like “okay babe, I’m with you no matter what.”

They go on a “vacation” of sorts, making the light-hearted moments a lot less out of place and not as tonally off. Ellie is still distant with Dina, but D doesn’t press her too much on it. Maybe Jesse wanted to follow the two of them to make sure they were safe, or maybe he overheard Joel saying the two had run off. More trio antics with no dumb love triangle. Maybe Jesse doesn’t show up at all, idk. Anyways, at one point, Ellie and Dina come across something/someone that triggers Ellie’s resentment of Joel re: the Fireflies incident, which leads her to do something reckless and so WLF/Seraphites/infected descend upon E and D. After the chaos (where E’s mask breaks similarly to how it is in the game), Dina demands Ellie tell the truth about her immunity and what went on at the FF hospital. There is tension between the two but they eventually make up, when Ellie admits she probably would have done the same for Joel, but still resents him for taking that choice away from her and lying to her all this time, and then Dina is like “the FF’s also took away your choice too, they didn’t even ask you before deciding to cut you open”.

Meanwhile Joel and Tommy are on a mission to bring E + D back home. Maybe they come across Abby, and she realizes who Joel is, and she says that she tried looking for him in Jackson but no one would say where he was, so she and the other former fireflies attacked the town. A brawl ensues or some shit but Abby manages to get away. Tommy and Joel race back to town to make sure everyone is okay. Tommy then chastises Joel for putting everyone in danger for his own actions, and he either kicks Joel out of town or says that he is out of town once Ellie comes back. Joel, realizing that he is now alone, angsts it up or something and goes after Ellie on his own. Tommy refused to go with him bc he is obviously mad, but maybe there is a shot of him watching J go, implying T may follow.

E + D come across Yara and Lev running from the Seraphites bc Yara did something drastic to save Lev. This can parallel Ellie and Joel’s conflict, bc maybe Lev doesn’t agree with what Yara did. Lev also does something drastic to save Yara, and Ellie realizes the lengths to which she would go to to protect the ones she loves.

Anyways Joel is on his little journey to find Ellie, and idk he gets into a kerfuffle which Tommy of all ppl saves him from. He has been following Joel the entire time or something, and is like “I still hate you but I also love you so I’ll help you this one last time”.

Eventually J + T and E+ D meet up (Yara and Lev have now set upfront on their own journey where neither dies anticlimactically or is deadamed repeatedly). Idk maybe Abby comes across them again and tries to kill them all, but Joel sacrifices himself to save them. In his final act of glory, he kills Abby and the other fireflies after them, to prevent them from ever coming after the town or Ellie (let’s say that the FFs hate Ellie too to make this more cohesive lol), but he is fatally wounded. As Joel dies to his injuries after his sacrifice, he apologizes to both Tommy and Ellie, and Ellie finally forgives him.

Then we cut to Ellie and Dina living happily together on their little farm. I forget if I said Dina was pregnant or not, but regardless they have a kid or some shit and Uncle Jesse pops in now and then. Tommy and Maria are living in Jackson running it, maybe they take in Yara and Lev idk. And it ends with Ellie playing that song Joel sang to her at the beginning of the game.

Basically instead of the game being about “HATE” it focuses on the direct consequences of Joel’s actions on his relationships with the ones he loves, instead of on new random characters like Abby.

#long post

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casually-inlove · 6 years

Note

I'm a bit curious about the change in He Tian's attitude towards Mo in some earlier 2016 moments. He looked like he was playing around with Mo and even taunt him then, but the kiss came out of nowhere, and he is now having a crush on the boy. What do you think that makes him interested in Mo in the first place, and at which point did he start taking their friendship seriously, and started loving Mo?

Hey there, anon!

That’s a fabulous question actually. At some point, I also wondered what it was that made He Tian interested in Momo to begin with, or when this transition actually happened, and I was addling my head a lot over it, lol. I can only speculate here, but nonetheless here goes.

First of all, let’s take a look at how OX initially presented He Tian. We saw a wealthy, privileged and somewhat snobbish boy, who enjoyed top grades and enduring popularity among other students. Hell, even the teachers were fond of him, while girls flocked around He Tian every break. Whatever he said or mentioned was being met with giggles and bashful sighs. You get the picture.

Unfortunately, it’s all but a pretty wrapping. In reality, none of those people knows who He Tian really is. We as readers know that in fact, He Tian suffers from profound loneliness. We know that despite all that money, he barely has any noteworthy personal possessions. That he still experiences the aftershocks of childhood traumas. That his relationships with his family are deeply fractured. People who surround He Tian on a daily basis could be described as sycophants. Their adoration towards him is pretty shallow. They are so crazy about him why exactly? Because he’s handsome, rich, popular, etc. Not saying that it’s a bad reason to like someone, but it’s not particularly meaningful either.

Anyway, this leads me to my main point. He Tian is used to that sort of shallow attention and plays along with it for his own reasons. He’s used to people nearly applauding him for whatever he does. He’s used to people wanting to be near him. If we think back to his childhood, we’ll see that instead of a mother he had been (apparently) surrounded by maids (?), who were hired to care for him (and that’s apparently why he’s so bad at house chores, haha).

Case and point: he’s used to being in the center of attention and having people bend over to his whims.

And then… cue Mo Guan Shan, who gives zero fucks about He Tian. Who gives zero fucks about his popularity or his money, who has the balls to tell him to bugger off in the rudest ways possible. Momo doesn’t dance to his tune, and that’s something new to He Tian, something he hadn’t experienced before.

So… Momo comes off as belligerent, dirty-mouthed school bully who is contemptuous towards those rich and powerful (he has reasons for that, but still Momo’s view is tinted through his own childhood experiences). There’s raw honesty in Mo Guan Shan and that initially fascinates He Tian. Let’s admit it: He Tian comes off as being bored or somewhat indifferent towards life. The fact that there’s one person who doesn’t bow and kowtow before him is refreshing. That’s probably one of the reasons why He Tian hires Mo to cook and clean for him in the first place. He’s bored and Mo is the cure to his boredom. A cure that runs his mouth, threatens to knock his teeth out and outright calls him fake and dangerous, haha.

If I were to give a Tvtrope to this one, it would be “I love you because I can’t control you”. He Tian cannot approach MGS normally, like how he would have approached anyone else. Friendly attitude doesn’t work with him. Momo truly reminds me of a stray dog that is used to people treating it so badly that it would bite the hand that tried to pet it. There’s also a matter of MGS being very prideful. That raw honesty of his doesn’t fade away even when He Tian gives him beatings or pays him to do house chores. Sure, he takes the money but he never sugarcoats his attitude, never hides his distaste for He Tian and people like him. He makes it clear that he HATES every second of being near HT or in his apartment, yet he manages to put it aside when needed.

Anyway, I digress. I believe that fascination on He Tian’s part had been rather instantaneous. It may have very well happened during the fight between XiXi and MGS. Momo has shown that he didn’t follow any rules, and literally had a savagely pragmatic side to him (when he used a stone to hit XiXi). That was probably the moment when HT’s curiosity was aroused. He’s not used to seeing people like that.

The kiss scene is also very telling. From the easiness with which He Tian invades personal bubbles of the others, we can surmise that he thinks it’s no big deal, and if it’s no big deal to him, he literally thinks it’s the same way for everyone else. As I mentioned before, he’s used to people being willing to “give in” to him, hence he seems to have a mindset that he can take whatever he wants (like a spoiled brat, haha) and that nobody ever would mind — precisely because they are willing to begin with. This fails with MGS. Not only he reacts violently, he begins crying. That’s absolutely not the kind of reaction He Tian was expecting; you can blatantly see it written all over his face. He even asks Momo if he finds HT disgusting.

I believe that’s when He Tian actually felt a pang of guilt for his doings. The way Mo Guan Shan reacted is extremely human and understandable. Someone he DESPISED came up and forcefully pushed their tongue into his mouth, forced him into a kiss that is by all means just another taunt or a joke, not to mention that by the looks of it, it was his first kiss — something that in many cultures is considered to be nearly sacred. And He Tian probably for the first time in his life experienced a rejection. He wanted someone who didn’t want him, and there’s nothing his cool reputation or money could do about it. He also realized that he disgusted somebody — also something new to him. The novelty of it all, the unexpected guilt — these are the new feelings in his otherwise stale daily life. Mo Guan Shan made him experience something dramatically different.

Another point is that there are rather obvious parallels drawn between Momo and that puppy He Tian used to care for. He saved that puppy from a violent mountain torrent and nursed it back to health, just like he saved Mo from She Li and the angry mob later. He Tian’s failure to protect that puppy from “death” (like He Cheng made him believe) is one of the unresolved issues of his past, which he tries to rectify (or I should rather say, prevent from repeating itself) with Mo Guan Shan. Subconsciously he might be projecting that dog onto Mo Guan Shan, although he seems to be very much aware of his own associations, as he calls Momo his puppy.

During the time He Tian spends taunting and forcing Mo to do stuff, he learns things that make him admire Mo. Like Mo’s refusal to sugarcoat his attitude, the fact that he’s shouldering a heavy financial burden, that he’s actually extremely hardworking, that he has pride and doesn’t entertain shallow ideas of being someone’s monkey on a display even for a princely reward. He Tian discovers traits that he likes. He Tian discovers that under that hard-shell hides someone very honest and raw.

Lastly, if you think about it, Momo and He Tian are somewhat very similar: both of them have been marked by isolation. Mo has been ostracized because of his father’s imprisonment, and grew up being mistreated by likes of She Li and possibly looked down on due to his poverty. He’s withdrawn into a shell out of fear of being hurt, and he the way he views others is marked by suspicion and trust issues. He’s used to people acting nasty to him and, as sad as it sounds, to Mo this is a normal occurrence. What’s abnormal and suspicious is when somebody pulls a random act of kindness on him. And that’s what makes him think “why? what’s their agenda? what’s the catch?”. He Tian, on the other hand, is isolated because of his money and family influence. People who surround him are sycophants, those fangirls and fanboys, whereas in reality not only they don’t care for who he is, they probably wouldn’t even believe if he admitted to being a broken bird. Cause that’s unfathomable, right? Someone who has been born with a silver spoon in their mouth cannot be unhappy or hurting or alone. On top of that, he also has experienced his trust shattered, by his older brother, no less. He feels betrayed. He Tian is just as lonely — if not more — as Momo. So I guess that makes them — two coyotes from the same hill? Or how that Chinese “two peas in the pod/birds of a feather flock together” saying goes, haha. But even still, Momo has something that He Tian never had: someone to love and fight for (Mo’s mom), a home where he’s cherished. I think on subconscious level He Tian craves that, and Momo enables him to vicariously live that life he never had. Does it even make sense? xD

At which point He Tian’s playing around grew into something more serious? I think the kiss episode was akin to a bucket of cold water doused over He Tian’s head that made him reconsider some of his ways. What really triggered his desire to help MGS was probably the plot devised by She Li and the consequent fight. It may have made him suspect that MGS with his financial issues is far more vulnerable to shady vultures than he initially thought and that MGS is walking on an edge here. A little push to the wrong side and he would end up in deep shit. It’s after that fight that He Tian realizes how much Momo is shouldering by himself, and it’s then when we see him try helping him, like getting him a part-time job in that photography studio. Incidentally, it’s also when he’s started to find out Momo’s other sides. Like him being industrious, or unwilling to entertain an idle crowd of onlookers, etc.

Undoubtedly, He Tian’s feelings grew after the mob fight, where Momo got badly injured. We actually see him scared of losing MGS. Not to mention his consequent visit to his father — well they do say absence makes the heart grow fonder. It’s also clear to me that Momo’s display of care (during He Tian’s nightmare) had a big impact on HT. That’s when his violent tendencies of forcing Mo gradually fizzled out and became a lot more playful.

So all in all, He Tian probably started to gain feelings once he realized that Momo had his reasons to act like a delinquent, and that underneath it all there lay a person with integrity, who had been simply disenchanted by life and the circumstances that befell on his shoulders.

Whelp, that’s again a long-ass post. These are but my speculations and I don’t aspire for it to be 100% accurate, but I think I jammed in most of my ideas here.

#19 days #tianshan #he tian #mo guan shan #ask #old xian #q&a time

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buckyistired · 5 years

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Why Bucky Barnes Isn’t Damaged Goods, Take Two

Since tumblr is a big ol butthead and ate my first post on the subject, and I apparently write essays on Bucky Barnes for fun, here is take two on why Bucky Barnes isn’t damaged goods. Why should I care enough to spend another several hours re-writing this? Because it is not ok to call survivors of traumatic events damaged. Period. End of story. It was a lousy choice of words that could easily be misinterpreted, and I would have been willing to leave it at that, if the writers and directors didn’t keep talking and digging that hole a little deeper. So...here we go. Again. I’m on my soapbox and the view is great.

In less than an hour of screen time over seven films, the Marvel Cinematic Universe gave us a complex, beloved character that walks the line between victim and villain with a murder-strut swagger. Bucky Barnes is as lonesome and dangerous as he is charming and sarcastic. Many fans have fallen in love or seen themselves reflected in Bucky’s trials and triumphs; he’s truly an awesome, multi-faceted character, but unfortunately, fans seem to be of the few who realize this.

