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thebirdart · 3 months

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Some features of the earth urchins compared to the four hedgehogs of the world of Sonic!

One day I asked myself the question of how would be the anatomy of Sonic and I began to investigate the anatomy of the ground urchins but I liked so many details of them that I put together some characteristics of these animals to compare them with the four hedgehogs of the world of Sonic.

us start!

Starting with obvious facts:

In the world of Sonic only showed to have four hedgehogs; Sonic, Amy, Shadow and Silver, (the green does not count because it is still Sonic)

They all appear to be of a "same species of hedgehog".

For we know 16 types of earth urchins on our planet.

On the other hand I thought Silver was of a different species like Shadow. (By the shape of its spikes) But I don’t see the point, so they must be the same species. Although Shadow might be a little authentic in his design, I’ll explain later.

(Data: the hedgehog Atelerix algirus and the hedgehog Hemiechinus auritus are the ones who take care more to be pets at home)

FOOD

-Ground urchins eat insects, worms, molluscs, snakes, some fruits, small vertebrates, acorns, young birds and eggs.

(the hedgehog thought about it a little before attacking)

-Sonic and the others eat things that could be considered human; chili dogs, coffee beans (this is done by Shadow), strawberry cake (eaten by Amy and Sonic hates it), hamburgers (by SonicBoom), apples (by a drawing of Silver), and so on.

ANATOMY

The ground urchins have very good flexibility, an arched spine and strong and flexible muscles, that allows them to become ball. Comparing it with the deformed hedgehogs (Sonic) there is not much difference since all present good strength and flexibility, except Silver that can not be made ball.

The spikes of hedgehogs are made of keratin, which is a protein substance. I guess the same applies to Sonic and so on. Although in Sonic Unleashed when he is electrocuted we can see that it does not have "bones" in its large spikes, it is a little obvious to know but data that goes without saying.

The skeleton of ground urchins is similar to other mammals, only that its spine is a little more curved, as well as other details; as that its clavicle is well developed so that it can dig hard. This is very different from Sonic’s body and so on as it would resemble more a human structure.

Although also to keep in mind Sonic’s feet are… a closed thing…

By the way the snout and mouth are very different too. Sonic has a snout but the nose and mouth are different from the ground urchin. And another fact: the hedgehogs take incredibly long walks if it is for food; something like 7.2 km/h and if we combine it with the particularity of Sonic being very fast this powerful detail does not overlook.

Time when I jumped out of my spot when I was reading this.

I love this, I have no idea if the creator of Shadow has taken this as a reference but did you know that hedgehogs have a blue border that surrounds their dark eyes? This can only be seen when hedgehogs look to the side. So the great "eyeliner" of Shadow could be a real detail of the animal but taken as a reference to leave it beside your eyes on the outside.

The tail of the common hedgehogs is bare, but the tail of the deformed ones appears to be of the same color as all their other spikes.

I think, canonically, the characters of the Sonic world can mate. But I didn’t see anything that highlighted this, I mean, we can witness Cream’s mother.

Male hedgehogs have a small penis, (bulge), located in what would be their navel and have intra-abdominal testicles (they remain in the abdomen instead of leaving through the scrotum) and the female vulva is a small button that is located in front of the anus.

I guess since they’re characters from the '90s, it’s obvious that this wasn’t thought of at the time of their creation. There’s not much to think about since they’re characters who may or may not wear clothes (Tails-Nine and Sally-Amy) and yet we wouldn’t see anything, not even the nipples! Because hedgehogs have five nipples, both female and male, and you’ll notice that Sonic has nothing.

But I found a picture of Sally where she has more clothes. I suppose it must be a hallmark that female characters wear clothes. (Although Sally is not a canonical character, of course.)

THE 5 SENSES:

Sight: they do not have good view, it is said that hedgehogs have no sense of space, but they can distinguish shapes. Although the hedgehogs are blind and may have collisions with objects, they continue to travel great distances and this does not cause them to slow down, they continue with the same speed as if they had good eyesight.

Smell: very developed, so I guess the four hedgehogs can smell very well from several meters, maybe Sonic can smell Eggman without making noise, will smell of egg?

If you hid a chili dog under the ground in a box, Sonic could find it.

Hearing: the ear of hedgehogs can detect high frequency sounds, their developed sense allows them to locate their prey underground.

Tip: If you saw the Sonic Prime series you will notice that Sonic’s ears move often before a sound. I think a good detail added for the blue hedgehog, this is also added in the IDW comics, I did not find the panel but it is when Amy stays listening to the ground and knows that two hedgehogs are close, those hedgehogs were Shadow and Sonic.

But although hedgehogs have a very sensitive ear I do not consider it the same for the four hedgehogs as they would go crazy at the sounds of Eggman machines, explosions or a simple click of the computer mouse. (Ground urchins get stressed too fast with a simple computer click)

Taste: These animals have a peculiar… sense of taste. They like the taste of a hundred feet. So it’s not uncommon for Shadow to like bitter, for Sonic to like spicy, and for Amy to like sweet, what would Silver like? Healthy or the first thing he finds in his world to eat?

Types of sounds hedgehogs make

Sounds of joy: these little things purr like a cat, and they can even mix it with whistles. Could it be that Shadow purred when he was with Maria?

Bullying sounds: they emit a sound through the nose from a strong breathing, they do it when they feel attacked or are upset. (I don’t know if they thought of it this way when they made Shadow growl annoyingly in Sonic Prime. The same with Amy and Sonic when they got jealous or bothered with each other at Sonic Boom)

Whining sound: when they feel pain they emit a sound like a scream, I could notice this in a video of a hedgehog that was in the water of a bathtub. (although there are always exceptions)

Sleeping sounds: Hedgehogs snore, I guess they all snore too?Hedgehogs fall asleep anywhere. In the Sonic game where Amy’s birthday is celebrated, Tails mentions that Sonic can sleep anywhere, even in the most unusual.

Data: the hedgehogs have nails/claws that they use to dig the earth and since the of Sonic characters are put gloves to not show their hands I think they should not have pads like normal animals but rather human hands. Well, Sticks is the only one I’ve seen without gloves and she’s a badger and badgers have pads. So all Sonic characters should have hands without the characteristics of their species.

BEHAVIOR

The behavior of one ground urchin and the other four is very different, except Shadow, he should stay on the side of the ground urchins.

Since hedgehogs are solitary, they only come together when it’s mating season. (Although Sonic likes to spend time alone…but he’s not a lone wolf like Shadow)

UNGIMIENTO (I couldn’t find the word in English)

When tasting a taste or perceive a new smell, or rare, the animal bites the source of this flavor or smell (Animals, objects, people, whatever) to then make a frothy, thick and white drool that with the tongue are smeared on the side peaks and those near his face. (Scientists don’t know why they do this) If I imagine it for the four deformed hedgehogs maybe this does not exist for them, as they smell new things all the time.

youtube

EXTRA DATA: Hedgehogs can swim but they don’t like to stay in the water too long because they can drown, I saw a documentary that mentioned this. I like that touch they gave Sonic that in the water he is scary, I don’t know if it’s something canonical or fandom but it was nice to see him be the only one with a life jacket in the Olympics.

Remember when they did that twitter and tiktok special where they asked Sonic what would happen if he was a worm? Well, hedgehogs eat worms. And did you know that the Egyptian hedgehog is prey to foxes? While it’s another kind of hedgehog this is funny. In Sonic the movie the character Longclaw is the "mother" of Sonic… the funny thing about this is that she is an owl and owls eat hedgehogs.

Who had the idea to give a friend and mother predators to Sonic?

That’s all. I hope you liked these characteristics that I came up with. See you later!

#sonic fandom #sonic the hedgehog #shadow the hedgehog #sonic fanart #amy rose #silver the hedgehog #Youtube

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spop-romanticizes-abuse · 4 months

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i think someone already pointed this out but...

there were two instances in spop where catra “accidentally” attacks adora when they were on the same side. i see a lot of stans talking about how catra didn't mean to hurt adora, but her expression right after she does so says everything.

after she tases adora in s1, she clearly looks angry and spiteful. her expression stays that way for a while before she hastily apologizes and acts as if she didn't realize how strong the zapper was. when adora tries to get back up, catra zaps her again and acts as if it was a reflex.

it's already concerning enough if catra's reflex to adora doing something unexpected is to attack her, but it's obvious that this wasn't a reflex. catra was punishing adora. for leaving her, for siding with the princesses, for daring to do something different.

now let's come to the portal reality. here, again, when adora starts panicking about the distorted reality, catra gets a quick flashback and immediately slaps adora. “it was freaking me out” does she look freaked out in the previous two frames? no. she looks strangely calm.

remember that this is an animated show where every detail means something. the animators wouldn't animate catra's expression like that if it was supposed to be a genuine accident. they could have easily made her look shocked or guilty, but they didn't. these frames last a few minutes too, they're not a blink-and-you-miss-it thing.

compare these to the time when catra electrocuted entrapta.

this was accidental. it's clear by catra's expression that it was an impulse decision. catra is shocked at herself, she's panicking.

of course, it's not that she cared about entrapta more. it's that attacking or hurting other people wasn't as much of a habit for catra as hurting adora was. whenever catra hurt someone else, she had a clear reasoning. either she was jealous or she was feeling threatened or she had a goal to accomplish.

with adora, it was just a matter of control. ever since they were young, catra used physical punishment on adora whenever she did something catra didn't like. and this habit clearly didn't wear off, partially because there was no one around to tell her that it was wrong, and partially because catra refused to take responsibility for her actions.

it's still strange to me that spop portrayed abuse in such a terrifying accurate manner, and then proceeded to romanticize it. makes me wonder if someone in the crew was genuinely not on board with this ship becoming canon.

i honestly feel like s1-4 were written by a group of writers and then s5 was given to someone who had zero context about the show and had just finished reading a bunch of wattpad fanfictions.

#the show keeps proving to us too that catra's reflex towards adora doing something she doesn't like #is to use violence on her #even in s5 when she shoved adora to the ground for practically no reason #spop critical #spop salt #spop #spop criticism #spop discourse #she ra #anti spop #anti catra #anti catradora #anti c//a #antic//a #anticatra #anticatradora #tw abuse

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aangarchy · 6 months

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So while rewatching the live action trailer a 50th time i kind of started thinking about something.

There's a few moments in atla that always seemed untouchable to me. Not only because they were well executed when it comes to storytelling, but also bc we never actually see the moments in question. Examples are: the attack on the air temples, Ozai burning Zuko, Katara's mother's death. We hear about these from other characters who happened to be there, or in case of the air temples: we hear the moment being retold as history. It's the latter i want to expand on.