Recent comments made by both MCU directors and writers regarding Bucky’s mental state have…bothered me and I thought, well, let’s examine the evidence that Bucky is damaged, shall we?

Obligatory disclaimer: I am not a mental health professional; I have PTSD and use these strategies myself, but nothing I’ve written should preclude you from seeking a professional opinion if you need it. Talking with a therapist about my PTSD helped me get light years ahead in terms of recovery. Whatever path you choose, take care of you.

What is PTSD?

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition that's triggered by a terrifying event — either experiencing it or witnessing it.

Does Bucky Barnes have PTSD?

By definition, Bucky has experienced or witnessed the following traumatic events:

WWII. Bucky served as an active soldier during WWII, in the trenches and on the battlefields. He was a distinguished sniper and a Sergeant, which means he witnessed and contributed to the war effort to an even further degree. Many soldiers had “battle fatigue” or “shell shock” during the war; it is not unlikely that Bucky would have experienced this from WWII alone if he had survived and returned home.

Prisoner of War. Bucky was captured and tortured as a prisoner of war, not once, but twice. He was experimented on in his time in Azzano, before he was captured again by Zola/Hydra.

The Fall. Bucky shouldn’t have survived the fall from the train in the Alps. He watched as Steve tried to save him and failed, and he was cognizant as he fell to his presumed death and as he was then captured.

Disability. As established in flashback scenes, Bucky was conscious when he fell from the train and as he was being pulled through the snow by his captors (who he may have assumed were saviors at that point, double ouch). He woke up to his arm being removed and replaced. This kind of permanent change to his body would be difficult enough to work through in a peaceful recovery environment. We know that Bucky didn’t get that luxury.

Hydra/The Winter Soldier decades. The cryochamber. Being strapped to a table and experimented on. The chair. Having no control over your own mind or body. Being forced to murder; being trapped in a continuous war. This torture lasted for 70 years.

Civil War. Free from Hydra, Bucky is trying to live the good life, keep his head down, and stay out of trouble. Then boom, he’s blamed for a bombing that kills how many people? And he’s right in the middle of Tony and Steve’s fallout? Oh, and he loses his arm, again? And then he willingly goes back into cryofreeze? Ok. That’s like 16 traumatic events in the space of 24-48 hours, also known as Bucky Barnes and the No Good Very Bad Day.

Battle Against Thanos and The Snapture, Part 1. Just as Bucky gets to the point where he’s living the good live and recovering from the trauma that has been pretty much his entire life, Thanos shows up, and Bucky is off to another battlefield. Then, he dies. Sort of. Again. How many times is this now?

Battle Against Thanos and The Snapture, Part 2. Bucky gets unsnapped and has approximately two seconds of “yay!” before he is again fighting on a battlefield for his life and the lives of those he cares about and oh, for the entire world.

A common thread here is that all of these traumatic experiences included a near brush with death or a near constant threat to his person. We don’t even really know the extent of the trauma Bucky endured when he was captured by Hydra. Regardless, I just listed eight different traumatic events that Bucky has experienced or witnessed. I think, yes, it’s safe to say that poor Bucky has PTSD, big-time.

So, is Bucky Barnes damaged?

No. Bucky Barnes is an individual who have survived more than his fair share of traumatic events, and as such, his brain has had to compensate for how he thinks, processes, and responds to stimuli. He does, at one point, suffer from literal brain damage from the chair, but we are shown in Black Panther that Shuri has healed the physical damage to his brain.

If Bucky experienced permanent damage from his trauma, he would be incapable of living his life. Literally. If he suffered from PTSD and did not actively try to take measures to cope with it, he would not be able to function; his brain wouldn’t let him. (In my opinion, he still would not be “damaged” because people with mental health issues are still people who deserve respect and shouldn’t be talked about like feral animals, but hey, moving past ableist language is apparently too much to ask and I digress).

Anyways, my point is that Bucky is not only aware of his condition, but actively takes steps to treat it, therefore, he cannot be of a damaged mind. And I’m gonna prove it.

Bucky Barnes: PTSD Symptoms and Coping Strategies

Bucky exhibits both positive and negative coping strategies throughout the films as his journey to recovery progresses, sometimes back to back, which is a great, realistic choice, because it shows that recovery is not linear.

Avoidance

Avoidance occurs when a person avoids thoughts or feelings about a traumatic event; it can interfere with emotional recovery and healing and is a common reaction to trauma.

The first step in treating any illness is recognizing the need for treatment. In Captain America: The First Avenger we see Bucky actively avoid recognizing his trauma after being rescued from Azzano. He’s putting on a strong face in the name of avoidance (“Let’s hear it for Captain America!”) but he’s also suffering.

Source: https://cogentranting.tumblr.com/post/174225812218/comic-bucky-phdna-bluandorange-edgebug

There’s an additional scene in this film that, while played for laughs and parallels between Bucky and Steve, has always meant more to me. When the Howlies are all gathered in a bar, drinking, laughing, and having a good time, Bucky is by himself in the back room (avoiding friends) where it’s quiet (avoiding loud disturbances that could rock him) and he can keep an eye on his surroundings (being overly alert). His uniform is disheveled and he’s lost that cocky Sergeant Barnes signature look. When Peggy walks in and completely ignores him, this is Bucky’s reaction:

Source: https://steviebarnes.tumblr.com/post/181821865007/steve-little-shit-rogers

I don’t think Bucky was exaggerating here. Everything he’s been through lately is a horrible dream. We don’t talk about this scene enough in terms of how it shows Bucky’s vulnerability; it’s really the first hint we have that Bucky has lost a part of himself during this war.

Engaging in Dangerous Behavior/Overworking

In Captain America: The First Avenger, we witness Bucky deploying a negative coping strategy for the first time: over dedication to his work that suggests he’s overcompensating as a way of avoiding thinking about his trauma. Engaging in reckless or dangerous behavior also is a symptom of PTSD. Bucky continuously experiences new stressful situations, which ultimately will extend his healing time. For example, he willingly goes on a mission to capture Zola, the man who strapped him to a lab table and pumped him full of knock-off super soldier serum. Seeing the doctor again would be enough to trigger Bucky into an episode but he goes anyways because his dedication to the mission is more important to him than his mental stability.

Source: https://n-barnes.tumblr.com/post/170542194046/bucky-with-the-guns

Now, this is still an active war zone. The necessity of the Howling Commando missions to win the war means that Bucky doesn’t really have time to process what’s happened to him; he’s incapable of coping in a healthy way at this point and charging forward, continuing to work, is the only way he knows how to survive.

Bucky has a bad habit of not avoiding his triggers when he feels the mission is more important than his mental health. A common theme throughout every film is that Bucky is put into one dangerous situation right after another, usually immediately following a five minute breather.

In Captain America: The Winter Soldier, we see glimpses of Bucky Winter being pulled in and out of cryofreeze, placed on mission after mission. The one time we begin to see that there’s more to Winter than they’d have us believe is when Bucky’s memories surface for a hot minute in the bank vault. He has about 30 seconds of downtime where he’s aware and then…wipe him. Back on the mission to kill Captain America. Everything about his time as the Winter Soldier was dangerous; it’s not like Hydra really cared about his physical or mental health. All those years of trauma and overworking probably crashed down on Bucky, hard, the moment he was in control of his own mind again and able to rest. And his brain was in physical shambles on top of it. Poor Bucky.

Source: https://mishasteaparty.tumblr.com/post/93678343244/prep-him

Similarly, in Captain America: Civil War, we get this amazing scene:

Source: https://mackievanstan.tumblr.com/post/176453875698/let-him-rest

And another in Avengers: Infinity War:

Source: https://mackievanstan.tumblr.com/post/176453875698/let-him-rest

Once again, Bucky keeps getting thrown back into the middle of a fight when he needs to be resting. This is a very, very bad idea. Super bad. Could really fuck with Bucky’s mental health permanently, bad. This is pretty much the definition of overworking to a detrimental degree.

But what I really love about his reactions in both of these scenes is that he knows exactly how poor of an idea it is. He knows continuing to fight isn’t good for him and he’s exhausted. He goes willingly anyways, but he has this amazing control over himself at this point. Every single fight could have Bucky experiencing an episode and losing himself to the trauma; he doesn’t. (To be fair, I think this is what the Russos were hinting at but they could have worded it so much better). Bucky could have walked away. He could have surrendered in Bucharest, he could have hidden in Wakanda. He fought anyways.

This shows just how complex Bucky’s PTSD really is and how well he’s coping with it: he’s engaging in dangerous behaviors which could trigger him, but he’s doing so with awareness and self-actualization. He’s got a handle on himself. These coping behaviors directly contradict the Russos’ statement that you “don’t want to give another weapon to that guy, it could end up being used the wrong way.” With the exception of being literally triggered with the Winter Soldier code words (which are no longer a threat because good job, Shuri), Bucky fights the good fight every single time. He doesn’t go rogue. He doesn’t lose himself.

Yeah, if that doesn’t make him a hero, I don’t know what further proof I can provide, because he does this in literally every single film.

Active Coping

Active coping means accepting the impact of trauma on your life, taking direct action to improve things, and creating habits that help you respond to everyday life in a positive manner. Avoiding triggers - people, places, anniversaries, or other reminders of the traumatic event - can be a healthy coping strategy.

The first time we see Bucky take a step toward positive active coping is in Captain America: The Winter Soldier:

Source: https://thatpleasantnightmare.tumblr.com/post/147118407198

Bucky just escaped being a prisoner, was injured in a gruesome fight with his best friend, and is now on the run. What’s one of the first things he does? Research. More than that, in this scene, Bucky is clean, in civilian clothing of his choosing, and appears to have treated his injuries from the fight on the carriers. His eyes are clear and although he is in a public (read: dangerous) setting, he’s aware of his surroundings, has a calm grip on reality, and is processing information. This is Bucky taking the first step to actively reclaiming his identity. This is when we see him begin to heal and he’s doing it on his own. He’s on step one of learning to actively cope: accepting the impact of the trauma on your life.

Bucky continues to exhibit positive coping strategies on his own as time moves forward, as we see in Captain America: Civil War. By the time we meet up with Bucky in Romania, he’s already taken direct action to improve his situation. When we first see Bucky, he’s at a local market, smiling and engaging in conversation with a vendor while he buys produce. He looks good; is physically fit, is practicing hygiene, and is in clean clothes that protect his identity.

Source: https://buckybgrnes.tumblr.com/post/174829011372

I love this scene and specifically the way Sebastian played it, because we see Bucky exhibit positive and negative coping strategies nearly back to back. As he’s trying for normal, he’s also hyper aware of his surroundings, unwilling to let his guard down. He’s scanning for anything that could trigger him or endanger his health, but he is aware. Staying alert and on guard is a classic symptom of PTSD.

Source: https://kittyseb.tumblr.com/post/144559460240/this-whole-scene-of-bucky-on-the-streets-of

However, we have to understand that Bucky’s situation requires this sort of hyper vigilance. He’s a wanted man, both by Hydra and the CIA, and he’s actively being hunted. So although Bucky is displaying a classic symptom of PTSD, what we see here is him deploying a positive strategy for coping. By staying aware to his surroundings, he’s protecting himself. This is opposite to the kind of harmful behavior we should expect from him at this point in his recovery. He’s by himself, without any support, and has to look over his shoulder every block to make sure that he’s safe. Extreme hyper vigilance would show being Bucky afraid to leave his apartment altogether. Again, while he is suffering and displaying symptoms of active post traumatic stress, he’s also actively coping by taking direct action to improve his circumstances and creating habits that improve his daily life.

Through the entirety of the Romania scene in Captain America: Civil War, we catch glimpses of other healthy habits and positive coping strategies Bucky has developed.

Practicing Mindfulness

One really great blink-and-you-miss-it detail from the film is the existence of Bucky’s journals. As Steve goes through Bucky’s stuff (really, Steve?), you see him pick up a journal from the top of Bucky’s fridge. Inside are notes, memories, and references, categorized and marked by tabs. This is one of my favorite examples of Bucky using another strategy for coping with PTSD: mindfulness.

Source: a shitty screenshot I took from the movie.

Mindfulness: a mental state achieved by focusing one's awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one's feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations, used as a therapeutic technique. Mindfulness may help people get back in touch with the present moment, as well as reduce the extent with which they feel controlled by unpleasant thoughts and memories.

This is an extremely positive practice for Bucky, because at this point in the films, he’s still suffering from brain damage and memory loss. We see several examples of Bucky shaking his head, blinking, and losing himself to possible memories throughout the films. Journaling, as a way to capture those memories, categorize them, and begin rebuilding a timeline of his life, can help Bucky identify his triggers, work through episodes, and ultimately distinguish between past memories and the present, enabling him to regain control of his mind.

Maintaining a Healthy Lifestyle

When Bucky appears on screen, we see that he’s physically fit and obviously taking care of himself. We can assume that during his time as the Winter Soldier, Hydra kept Bucky in peak physical condition in order to succeed in every mission. Whether that was through training, supplements, drugs, the super soldier serum, etc., we don’t know. We don’t see Bucky continuing this training, but we do see the results of it. He’s capable of fighting, obviously maintaining his strength, and he’s able to run away.

Source: https://captaincentenarian.tumblr.com/post/149852437382/bucky-running-majestic-hair-appreciation

We also witness Bucky making healthy choices in terms of food. He’s got energy/protein bars in his apartment, snacks readily available, pots and pans which would imply he has been cooking, and even a thermos to keep himself hydrated. He’s doing his best to maintain his physical health, which in and of itself is a very positive coping method. He could be depressed, lost in his own mind, never getting out of bed. But Bucky wants to survive, he wants to be better, and so he takes care of himself. This is a good thing.

If you haven’t seen it, please read this post about Bucky’s apartment, because it hits on so many great points about how Bucky is taking care of himself.

Recognizing and Avoiding Triggers

Now for as many positive steps Bucky has taken to actively cope with having PTSD, he’s got awful luck when it comes to avoiding his triggers. It’s two steps forward, one step back, every time.

At the beginning of Captain America: Civil War, Bucky is trying his damndest to avoid being caught. But stupid Zemo has other plans.

Look, it’s hard for me to describe what happens next in the film. The way that Sebastian played these scenes will never not give me chills. We get an up close and personal view of Bucky’s PTSD in ways we’ve only caught glimpses of up until now; I don’t know what Sebastian researched in order to create this performance, but it is so spot on that it’s difficult to watch. I wish he got more credit for his acting and it’s a damn waste that he only had 30 seconds of screen time in subsequent movies. *sigh*

Anyways...

We see the acceptance and the fear in Bucky’s eyes as the CIA takes him into custody. He’s maintaining his composure, more than he should be capable of doing at this point, and he’s also letting himself slip into a safe zone (“I don’t want to talk about it.”). Until Zemo begins reading the trigger words.

Source: https://cvssian.tumblr.com/

Good grief, y’all. Look at him struggling. Bucky literally tried to fight his way out of being triggered, but he failed. Every fear he’s had for the past several years is happening. He’s losing control of his mind, of everything he’s worked so hard for up to this point. I don’t want to look too far into this as a commentary on Bucky’s character, because I don’t think the writers meant for it to be the deep - it serves more as a plot point to get us to the war part of Civil War - but if you stop and examine it for just a second, this scene is an absolute outrage. I can’t believe this happened to Bucky’s mind. They turned him into a weapon, again. They stripped him of years of hard work and recovery.

Source: https://brolinjosh.tumblr.com/

Thankfully - thankfully - one quick hit to the head later, and Bucky’s back. Not only is he aware of his surroundings, he’s cognizant enough to try playing dumb to Sam and Steve at first. I like the conversation that takes place between Bucky and Steve here, because Bucky was smart enough to give Steve exactly what he needed to hear to prove that Bucky was no longer a threat. We don’t talk about Bucky’s raw intelligence enough, likely because we’re always talking about his grief, and this scene gives us one of the rare moments in the film where we get to witness Bucky strategizing. He was just triggered, his brain is mush, he just lost control of himself, and then immediately after, he’s back on mission. We’re back to avoidance/no time to process. Bucky tucks being triggered as Winter into his back pocket to be dealt with on another day.

Remember how I said Bucky keeps getting thrown into fights, one after another? Guess what.

Source: https://captaincentenarian.tumblr.com/post/149852437382/bucky-running-majestic-hair-appreciation

There are a lot of significant, interesting parallels happening between Captain America: The First Avenger and Captain America: Civil War. The plot goes like this: Bucky was captured and actively tortured; Steve rescued him; they have no time to discuss what’s just happened and deal with it; and then Bucky is forced into another fight before he’s ready.

We can draw a lot of comparisons between the Howlies and Team Cap here and I wish that they had made the effort to explore this more in the film. This is the first time Bucky and Steve are fighting on the same team again since the war. Bucky is following Steve’s lead, even though he doesn’t know the people he’s fighting with/against, and he’s doing it because it’s for the greater good. They have to stop the other winter soldiers; the mission always comes first.

The biggest difference between the two films - and Bucky’s current state of mind - is that in The First Avenger, Bucky was actively avoiding recognizing his trauma after very similar events occurred, and in Civil War, not only does Bucky acknowledge what happened to him, we get this very poignant scene that’s both beautiful and devastating:

Source: https://bifelicitys.tumblr.com/post/182734674220/what-you-did-all-those-years-it-wasnt-you-you

This is a healthy outlook of acceptance and Bucky arrived there with nearly no outside assistance up to this point. This man has been through hell and back in the past 24 hours, on top of a hundred years of tragedy, and instead of breaking down as any reasonable person would, he fights. He has a long way to go in his recovery, but look how far he’s gotten on his own. And this is before Shuri’s help. Bucky’s willpower, tenacity, and depth of character never ceases to amaze me.

This is especially true with what happens next. You know how I said Bucky has awful luck in avoiding his triggers? Well...does walking back into the base of your own free volition where you were held prisoner and tortured for decades, count as maybe, oh I dunno, an event that should be avoided at all costs?

I’m being sarcastic but the depth of this moment shouldn’t be overlooked. Bucky going back to Siberia after everything he’s been through is a huge step backwards for his recovery. Siberia is crawling with triggers, from the threat of the other soldiers, to the cryo chambers, to the chair that wiped his memories and turned him into the Winter Soldier. The amount of bravery it took for Bucky Barnes to walk back into this place can’t be measured. He’s looking his history dead in the eyes with a shaky finger on a trigger and the fact that he doesn’t crack is astounding.

But then...this happens.

Source: https://tonystark.co/post/165333715841/buckys-facial-expressions-as-tonys-watches-the

I can barely stand to watch this because we are seeing Bucky actively having a PTSD episode. As the tape plays, Bucky is dissociating; he’s not there in the room with Steve and Tony, he’s back on the country road where he killed the Starks. The fear and the tears in his eyes, the recognition of what’s playing on the tape, and the knowledge of what’s about to happen are too much. His reaction here shows that he’s barely in control. He immediately responds to Tony lunging at him by raising his gun, an instinctive response, only to lower his weapon seconds later because of the acceptance of what he’s done. This is brutal and heartbreaking and very real.

It gets worse.

Source: https://itsawkwardfanboi.tumblr.com/post/176703555531/breaks-my-heart-seeing-him-about-to-pass-out

Bucky snapped in desperation and we witness him lose control in his battle with PTSD. It is very common for fight or flight to kick in under extreme circumstances and pressure; Bucky tried to escape, to avoid this outcome, but he couldn’t. The only thing he had left was to fight. We see Bucky lose control, not as Tony is threatening him, but because Steve is threatened. Bucky was fighting Tony, not to harm him, but to stop him, and not to protect himself, but to protect Steve. It’s an entirely different fighting style than Winter; it’s meant to disarm, not to destroy. Even though Bucky just experienced multiple triggers and traumatic events in a short timeframe, even though he is smack dab right in the middle of a traumatic episode, he still only wants to stop the fight, not kill. This is another example of how the Russos’ comments were unfair and incorrect. Bucky doesn’t go on murderous rampages; he tries to do what’s right. And what happens to him because of it?

He loses. Every single time.

Source: https://marvelworlduniverse.tumblr.com/post/172306346232

I will never forgive the writers for making Bucky lose his arm twice. Bucky has a real disability and it has always bothered me that his arm is only ever discussed as a weapon. The trauma from losing his arm the first time was never properly dealt with and here we are again, recycling that awful, painful, horrible plot point. There comes a certain point where you’ve hurt the characters enough and it does nothing for their character development. The grief, pain, and acceptance we see in Bucky’s eyes as he’s lying there wrecks me. He didn’t need to experience this. He’s been through enough. I don’t know how he’s still physically alive or not mentally lost without hope of recovery. But he is. He gets back up. And you know what he does next?

He asks for help.

Asking for Support

An important part of recovery is having a team of people around you to support you when times are tough. It is amazing to me that Bucky got as far as he did in his recovery, finding positive coping strategies and habits on his own while on the run.

Source: https://juliastiles.tumblr.com/post/178049225734/captain-america-civil-war-2016-dir-anthony

The acknowledgement of Bucky’s trauma in this scene was poignant and bittersweet and I’m very glad they included it, although I feel Steve here. It was sad to see Bucky go back into cryo, but it was necessary until the triggers could be safely removed.

And they were. This is my biggest issue with what the Russos said - they seemed to have either forgotten or refused to acknowledge what happened in Black Panther, when Shuri successfully removed the triggers and healed Bucky’s brain damage (cough, I know which one I’m placing my bets on, cough). We don’t disrespect Shuri like that in this house.

Source: http://stevechoosesbucky.tumblr.com/post/173521604559

From this point forward, Bucky’s brain is no longer damaged. He is no longer experiencing memory loss, nor is he capable of being triggered into Winter Soldier mode. Yes, he still has PTSD. Yes, he will need to continue to work on his recovery, just like Steve, just like Sam. And he does.

Speaking of Sam, this tidbit from Avengers: Endgame is really satisfying.

Source: https://paper-storm.tumblr.com/post/184537376766/can-we-talk-for-a-second-about-how-bucky-was-a

This moment is important because it shows that 1) Bucky is still very vulnerable and dealing with a lot of grief; the last time he saw Tony wasn’t exactly on the best of terms and now Bucky can never make up for what he did, and 2) Sam is an invaluable person to have at your side and a very, very good friend.

It’s hard to tell where we will go from here in the series/the next round of films, but I have a suggestion for a direction: get Bucky back to his positive coping strategies. Such as...

Spending Time Outdoors/With Animals

Before the battle in Avengers: Infinity War, we catch up with Bucky doing something seemingly very out of character: farming. Look, my blog name is Bucky the Farmer, it should tell you all you need to know about how much this tickled me when I first saw it. But upon further reflection, I realized how important this activity actually is.

Source: https://steverogersnotebook.tumblr.com/post/179505503935/bucky-in-wakanda-initial-recovery-vs-settled

It’s been shown that spending time in nature and around animals can have positive soothing effects on people who are recovering from trauma. Have you ever gone on a nice walk after a bad day to calm your mind, or spent a few minutes petting a dog? Do you exercise as a form of stress relief? It’s the same thing.

But what we’re also seeing here is Bucky taking responsibility for living beings beyond himself. He’s also interacting with children, an innocent and safe way to re-socialize himself. At this point, Bucky is past the stages of recovery where he needs to avoid, acknowledge, or actively cope with his trauma. He’s healing. He’s moving forward and learning how to live again, not just surviving day by day.

What happens next?

Prior to The Snapture, Bucky’s life was in Wakanda. Avengers: Endgame left quite a few stones unturned when it comes to Bucky’s future; we know that he’s in New York, that he won’t carry the shield, and seemingly, he and Sam are friends. He might hang out with Old Steve every now and again, visit his home in Brooklyn, or get a few goats. Maybe he’ll go back to Wakanda. Maybe he’ll be a part of the Avengers. We don’t know what Bucky will do next.

Regardless as to what happens, Bucky is in a good place. He’s experienced loads of trauma, but the physical and mental effects have been treated. His brain is not damaged and he’s continuing to recover. And when he’s ready, which I believe will be sooner than we think, he’s going to kick utter ass.

Bucky is still one of the most badass characters to ever be created; he’s efficiently deadly, a skilled fighter, the world’s best assassin. Those skills haven’t disappeared because he’s now in control of himself (and, some of those skills he had before he was the Winter Soldier; they were what made him a prime candidate in the first place. Remember, the Winter Soldier was supposed to be an equal foe to Captain America).

But he’s also so much more. Bucky has chosen to be morally good. A man who knows he can be the deadliest person in the room but chooses not to be is powerful. Is this not a direct callback to Erskine’s conversation with Steve in The First Avenger? Remember, Captain America is not a perfect soldier. He is a good man.

Bucky Barnes is a good man, no matter what trauma he’s experienced. So is Sam Wilson.

I absolutely believe it was the right choice for Sam to take up the shield at this moment in time. Let’s just get that out of the way, no Sam hate here. But I have a problem with the idea that Bucky couldn’t take up the shield because “he’s damaged” and that’s why it went to Sam instead. The Russos’ statements were insulting to both characters. Sam didn’t get the shield because Bucky wasn’t ready to carry it; Sam got the shield because it was right and he earned it. Sam deserves to be Cap just as much as Bucky deserves to take a damn nap. They don’t need to knock Bucky down in order to lift Sam up. It was a deliberate choice of words and it was wrong.

On some level, I understand what the writers and directors were trying to say: Bucky simply isn’t ready. And yet, they continue to speak about Bucky as if he’s weak, a villain, and permanently broken; I don’t think they can truly grasp how much of a complex and compelling character he really is. They had years to prepare a wise, thoughtful answer to the question of Bucky’s future and instead, they spouted off some ableist bullshit. They could take this character that embodies so much of what’s good and evil, right and wrong, fearful and hopeful, and use him to speak to hundreds if not thousands of individuals about the importance of never giving up and letting yourself find peace. They do this perfectly with Steve (“I can do this all day”) and Sam (“Are you going to carry it in a big suitcase or little man-purse?”) but why not with Bucky?