The original cartoon never shows us even a glimpse of the attack on the air temples. You could say "well it's a kid's show they can't show a brutal genocide" but honestly, we're talking about a cartoon that showed a skeleton on screen in the third episode, showed the main character getting electrocuted and plummeting to his death, and showed a man being drowned by a spirit. The reason they didn't show it imo, is because it makes sense for the narrative. This attack was a century ago. Everyone that witnessed the attacks and was old enough to remember them is dead. Bumi is the only person we know of that was alive at the time and old enough to somewhat remember, but he wasn't present. It's comparable to world war one for us. There's nobody alive currently that properly remembers WW1. We're being told about it in history class, we get shown those weird black and white videos of smiling soldiers on their way to their death, pushing carts through the mud, them shooting a few canons, the trenches etc. But there's no first hand recollections. The creators really drove home the point of the airbender genocide being ancient history to the current inhabitants of this world by never showing us the attacks itself, and only having it be a known historical fact. It's just something that happened, it was long ago, nobody remembers it. All they know is there's no more airbenders, they're extinct, and nobody remembers jack shit about airnomad culture and philosophy except those that study it (aka professor zei) and even then, it's based off of destroyed architecture and hard to find historical texts that i'm sure the Fire Nation tried their best to erase. The viewers of the show only get information about air nomads through Aang, and whatever flashbacks from his own memory he provides. It leaves us wanting to know more, and it feels extra tragic knowing we'll only have Aang to rely on to tell us the tales of his people (for atla specifically, i know we now have more info due to the avatar novels).

Netflix however, literally opens their trailer with three shots of the attack. The comet, then the fireballs being shot, then the firebenders and airbenders facing off. I don't like this decision to show the battle that took place, because then the point of it being ancient gets a bit lost. We as the audience get more information than the main characters have, and idk but to me that kind of ruins the experience?

Same with Zuko getting his scar. Not only are they gonna show us that, they put it in the trailer. Why? This is a very important character moment in the show that we don't even get to see bc it's told from Iroh's perspective and he looked away the moment it happened. Before this we were given crumbs as to how Zuko got his scar. And Netflix is just tossing it our way like Peeta tossed bread at Katniss Everdeen.

I might feel differently abt this when the show airs (although not likely lol) but currently i'm just kind of mad at these creative decisions being made man

#avatar the last airbender #atla #avatar #netflix atla #atla netflix #netflix #atla live action

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1moreff-creator · 8 months

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An Analysis and Theories of The Purge March…

(By someone who knows very little about Milgram)

Hello Milgram people! First time posting an analysis about it, mainly because I only started getting into it like two days ago. I kept seeing it get mentioned in my dash and I thought "yeah these characters look mentally ill enough to be interesting I'll check this out." And wow, this thing is awesome!

Even though I'm missing massive amounts of critical information (I haven’t even watched all the MVs for the other characters yet), I still want to talk about my thoughts on the newest MV, Amane's "The Purge March". I'm sorry if a lot of what I say has been said before, I tried my best to research other opionions before defining my own, but I still know very little compared to others. Hope you can take something away from here anyways!

CW: Cults and indoctrination, child abuse, torture, waterboarding, electrocution, violence and murder, animal death.

Basic Rundown & Lyrics

Introduction

The video takes place in three main settings: the titular march, the place with the cat, and Amane's apartment/home.

Hold on, you may say. Can we be sure that's Amane's home and not some other place? Well, I believe so, based on this little sign here.

This translation was taken from Napkin's analysis on the MV, which was massively helpful and I recommend you check out yourself!

In case you forgot, Amane's full name is Amane Momose; that's her father on that picture. When combined with the context that Amane walked into the apartment on her own and with a small smile, it really makes it look like that is her home. Adittionally, a leaked storyboard from Milgram Premium apparently says the hand holding the taser belongs to Amane's mother, and I believe this is the case. Not because of the storyboard, as I don't usually trust that type of meta evidence, but because of some stuff I'll get to later.

Anyways, back to the video. We open with the march, alongside this lyrics:

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen! It’s the beginning of a most wonderful day However, there are blasphemers and silent by-standers, who would have it otherwise We must not give into them, they are the ones that should be judged With pure, unsullied body and soul, let us preach all that is true and right

This sets up the main theme of the song: it's about how the cult Amane is in sees the concept of punishment and justice. Those who go against the cult, must be judged, they must be punished. I think it's worth noting that this part not only calls out "blasphemers", but also "silent by-standers". Amane's cult not only condemns """harmful""" actions, but also inaction. There is one part of the MV which I think manifests this, I'll get to it.

Flags and Ordainments

Then, we see four flags corresponding to each of the cult's... uh...

Okay, so, as a refresher. There's this four characters, right? From left to right, Yuri, Gozake, Riyone, and Gachata.

Certain theories claim these are cult leaders, and certain others claim they are just mascots or even deities and not real people. I believe the latter, but of course all theories are valid. I'll explain my reasoning later (take a shot), but for now, I need to establish what I believe.

Anyways, we see flags representing each of them attached to lyrics which are connected to them, indicating some of the cult’s ordainments.

’Tis ordained, thou shall follow thine destiny [Riyone] ’Tis ordained, thou shall discard vulgarity [Gozake] ’Tis ordained, thou shall deliver unto those thou believest in [Yuri] ’Tis ordained, thou shall stay thine course, then perish [Gachata]

Here's what I think they mean:

>Riyone, who has bandaids for ears, represents the cult's belief in medicine. Essentially, they denounce it, and their accepted MO is to only pray for the injured instead of healing them medically. So when Riyone 'says' "thou shall follow thine destiny", it's saying "accept your fate/situation, don't try to change your destiny". This is why we don't see Riyone doing anything other than punishing Amane in the first trial MV; the only thing you're meant to do in relation to Riyone and medicine is pray.

>Gozake has possibly the vaguest ordainment, that being “thou shall discard vulgarity.” Since it’s described as a monk in “Magic”, I believe this means to discard unnecessary, vulgar things, and only accept the things the cult accepts. There is indication that the cult denounces these type of trivial things, from some of Amane’s interrogation questions from trial one.

Q1: Do you have any special skills?

A: Nothing that I can call a talent. Perhaps studying. I do well in my Japanese class.

Q5: When you go to an amusement park, what do you like to ride?

A: That is a place I should not go to.

Q11: What kind of meat do you like?

A: I don’t eat meat.

Q14: Do you listen to music?

A: Not really, to songs that are highly entertaining.

Amusement parks are somewhere she shouldn’t go to, presumably because it’s considered vulgar. Perhaps she says she doesn’t have a talent because she’s not allowed to engage in a lot of activities. It’s certainly possible she doesn’t eat meat out of preference, but it could also be due to religious beliefs. And she only listens to songs which are “highly entertaining”, provided I’m reading that right because it’s worded a bit weird. The reason I bring that up is that we see Gozake teaching her to sing in “Magic”, which relates it to music. While that’s likely metaphorical, it’s possible the cult’s “songs” are the highly entertaining ones, and the rest are vulgar.

Worth noting for "The Purge March" though, Gozake’s flag is on the floor before being waved. It's pretty clear Amane holds some contempt against Gozake and/or his punishments.

I believe it’s because it is Gozake’s ordainment, “thou shall discard vulgarity”, that Amane most disagrees with internally and the one she’s most likely to break. I mean, obviously, she’s a child, she’s going to want to do all sorts of trivial, “vulgar” things for fun, that’s just what kids do. We even see a version her fumble with this flag later, implying she has broken this ordainment before.

This fits a lot of the lines in “Magic”.

Dear wise one, Am I worthy? Is it ok to spoil myself?

Spoiling herself here likely means doing things she wants to do, but which are considered “vulgar” by the cult. Her interrogation questions also imply it.

Q3: If you were allowed to do anything, what would you want to do?

A: Nothing really. I am not lacking anything.

Q17: What would you do if the world ends tomorrow?

A: If everything ends? Then, I might do all sorts of things I have never done before.

Notice how there are things she wants to do if the world ends, but she doesn’t want to do them now. That is because now, she’s still under the threat of consequence, the “vulgar” things she does can be punished. But if the world ends, then she can just do whatever.

>Yuri is meant to represent solidarity and generosity within the cult, as a sort of tactic to make all its members willing to help and lend resources to the cult. We see him collecting money in "Magic", as the animals "deliver unto those they believe in". That's why his clothes are all patchwork, as if to imply the cult is in need of money.

>Gachata represents order and obedience, that's what "thou shall stay thine course, then perish" means. I don't think I need to explain how that's connected to cults. It's styled after an alarm clock, as they represent a regularity of action, a "schedule". An alarm clock tells you when it's time to wake up and work, just like Gachata.

The Purpose of Punishment

We then see a version of Amane fumble with Gozake's flag as this lyric plays:

The “It can’t be helped”, from the scum who can’t be helped

There's something extremely important in this line. "The scum who can't be helped" are those who say "it can't be helped". In other words, acceptance of mistakes, blasphemy, etc, is the most unforgivable crime in the eyes of the cult. That's why "Leader Amane" slams her baton on the ground, causing this "helpless Amane" to sink, with this line.

That makes them doubtlessly, clearly, absolutely, unequivocally, beyond any doubt, GUILTY

The thing that makes them guilty is the sentiment that "it can't be helped".

What does that mean? It means that something is only forgivable if one acknowledges that it can be fixed. Giving up on improvement, claiming "it can't be helped", is unacceptable. And this is why punishment is so important. If someone doesn't accept punishment, they're claiming their faults cannot be helped by it, which makes them guilty.

(Also yes guilty is in caps because Amane was voted guilty in the first trial I think)

What's important, though, is that because of this scene, Amane is not "scum who can't be helped" in her eyes. Because she's both the one judging and the one being judged, that means she understands the value of her own punishment-

IN THE CULT'S EYES. I gotta clarify that sometimes I will speak from the perspective of the cult to make things clearer, but I do not agree with anything they do or believe, obviously.

So Amane believes she should be punished if she does something wrong, though obviously usually she isn't the one punishing herself. The punishment we see happen then is Amane being drowned, which is the punishment related to Gozake as we see in "Magic". Electrocution is connected to Riyone, physical blows to Yuri and verbal abuse to Gachata, please don't question it too much. Rain starts falling as she sinks, but clears after she's fully under and drowning, revealing a rainbow.