We just don’t know. But Bucky Barnes surely deserves better.

Source: https://captain-flint.tumblr.com/post/184564356218/bucky-barnes-in-avengers-endgame-looking-like-a

Recovering from trauma is an ongoing, nonlinear process. All Marvel characters have gone through some form of traumatic events and recovery. Bucky has experienced more than his fair share, but he will always survive, because that’s what he does. Now, he has the opportunity to thrive, if only the writers and directors will let him.

Sources:

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/post-traumatic-stress-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20355967

https://www.ptsd.va.gov/understand/what/index.asp

https://www.ptsd.va.gov/gethelp/selfhelp_coping.asp

https://www.helpguide.org/articles/ptsd-trauma/ptsd-symptoms-self-help-treatment.htm/

#bucky barnes deserves better #bucky barnes #avengers: endgame #endgame #russo brothers #tw: ptsd #the unknown future of james buchanan barnes

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wheremytwinwatches · 4 years

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[Where My Twin Watches]: Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood Episode 22

Last time: Havoc took a forced retirement, Ed drew Scar out as Goth Bait, and 2/3rds of the Xing Contingent bumped into Gluttony and Wrath. Onwards!

Huh, [Narrator]’s recapping what happened last episode. That’s a first. And like before, Ling freaks out at Lan Fan getting hurt by Bradley. Come on buddy, you’ve been all lazy and goofy up until now, but this is anime. I expect Authority Equals Asskicking to be in full effect here. Ooh, Lan Fan managed to break one of Bradley’s swords, he commends her cleverness. Doesn’t stop him from letting Gluttony get his grub on, though. Gluttony leaps… Oh. Oh boy. Ling ain’t playing around no more. The Prince has some drums starting up as he slices Gluttony’s head in two, eyes open and glaring. Fighty fighty fight time! Never mind, he’s more concerned about getting his injured bodyguard out of harms way right now. Bradley’s not about to let him get away, however, and [clanking swords] ring out as Ling… actually manages to hold his own even with only one sword to Bradley’s two and the injured Lan Fan over his shoulder. The Fuhrer’s impressed, and notes that all of Ling’s hopping around keeps putting him in his eyepatch blind-spot.

Suddenly Gluttony! Ouch, Ling takes a hard hit to the gut and crashes into the building across the street, struggling back to his feet to [fast paced, tense music]. The Goths catch up. But Bradley just comments about having privacy… and questions, like who the heck they are and how they sensed Gluttony. Ling’s still looking for an escape, but that isn’t happening with Lan Fan still needing to be carried. Lan takes offense to the suggestion that he drop her, calls the Fuhrer out on his callousness. [Prince Ling]: “A ruler’s duty is to his people. Without them, he is no king at all!” Ooh, Lan Fan’s awake! [Prince Ling]: “King Bradley! You’re no true king. Not now or ever!” [Fuhrer Bradley]: “Naive boy! Don’t you understand that there are no true kings in this world!” Aha, flashbang! Later, chumps!... Or not. [Bradley]: “Nice try… But your flash bomb didn’t succeed in blinding this eye!”

Right, the eyepatch is just to disguise his marked eye, it still works just fine. Whoops. Episode 22: “Backs in the Distance” Flashback? Aw man, Winry’s parents? Well, they clearly don’t realise that they’re in an anime, otherwise Papa Rockbell wouldn’t be talking about how “we won’t be away too long” and asking her to “take care of things while we’re gone”. Modern!Winry wakes up to Gracia? Aw man, looks like she’s going with them to visit the cemetery. Somber music as they lay flowers at Maes’ grave, Winry drawing parallels to the last time she saw him or her parents. But we get some [heart-warming music] as Gracia asks her to stop by and visit every once in a while, and sweet little Elicia grabs her hand with a smile on her face. ...this still doesn’t make up for losing Hughes, but at least his family is doing better. Winry’s walking through the street back to her hotel, when she overhears some NPCs chattering about how the Elric Brothers are causing havoc. Exasperated!Winry gripes about them being in another fight and speeds up. Then speeds up again when she hears that they’re going after Scar. Oh, I get the title now! Winry’s thinking about how the last time she saw Ed was him walking down the hallway away from her. [Winry]: “No… not again. Please…” [Explosions] are going off as Ed throws up barrier upon barrier that Scar just Hand-O’-Dooms his way through- Side note: I gotta comment on how different mediums affect the same event. Because I’m watching Ed panic as the pipe he was climbing slowly falls towards Scar, and I imagine that it was far more humorous in the original manga, different panels showing Ed falling. In animation however, while there’s still some humor I’m getting a much more drama/danger feel, especially with the “Oh crud dangerous fight uh oh” music playing. A very appreciative Ed is saved by Al, who notes that Ling hasn’t fired off the signal flare yet. I’m assuming the plan was Ling would tell them when the Goths showed up? ‘Cause you might be waiting for a while. Al buys some time by calling Scar out on his hypocrisy, using Alchemy to target State Alchemists and victims like Nina. [Scar]: “Interesting… You two saw that abomination as well, did you? Alchemy created that tragic creature. So that’s the science you would spend your lives following?” Hoo boy. Here we go. Scar’s still going on about how That Bastard made the Thing because “a man thought he could create”, saying that creation is the province of God alone. [Ed]: “Maybe you’re right… But why did you have to kill her?! You stole what little life she had left!” [Scar]: “Foolish as you are, you must still have known that chimera could never have returned to her human state.” Ugh. Scar’s talking about how Chimera!Nina would have lived out “its” life as a lab specimen, a mere test subject. The Brothers are immobilized by the knowledge that Scar’s right, she would have just been locked away as an example of a failed Chimera. They didn’t want to think about it, so they just did nothing. Uh, Winry? Winry, could you stay away from the rubble and the groaning cops? You aren’t an Alchemist, it’s not safe for your here. Crap, she’s close enough to hear Ed admitting that Alchemy’s caused some serious harm, but that still doesn’t make his killings right. Like- oh no. Oh no no no. Shut up Ed shut up right now. Ed didn’t shut up, even with me and Al trying to warn him. Winry arrived just in time to hear Ed call Scar out on the murder of her parents. Winry… As Winry’s collapsing in grief, Scar’s silent. Scar? Scar, you’ve done some terrible things. But if my theory is correct, now’s the time to speak up. Wait. Winry, no. Winry, NO. Don’t grab that gun, you’re still a civilian, don’t make yourself a threat to Scar! [Flashback!Elder]: “I know the animosity you feel… but your vengeance will only sow the seeds of further violence. What you’re doing is senseless revenge and it’s feeding a fruitless cycle of death. You must end this cycle once and for all.” Wow. Ok then, that’s a mid-episode name card with a crying Winry pointing a gun at me. Yikes. Yup, called it. We’re getting a Scar flashback where he’s yelling for his brother, finds him pulling an Archimedes and going over notes even as armed forces march into the town.

We’ve got Scar with his bare arms, and Brother with tattooed arms: Right for Deconstruction, Left for Reconstruction. Seems he’s a student of Alkahestry, added his own touches and found that the alchemy of the land is unusual? Scar’s having none of it, but he’s dragged aside by some other Ishvalans. Said Ishvalans are arguing with Scar, saying that they need Brother to continue his research in order to stand up against the State Alchemists. Scar rants about the destructive nature of the research, that the other Ishvalans don’t see the danger they’re creating by supporting this “pay them back in kind” mentality. Then the artillery starts firing, and the Blue Eyes start marching in. Images of Ishvalans being slaughtered, walls bent up around the town to pen them in as the guns fire. Remnants of Alchemy among corpses, Scar looking on in shock at the evils of Alchemy. Eventually, he meets up with his parents and they prepare to flee, when Brother catches up. And gives his notes to Scar in case something happens to him? What, is he staying? No, he’s just so terrified that his legs won’t stop shaking. “Some big brother.” … Then Mister Smiley shows up. And Brother throws himself in front of Scar. In the aftermath, it’s surprisingly only Brother who’s still up and moving, he stumbles across Scar who’s missing his right arm and bleeding out. Brother cries out for help, but there’s no-one there. Just him, and his arms. Scar comes back to consciousness to the sound of doctors and the injured. Two of them have Blue Eyes. And while he sees Brother’s arm, he doesn’t see Brother. Scar… does not handle this well. So it was Scar. Scared out of his mind, wracked in pain and grief… but it was Scar. [Scar]: “Go on, shoot.” Leto-damn it, Scar! It’s like I said, he’s warning Winry that the moment she pulls that trigger she will be his enemy. He says that he’s fine dying, since until one of them is gone the chain of hatred will continue [Scar]: “But don’t ever forget! Don’t ever forget it was the Amestrians who first pulled the trigger during the civil war! It was your people!” As Winry struggles Scar starts fighting again, Ed yells at Winry to not shoot, Scar lunges forward… and freezes at the sight of Ed throwing himself in front of Winry. Just like his Brother when Mister Smiley murdered his own family. Al takes advantage of Scar’s own hesitation to attack and drive him away, yells at Ed to get Winry somewhere safe. Ed gently asks Winry to let go of the gun, says it’s ok that she couldn’t shoot. She cries about how she couldn’t shoot a murderer, one who was even trying to kill Ed and Al. Because you aren’t that kind of person, Winry. You delivered a baby and saved two lives, and gave Ed his arm and leg back. You’re a creator, not a destroyer. You had every reason to pull that trigger. But you didn’t. Thank you for not continuing the chain of hatred. And that’s where we leave off. Leto, this episode. Ok, let’s… oh my freaking god, it took me thinking back to summarize things to recall that Ling is fighting the Goths. That’s still a thing! For crying out loud this show. Anyways, Ling’s in a bad spot, he can’t get any reinforcements unless Fu can get back from Xing in time for a rescue, although if that happens I’m leaning towards him just passing off Lan Fan. Seriously, Ling got some major points this episode protecting his bodyguard and calling out Bradley as a poor leader. Now the question is how long he can hold out. Scar… I don’t know what to think about Scar. We knew that he’s killed before, mostly arrogant State Alchemists and jerks like That Bastard, maybe Nina as a mercy kill. But confirmation that he killed the Rockbells? Yes it was in grief and pain at his family and town being obliterated, but he’s still responsible for the death of two people who were just trying to help. He needs to answer for that. I don’t want to see him die, but after all that he’s done I don’t see how he can still live. Winry, I’m sorry that you’ve gone through so much pain lately. I’d say I hope things get better for you soon, but we’re three episodes away from the Season 1 finale so I don’t see that happening. Tell you what, I’ll approve of three Wrench-Whacks to Ed’s head next time he messes up, my treat. Next episode title: Girl On The Battlefield Well, there’s no shortage of Awesome Ladies in this show, but I am going to really hope that means May Chang, we’ve seen next to nothing of the little girl since that episode way back even when she’s so prominent in the intro.

#wmtw #where my twin watches #full metal alchemist #full metal alchemist brotherhood #fmab #fmab 22 #ranubis

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popculturespiritwow · 6 years

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THE WICKED + THE DIVINE #32: ARTISTIC SACRIFICES

Sigh.

JUST ANOTHER LOVE STORY

Once again we return to Laura lying on her bed smoking, when Sakhmet shows up to say something matter of fact. You know, like she murdered Amaterasu. Just another day in the life.

What follows between them is an unexpectedly intimate scene, as they lie in bed and Sakhmet asks Laura about the things she shared with her previously. It’s an incredibly dangerous moment for Laura, the kind of moment any of us would try to fill with as many plausible lies as we can. But Laura is instead completely straight about having betrayed her.

In retrospect, fom a strategic point of view that is actually probably the only survivable choice, as it’s the one move that does not put Sakhmet in the position of the fool.

NEVER PUT BABY IN THE CORNER OR SAKHMET IN THE POSITION OF THE FOOL.

But if Laura has any strategy, I find myself wondering if it isn’t once again, What’s the thing I can do that can put me out of my misery once and for all? Kill me now, please.

There’s also, What’s the choice that respects our relationship? There’s something strangely loving in Laura’s honesty, and an unexpected care in Sakhmet as well. Rather than her typical predator/prey stuff (see: what follows), here she actually seems to breaking her own script, asking real questions, lying in bed with her lover, you know, loving. Could it be that Laura is the one person that Sakhmet actually loved?

Laura’s explanation for her choices is interesting, too.

Given what we’ll learn next issue, how she’s blamed herself for her family’s death, is this how Laura has understood herself this last arc, as someone who has had to lock herself away because she hurts people?

DIO-LOGUING

After Dionysus awakens to find Woden has ripped off his whole thing, we actually get an internal monologue from him. First inspiring, then devastating internal monologue.

I’m pretty sure Dio is only the third person we’ve ever gotten to hear from in this way, after Laura and, actually, Woden. (I’m surprised we haven’t heard from Cassandra, too. To me she’s second only to Laura as our POV character.)

It would be interesting to think about why we’ve been granted such special access to these characters and not the others.

Actually, let’s step back and think about that... In a sense Tara’s unsent letter to her fans in issue 13 was a way of accomplishing the same thing, and the upcoming Christmas issue will actually see her deliver internal monologue.

We can’t get internal monologue from Baal and Mini because their secrets are too important.The Morrigan is too lost at this point. Sakhmet’s lack of an internal monologue is a fundamental part of her character; it’s her silences that tell us everything. Similarly, Inanna’s gift really is transparency. What he says is who he is, what he believes. An internal monologue would be redundant.

Ammy can’t have an internal monologue because she’s way too invested in being a god to allow herself to check in with her authentic, so broken self. And that makes for an interesting comparison with Cassandra, who clearly has an internal life, but her superego is so freaking strong it drowns everything else out. If we ever going to hear from her, I wonder if it wasn’t going to be during Dio’s test rave. But I hold out hope.

Baphomet couldn’t have an internal monologue before now without probably ruining the reveal of what happened to him, what he’s been through. (Though we did have moments early on where he was talking to a disembodied head version of himself. Always with the severed heads...) But he’s grown so much over the course of the series, both personally in our eyes, I think I sort of hope at some point we’ll hear from him.

And Luci...? Well, she’s only around one arc before she gets got. In some ways the Christmas issue is her internal monologue, with her comments to both the fanboy reporters and the newly-ascended Ammy telling us what’s going on inside her. But here again, I’m hoping post-33 that we might actually get something more.

ANNNNDD....SCENE

Dio’s journey through the first half of the issue follows the visual structure of his hivemind rave, each image paired with a number counting the beat. But now that idea has been (brilliantly) (devastatingly) folded into the Pantheon idea of the 4 beat countdown to death.

And even before Dio falls into his coma, the final image on each of the 4 pages laid out like this--even the number of pages part of the countdown-- foreshadow his doom. He loses touch with his powers at the end of three of the four, and in the fourth (the second page) he admits it’s getting hard to breathe.

Once more, sigh.

I love that Dio’s ending is, as repeatedly warned, all tied up in his desire to help. His self-belief is a form of pride, I guess, but I don’t think of him in those terms. He’s the guy who thinks being a god is about leaving it “all out on the field”, giving everything for others. And that’s not so much arrogant as it is beautiful and foolish. One of the most awful (devastating) (I really hate what happens to Dio, you guys) realizations of this issue is the fact that his sacrifice is not only a failure but that it’s completely unnecessary. The Norns wake up and shut this whole thing down immediately after he drops. I mean literally the same page, three panels later.

(God I love the Norns’ spider-web eye thing.)

In a way Dio ends up very much like The Morrigan; rather than embracing the truth of himself he’s made himself a character in a story, The Savior, and even though that seems like a much better choice than Selfish Shakespeare Goth Lady, in the end it’s just as ruinous.

THE MADDENING CROWD

I don’t know which is worse, Dio dying for nothing or the fact that the crowd that he invited to this amazing experience in the end are just as happy with Woden’s Shithead Hack of their Lives as Dio’s Life-Affirming Rave.

Actually never mind, this is worse, as it means not only did Dio not need to save everyone but they are ultimately not interested in being saved by what he’s been doing. They just want an experience. Humanity, why are you/we?

MOMENTS OF (UN)TRUTH

Cutting back to the Pantheon v. Sakhmet Underground Fight, we get first the truth about Laura: As much as she fashions herself Destroyer, in the end she just won’t pull/snap the trigger.

Then from out of nowhere we get Mini’s moment of truth, which marries Sakhmet’s particular form of Nihilism to Baal’s.

Buried in the background of Laura’s journey there has been an ongoing somewhat parallel story about Mini. She’s the sweet kid that’s so good-intentioned when she almost kills Brunhilde she can’t leave her bedside.

Then in the face of Ananke and her parents and the Great Destroyer she’s pushed to consider another way, in fact not just another way but the very way that her parents were killed in front of her. And finally, she has given in to it.

She Has Done What She Had to Do. She Has Chosen Predator. She has Become Ananke.

(Or has she? When did that happen? Still so confused about that.)

CASSANDRA VS. THE DESTROYER: ROUND ONE

The Norns see through Woden’s “derivative shit”. Of course, they don’t ask derivative of what? Still, it’s a deeply satisfying moment.

And so is the wisdom this whole experience seems to bring Cassandra.

Even as she’s spent so much of the series trying to understand everything, her fatal flaw is some combination of the fact that she actually thinks that’s possible and most of the time she thinks she’s already done it. In a sense Imperial Phase has been a slow descent into humility for Cassandra, with Dio’s test rave, Cass visiting David’s house, the Norns just now being so easily betrayed, everything to do with the machine and then next issue finally learning the truths about Woden and Laura each a step along the way to real insight – and humanity. That scene of her comforting Laura next issue is such a beauty.

Here of course, even after being fooled so very badly she’s still not quite there yet, and she has for Laura nothing but condemnation.

Which of course has got to be very much the voice of some of the audience too at this point. I mean Jesus Christ, Laura, you chased this so hard despite everything saying this is not what you think it is and then it cost you so much and still all you can do is wander around sad?

But I love how Laura turns that back on Cassandra, and how it also draws in Dio. In Save everyone versus save no one, try to learn everything versus not even bother to try has not only not panned out for the “good guys”, it’s been proved to be destructive and foolish. It’s all the same in the end, all just b.s.

Given the arc’s through-line of characters trapped playing out roles and narratives, there should be something liberating to Laura’s take, too. Except even as she’s saying all this, she’s also mostly interpreting herself in terms of a role. She says that role is Destroyer, but actually given how much she think she knows, the doom she sees coming for all of them, really she’s the one that ought to be called Cassandra.

#wicdiv #jamie mckelvie #kieron gillen #matt wilson #one more ti-#sigh

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shewholovestoread · 7 years

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Reylo Thoughts - Post TLJ

So, I’ve seen The Last Jedi twice now (with the possibility of a third viewing) and I’ve been torn about what it could mean for Reylo going forward. I think there were some great moments of foreshadowing in the film and parallels if one was watching carefully. I will attempt to write about some of them in this post.

One of the things that struck me immediately was Ren’s demeanor in the Force Visions. In ‘real life’ he has a volatile disposition, quick to lose his temper, but in the Force Visions, he’s eerily calm. In fact, it’s Rey who is the more turbulent of the two. She even fires at him in their first encounter while he’s just sitting there. And even after that, Rey runs out, clearly still intent on attacking him while he runs out and skids to a stop. There’s no aggression in his body language. This is echoed throughout their Force Bond exchanges. It changes when Rey goes into the Dark pit and comes back shaken. She talks about how she felt so alone and Ren replies that she isn’t. His facial expression is very important here. It didn’t strike me during the first watch, but when I saw it again, his eyes were wet, like there were unshed tears. This was not a warrior of the dark side. We saw him open up to Rey long before she opened up to him. He never retaliated against her verbal assault, even going so far as to agree with her when she calls him a monster.

We know from the TFA that he felt even more conflicted after killing Han. And that conflict is worsened with his interactions with Rey. I think it’s safe to say that it’s not Kylo Ren she’s talking to but Ben Solo. Another key scene is when he goes after the Resistance after destroying his helmet. He knows Leia is on the bridge and there is a very specific cutaway to his thumbs on the trigger, he starts to press it but then chooses not to. And is shocked when his back-up fires anyway. See that scene carefully, his reaction is one of shock. Even in the build-up of the scene, there are tears in his eyes and he can clearly sense his mother. If the point of TLJ was to establish Ren as a villain, they did a very shoddy job of it.

Another thing that struck me was that Ren never lied to Rey. When Luke told Rey of how Ben turned on him, he wasn’t being completely honest. It is Kylo who offers more insight into the situation. Of course, his version is also incomplete and muddled because of what Snoke must have told him following that incident. I think it’s also important to understand, that Kylo thought his own uncle and mentor tried to kill him in his sleep, that has got to hurt. Even outside of that, he never tries to manipulate Rey.

Then there’s the scene of a shirtless Kylo Ren. This is a very typical trope, we’ve seen in so many romantic films/tv shows. It always involves people who are meant to be a couple. I’ve read the ‘official reason’ as to why that scene is there in the film and I call BS. That’s a flimsy excuse if I ever heard one. At no point did he have to be shirtless. And Rey’s reaction is to be flustered, she’s not unaffected here. There is no way this scene plays out as platonic. And when Rey says to him, right at the beginning of that scene something like she’d rather not do this now, his tone is telling. It’s dry with just a hint of humour. But she’s still mad at him.

I think the other thing that the Force Bond served to do was bring them closer. It made Rey see him as more than someone she hates. She finally sees him a human being, as someone who was let down by people he needed. Someone who’s as lost as she is. She sees someone who understands her pain, her loneliness, the isolation she’s felt all her life. In a lot of ways, they parallel each other. They’re the only two people who can truly understand what the other is going through.

The throne room scene is a very important one in the film for a number of reasons. First, I think that when Snoke reveals that he bridged their minds, that was a lie. If that was the case, that link would have ceased to exist with his death, but that clearly did not happen. I think they bonded when Kylo tried to read her mind in TFA and she read his mind instead. I think they inexplicably bonded without realising it and Snoke noticed that and tried to use it to his advantage. But he made a fatal mistake. Right before Kylo kills Han, Han tells him that Snoke is only using him for his powers and Snoke proves him right. Till then, Kylo thought that Snoke saw him and his potential and respected that. But that was not the case at all, Snoke was using him, exploiting his ‘weakness’.

The fight scene is also very interesting. The one thing that jumped out at me was the part where Rey seems to grab Kylo’s thigh/hip while leaning on his back and he literally lifts her with his butt, giving her the leverage to fight off one of the Praetorian guards. I mean, what was the point of that particular move? These fight scenes are meticulously choreographed and they’re very precise and it’s interesting that they chose to with that move. Can you imagine, during rehearsals and training, while they were coming up with ideas for the fight, someone brought up this idea and it was okayed by Rian Johnson, assuming it wasn’t his idea to begin with.

They also fight like they’ve been training together their entire lives. They’re so in sync with each other. They know where the other is at all times and are aware when they’re in danger. When Kylo sees that Rey is having a hard time, there is an urgency to his moves, like he wants to get to her faster. Similarly with Rey, when she notices that Ren is in danger, she doesn’t hesitate and throws him the lightsaber. That scene is also drives home the point that they had to work together. On their own, neither would have made it out, but together, they defeated the guards.

One of my favourite scenes was right after the fight when Rey asks him to call off the attack. When she realises that he won’t, there is such heartbreak on her face. But let’s look at it from Kylo’s point of view. His master and mentor had tried to kill him (Luke), he had killed his own father and then realised that Snoke had been using him all along. He was never going to with Rey, This was a man who’s entire world had just tipped over. Everything he believed about himself and his new teacher was a lie. When he says that he wants to destroy the old, he’s talking about all the things that held them back. Told them what was possible and what wasn’t. He was done with the First Order, with the Republic, with the Jedi and the Sith. He essentially chose no side. But more importantly, there is such desperation when he asks Rey to stay by his side. He is desperate, he’s finally found someone who didn’t lie to him. Who was his equal in power and truly saw him, not as a weapon to use but as person. She saw him. And you can see it in her face, she’s torn, there is a part of her that wants to take his hand, not to rule the galaxy, that’s not her ambition, but to simply stay with someone who truly understands her as well. But it’s the ‘please’ that gets me every time, the way his voice breaks when he says it. That’s what I mean that he’s desperate and hurting.

Also, can we talk about the fact that Rey woke up before Kylo and did not kill him. She even gave him back his lightsaber. If she truly thought he was evil, that was the perfect moment to get rid of him. He was unconscious. But she doesn’t kill him. I think it’s because she can still sense light in him, that there is a chance that he’ll come back to the light.

In episode 9, Rey will be back with the Resistance and I think she will still be plagued by her feelings of loneliness and isolation. There are no Jedi in the resistance, not even people who are force sensitive. And add to that, she and Kylo are still linked by the Force Bond and that will definitely play a roll in episode 9. I don’t think TLJ set up Kylo as a villain, if it wanted to make him irredeemable, they really messed up because the Kylo Ren we see at the end, is a broken man. He’s on his knees. When he and Rey look at each other, again, there is no rage on his part when only moments before he had been lashing out. He stays on his knees, his posture doesn’t change. And Rey also pauses, she doesn’t immediately shut the door on his face. She doesn’t lash out at him. She looks at him for a moment and then shuts the door. We then see him again, still on the floor, a tight close up of his eyes, tormented and torn, looking down at Han’s dice that Luke gave to Leia. When they fade, his hand curls around them. I think the big take away is that ultimately Kylo has to save himself. He started that process when he killed Snoke and ended the film even more conflicted than before.

Star Wars is big on foreshadowing and these films are so carefully crafted that you can’t discount anything as an accident. There aren’t any, everything you see in the film was intended to be there. The Skywalker line has been at the center of the first two trilogies and we know that Kylo and Rey are the central figures of this trilogy. There is no way that Kylo stays a villain or that he dies in episode 9. We already saw Anakin fall to the dark side, I don’t see Kylo falling for the same trap. The original trilogy ended with Vader’s redemption and death. I think episode 9 will end with Ben coming back to Rey. She is the light to his dark.