This rainbow shows up later a few times, and... frankly, it's hard to know exactly what the hell it means? But I think it represents the twisted and frankly horrifying view the cult has on punishment: even in the rain, which would be the pain of punishment, there is the bright light of improvement shining through it, being the rainbow. Even though Amane is suffering from drowning, she'll grow and improve from it. That is honestly disgusting to write but well here we are.

The lyrics here are:

I disavow you, eyes corrupted must be crushed So nary a sound can be uttered a second time, I’ll crush your throat too

Essentially, those who go against the cult must be silenced, their views disavowed (eyes crushed).

Then, we see Gozake's flag fading into the background as Amane sinks further. After that, we cut to real life, to Amane being waterboarded.

(Btw, I'm using "waterboarding" because it's faster than "controlled drowning", even though I'm not entirely clear if waterboarding is the right term for what she suffers through)

The lyrics are:

After you cry, repent, and kneel, it’s now your turn to say that hopeless “I’m sorry” x2

Amane claims it will soon be "your" turn to apologize and be punished, the "you" likely being her murder victim. How is Gozake related? Well, I believe that's alluding to an aspect of Amane's murder. In fact, this scene might be just a few minutes before her kill, as I believe she killed her victim after suffering from "Gozake's" punishment. I'll get there.

The Cat Incident

(Not the Kazui MV drop, the other one)

We then see what happened for Amane to be punished: she healed a cat. And the cult hates medicine. She gets spotted by a man and a small girl.

See the rainbow? That's because getting caught will lead to punishment, which will lead to improvement. I want you to know I actually feel disgusting writing that, but those are the beliefs of the cult.

Note the girl is holding a balloon with a symbol which is very similar to the symbol on multi-Amane's flags later, so these two likely belong to the cult as well. And since she's wearing the same uniform as Amane, they likely go to the same school, which may be ran by the cult.

I’ll talk about the balloon a bit more later, but for now, who are these two? I said I don’t believe the mascots are cult leaders, so it can’t be them. See, I actually believe they’re simply other average cult members, with nothing special at all about them. This is because the girl, and thus presumably the man with her, never enter Amane’s apartment.

See how that sign with 403 is above the door to the apartment? The balloon stops in front of it, but then goes away. (It's hard to show this with just images but trust me). By the way the string is positioned, it’s clear the girl is still pulling it. Thus we can conclude the girl never went in, and because of that (and the fact the girl has slightly different hair than Amane so she does exist), I believe the man merely told Amane’s mother what he saw, but left before Amane went home. Thus, I find it unlikely this man holds any more importance.

Why is he snitching, though? Well, it goes back to the cult’s beliefs of punishment. If something is wrong, it must be corrected. Remember, “silent by-standers” are just as bad as blasphemers in their eyes. So he wants Amane’s mom to do something about it.

(Btw, I don’t think the cat was a test necessarily, but the fact it’s collared and then gets killed could be an argument for that interpretation)

Oh, and for the uninitiated, I’m saying Amane’s mom because of one of her trial one interrogation questions:

Q: Is there anyone you hold in high esteem?

A: My father. My father has been on a journey for a while, but that is something very honorable.

So, only her mother is in the house.

The lyrics of the scene are relatively straightforward.

If you become a bad girl, monsters will come out. This is the magic that stops that from happening

Then the four “‘tis ordained” things again. Amane broke one of the rules by healing the cat, so she has to be punished, because her actions could cause bad things (monsters to come out). Again, in the cult’s eyes.

After this, we see Amane arrive at her home, where someone, perhaps her mother, is waiting with a taser. Electrocution is Ryone’s punishment, remember. Which makes me think it’s possible the cult specifically assigns each punishment to the ordainment of the mascot. So, because Amane broke Riyone’s ordainment about destiny, she gets electrocuted. That’s a bit half-baked as a possibility, but I think it’s worth mentioning.

The whole thing happens alongside the same “unequivocally GUILTY” line from before, again alluding to Amane receiving punishment.

(Btw, does anyone know what the note behind Amane’s head in that scene says? It fires off alarm bells for me, but my Japanese is null, so)

Amane’s Magical Girl Transformation

Then, we see Amane return to the place of the cat, except its collar is broken and the napkin Amane had used to heal it bloodied next to it, implying the cat died. Amane is obviously heartbroken, and looks up at her umbrella, before we cut to the march again.

There’s quite a few things to note. For one, notice the real Amane has a bruise on her forehead, implying she was hit, and thus received Yuri’s punishment. Assumedly she was also verbally assaulted during the ordeal, Gachata’s punishment so as to complete the set, but it’s sorta impossible to tell.

However, the lyrics are important. It’s stuff we’ve heard before:

I disavow you, eyes corrupted must be crushed So nary a sound can be uttered a second time, I’ll crush your throat too

With “I’ll crush your throat too” notably playing as the transition to the march completes.

But what is she disavowing? Well, think about it. The cult members are not meant to interfere with destiny, with life and death, as per Riyone’s ordainment. That means that while they’re not allowed to heal things, they’re also presumably forbidden from killing them. Though maybe I’m expecting too much logical consistency from a cult but you know. In any case, than means Amane disavows this act, and decides whoever killed the cat, must be punished.

The baton has already been connected to punishment when March Leader Amane slammed it down and caused the other Amane to sink. Which, with this context, we can presume the Drowned Amane to represent Amane before she was punished for healing the cat or some other “offense”.

But the baton is also representative of Amane’s murder weapon, as we’ll see later. And yet, it is also being related in this scene to an umbrella. Why?

Well, it’s simple. Umbrella’s represent protection, in particular protection from the rain which has been related with punishment through this MV. So, to protect herself, Amane punishes others. She does this because, since the cult idolizes punishment, their poster-child (as Amane has been implied to maybe be) should also deal out punishment.

In summary, when Amane sees a wrong, she wishes to correct it because it’s what the cult would want from her, and if she does what the cult would want from her, then she won’t be punished herself.

Q7: Do you like yourself?

A: I have never considered it from the perspective of love and hate, but I do think I am a good child.

…This kid worries me. Severely.

The idea that Amane will punish whoever killed the cat is reinstated in the following lines. As a swarm of Amane’s rushes forward with big grins, proudly holding the flag of the cult and its beliefs, the one with the baton walks forward with conviction. Look at the lyrics.

I don’t need it any more, if you’re going to break your vow Here and now, it’s my turn to tear you apart So there is no second time, I’ll give back the judgment that you gave to me

You wanna know why the swarm of Amanes are so happy? Because now she’s the one who get to punish, instead of being the punished. This is… an unfortunately common reaction to abuse.

It’s important to keep in mind what I said before; the Amanes are still holding the cult’s flag. They’re still acting on the cult’s beliefs. Notice how she specifically says the purpose of returning the punishment is “so there is no second time”, which fits what I’ve been talking about regarding punishment in the cult being to discourage repeat offenses.

Well, she’s following the cults beliefs… in theory. It was pointed out by iris-drawing-stuff in this post that Amane’s eyes have a shade of purple which is not associated with the cult, possibly implying she’s also acting on her own desires, but still rationalizes them through her cult’s twisted logic. The punishment she gave out is death, which sorta goes against the whole “follow thine destiny” logic I said earlier, and more pressingly, doesn’t really fit any of the four established punishment methods of the mascots. Well, I guess Yuri if you squint, but it still isn’t supposed to kill presumably. So she’s not actually entirely going by what the cult says when she kills her victim.

… This kid really worries me.

But hold on. Didn’t I say the symbol of the flags is actually different from the balloon? Is that significant? Well, I think it could be. It could represent how Amane’s views on her cult were changed by the punishment she received after healing the cat.

Think about it. The balloon’s symbol is more simplistic, and is on, well, a balloon. Something childish, something which offers simple bliss without anything wrong about it, and something fragile. I believe this represents how Amane viewed her cult before the cat incident. It was just a nice little thing that brought joy and didn’t require any more thought; it’s a more simplistic viewing, that’s why the symbol is more simplistic. Any small punishments, like Gachata’s finger-flick at the start of “Magic”, aren’t anything to write home about. Obviously I think she’s downplaying the extent of the abuse, but in her mind it wasn’t a big deal.

(That and I imagine the cult doesn’t feel like spending much money on more detailed balloons of all things)

However, this simplistic view “stays at the door” the day of the cat incident, as the other girl never enters the house. This is because after this, Amane’s view on the cult becomes more complex.

And that’s why we then see the symbol on the following flags. Flags are certainly something more mature, and the design is more complex. It is no longer simply colors on a balloon, it represents a fully formed ideology. After the incident with the cat, Amane began understanding the “””value”””” of punishment her cult pushes, and so wishes to begins to act accordingly.

Have I gone insane? Buddy, I was already insane before this, this is nothing new.

Amane’s Justice

Anyways, keeping in theme with the idea that she’s acting on the ideals of her cult, we see her twirling her baton of punishment in front of the four mascots, the rainbow of change after punishment firmly in the background.

It’s important to note, she is firmly planted on the mascots’ side, fighting in their behalf, which is part of what makes me believe she didn’t kill a cult leader as some theories state, but obvs that’s an opinion. The lyrics here are more of the same, Amane is the one punishing now.

After you cry, repent, and kneel, it’s now your turn to say that hopeless “I’m sorry” x2

However, something interesting happens right after. The lyric:

You’re sorry? I don’t care! Please, go ahead and die already

-plays as the baton she’s holding becomes stained with blood, indicating her intent to kill.

This is what separates Amane’s desires from the cult’s. The cult would want her to keep the victim alive as long as they can learn from their punishment and fix what’s wrong, but Amane killed her victim, which sorta goes against that. She’s a child, traumatized and hurt and at her limit, obviously her mind is trying to justify anything that would get her suffering to definitively stop. She explains the reasoning right after.

Remember MY cries, MY repents, MY words of “I’m sorry” that I said to you?

She said sorry, she wanted to repent and change, but her abuser(s) never stopped, so why should she? She should be allowed to go all the way, ignore her abuser(s) pleas of sorry and deal out whatever punishment she thinks fits their crime, right?!

At this time, the video transitions from the march to reality, the baton turning back into the umbrella for protection.

However, two things remain the same: the rainbow of punishment, and the look on Amane’s eyes, showing her excitement. This is to show that her wish to punish her abuser(s) isn’t merely a fantasy, but extends to reality as well.

And that gets us to the final (or, second to last I guess,) shot.

Let’s talk about this.

A Theory on a Murder

Let’s start at the beginning.

The Victim’s Identity

So, I’ll kill the suspense. I think Amane killed her mom. The most direct evidence I have for this is a combination of two of her trial one interrogation questions.