Just before leaving Ach-To, she asks Luke to come back with her one last time when he’s trying to convince her that going to Kylo is a bad idea. When he refuses yet again, Rey says that with him not participating, Kylo is their only hope. That’s not a random statement. Luke effectively ascended and therefore can no longer help the Resistance, that brings us back to Kylo. Rey is a badass and a prodigy, I’m not undermining her abilities, but she can’t fight the First Order alone, she needs Ben by her side, fighting the way they fought against the Praetorian guards.

I think Kylo Ren as the big bad is a misdirect. He is going to find his way back to the light. I think the character that will emerge as the big bad is General Hux. I don’t know how many people noticed this but he looked positively sick in the film. More pasty than in TFA, he had dark circles and he looked gaunt. I think there is a slim chance that Snoke survived being skewered by being linked to Hux. Even if that’s not the case, he’s still very much a threat to Kylo. He hates his guts and would have happily killed him had Kylo not woken up when he did.

As far as love interests go, TLJ paired Rose and Finn and Kylo/Ben and Rey. I am worried that episode 9 may try to force a Poe and Rey romance but that would be bad writing, for one, they had their first encounter in TLJ. Setting up a relationship in episode 9 is simply too late. There are no stakes for the audience and no emotional investment, the way we are invested in Rose and Finn and Kylo and Rey. Besides, i think Poe’s journey is different, that of becoming a leader.

But tell me what you think? This meta is nowhere as organised as I wanted it to be. But I am looking forward to reading what you guys think.

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journeysintowebcomics · 7 years

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Worm Liveblog #60

UPDATE 60: Power Serum Dealers

Last time five lucky people had been selected to obtain superpowers and join the upper echelons of the Merchants, and also some poor kid got his trigger event – and if that wasn’t enough suffering for him, he also got saddled with the cape name ‘Scrub’. Taylor and crew tried to run away, but Faultline’s group arrived. Now things are going to get ugly. Let’s continue!

They indeed came for the vials – for obvious reasons. Faultline’s crew has several people who are very likely to have been affected by the superpowers in a can, and they’re not going to mess around. They’ll take those vials! Newter quickly gets one, touching with a hand the girl carrying one of the vials. Must be convenient to be literally untouchable! And now that I think about it, I don’t think Skidmark would want to risk breaking the vials. He did this whole thing to obtain more capes, after all. Sure, he got one through a trigger event, but if all the vials are lost, then this entire night would have been a waste of time! And he wouldn’t be able to save face.

Much of the crowd was running after Newter, rushing for the base of the stage and climbing the heaps of rubble to follow.

As expected, people aren’t just going to sit around and let Faultline’s crew to take the power syrup away. Not that Skidmark would care, though. I think...it’s possible Faultline and pals will try to avoid hurting civilians under attacked, but given everything that has happened in this arc, I don’t think Skidmark would care at all. He’s more dangerous for the people here than the rest – well, except for the fact his power has very few offensive capabilities, but you get what I mean.

People are moving, and the place where everyone fought is getting slowly emptied. This is a chance to find out who is...well, dead. Oh god...Bryce is going to be there, isn’t he? Knowing how dark his story can get, I wouldn’t be surprised if Bryce died. If not him, then at the very least the girl Bryce was with will be dead, and Bryce won’t be taking it well. Yeah, after everything I have read I kind of start taking the worst case scenario as a very real possibility. Minor and Brooks are coming along!

Meanwhile, Newter tries to pounce on Skidmark, which would have ended everything immediately because hey, Newter is like a walking cloud of chloroform. But things can’t end this easily. Skidmark is actually quick to react, putting his cape between himself and Newter, and managing to send him away with his power. Oh hey, Skidmark’s power could have uses in some strategic way! But I don’t think he has the...well, the wits to use them properly.

Apparently things can never be easy for Taylor, because she barely gets halfway to the unconscious/dead people before a wall springs up. Labyrinth is doing what her power does, turning the place into a maze. Well it wasn’t like anyone could escape the mall before, so maybe she’s doing this to keep the civilians away from everything else? You know, so they can’t get close to the vials. Not that I think Taylor can be kept imprisoned by this! I mean, true, her insects get a little confused due to the labyrinth’s spatial distortions, but I trust her cleverness. If she wanted, she could find her way through the labyrinth.

I had to admit, I was spooked. That girl’s power was intimidating when she wasn’t on my side. She wasn’t all there, mentally, so the only thing holding her back was the person telling her what to do. If she could make those giant torches, she could set the floor on fire. Or she could have created spikes instead of walls, without leaving the rest of us any place to run. That nobody had been hurt was purely by her choice.

Huh, I had never considered it that way. Guess Labyrinth can be much more powerful than I thought! Why haven’t I learned yet that the power itself isn’t important, what’s important is how you use it? In terms of how powerful it is, I mean.

Gregor, Faultline, Spitfire and an unknown woman who I’m sure is Shamrock – I’m kinda proud I remembered the name – come sliding down from the ceiling. Well, Shamrock doesn’t. She gets sent flying when Trainwreck tackles the pole. I still think Trainwreck is Coil’s mole among the Merchants, but that doesn’t mean he has to be friendly against Faultline’s crew. I wonder what’s Coil’s standing with them? I suspect he has hired them before, but...yeah, otherwise they’re neutral.

Not that it’s a bad idea to do this, Trainwreck needs to keep appearances. Still, it took no time for Shamrock to get through the labyrinth, so it didn’t really change anything. Heck, as soon as she’s back to the fight she injures him.

Just like I said: Taylor can use her bug powers to find her way through the maze. She has to find Bryce as soon as possible, before the fight ends, but the problem is that Faultline’s crew will consider her an enemy because they’re not aware who she is! Uh...I’m...pretty sure if they knew who she was, she’d still be considered an enemy. It’s not like she’s in particularly good standing with them. Sure, she saved Newter’s life, and she didn’t pluck Lung’s eyes right in front of them, but she’s still a member of a villain group. There’s no reason to let Skitter just walk around.

Besides, Taylor has other priorities right now, as I mentioned: finding Bryce.

I hated the idea of going back to Sierra and telling her I’d failed. Hated the idea of that conversation on top of the news I had about Bryce joining the same Merchants that assaulted her friend with a broken bottle. I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t be leader of a territory and know that someone out there was maybe telling others I hadn’t followed through, fighting that constant nagging doubt in the back of my mind that wondered if ‘my’ people were whispering or laughing at me behind my back.

And maybe a small part of it was that my meeting with my father had been a reminder of how important family was. Bryce was the errant youth, his sister the anxious family member. Were my emotions here tied to the parallel between them and my father and me?

I find interesting that the pragmatic side of her is what was mentioned first here. Sure, there’s an emotional element, but she first and foremost thought about the consequences of the leader of a territory failing her newlyfound subjects. I like that attitude, but at the same time it feels like she’s getting used to thinking as a villain. Not that heroes can’t think pragmatically, I mean, but I think if she had been a hero, her emotional side would have been slightly more noticeable in terms of she thinking what the civilians will feel.

Going through the labyrinth isn’t so difficult for Taylor and the soldiers, the first because, well, she was heaved up by Minor, and Brooks is a trained soldiers who surely has gone through more exerting situations than having to drag yourself up a wall. Besides, there’s Trainwreck and Shamrock fighting over there, when Faultline arrives, cutting through the walls with no effort. That sure must be useful! True, you need strategies against your enemies, but given the, uh, the variety of powers, having strategies that can be useful against your friends’ powers can be useful too. You know, just to be on the safe side, so there isn’t much trouble.

Hm...Trainwreck’s metallic armor limbs aren’t immune to the Manton effect – for being inorganic and not from Trainwreck’s real body, I’m sure, but I also can’t avoid wondering if she has progressed in her attempts to bypass the Manton effect. Any update on that, Mr. Wildbow?

You know, if they defeated Trainwreck so easily, I don’t think Skidmark will be much of a challenge. Heck, they’re defeating quite easily the rest of the Merchants’ capes! Skidmark may be the leader and therefore he should be a bit of a challenge, but I doubt he’ll be able to put much of a fight against everyone.

Or maybe Trainwreck let them defeat him. You know, so they’d go and kick Skidmark’s ass into next Tuesday. That’s what Coil would have wanted, I think, a rival criminal losing influence, and less capes that could be a problem to him.

Since the fight with Trainwreck is over and all of Faultline’s group are going to make Skidmark pay, Taylor decides this is a good moment to approach.

I asked him in a low voice, “Trainwreck. Are you still working for Coil, or did you leave?”

Oh my god. Does that ever work? Of course anyone would deny knowing what you’re talking, and it’s not like there’d be a way to prove you’re still in the same side without risking someone listening. I know it wouldn’t be wise, but unless this is completely necessary right now, waiting until she’s back with Coil to find out may be...prudent.

Oh, nevermind, it worked. Guess I’ll eat crow!

“But if you were working for the man, maybe you could find some excuse to knock over that wall over there…”

Spoilers: Trainwreck demolished that wall by picking part of it to throw them at the targets. Plausible deniability, if anyone was listening. But yeah, he’s still in Coil’s payroll. Matter settled! Time to continue searching for Bryce, because the reason why Taylor asked that wall to be gone is because she feels Bryce may be over there. I notice she said ‘people who were unconscious or prone’. For Sierra’s sake I hope he’s just unconscious instead of injured.

Good news? The first of the prone bodies I went to was Bryce.

Bad news? He was injured.

So not even unconscious. I’d feel bad for Bryce, but...although I sympathize with his reasons to be in the Merchants, I can’t say I feel sorry for his current state. It’s not like he didn’t know he was putting himself in danger by staying around. This, well, this is a consequence of his decision to stay, and Taylor tried to get him out. I’m not saying he deserved it, but he getting hurt was to be expected.

...the girlfriend is dead. The girlfriend’s mother is dead too. They...Scrub’s power hit them on the head and the face, respectively. That much should tell you how bad they look right now. I hope Bryce didn’t see that happen right in front of him. I know he getting injured was to be expected, but still, that’d be quite the trauma, seeing two people you knew die like that right in front of you.

The guy who went and hurt those Sierra had talked about is very hurt, and from the sounds of this, he’s going to bleed out from my injuries sooner or later. Now that’s someone I don’t really feel any sympathy for, for obvious reasons. Looks like he was grazed by Scrub’s vanishing orb action. So all three people Bryce were very hurt, and I notice there has been no description of Bryce’s injuries yet. I don’t have a good feeling about this. It makes me think Bryce may not have much time left in this world.

Brooks stooped down to help Bryce, who had gotten off lightly compared to the others. He was missing a large portion of his right hand, and he’d had the presence of mind to try to loop his belt around the injury to control the blood loss, pulling it tight.

Oh. Yeah, comparatively that’s not too bad. The loss of a hand is not good, yeah, but it’s better than a lot of injuries he could have had at any point during this night. Besides, there’s more than enough room for Sierra to not find out how exactly Bryce was injured – that he had tried to stay with the Merchants and ran into a big fight. Will Taylor lie? Maybe.

No effort to try to help that Thomas guy that had attacked the church. Looks like Taylor has no sympathy at all either, to the point she was looking for any reason or excuse to leave him behind. She decides to fess up to the fact she wants him to suffer, and she does so by telling Brooks to focus on Bryce and therefore not give any medical attention to Thomas. Hm. Alright then. Sierra’s going to be glad, if she ever hears about this.

Trainwreck is still fighting, despite having lost parts of his armored legs before. He’s throwing chunks of stairs at Gregor the Snail, which may not be effective. Gregor can pass through solid objects, after all. Even if he had aimed well, Gregor wouldn’t have been hurt.

Remember the third parahuman in the Merchants’ group? Mush. I have the feeling Skidmark was the one who thought up that name. His power seems much more dangerous and/or useful than Skidmark or Squealer’s, though! He can use smaller elements to create limbs. Dirt, garbage, that kind of stuff. His hands and head can divide into tendrils that’ll keep said materials compact and forming a limb. Pretty good, depending on what material he gets.

His right arm had divided, stretched, forked out and reconfigured until it looked like a mass of reaching veins and arteries.

Sounds hella creepy to see, that’s for sure.

Scrub can’t do much, because his power...it’s potent, but it can’t be controlled very well. He could hurt other Merchants, and he’s not desensitized at all unlike Skidmark and the others. He still wants to be careful with what he does, I think.

In general, I’d say Taylor isn’t having that bad of a situation, what with Faultline’s crew keeping Skidmark busy. There’s no one to hinder their mission to rescue Bryce. The Merchants aren’t having a good time, since Scrub can’t hit Shamrock and Skidmark’s powers are, well, as I said before Skidmark’s power isn’t strong. He’s outclassed by Gregor and everyone else. Other unnamed Merchants parahumans are quickly dealt with. All should go okay for Taylor.

Almost...suspiciously okay. I can’t deny I keep having the feeling something is going to happen simply because things are going too well for her, leaving aside the fact they’re trapped in the mall right now. I expect some plot twist, some tragedy, something to happen and make things go downhill. The anticipation is killing me.