Q13: Who do you want to meet right now? A: My father. I want him to praise me for working hard.

So as far as Amane is aware, her father is alive. However:

Q9: Tell me what your family consists of. A: It was my father, my mother, and I.

Past tense. Peculiar.

That’s obviously a pretty big one, but there’s a bit more. As the lyrics imply, the person Amane killed was someone who had previously “punished” her. But as I also pointed out, it seems unlikely that it was a cult leader, as she is facing away from the mascots when she declares her murderous intent.

Cult Leader Theory runs into a contradiction under this interpretation (and it’s important to clarify, other interpretations are obviously valid, I’m just talking about how I see the MV). If the only people abusing Amane are the cult leaders, then she shouldn’t be facing away from them when she begins her crusade of punishment, and if someone other than the cult leaders is punishing her, then why are the punishment methods each related to one leader?

This is what leads me to believe the alternative: that the mascots are merely fictional characters who represent some of the cult’s ideals. Under that theory, it is Amane’s mother who punishes her, using a combination of all the methods associated to each mascot. And thus, it is her who dies.

There’s another thing that solidifies this belief in my eyes, but for that, we have to explain:

Murder Method

(Now this is more my comfort zone <- Top ten things to never say about murder IRL)

I’m not entirely clear how important exact method is usually, but I swear, this is interesting. If nothing else out of curiosity.

Based on that scene we have of the murder, we can observe the following things.

>There is only one door with the light still on.

>Going from this door to the corpse, there is a trail of water puddles. Since the bigger puddles are closer to the door with the light, it can be assumed it’s the door to the bathroom.

>The corpse lays on a room at the end of the hall, presumably opposite to the entrance (note the shoes at the bottom of our perspective). I will call this room, quite aptly, the murder room.

Now, some of you may take issue with that. Based on the card Amane holds up in her ‘inmate segment’ of “Undercover”, it looks as if her victim died in the bathroom.

(Apologies for the quality)

Those images are meant to represent the room or general area where the murder (or “murder” depending on who you’re talking about) took place.

Here's the issue, though. The corpse doesn’t appear to have been dragged, as there are no bloodstains outside the murder room. So the room on the card is most likely the murder room, which brings up issues for the bathroom idea. Like how several elements near the door to the bathroom don’t match what we see around the murder room (no, the floor wiper-looking thing alone doesn’t count, nothing else comes close to matching), how the floor would be nonsensical because why are we putting a wooden floor on a bathroom, there apparently being a door behind the curtains, among other stuff.

I don’t know what the murder room is, necessarily, but it doesn’t seem to be the bathroom. Probably not a kitchen either since there’s cooking utensils on a sink in the hallway. My bet’s on a dining/living room of some kind, which… has a sink for some reason, but it’s practically impossible to tell.

>The time is around 5:00, based on the clock we see (though admittedly I find it weirdly hard to tell). This isn’t important, but pointing it out makes me feel smart, and attentive! It almost looks like I know what I’m doing!

>We have a kill-shot from “Undercover”, meaning we know something like this happened.

As you can see, Amane’s victim was beaten with some kind of… stick? Pole? Cylinder? It doesn’t matter too much what exactly it is, so you can say anything from a metal pipe, an actual baton, an Inconvenient Cylinder of Unknown Purpose (ICUP)… I’m just gonna go with umbrella, because even though I question its efficacy as a murder weapon, it fits thematically and is at worst a fun headcanon.

So, uh, what do we do with this?

Prelude; Water Puddles and Gozake

Gozake is likely connected to the murder in some way. That’s because the “Old Amane”, the one concerned with “vulgar” things who hasn’t started punishing others’ wrongs, dies underwater and reaching for his flag. This is her transformation into perfection in the cult’s eyes, which involves punishing others and thus the murder of her mother. Thus, it can be concluded Gozake has some connection to the murder. I’ve already established why I don’t think he’s the victim or even a real person, so we have to find some other way to connect him.

And I think the water puddles make the possible connection quite clear. I think those puddles come from Amane herself, and she was likely waterboarded right before she killed her mother. As waterboarding is the method connected to Gazoke, this explains the connection.

Amane in the Bathroom

(Amane flying solo~ /ref)

Of course, I still think it was Amane’s mother dealing out the punishment. But if you think about it, why would Amane’s mother let her walk out from the bathroom when she was still soaking wet, especially onto a wooden floor? Well, that’s where the next part comes in. I believe there was a moment where Amane was left alone in the bathroom after being waterboarded.

Apart from that line of reasoning, which is my strongest piece of evidence for this, I want to draw attention to the fact someone came out of the bathroom, but left the light on. Since that’s not the case with any of the other rooms, it makes me think Amane herself was the last to leave that room, as her mother may not like leaving unneeded lights on.

But that’s sorta weak. In truth, I like this possibility because I think it can explain one thing in particular: Amane’s silhouette scene in “Undercover.”

It’s important to note these scenes always include the prisoners in some way or another, so it’s be weird for Amane to break the trend. Thus, this is likely Amane.

But what are we looking at? The water sorta looks like rain more than a simple shower head, and it certainly doesn’t look like waterboarding. However, the floor sorta looks like bathroom tiles, so we can’t rule out the possibility.

In fact, I actually do think this is in/near the shower. But as I said, it doesn’t look intense enough for waterboarding, and Amane is face-up on her back instead of the kneeling position we see her in during the other shower scene.

That’s why I think this is directly after a waterboarding session, not during. In particular, it would be the moment Amane’s mother leaves her alone in the bathroom. While the girl usually kneels during her torture, she may afterwards collapse on the floor and roll over from pain and exhaustion. Or something. And her mother… left the shower head on… for some reason? Maybe she went to look for a towel to dry up Amane? Maybe she needed something else and this is actually mid-session? Or maybe the rain’s metaphorical. Point is, I think this makes the most sense.

But if you’re not convinced by that, there is actually something else about the murder which makes me think Amane being left alone in the bathroom is what most likely happened.

A Matter of Position

Here's the thing. You can see the victim's hand peeking out from the door. Now, it looks like the hand is palm-down, which doesn't quite seem to fit the "Undercover" kill-shot, but that's actually simple to explain.

The "Undercover" kill-shot is likely taken moments before the victim's death, as Amane is holding the weapon in the air. But what if we extend "moments" to "seconds"? Well, I think it's possible Amane's mom managed to push her off briefly, getting a moment to turn around to turn and try to crawl away. Obviously Amane recovered quickly and managed to kill her anyways, but this little scuffle would explain how the hell her hand ended up palm down. It's the simplest explanation in my mind.

Amane's position isn't weird either. No matter what happened, she could have just stepped away from the body before taking a moment to look at it.

The weird thing, though, is the fact that we can see the victim's hand at all.

See, based on the "Undercover" shot, it seems like the victim must have had their back to the door before they fell to the floor. If you think about it, it would be really hard for them to end up with their hand there otherwise. However, if they had their back to the door, then Amane must have been facing the door as per the kill-shot.

This would be easier to explain if I had...

If I had visuals...

You know, like a- like a diagram.

(You thought you could escape my murder diagrams?! You fool!)

Why is this important? Well, because this means that, unless there was some crazy scuffle in that room (unlikely, as any actual fight would be near impossible for Amane to win), Amane was in the room before her mother entered. Obviously, this sort of only makes sense if Amane was left alone in the bathroom for a moment. Here's sort of the series of events I'm envisioning.

Does this make sense? How crazy am I going here?

Well, I think it follows. This is sorta what the evidence seems to be pointing at.

But it raises one big question. Why is Amane going to the murder room, then? If her mom is on the other side of the apartment, and she wants to kill her, what is she doing?

Well, I believe she's looking for a weapon. The blunt object seems like a possibility, but something like that could probably be improvised with almost anything, it wouldn't require going to that room in particular. No, I think Amane's actually looking for something more specific.

The Second Murder Weapon, and the "Magic" Kill-shot

Have you ever pondered how weird it is that “Magic” seems to have no allusion to Amane’s murder, at all? All the other trial one MVs have at least a reference to it, even if it’s as short as Mahiru’s look of horror in the final frame of her MV. But “Magic” doesn’t seem to have anything like that at first glance.

Well, here’s the thing. Now that we know a bit more, it’s easier to tell what time the kill-shot would have to happen. And it goes back to the wand Amane receives at the end of “Magic”.

As you know, when Amane receives this wand, she becomes the “perfect poster-child” of the cult, at least in her head. This is represented by an entire magical girl transformation sequence.

But when does that happen? If you’ve been paying attention, the transformation from “the regular Amane” to “perfect poster-child” Amane happens when she begins to understand and carry out the cult’s doctrine of punishment; when she kills her mother. In fact, you can even see in the frame we have of the murder, Amane is shown not in her real uniform, but in the March Leader clothes, showing her transformation is no longer a fantasy, but has become reality. Not literally, obviously, but metaphorically. She has become what she considers the ideal cult member.

So it’s fair to say then, that when Amane undergoes the same transformation in “Magic”, what we’re seeing is the time Amane killed her mother. And this transformation happens when she picks up the wand.

If this interpretation is right, then the wand is directly linked to the murder. And there is a very, very interesting detail about this wand.

Judges, jurors, and executioners. That’s a lightning bolt.

It’s not a wand. It’s the taser.

I mean, they could have chosen literally any other symbol to put there, right? A star, a heart, the clouds of the cult’s logo, even a rainbow. But no, it’s a thunderbolt. And it’s not even limited to just the wand, either. Notice how lightning strikes behind her right after she picks up the wand, and how her socks are styled in a lightning pattern.

(Don’t mind the blue in the background: that may look like a water puddle, but it’s always there, so I don’t think it means anything)

Now, to be clear, her socks are always like that in “Magic”, but the point stands. It’s a motif that repeats quite a few times, and yet, it’s nowhere to be seen in “The Purge March”.

Well, aside from the electricity of the taser.

I believe this is because “The Purge March” places more emphasis on the baton as the weapon, but there’s the thing. The baton and the wand aren’t the same thing. Not only is the baton longer, it has absolutely no allusions to thunder or electricity whatsoever. But since they’re both connected to the murder, I believe they’re both different murder weapons. The baton is the blunt object which actually killed the victim, and the wand is the taser.

That would explain how Amane was able to overpower an adult. She first incapacitated her mother with the taser, then started beating her with the "baton". It would also explain why she went into the murder room on her own. She was looking for the taser.

This is "Magic"'s kill-shot, I think. She points the wand at the screen, in a way which sorta looks vaguely like holding a taser, while these lyrics play.

I take an oath! I can only become a better girl!

And we've established what being a good girl is in the eyes of the cult, someone who punishes evil.

Q4: Do you think that your family is proud of you? A: Of course. No daughter is as exemplary as I.

Isn't that a concerning sentence.

Add this to the list of reasons I don't think she killed a cult leader. At the end of "Magic", after this shot, we see her among the four mascots with no indication any of them are hurt.

"Magic" underplays violence a lot, but I think for the murder, that takes the form of hiding the mother from view entirely, behind the camera.

So, a summary of how I think the murder went down.

Closing Argument wait wrong series

-After seeing the cat has died, Amane decided her mother should be punished as per the cult's beliefs. But she isn't looking to get forgiveness out of her mother; Amane was never forgiven, so her mother wouldn't be either.

-However, she wasn't able to get to the plan right away. Her mother was angry at her some nonsensical reason and waterboarded her before she could do anything.

-At one point, her mother left the bathroom, leaving the water running. Amane rolls over on the floor in pain and exhaustion, which is what we see in the silhouette scene in "Undercover".

-After catching her breath, Amane stands and leaves. She needs to look for the taser her mother usually used to punish her. She goes the other way her mother went, into the dininig/living room/bedroom/whatever it is, and picks it up.

-Her mother noticed the water puddles leading to the murder room, and followed Amane in. When she did, she saw her rummaging around somewhere she shouldn't have been, so she rushed further into the room to stop her.

-Too late. Amane had picked up the taser, and now turned to shock her. Her mother was incapacitated instantly, falling to the floor and writhing in pain.

-Amane grabbed an umbrella/baton/convenient cylinder and started beating her mother with it. This is the "Undercover" kill-shot. Even though her mother plead for forgiveness, Amane wouldn't listen, the same way her mother hadn’t listened to her pleas of forgiveness.

-The mother managed to briefly push Amane off, and tried to crawl away. But Amane quickly recovered and kept going until her mother was fully dead.

-Amane stepped off her mother's corpse, stepping over her and turning to look at it. By dealing out punishment, she has become the perfect follower for the cult. The March Leader.

What did we learn?

Well, uh, not much. Apart from morbid curiosity, there isn't much to gain from murder method usually. But there's still a few observations we can gleam.

For one, the whole thing with Gozake and its connection to the murder because of the waterboard thing, and possibly the "Undercover" silhouette scene. But if I'm right about the taser thing, then that means Amane's murder was more well-thought out than we had believed. Something like going to pick up the taser isn't exactly something that comes from a heat of the moment decision. She went in not just with an intent to kill, but an actual plan. Combined with an evidently high pain tolerance, seeing as she did all this right after being tortured, this poses her as quite a dangerous character.

Basically, I think it’s silly to say Shidou wouldn’t be killed by this kid. Y'all we might be fucked.

Verdict

(Oh yeah this is a thing we have to do)

First, I want to clarify: I do not have all the information here, so you probably shouldn't listen to me. Again, I've been here two days. But still, I think voting innocent is the... uh, better answer.

I'm gonna be real, I don't think either of the options are good here. A guilty verdict would make her significantly more volatile, because as we've seen, Amane reacts violently to being hurt. She's also not going to listen to us, since she's claimed she won't listen to the voices. I don't think she's telling the complete truth there, but the sentiment is likely true, she will not be swayed by just us. But an innocent verdict would validate the cult's beliefs of idolizing punishment, which would encourage her to attack Shidou.

But here's the thing. If she doesn't listen to us on guilty verdicts, it's possible she won't care too much about us validating the cult's beliefs. I think the act of forgiving her and showing we're not trying to hurt her is probably the best way we have right now of trying to reach her.

The only argument for guilty would be trying to get the physical restraints on her so she doesn't kill anyone, but I'm not sure we should trust that aspect of the first trial guilty verdicts to apply very well to this situation. If I'm right about her murder method, it would actually probably be pretty difficult to stop her I think, and as far as I'm aware there's not even confirmation the same rules from the first trial will apply again (I might be wrong about that). Frankly, I think as long as we can secure an inno on Kazui, we'll be safe from actual murder so long as we're able to keep Amane as predictable as possible. A guilty verdict would make her more unpredictable, I think, so an inno verdict would be better?

Frankly, I don't know. I think we're fucked either way. All the verdicts of the first trial, not just hers, have led us to quite the mess, but it was never going to go any different way. Shit was always going to get wild.

So here's my final conclusion: since I don't think the verdict can be trusted to properly help the group one way or another, we should vote to help Amane, the only one we know we can reach with this vote. And right now, she needs an innocent verdict.

Also I am insanely biased this kid needs help I'm not guiltying her. Call that part of the Milgram experiment ig.

Conclusion

The Purge March gives us better insight into the actual beliefs of the cult, mainly in relation to their views of punishment and reform. We also got a more detailed look at Amane’s murder, and the motivations behind what she did. Overall, while neither voting option seems great at the moment, that’s because they are unlikely to help with the tensions in the group. That means we’re going to have to vote for Amane, and the only way we’re going to make progress with her is by voting innocent. At least, that’s my view.

This was fun! I look forward to diving into the other MVs and going insane over them too, but for now I wanted to start with this one since it’s the most recent one and the one which actually piqued my interest enough to check out Milgram. If you made it this far into my insane ramblings, then… may kami-sama have mercy on your soul. Take care!

(Oh also tagging @sunlit-haru because he asked nicely)

#milgram #milgram project #amane momose #the purge march #milgram theory #hello milgramers i seek to go insane #is this how i do it?#this things wild i love it #i am so incredibly lost #it’s great

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thrawns-backrest · 6 months

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Vader and the Ghost Prison: thoughts and random analyses

Okay this is an itch I’ve been meaning to scratch for a WHILE now so thank you @random-user753 for giving me the final push to do it. I know this will have the tiniest of audiences but I don’t care because I love this series too much.

Anyway, here’s some of the stuff I loved about Ghost Prison in no particular order (spoilers ahead, beware):

Parallels! Boy does this book know how to do parallels. And foils. Starting with the most obvious one which is Vader and Tohm, you’d think a Vader comic would have more Vader in it but Ghost Prison does a great job of exploring Vader through other characters, especially Tohm and Trachta.

It’s rare to see Vader take someone under his wing (at least in the media I’ve seen) and it’s safe to say that Vader sees a part of himself in Tohm, if not in the more obvious scarring then in the way both of them were ‘betrayed’ by their respective communities.

The hologram scene gave us a lot in terms of narrative: it was a great peek into Anakin’s character and his crumbling relationship with the order (as well as putting into perspective just how efficient Anakin was during the Clone Wars, damn), it gave us an interesting perspective on the jedi in the form of Tohm’s pov but most importantly it set a thematic throughline that connected Tohm and Vader and gave us a better understanding of why Vader keeps this kid around.

Which makes it all the more satisfying when you realize that Tohm’s end is a forewarning for where Vader’s blind loyalty to Palpatine is leading him.

Aside from the parallels between these two, it was nice to see lingering parts of Anakin in Vader, knowing how early on he is in his transition. Part of him is still the jedi who yearns for an apprentice (which makes Tohm an odd choice but the comic was pretty adamant that this is the direction it was going, according to the blurb of part 5) but it’s clear that Palpatine’s teachings have twisted his idea of what it means to be a mentor beyond recognition.

And speaking of mentorship and foils this is a great place to talk about Trachta.

This book did a great job of fleshing out Trachta’s character, compared to his pretty flat first appearance in Empire. He’s portrayed as the better leader, starting with his attempts to connect with Tohm and ending with his galvanizing speech and advocating for the freed prisoners, to the point of coming into direct conflict with Vader. All of it neatly wrapped up by the fact that he replaces Gentis as Headmaster of the Academies.

Despite his more brutal scenes, Trachta is portrayed as a more honorable and ideological type, he knows the importance of loyalty and making allies. And the series manages to add a poetic irony to his story in Empire by supplying it with that context, making the point that guys like Trachta simply can't survive in Palpatine’s Empire.

Add to that the little winks the dialogue peppers throughout the story and it makes Trachta an all the more interesting character to follow.

(Also what was my man really doing alone with the Emperor? Do you have something to tell us sir? About a failed assassination attempt mayhaps?)

To finish off the section about parallels, we also get some cool visual ones like the dual pages of Trachta and Tohm’s backstories and little subtler moments like where Tohm stares at Gentis’ ruined face after Palpatine electrocutes him.

And now it's time I talk more about Tohm because I adore him. Making him the pov character of the story, and in particular making his report to Palpatine the story’s narration, was a masterstroke imo. Thanks to that you get all kinds of cool narrative layering when you compare his report with what’s actually happening.

Sometimes he words things in a way that would make him look good in front of Palpatine and sometimes his narrative sounds suspiciously like a lie or an excuse but the cool thing about Tohm is that you never know for sure.

It’s like there’s always an extra layer of ‘taking advantage of his situation’ that’s genuinely the case for him. Often times he will reevaluate and recontextualize the situation he’s in and maybe in some cases it’s to make him look better or cover up how he really felt but often times it’s just an example of the way he melds personal motives with some kind of tactical thinking.

And there’s of course the occasional comedic effect lol.

Moving on, another interesting subplot is seeing Tohm’s ruthlessness develop in real time. Starting with him finishing off Shens and the riot survivors and bringing the story full circle with Caul’s killing and his callousness when ordering the cadets’ executions.

It’s an ongoing process with glimpses of the person he’s leaving behind (defining the riot as just ‘violence’, his visceral reaction to carrying out Vader’s orders) and I feel like Cal’s murder was the perfect way to round it off.

Poetic in the sense that Tohm, who probably saw Gentis as a replacement father figure, was the only ‘son’ who wasn’t involved in Gentis’ plans so he took his revenge by killing the only biological son Gentis had left.

But the best part by far has to be watching him process and suffer through the betrayal that pushes him over the edge. We get that sweet sweet narrative layering effect where he twists the real reason he was left out of Gentis’ plans in his report. And it all hits harder upon a second reading when you notice the hints of a separation and inherent alienation between him and his friends, made worse by the line that confirms his loyalty to Gentis would have remained true if they had just ‘asked him yesterday’. Because all Tohm wanted was to be part of Gentis’ moffs.

It all culminates in a character who feels like he’s been led on and left out all the time. Having been disrespected and underestimated, he turns to a side that promises ‘fear and respect’ that will eventually end up killing him. It’s a great little gut punch of an arc that you can’t help but sympathize with.