Taylor’s team is gathered together, so Taylor glances back to the fight to see if things had changed during the last ten or so seconds since the last time she looked. Ten seconds is a long time when it’s about fights! During that time Faultline prepared an ambush for Unnamed Merchant Parahuman, Mush was defeated, and Skidmark is the only one left. Newter and Spitfire are nowhere to be seen, but it doesn’t matter, those who are facing Skidmark right now should be enough to defeat him. Do it!

It had to suck for Skidmark, losing like this. He’d risen to power based on a streak of good luck and momentum rather than any talent, deed or ability. Now it was falling apart. He’d lost, he’d had his ass kicked in front of the bulk of his followers, and he would likely never regain what he’d had.

Yeah, judging from what I read, his ascent to power was more like an opportunistic move in a place where everyone was too weak to stop him. The Empire-88’s remains divided into two groups and were in middle of reorganizing, the superheroes had their hands full with the reconstruction of the city – although they did know the Merchants had gained power...the only one who seems to have been keeping tabs on them in some way is Coil, and making the Undersiders take over territories is a big part of his move against the Merchants. He’s going to be satisfied once he hears what happened in this arc.

Besides, despite the very fitting social commentary regarding humanity’s desperation in middle of tragedy and trying to stop society from rebuilding so they stay in some form of power, compared to pretty much everyone else the Merchants don’t...really have much appeal as antagonists. Maybe because in the end they’re just a group of opportunistic people who saw the chance and pounced on it, while never having the necessary strength to keep holding onto that power, and that was very obvious to the reader. It was like a foregone conclusion that they’d be knocked down a few pegs. Personally I’m glad about this. There are more interesting antagonists in the future, so I’m more than ready to just leave behind anything related to the Merchants and see how things go. Anyway, continuing!

He didn’t even have a power that would let him go down in a blaze of glory. No, his final act here would be one of petty spite.

Petty spite...that is fitting. What will he do, exactly?

He’s coating the case with the vials with his power. The contents of the suitcase are spilled everywhere. Well! That’s mildly inconvenient at best! As long as the vials aren’t caught by any civilian, of course. I don’t know what Faultline plans to do with the vials, but if she intends to destroy them, it may not matter if they crash against the ground and break. The biggest concern, in my opinion, is if a Merchants catches one.

Not that there are any. Most must be trapped in the maze, there has been almost zero living Merchants mentioned in this chapter.

At least what Skidmark did means Taylor and Lisa could be able to read some of the information in the papers that were in the suitcase. Taylor goes for the few ones that don’t have Skidmark’s power all over them, and manages to nudge them towards Taylor. Four or five pages out of...who knows how many. It sounded like there was many more than that. With some luck the pages Taylor just obtained are filled with useful information or foreshadowing!

Not that there’s time to read right now, that will have to wait until they’re back in their headquarters – most likely. Lisa’s already looking for an exit, and she’s finding one.

“Nothing! There’s nothing there because her power isn’t extending to that corner. She’s too far away, on the roof at the other side of the mall. Which means the interior of that shop isn’t affected by her power!”

Ah, so there is a radius of effect in Labyrinth’s power. Anything that goes beyond it doesn’t get affected by her power. I wonder if the radius can be affected by her mental state? I’d be willing to bet it is.

Lisa was right, the store over there wasn’t affected by Labyrinth’s power. It’s ransacked and definitely not a pretty picture, but it has a way out. Many Merchants also had found a way out before, which I’m glad about. Less potential for casualties inside.

Taylor has a few injuries, many more than I thought she would! She has her cut on her arm, yes, but she also has lots of bruises, and many aches from getting hit, and as if that wasn’t enough, her contact lenses still bother her. You know, I once heard the human brain focuses on the most urgent pain first, therefore numbing down the rest. It doesn’t mean there’s no pain, but that the brain doesn’t register it as bad as the one that has priority. I wonder which one of all these would register as the, uh, the most urgent one. The contact lenses, I’d say.

Once they moved some distance away to make sure they’re far away from the mall, they decided to take a good look at Bryce’s injuries and get the boy some serious medical attention. Yeah, he lost most of his right hand, but that’s still traumatic and can get dangerous without good care. While they wait for their pickup vehicle, Taylor tries to go talk to Charlotte, but Lisa stops her to talk about the papers.

“It’s a letter or contract from the people who made the stuff, talking to the guy who’d bought this stuff. Let’s see, we have… page two. Pages eighteen and nineteen. Page twenty-seven. Page sixteen. Wonder if we can put a narrative together.”

Ooooooh, so this wasn’t stolen from an employee! It was from a client. Someone who must be really wealthy, or got themselves into a lifelong debt with whoever makes this serum. I bet there’s an agreement to secrecy somewhere in that contract.

Also it sure sucks for the client they lost their superpowers in a can, because I doubt the people who made this stuff will forget the debt just because the client lost the stuff.

‘Confidentiality’ appears straight away. That was to be expected.

Client one is the negotiator for each of the clients, guardian of clients two and three and is not intending to consume the product.

Okay, it seems the client is a family. That explains why there were so many vials. There’s also a description of all the clients. Nothing in-depth, just gender and relation to the other clients. There’s two pieces of interesting information here, though.

Client one is not to share or use any of the product intended for other clients.

I’d think this is meant so a client doesn’t try to obtain benefits they didn’t pay for, but after Skidmark’s reaction to when that guy asked if he could share his vial with a friend, I now wonder if there’s something deeper than that.

Ignoring this warning or failing to adhere to any other warnings or directions within this documentation will compel Cauldron to carry out the countermeasures and call in all debts noted in sections 8b and 8c on pages seventeen, eighteen and nineteen.

Theeeeere is a name for the company! Cauldron! Quite fitting, given they’re negotiating something that was prepared and most likely carefully constructed. I wonder how exactly they made the contents in these vials, though...it can’t be easy to give powers reliably, and I already know it wasn’t reliable at first, given the existence of the Case 53 and their status as guinea pigs.

Looks like the base price for these vials are at least one million. Pricey! And the better the power, the more they cost. In that case it’s no surprise Coil is in such deep debt, his power is astonishingly strong.

I’m not entirely sure what the Nemesis program described in the text is like, but it sounds like if there’s a breach in the contract because of the clients’ actions, they’ll be hunted and eliminated by the Subjects – capital S. These subjects are completely loyal to Cauldron; therefore death will be unavoidable.

“Cauldron calls us Subjects. The PRT calls us Case 53s,” a voice said from above us. “Regular people call us monsters.”

Oh. The Case 53s are the Subjects? They don’t...seem very loyal to Cauldron at all, unless Faultline is in cahoots with this organization too. Or maybe they work for both, for Faultline and for Cauldron. Going to try to recover the vials fit with Cauldron’s interest, I’d say, but I can imagine a reason or two for Faultline to want those vials.

It’s Newter. I bet he has been watching them ever since they left the mall, it had been specifically said Taylor wasn’t seeing him around. Lisa is taking things rather calmly despite having been caught reading confidential documents that belong to an organization that doesn’t hesitate to send superpowered subjects to kill those who reveal their secrets. I know I’d be feeling nervous about it. How long as Newter been there, watching them read? Long enough, I bet.

“Gregor, Shamrock and I were test subjects. Guinea pigs to test the new formulas, so the buyers don’t get fucked. According to Shamrock, three in five of us don’t even survive. One in five Subjects are retained and brainwashed so they can protect the business and enforce the contracts. Shamrock was going to be one of them, but she escaped. The rest of us have our memories removed, and we’re released as part of the ‘Nemesis program.'”

Right, they were guinea pigs, I said it not too long ago. I also see confirmation they’re not loyal to Cauldron, so everything they did now is for Faultline’s interests – and their own interests, I think. Not all Subjects are forced to be part of Cauldron’s forces, I suppose only those who are particularly invulnerable may be good for that, like Shamrock, since her luck is quite good. At least I think that was her power. Although Gregor and Newter are quite good fighters in general, they’re...not invulnerable. Newter showed that when he got wounded back then in the arc versus Bakuda’s Asian gang.

Apparently the reason why Newter followed them is because he noticed Jaw moved like a trained mercenary. How does...a trained mercenary move? Do they have a particular way of running or something? I suppose Newter would notice something most people wouldn’t.

Since he knows they’re mercenaries, he inquires who exactly are them, so Taylor decides to take a risk and reveal her identity, gathering a lot of bugs on the edge of the paper – and she’s doing it right in front of Charlotte because she thinks Charlotte may have put two and two together already. She indeed did have reasons to think Taylor was getting involved with shady characters, what with being followed by soldiers, but I’m not sure if she’d have thought Taylor was a villain. Now what? Will she tell people? Will she say around school that the girl those bullies shoved into a locker with bloody tampons is now one of the Undersiders? I wouldn’t be surprised if that happens, although people believing Charlotte is a completely different matter.

“Ah, Skitter,” he said. Apparently my having saved his life once and gifting him a paper bag filled with money didn’t do much to ease his wariness. He wasn’t any less guarded when he asked, “Why are you here?”

Hey, villains will be villains. I know I wouldn’t turn my back on a villain no matter what they do.

Since all Taylor and Lisa came to do was to get Bryce, there’s no reason for Faultline’s group to do anything to them, especially since Taylor is willing to give back the papers with no strings attached. Well, no. Lisa has an offer to make.

Lisa followed my cue, offering the others, “Wouldn’t mind copies of whatever you’ve got.”

Newter frowned.

Before he could say anything, Lisa hurried to add, “I’m good at figuring stuff out. I’m a fountain of knowledge. I want to know more about this stuff, and I could help you guys in exchange for what you’ve already got.”

Hmmmm...yeah, Faultline could take advantage of this, if she intends to gather as much information as possible. That could be good for her. And, from a narrative point of view, this would be a good way to lead towards the next plot points and exposition about Cauldron. Personally I hope it’ll be a while before this gets revisited, though. The Cauldron stuff is starting to seem like it could be important, what with Coil being involved as a client, and the Case 53s stuff being relevant right now, so...having it at the same time than the Slaughterhouse Nine stuff may be a bit too much. Focus on one big thing at a time!

Or maybe Faultline will reject the offer and this will be the end of the Cauldron stuff for the time being. Who knows.

Newter leaves, and Taylor looks at Charlotte, who recoils as if Taylor had just opened her mouth and shot a torrent of wasps at her. Okay, that’s a bit of an exaggeration. I wonder if she has linked the locker incident with Taylor being a parahuman now?

Well, what’s important right now is that Taylor will have to deal with Charlotte about this, and honestly I have no idea what approach she’ll take. I’m not too concerned about Sierra, since they got her brother back even if he’s injured, and Bryce, well, with some luck he’ll think it three or four times before approaching the Merchants again. That must have been kind of traumatizing.

For now the chapter is over, and I’ll continue next time.

Next time: in two updates

#worm #worm liveblog #serial novel #liveblog #book liveblog

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countessofbiscuit · 7 years

Quote

The clone trooper had been captured on Coruscant at great peril and locked in long-term medical stasis after rigorous interrogation. Apparently, the clone had been the last being to speak to a well-known Republic traitor and was believed to be in possession of vital information – not that he had been willing to confess said information to his droid interrogators. So under strict orders from Count Dooku, the clone had been frozen in stasis, and no one else, not even the droids, were to speak with him further. Not until Dooku himself could question the clone directly. That had been the plan. But something – B1-CC14 didn’t really know what – had gone wrong. It didn’t really matter. The end result was that the ship had been detected and was attacked by an overwhelming Republic force, and all the droid’s attempts to escape the destruction had failed. Now there was only one command left that mattered. Count Dooku had been very specific. The captive was not allowed to escape, no matter what the cost. [....] Reveth quickly moved to help the trooper to his feet. It was a mistake; despite decades frozen in stasis, it was clear the clone's fighting instincts were intact. 'You don't understand!' the trooper yelled as he shoved Reveth backward. The clone looked panicked. Feverish. He was babbling. 'I’m a medic,' he said between gasps of air. 'And I … I learned something … something horrible. Fives knew…. He’s the one who figured it all out after Tup … and it got him killed. But I kept investigating. They said it was a virus…' The Corsair gestured subtly to Squeaky and Pendewquell, and the two pirates began circling to either side of the sick clone. 'A chip in our heads. In all the clones’ heads! And an order. A command to betray … kill … and it comes from the Chancellor!' The clone grabbed Squeaky's outstretched hand and flung him into the advancing Pendewquell. The effort was too much though, sending him staggering. 'The Seppies… captured me.' The soldier was speaking fast -- almost too fast to follow. It was as if the clone was unaware he was speaking out loud. 'Interrogated me to find out who else knew.' The clone was sweating. Shaking. He looked sad. 'I never had a chance to tell anyone else what I learned. I didn’t know who I could trust. But I wouldn’t tell them anyway… 'So they said...' The pirates were quiet, listening as the sick and delirious clone continued. 'They said they were sending me to someone I couldn't keep secrets from ... to the Sith ... The cold ... the freezing, burning cold...' The clone slumped to the ground. His eyes were rolling into the back of his head. 'Stasis poisoning,' whispered Reveth. 'He was trapped in there for too long.' 'No...! I can still save them. Skywalker...' the clone whispered intently. 'Get me General Skywalker! He'll help. We can save ... save the Jedi ... save the Republic!' 'What's your ID, trooper?' Quiggold asked the recently unfrozen soldier. 'CT-6116.' The trooper coughed. 'Kix. They call me ... Kix ... sir.'