And finally I’m really a sucker for this series’ attention to detail. Little things like Tohm’s loose sleeve being neatly clipped up by the end of the story. His comment about bombs being a coward’s weapon which makes sense when you learn of his backstory. The way he ‘grips’ his missing arm when he’s insecure about it. Huge kudos to Alessio and Blackman for adding those finishing touches.

As for the art, there’s really no words to describe how much I love Alessio’s work. I still want to cry because this is the only SW comic he’s illustrated fully besides a few odd covers. And that’s just damn tragic. The colors and atmosphere in this series are fantastic, full of pretty gradients with tiny pops of color and sprawling cinematic panels. Alessio’s realism is the best part of it, with familiar characters looking great and very much like their live action selves.

As one reviewer put it, it’s ‘dark without being tryhard edgy’ and I absolutely agree. Some of the environments and characters look downright gothic (with an occasional pinch of punk) and it’s the perfect touch of Star Wars weirdness that I crave in my media.

All in all, I strongly recommend this series. It's got a bit of everything: great character work, superb art and dialogue, a bit of politics, a well paced engaging plot and an interesting glimpse into the Empire's early days.

There's also the fact that all three of the main cast are characters with disabilities and it's all addressed in an an unobtrusive and realistic way and I'm here for it.

#star wars comics #darth vader #vader comics #laurita tohm #grand moff trachta #vader and the ghost prison #phew I finally did a thing

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bugtransport · 10 months

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Kamen Rider Stronger finished April 20, 2023

i forgot i finished this on 4/20. LONG POST WARNING!!

Okay, before I start this one, holy shit I’ve done so much since the last time I wrote one of these. Let me get back into the groove here. Stronger is in a weird spot where I feel like I have to recap a lot to talk about what I want to talk about so there’s going to be a lot of that. This one builds. Let me convince you that General Shadow is an interesting character.

AS ALWAYS: I’ll be dropping spoilers willy-nilly for like every series leading up to this + all of Stronger but there's an extra warning before the show ending spoilers. Thank you.

YIPPEE!

I know I've already owned up to it but at this point let's make it official... Showa Rider might be made for me? Every single time I try to think back about what I just watched to write about it I'm hit with the exact same thought: holy shit, that was SO fun. It is, it really is and always is. I had a blast, thanks. This is also the first time I've really felt like the way that I'm watching this (by starting at the very beginning and just blasting through season by season) has actually paid off! The past couple seasons have gotten interestingly experimental but Stronger feels like they were attempting to return to form while still using the knowledge they learned along the way. It's kind of adjacent to how V3 felt like '71 Rider refined; Jo Shigeru came in like "we are SO fucking back."

The comparison between V3 and Stronger extends to the main characters too; I think that Kazami and Shigeru are more alike than not. We've been rotating protags (sans Hayato, sorry babe but you’re special in my eyes) in a pattern I've described as "sensory issues -> batshit -> wet" where for as much as I compared Hongo and Amazon to each other in the "the world is so loud and scary and I can't trust myself to not lash out and that scares me more" department I have to do the same for Kazami and Shigeru in the "hey boss, I'm gonna go fucking, I don't know, dig this bullet out of my shoulder with a knife I cleaned by spitting on it and then electrocute myself for funsies" department. Like okay, take a look at this list I whipped up here:

Both Kazami and Shigeru wanted to become borgs to avenge people who were dear to them and killed by the organizations in their respective series; Kazami for his family and Shigeru for his friend. Though Shigeru went straight to the source while Kazami tried to convince Hongo and Hayato to borg him first to no avail, you can’t tell me that Kazami didn’t jump into that beam and save the two of them and not think that might win him brownie points that he could then later use to convince the two of them that yes, this is the right thing to do and he would be a great addition to the team.

Both of them have another Rider with them (I count Tackle!) who aren’t really… fully borged? Yuki isn’t for sure, he’s just got the arm; I’m not sure exactly whether or not Yuriko is a full borg because I don’t believe they straight up address that in the show but they sure didn’t address her like one and I’ve heard some things (...we’ll get into this later) that would lead me to believe that she was meant to be only partially there originally and get to full borgification by the end of the show. Both of them fought with the respective riders they were paired with. Also, both of their mouths are out in their suits! Very cute!

Speaking of suits, both of them have very silly little suits that I don’t think anyone else in the series could pull off wearing. Imagine if Keisuke transformed into V3 or something. I think I’d cry looking at that. Hayato as Stronger? Man, he doesn’t have the sheer balls for that one. Sorry king…

Which of course leads me to: they’ve both got huge egos. I really don’t need to elaborate on this one, look at the shit the two of them pull… Kazami a little more in the physical department with the stunts he does and Shigeru socially with his cockiness, but you can see the comparison, right?

And before we go on I think I need to clarify something: Shigeru jumping himself with his bike is very very real. That is actually a scene that happens. Anyway! I adore the way that the show started off and Shigeru and Yuriko had already been through their borg procedures and that the first time we meet them they're already fighting. It's a nice break from tradition! It feels fresh and new! I also think that it's one of the only ways that you could possibly sell how they borged Shigeru in a way that would make sense in a children's show. They gave him electric hands? Like, metal hands that he has to wear gloves over lest he fucking electrocute everyone? There had to have been an adjustment period there but by the time we meet him he's fine with things. I think this was probably the right call; while I love myself some good borg angst and it's interesting to see them adapt to their new lives and Ishinomori back me up here I think you would agree that exploring this idea is fun... for the way that Shigeru is borged specifically I think there's a little too much room for things to go south way too fast. Those two concepts can coexist in my mind. Can you imagine what it would have been like if he had tried to go swimming or something?

After the first episode we do get a flashback in the second to exactly how Shigeru got borged which was basically:

Shigeru: [walks into Black Satan] hey I want to be on your side I love facism

Scientists: ok what borgification u want

Shigeru: just fuck me up and make me stronger

Scientist: okay [electric hands]

Shigeru, Stronger: haha fuckin idiot I’m actually here for revenge! you killed my friend and I hate nazis. taste the powers you gave me [explodes them]

And then he escapes, taking Yuriko (Tackle) with him. From the start he’s really cocky! My remark as I was watching the show was that he really feels like he can do anything because he just doesn’t give a shit about the social implications of anything that he does. Take him just walking into a lighthouse, getting stopped by the guard who works there, patting the guy down and being like “alright, well, you’re not a monster I guess,” and leaving. He’s silly and kind of rude to Tachibana (when he shows up) and has a “Who are you?” “What? Don’t you know who I am?” exchange with all the monsters he meets. He has a whole damn speech he does every time he transforms. It’s so good!

^ HE GOES :D

While this might have set Yuriko up to be the Female Straight Man (which she kind of is for him a little) she’ll rib Tachibana or the two of them will team up and slander a monster together. I love the way they interact… I think it helps them remain on pretty equal footing even though Shigeru is absolutely the primary fighter. He still leaves things to her and trusts her to do them. I don’t think she’s fully borged - she’s never referred to as such and instead gets the term… what’s it in English, electrowave human? So she can do special attacks and such. It kind of feels like a Taki type role but stronger? Not exactly; a lot of Taki’s importance in ‘71 Rider comes from the fact that he is fully human and able to keep up with them to contrast Hongo and Hayato, but Shigeru doesn’t have the same need to connect with his humanity as they do (being borged was his choice, after all) and as such I think Yuriko fits with him much better. If we let Tackle and Taki 1v1 I think Tackle would sweep.

You see what I mean about Stronger seemingly learning from and refining the previous series? There’s not a way that I can talk about it without contrasting it – I think this is the point where I would stop and say that if you’re thinking about taking on the Grand Prix for yourself in full or in part and would like Stronger to be one of the series you watch to watch whichever of the series come chronologically before this that you are also interested in partaking before starting Stronger. I personally believe that there can be a lot of value in experiencing things in reverse order [<- guy who played the Layton series backwards and loved it] but also… I think that seeing things build up to Stronger as opposed to experiencing Stronger and then going behind the scenes to take a look at the building blocks is the way to go. Nowhere is that more apparently in my opinion than with:

Hey man, what if the Generals fucked?

^ he's calling the cops on me for that one

Maybe this was the part of the series I was most excited to talk about. Don’t worry about it. So far I’ve pitched Stronger like a continuation of ‘71 Rider to V3 which I’d say the main cast falls into; there’s not really a lot of the others in Shigeru… but if we’re talking villain generals? We’re talking X, baby. I think that meeting Apollo Geist first is absolutely essential if X is something you’re planning on watching (don’t watch X but like, watch X) so that you can see the fields from which Titan was grown. I have it on anecdotal evidence that doing things non-chrono and going back to watch X and therefore meeting Apollo Geist post Stronger feels a little underwhelming, but meeting Apollo Geist fresh off the heels of V3 feels correct and the ramp up in Stronger comes naturally. All of that to say: we’re back with the sexual tension, but it’s even more nuts this time.

There’s one scene in X where civvie Apollo Geist shows up at Tachibana’s coffee shop and sits down at the counter to order. He asks where Keisuke is; Tachibana tells him that he’s out, and inquires as to how this man (who has not introduced himself) knows Keisuke. An old friend, perhaps? Apollo Geist shrugs – something like that. It feels like Titan took that scene and decided to build his entire goddamn character around it.

^ man what the hell was this pick up line

Remember earlier when I mentioned that none of the monsters seem to know who Stronger is? That’s very much true, but Titan absolutely knows. He follows him around and smokes his stupid little cigarettes from his stupid little cigarette holder and just watches him. Titan’s obsessed with this man but whereas with Apollo Geist all the monsters were like “oh fuck yeah, let’s tie up X and drag him back, I’m sure that would make Apollo Geist happy,” it almost seems like Titan wants to keep Stronger for himself and just… doesn’t tell anyone about him. He’s possessive. He’s really intense about it. He is also using X-era techniques which didn’t even end up working against Keisuke to try and get Shigeru, of all people. It’s a fascinating strategy. The two of them follow each other to a concert and just stare at each other across the hall. Titan doesn’t really get his ass kicked, but he knows he’s not strong enough yet for Stronger. He upgrades himself. He fucking goes for it. And Titan… dies.

Well, let’s put a pin in that for a second. In any case, we need a new general, because that’s how these things go. Despite looking like a cross between an anatomical model, an astronaut, and the fucking Joker, Shadow is oddly compelling as a character to me in a way I have absolutely no idea how to describe or talk about? He’s not actually a part of Black Satan – he just kind of heard that Black Satan was fighting Stronger and was like “well shit, I want a piece of that, let me in,” and is just kind of here now. He proclaims so to Shigeru upon meeting him. Shadow really likes to play whatever game he thinks is going on by his own rules and he seems to have a blast doing so. He’s enigmatic, he’s fresh, he’s unlike any general that we’ve had before. His weird secretive nature almost makes him seem more like the leader type than the general type. Shigeru seems to understand that Shadow’s much more of a sinister threat than Titan, but doesn’t really seem to know what to do about it.