The Crimson Corsair and the Lost Treasure of Count Dooku by Landry Q. Walker

The whole short story is worth a read, but these are the scenes which explain how Kix came to be frozen in a stasis chamber for nearly 50 years. Kix was so ready to help Fives in the fresher at 79′s, and that’s still the first thing on his mind here, doing something. Like, we laugh at Kix admiring himself in the mirror in that scene, but by the end, he’s torn apart.

Fives: “So, I guess the 501st is back on Coruscant.”

Kix: “Oh yeah, we just got back from Ringo Vinda. The strangest thing happened out there.”

F: “Yeah ... I know.”

K: “Fives!? Woah ... what’s going on? They said you tried to assassinate the Chancellor and that you’re infected with that virus that killed Tup--”

F: “I don’t have time to explain right now. All I can tell you is ... is that I’m being framed. All of us -- even the Jedi -- are in grave danger.”

K: “But -- wh-- what can I do, Fives? How can I help?!”

F: “I need to talk to Rex. Or ... or General Skywalker.”

K: “Well they’ve been tasked with finding you. Just turn yourself in!”

F: “NO! No. I’ll never get to them. You don’t understand ... what I’m mixed up in. It goes all the way to the top. The highest levels are involved in the conspiracy. I have to talk to General Skywalker and Rex -- directly, alone!”

K: “Look, I can contact Rex, but I can’t guarantee he’ll bring the General.”

F: “Good, good, good. Thanks Kix. I appreciate it. Here -- here are the coordinates. Just make sure he meets me there.”

K: “Right ... Good luck, Fives.”

Why isn’t Kix apprehended sooner, when Palpatine knows Kix spoke with Fives while the latter was on the run?

Meta, half-baked thoughts, and More Questions than Answers Below the Cut:

Presumably, Anakin mentions offhand in the debriefing after the warehouse incident that he and Rex were directed there by Kix -- and Kix himself is probably interrogated in an official capacity in the aftermath (although he must not let on very much...).

Many months must pass before Kix is captured ‘at great peril’ on Coruscant.

He goes with the 501st to Anaxes during the Bad Batch Arc (which would have been the opening of Season 7). Dooku wasted no time trying to get his hands on Tup, but Kix is left alone for some time ... long enough to grow suspicious of the disturbing parallels between Tup and Fives’s deaths; long enough to do his own research and to do it successfully; and long enough to convince Rex of the truth -- although, judging by how morose and withdrawn Rex looks in that ray shield when Fives mentions the chips, he was probably half-way to taking a knife to his own head, with or without Kix’s help or research. They must have colluded. And then it becomes a chicken-and-egg conundrum: does Kix remove their chips before he knows their purpose, or does he learn the nefarious truth and then cut them out? Because it’s been 45 years and Kix is still in a panic about needing to tell Skywalker what he’s discovered, his big Eureka! moment about the Triangle of Tragedy that is Chips-Sidious-Order-66 must come when he can’t immediately get hold of Anakin...

So. Hold that thought.

There are plenty other clones present on Ringo Vinda who witness Tup��s breakdown, others who listen as Kix first posits a virus as the cause (which he must feel terribly guilty about after the fact). But Kix is targeted specifically by Sidious/Dooku. Why? Because a) he is confirmed to have spoken to Fives while the latter was on the run and b) he must do *something* to convince Sidious/Dooku that he knows more than he should ... because otherwise, why wait?

One would think Kix would be easy enough to capture, it wouldn’t have been difficult for Palpatine to make him disappear and spirit him off to Dooku. So something tells me this is all done during the Battle of Coruscant ... judging by the “at great peril” line. Why would it have been dangerous to capture a single trooper from Coruscant? Massive upper-atmosphere battle perhaps? But why then? Because it would be easy not to miss a single clone in all that confusion? Or because it was absolutely vital that he be captured *at that moment*, as soon as possible, battle or no battle?

So we come back to the timing of Kix’s Eureka! moment.

It doesn’t take place before Anaxes -- regardless of whether or not they’ve removed the chips by that time -- because Kix and Rex and Anakin are all there, and Kix isn’t running around with his hair on fire about this terrible conspiracy. The next canonical events are, simultaneously, the Siege of Mandalore and the Battle of Coruscant. Rex is on Mandalore with one half of the 501st; Kix is on Coruscant, presumably with the other half (probably planetside, but how exactly prepositions are understood in relation to celestial bodies may be a bit different in a galaxy where interstellar travel is the norm; he and the rest of the 501st might have been on one of the ships during the battle itself, rather than stationed on the planet’s surface); and Anakin is ... somewhere in the middle (in the EU, he was on Cato Neimoidia when Grievous captures Palpatine, but new canon says he is “called back to Coruscant” from where he was seeing Ahsoka and Rex off to Mandalore when the battle breaks out).

So Kix either does/learns something during this crucial period -- i.e. when Sidious is sensing the game is nearly up -- when Anakin is away that triggers alarm bells for Sidious/Dooku. They then send Dooku’s minions to capture him ... or Dooku decides -- perhaps while he and Sidious are chatting on the Invisible Hand during the fabricated hostage crisis before the Heroes™ show up? -- to tie up some loose ends: “Remember that problematic medic that that meddling, rogue clone talked to in a dive bar a few months ago? Seeing as my forces are in the neighborhood, why don’t we kidnap and question him so our Super Evil Plan That’s Decades in the Making doesn’t fall apart when we’re not looking?”

IDK feel free to weigh in, but I need Super Sleuth Kix Breaks into the Supreme Chancellor’s Office and Downloads 100TB of Sidious-Dooku-Lama-Su Group Chats about How to Manufacture Brain-Control Chips for a Secret Army and 1001 Ways This Could Go Wrong written, like, yesterday.

#kix #fives #captain rex #order 66 #clone troopers #sw meta #tcw #the crimson corsair #star wars

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transmascgarak · 7 years

Text

The Last jedi Review

I’ll try and keep this fairly structured, for my sake if not for anyone else.

Spoilers below the cut, and it’s a long post.

The Good

Every other reviewer has it right; the last half hour absolutely helps to make up for the other 2 hours. I can actually pinpoint the moment that the movie shifted from ‘Rather Mediocre’ to ‘Mediocre but Pretty’; when General Holdo sacrifices herself and blows up the First Order ship at light speed. Shot in silence and in slow motion, it was legitimately stunning. Someone gasped and honestly? Same.

I love Rose! She’s so sweet and determined and I can’t wait to see more of her character.

I’m glad Poe got a bit more screen time, but more on that later.

Finn’s knowledge of the FO still being useful? Nice.

The battle sequences weren’t too difficult to follow, and the last one especially was well shot so like, kudos to whoever did the screenplay for that.

There’s a brief moment where Kylo is knocked out and Hux is standing over him. He reaches for his blaster, but then Kylo moves and Hux drops his arm. Me and my brother were the only ones who laughed at that, but it was a fun moment.

Billie Lourd did really well for the small part they gave her, and honestly I’d love to see more of her character.

The little kiddo at the end with the tiniest hint that he has the force. That was a nice moment.

The cinematography for Rey’s dark-side sequence was stunning.

When Leia and Luke talked to each other right near the end had me tearing up; a really sweet moment.

Rey’s sardonic mutter of ‘Lifting rocks’ dragged a chuckle from a few of us. The following sequence was pretty neat too.

Snoke’s throne room looked cool, I guess.

Actually the fight with Rey and Kylo vs the Guards was fun to watch.

When Phasma’s helmet was split? Nice.

When Hux said something like ‘Do you think you got him?’

A counter point: They hadn’t, and I was laughing.

Mark Hamill’s glare when he drank that green milk was gold. Not sure if it was aimed solely at Rey though.

Someone ‘Aww’ed at one of the crystal-fox things that made a few of us laugh.

Can you tell I’m nitpicking

The Bad

hooo boy. where do I start?

The characterisation of a few major roles were a mess.

Kylo was constantly called a child, even though he’s over thirty, and his ‘conflict’ literally hinged on a brief moment when he didn’t pull the trigger to kill Leia. He brought Rey to Snoke, and I honestly couldn’t pinpoint his motivations to kill Snoke at the last moment. Were they to protect Rey so he could have her as an ally? Maybe. More on him in a second though.

Luke would never kill a teenager in cold blood, so fuck you Rian. I know the narration says Luke wouldn’t anyway, but that would not have been the case and we all know it. He offered Rey no support in how to counteract the dark side at all? Like it was obvious she’d never had any training, so to not actually tell her or instruct her??? I can understand that self-loathing and survivor’s guilt can be all consuming, but. His character before would never have left them alone. The fact it took him being cajoled into helping was a bit :/

They can justify it all they want but Rey wouldn’t forgive Kylo for his shit. Kidnapping her, torturing her and her friends, killing a father figure? Not even a few days ago? Nah mate.

Snoke was a generic villain, and played like a melodramatic panto villain at that. I can respect Andy Serkis for trying to milk it, but really? Really? This is the Big Bad? The Ultimate Sith Lord?

The way characters were handled in the narrative was downright dodgy. Did I say dodgy? No, I meant racist!

The fixation on Kylo was interesting I guess, but to take it to that extent was A Bit Much, and was to the detriment of other characters. NOT TO MENTION that the narrative is literally trying to paint him as this conflicted soul after he’s been a part of a fascist organisation that’s wiped out billions in one fell swoop, killed his classmates, captured and tortured main characters... Rian Johnson is a Kylo Ren fan, and by god it shows. The entire Kylo plot was garbage.

Finn being pushed to the side and not treated like a main character? Blatant racism. Him being tazed and slapped and called selfish? Racism. We’re supposed to laugh and nod and agree? FUCK that

Poe Dameron being a hot-headed, dangerous fighter vs. calm white women. Seriously.

Honestly the above point would have been more palatable if Holdo was replaced with Lando Calrissian. Lando - with a more tangible past with the rebellion for those who have only seen the films, and was the posterchild for ‘Think before you do’- would have been a much more interesting foil for Poe than the one we got.

Paige Tico was mentioned with almost the same level of advertisement as Rose, but she was in one scene and died. Honestly I wish we’d have seen more of her :/

A counter: Rose needed more advertisement.

Leia could have been used a lot more. I don’t know if it was an issue with filming, but her character definitely took a back seat.

We’d better get an explanation for that force bond. Seriously? Seriously??? How does it work? Why those two if they’re not related? People - in fandom and outside of it - will see it as romantic, and... lord please no. Kylo literally uses abusive rhetoric to keep her, “You’re nothing [...] but not to me.” He uses her past against her in that moment, and tries to isolate her from everyone else by insisting that he can see her true worth or whatever such bullshit.

The plot was a little convoluted to say the least.

Seeing Adam Driver shirtless was Not Welcome lmao

speaking of WHAT was THAT, Rian? That substitute cow?

Rey cried a lot in this; that wasn’t just me right? Like pristine-tear-trails-down-the-cheeks-crying at least three times?

No seriously what was the force bond. What was that.

Fucking yoda was there. Where was Anakin?

The Ehh

I actually like Luke force-ghosting his way out. I am sad about Luke dying, but it honestly felt in line with his character at that point. It also gave us a rather spectacular moment at the end.

I’ve seen people call a certain moment the ‘Mary Poppins’, and yeeeah. It was absolutely corny, but in all honesty it was just so refreshing to see Leia use the force in such a way.

Rey not being a Skywalker... I can’t quite articulate what I feel. Lowkey disappointed, highkey confused because they had so much set up in TFA, but at the end of the day, it’s maybe time the Skywalker legacy passed to someone else.

Laura Dern did well with what she had, but honestly other than the last half hour, she was literally a walking counterpoint to Poe. I’ll admit I haven’t read the comics, but from the film alone, she just... Comes out of nowhere.

The Finn/Rose relationship was rushed as all hell, and put next to the amount of time Rey and Kylo are shown to have some sort of force bond(?!) just screams racism to not have the white woman in an interracial relationship with a black man. It seems iffy you guys.

The casino plotline could have been cut (156 minutes. 156.) but I can understand why they did it.

Counterpoint: Benicio Del Toro’s character was kinda dull.

Finn almost sacrificing himself to save the others has left me torn. I did appreciate the parallel with Poe at the beginning of the film though.

The repeated motif of Hope was cheesy as all hell, but I can live with it.

The final final fight between Kylo and Luke made me laugh because it literally looked like a Mortal Kombat screenshot. Don’t get me wrong, it was pretty, but it was lacking in health bars.

The porg were cute, and the moment when one balefully stares up at Chewie for eating another got a laugh from us all

Overall, it was a reasonable film, but my god those flaws are difficult to ignore.

#star wars #star wars spoilers #tlj spoilers #the last jedi spoilers

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