Let me quickly detour you another time just to finish setting up this stage here: throughout my time watching Stronger I was also working on over easy, you know, that Donbros comic I made! Still really like that thing. I know I and others have joked about Tarou being Showa-coded and honestly if you were to pick him up and place him down in a 70’s Rider series I think he’d be right at home; I mentioned up top that Shigeru doesn’t seem to give a shit about societal expectations and while I think that Tarou gives a little more of a shit about the consequences (seems to have less of a grasp on how the implications actually work though) I’m fine putting them in a similar category. Did you know Inoue’s dad worked on Stronger? That’s a fun little fact for you.

Okay, time to get back to the show.

Titan gets one funeral (which Shigeru gets invited to in the funniest way, by just Being in a field while this was announced to him somehow) but it was kind of a flop and nobody showed up and they didn’t even manage to use it to capture Stronger, so they decide that he needs another one. It’s at this second funeral that Shigeru finds Titan laying in a casket on a bed of roses (yes, just like Shigeru has all over his outfit) and manages to prick his electric hand on one of them, bleeding like a human, directly onto Titan’s lips, who then revives, licks it, and becomes Hundred-Eyes Titan. Buildup’s over, this is where the mad yaoi really starts.

You might now be understanding why I brought up Donbrothers earlier; yes, this scene shares really striking similarities with the time that Tarou got the juice sucked out of him at Sonoi’s funeral but even more homoerotic, because it’s actual blood?

Nevermind the actual Showa-era “how human are cyborgs, really” conversation that’s to be had both in the borg angst sense but also about the fact that he can bleed from his what-I’ve-been-presuming-to-be-metal hands. Again, calling back to X, it’s almost like that point after Apollo Geist got resurrected and was going to die unless he took one of X’s parts and put it in his heart, but this actually happened and wasn’t just theoretical. We’re going past where Apollo Geist got to. If first base is fighting the Rider and home base is actually killing them, I think Titan’s made it to second. Uh, but he’s got a problem getting to third. They’ve already brought in his replacement. There’s only one way to fix this one.

Titan and Shadow Get Divorced

Titan was kind of a flop in his first life. He’s been powered up a little more with Shigeru’s blood, but Shadow’s also been given Titan’s position pretty recently, and it would be a dick move to fire him. Look, usually the generals don’t come back unless the people they’re working for are the ones bringing them back, and they sure as shit weren’t doing that for Titan. Might as well just make them work it out together? For some reason the Black Satan leader seems to think this will work; really all it does is just instantly sets the two of them at each other's throats, and they begin to fight over Stronger.

They get exceptionally petty about it. Titan shows up, with a rose again, leading Stronger into a minefield, also strewn with roses, just to really rub in the whole “haha, your blood revived me” thing. Shadow at a couple points ends up straight up giving information to Shigeru so that he can get the upper hand on Titan. Shadow (who has a playing card theme, by the way, that’s his whole deal) shows Titan one of the cards that he just did a fortune reading with, and who else appears but Jo Shigeru, dripping wet, in the outline of the spade (cropped with the tail not showing) like he’s being framed in a heart.

^ the way he looks at that card just takes me the fuck out every time

I feel like I’m losing my mind every time I think about the two of them. Titan staggers up a dune into the good ol’ Toku Desert, dragging himself to Shadow before Shadow kills Stronger so that he can have the pleasure of at least torturing him a little bit before he goes. Shadow pokes fun at Titan for being like “I’ll be the one to kill Stronger!” with a “are you sure you actually can?” and Titan, hand to my heart, blushes.

Titan staggers up a dune into the good ol’ Toku Desert, dragging himself to Shadow before Shadow kills Stronger so that he can have the pleasure of at least torturing him a little bit before he goes. What the fuck?!

^ DIVORCED BITCHES REALLLLLL

Titan has his own hell! Titan has made his own hell and takes Shadow there to show off his accomplishments in a scene that I can only call “two socialites who desperately need a divorce” in which Titan plays the tired husband who’s got eyes for his secretary (Shigeru) but has to bring his bitch of a wife Shadow with him to work to show off just how much he does for this family while his bitch wife Shadow looks on, unimpressed, and thinks about also fucking his husband’s secretary (still Shigeru) or maybe killing his husband and taking the life insurance money, because there’s no way this plan of his will do anything but collapse down around him, which it does, and Titan once again dies as Stronger throws him back down the crevasse to this pit he’s quite literally dug himself.

Watching the two of them interact is absolutely fascinating. Titan’s passion for Shigeru seems renewed and completely focused now that he has a rival, Shadow’s ignited something in him, and Shadow seems like he’s having fun playing around messing with Titan while enacting his own plans. Shadow turns out to be superstitious, and bases most of his decisions off readings that he does with his deck of cards, which adds an even more fun element to his character. This is the part of the show where he seems the most… I don’t want to say happy, but how about “in his element.” These are all some really good episodes of television and they’re a blast to watch.

Black Satan leader susses out that Shadow’s up to some shit (don’t know how that could have happened, it’s not like he’s been telling everyone he meets or anything) and decides to try and bring in another General instead of letting Shadow lead. Shigeru gets captured, defeats the leader, and Shigeru and Yuriko are the FIRST RIDERS IN HISTORY TO CRACK OPEN A COLD ONE WITH TACHIBANA!!

LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL! THE END!

LET’S GO TO DEMON WORLD! [SHOW END SPOILERS START HERE]

No, things aren’t actually over. This is where you can tell that things got rushed in production as (from what I’ve heard) ratings kind of tanked. Shadow brings in his friends from Demon World (where he lived before?) and decides to start a new army with them called the Delza Army, which he kind of leads. This is what he’s spent his time fighting with Titan and Shigeru and Black Satan secretly working towards - taking over the facilities that Black Satan already had and using them for his own new purpose. And sure, to do this, they need to kill Stronger, yeah.

In much the same way that Titan and Shadow fought with each other, giving Stronger an edge, the Delza Army part of the show is mostly about these characters showing off their weaknesses through their bickering with each other, but there’s a whole fucking throng of them this time around. They each brought their own themed goons with them, and on multiple occasions the goons even begin fighting with each other while Stronger just kind of looks on in confusion and gets a clean path to the monster he’s actually looking to fight. This being backed by scenes of Shadow (somehow) drinking wine listening to one of his compatriots drone on and on makes it seem like he really misses being on the front lines?

^ look all i'm saying is that it looks like it's 2:55 and he's got another meeting with the guy this dude is bitching about at 3 to hear the other side of this story and he hasn't had lunch yet

The thing about the Delza Army is that it’s absolutely a “too many cooks in the kitchen” situation. Shadow’s brought in a bunch of people with conflicting views and outrageous personalities and different fighting styles who spend half the time using him as HR to work out their interpersonal issues and he just seems… tired. He doesn’t seem like a guy who was cut out for management! This is not a new character type by any means, I could name so many characters who get into a position in their job and realize like “nah, actually, I was way happier where I was,” fucking Jim from The Office does it, but it’s a completely new role for any General and like also, this was what he was working for from the beginning. To finally get here and realize that actually, he doesn’t want this, is kind of weirdly fucked and not at all what I was expecting from this show. All of the characters around him have so much personality and character that they’re completely forgettable because of the oversaturation . They went an oddly adult angle with his character and I can’t tell if it’s at all intentional or if it just happened to turn out this way. I don’t personally think that this part of the show is as good as the part with Titan and Shadow fighting, but I feel like that decrease even more helps support the change in Shadow’s character, so it ends up wrapping around to working.

This is also the part where Yuriko dies.

There’s not really much that I can say about that one other than the fact that I’ve heard she was supposed to be brought back later as a full rider this time but, because the show had to be cut, isn’t. I have a story in my mind where the rest of the guys – because they all come back at the end, they have to put on one last big show, and they’ve got a lot of science guys there – manage to jump her back to life in much the same way Shigeru did himself and transform her into a full cyborg, like I said earlier, and that she’d fully join the ranks. I know that there was talk of possibly making Taki V3 or even Riderman, which is another reason I compared the two up top. They could have done that without all of the additional angst that it would have caused the '71 cast to borg Taki since Yuriko's already been modified. It would have been so good... I’ll mention this again I’m sure come Skyrider post, but I really liked his little spotted scarf, mostly because it reminds me of Tackle’s suit. It’s like she did get to be with us in a way!

From there on you get your usual show beats: as mentioned previously, all the previous riders show up which is very fun, they defeat Shadow (who kind of seems relieved to be going out, to be honest) and the rest of the Delza army, and then it’s time to fight the Leader.

^ Tachibana's really silly in this one and but it's the sweetest thing seeing his boys come back to him

The leader this time around is like, I think the quarry come to life? No, but for real: some kind of rock monster that has been pulling the strings of all the different groups that all the different riders have fought. It’s all the same guy behind the scenes. I’ll say it, I kind of appreciated that one as a “no matter what name you put to it, facism is facism” type thing? I don’t think it’s that much of a stretch to interpret it that way. It feels kind of appropriate. The specifics of what they’re fighting change but the root cause and their aim is always the same; though there might be infighting between the groups, Kamen Rider is a show about punching Nazis at its core.

^ and they all love Tachibana so much!

This is the last time (besides the little special) that we get to have Tachibana on the show. There’s a break between this one and Skyrider and you can absolutely feel it looming in the horizon as everyone rides off again. Despite that, Stronger’s a blast of a show! I think this is one where there are absolutely different ways you could watch it and I just managed to take the path where I ended up probably the most satisfied I could have been during the Delza part since I was just watching the degradation of a man in bureaucracy. Which is always, always fun.

TO RECAP:

YES fuck yes I recommend Stronger, with the caveat I gave at the beginning that you should probably watch whichever shows chronologically come before this one that you’re interested in watching before you Tackle Stronger.

Bu dum tss…

#rider roundup #kamen rider stronger #PLEASE DON'T REPLY TO THIS POST AS ALWAYS and i do not edit. this is stream of consciousness writing baby

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halenhusky309 · 8 months

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Every time I see a post how JC kept his promise to WWX about protecting him from dogs and that why he don’t own a dog is just????

Are they forgetting JC torturing WWX with fairy?

Even if it’s wasn’t physical torture (but he did electrocute WWX with zidian before capturing him so…) emotional torture is still torture. Putting someone with his biggest phobia (dogs) is torture.

So I don’t know HOW people look at JC and thinking he kept his promise??? He didn’t.

JC didn’t care for the dogs since he got WWX, who may I added was treated as a treasured dog; that needs to be lashed and was abused for the pettiness of YZY.

Seeing all the shit in the canon JC tag,,, it’s so annoying.

Love your content, continue to troll it’s funny.

Thanks anon for your ask. At this point, mdzs fandom started make feel cringe at dog-lovers with all the "JC is ultimate dog lover" or making a big deal with JC losing his "beloved pet dogs". Like JC had those "beloved pet dogs" in the first place because he couldn't make a single friend at the young age. Only when WWX became his playmate, JC forgot those dogs faster than the goldfish forgot they just ate a minute ago. Also, guess who got Jin Ling Fairy the Pet Dog. Definitely not JC.

(Of course we try to forget that one dog shit post that compare the worth of Wens Renmants to pet dogs to reduce WWX's trauma and suffering)

And the whole shit "JC didn't have any more pet dogs because of his promise to protect WWX from dogs", I wonder what drug did they take to come up with that bullshit excuse to deny the "JC gives jack shit about dogs" allegations. Bruh, JC let the whole cultivation world devoured WWX like a treat, (and like you mention, he did use dog to torture WWX much later, but the stans always forget about this fact ), so that promise is just a empty useless husk.

#mdzs #anon asks #canon jiang cheng #I get sick with all the “pet dogs” props in this fandom and I like dogs a lot #Sorry for the late response

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catb-fics · 6 months

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Hiii, so I’ve been feeling a bit down but also bored today haha and I started on CATB YouTube videos to get to know them a bit better and also to hear them speak (which I had no idea about before lmao 🫣).

Very cute and fun, Van is gorgeous and I love how sometimes on stage he’s doing A LOT, like moving around all manic, what is he doing all that for 😂 I already saw Johnny Bonds ass, I wasn’t prepared for that just yet 😂 also is it just me or is his Geordie accent not that strong? Also also, do you know how him and Sam fender met and became pals?

Sorry for this being a lot in one message x

Hello lovely aww I’m sorry to hear you’ve been a bit down, hope you’re okay 💗 There are so many old videos of them and the oldies are the best in terms of them just being hilarious, Van didn’t have a filter back then he’d just come out with funny stuff. The old tour diaries are great to watch, you’ll get to see more bare bums though ha ha!

I think Bondy’s got a lovely voice, he always sounds so soft I think like his voice is really soothing. I guess his Geordie accent’s not so strong compared to Sam’s! I’m not actually sure how they became pals, does anyone know? I always thought it was just from being on the North-east music scene, but I’m pretty sure Bondy is mates with the other band members too.

Van is wild on stage omg he’s actually not as crazy as he used to be but in the Balcony era he would look like he was being electrocuted 😂 particularly when Tyrants was on. He had some mad stage antics like chucking his guitar around and climbing on Bob’s drums and stuff! He’s more chilled now, we just get sexy hips!

Please don’t apologise anyway I love chatting catb or anything. Honestly I feel if you’re just getting into them I wanna send you loads of interviews and clips etc but you’ll quickly get fed up of me so I’ll refrain 🤭 Maybe we ought to do a Sam-CATB exchange as I feel like I’ve not seen all his best moments ha ha x

If you want cheering up though watch this little compilation of Van being chaotic on stage this just sums him up perfectly!

#catb asks #catfish and the bottlemen

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darthchic · 10 months

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It’s literally been years since I’ve posted anything TMNT related on here (mostly I just come on here to lurk… That’s such a great word…)

But I have now seen TMNT: Mutant Mayhem and I wanted to jot down my thoughts before I forget, cause I freakin’ LOVED it!

- first off, loved the animation, it was hideously beautiful, an imperfect beauty. I mean, the style is supposed to look like a teenager’s messy scribbles, right? And it does.

- Did anyone else get ‘Stranger Things’ vibes from the background music at times? Guess they wanted to inject a little 80s/90s flavour. Understandable.

- Most people seem to have a favourite turtle and mine is still Leo. I’ve not consumed every iteration of the turtles, especially not the comics, but for everything I’ve seen, he’s always consistently won my heart. He’s just such a GOOD BOI! My blue lame-o dork (said with much affection)

- I was just awwwing away during that scene where they were watching ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’. For me, it’s really the first time a version of the turtles really hammered in the longing the boys have to be a part of the human world and be normal teenagers. And seeing Leo notice a couple snuggling together and clearly wanting something like that himself? My boy just wants some romance dagnabbit!

- They added another element of sentimentality into Splinter’s backstory. Establishing that as a common rat, humans didn’t like him, and not many other animals liked him either. And then he finds these baby turtles who just love him unconditionally from the start? You can kinda see why he’s overprotective and a tad clingy. And when all those people made him drop his babies on the street, and Mikey onto the road in front of incoming traffic, it was a very “HOW DARE YOU” moment for me.

- April was a pretty cool character, I liked that she could relate to the turtles’ goal of wanting to achieve something great in order to be accepted. Throwing up in front of your school would be hard for a teen to live down. Poor Puke Girl. But I also liked that April kinda realises, at least from my point of view, that even though she went through something humiliating, it really doesn’t compare to what the turtles have to deal with. Maybe she even realised that she takes what she has for granted? So, I love that by the end, she was more focused on helping the turtles find acceptance rather than trying to help herself.

- Then the same could be said for the turtles. They still wanted to be heroes, even if that doesn’t guarantee they’ll be accepted by humans. It was so cute seeing Leo hype up his bros; I think the music for this scene is called “Better Than Mark Ruffalo”, and I had to go find it to listen to it again, cause it puts a smile on my face. Plus, Raph is able to tip over a van with his bare hands. Do they all have super strength or is this just the awesome power of Raph’s rage?

- Can I say, I was kinda shocked that SuperFly was allowed to say things like “Piss me off” in a PG rated movie? I’m so used to PG movies being extra kiddie-proof, where even words like *gasp* God and “kill” are seen as baaaaaaad words

- It’s kinda amusing to me that only poor Mikey and Raph got their blood sucked by the ‘Milking Machine’ and Leo and Donnie got off scot free. Though they did all get electrocuted several times before that.

- Also, Cynthia Utrom, is she gonna reveal that she’s really a tiny alien in a robot body some time down the road, or is this gonna be a red herring?

- I think the all-star cast they had for all the extra mutants (minus Ice Cube as SuperFly) was kinda wasted a little bit, but if they’re brought back for the sequel and the series then I’m assuming they’ll get a bit more attention.

- Seeing the turtles going to school was such a sweet new take, I imagine there’s probably a few fanfic authors out there screeching

- As for any romantic subplots, I don’t think people are gonna be as bothered by Leo’s crush on April as they were by Donnie’s crush in the 2012 series. But, we’ll see how the series deals with it going forward, especially if they decide to re-introduce Casey. Please not another love triangle! Does anyone even like those things anymore!?

- And uh, Splinter’s ‘relationship’ with Scumbug? Well, at least he’s happy…

- And last but not least, the reveal of Shredder at the end of the mid credits scene... Why is he connected to TCRI? Will the Foot Clan still exist? Is Shredder really just gonna be some bounty hunter for TCRI? Cause I feel Shredder always needs a much grander role, or a more personal vendetta with the turtles, and seemingly with Splinter no longer being Hamato Yoshi or having any connection with that character, I wonder where they’re going with this version of the Shredder?

#Tmnt #mutant mayhem #Tmnt spoilers #mutant mayhem spoilers

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theneurodivergentnerd · 1 year

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Cody characterisation help request

So I’m working on my first long multi chapter fic (Codywan), it’s all planned out and I’m going to write it all before posting but I’ve got to a point where I’m just not sure I’m writing Cody right. I set a bunch of goals for this fic and one of them was to write Cody in a way more true to how Tem plays him in AOTC. So this is really random but here’s a snippet of the fic and if anyone has any feedback I’d be really grateful for the help. (I’m open to feedback on anything: Cody, the others, structure or literally anything, I’m just really not sure about Cody right now.)

(set just after the Zero the Hutt arc where Obi-Wan and Quinlan fight Bane.)

“I do feel like we missed some things in the debriefing.” Obi-Wan complained to the ceiling as he lounged along the sofa, his head leaning on the armrest and feet almost in Quinlan’s lap. Cody and Quin had both rolled their eyes when he’d stretched out dramatically, but it was his sofa and he was recovering from electrocution, so what could they do?

Somehow, despite the casualness of the position and the beer bottle in his hand, Obi-Wan still looked like the picture of professionalism. Cody thought that summed up his General pretty well.

“Do you get what I was saying now Codes?” Quin leaned over the coffee table of empty takeaway containers to say to him. “He’s never happy with anything. Something’s always wrong.”

Cody wasn’t sure how he felt about being called Codes by someone other than his brothers, but Quinlan seemed like someone who naturally fell into nicknames and it was better than just ‘Commander’ like he’d been using earlier. Not to imply he didn’t take pride in his rank but it just reminded Cody of the only thing he was ever meant to be: not a person, or a friend or a brother, a Commander.

Codes was better compared to that.

Obi-Wan kicked the Jedi. “Something’s wrong with you.”

Now Cody was looking at their relationship like brothers and not lovers, it all of a sudden seemed healthier. He thought that probably said a lot about social standards for sibling relationships but he could see comparisons to his own dynamics with his brothers and it felt… more fond, as a sibling relationship.

He found himself laughing at their interaction and smiling as he spoke. “I can’t speak for accuracy to the mission but it did sound like a typical Bane fight.”

Quin took a sip of his beer. “Oh yeah, because you guys fight him a lot don’t you?”

It was an invitation to a new topic, a throwing of a different subject onto the table to see what the other two men would do with it.

Obi-Wan snatched it up immediately. “Oh, tell me about it.”

In doing so, he set the tone for a conversation of surface-level complaint and a lighthearted discussion of some of their battles. Cody could work with that.

“It’s him I’m telling you.” Cody said to Quin, pointing a finger at Obi-Wan from around the neck of his bottle and his General gave a small laugh. “He’s like a bad-guy magnet. Pirates, Sith, Bounty Hunters, Seppies and all sorts.”

“Oh, he’s always been like that.” Quin told him. “Trouble follows Obi like a love sick puppy.”

Obi-Wan laughed at that and Cody suppressed a grin with a fake eye roll. “Oh you bet half of them are in love with him.”

Cody’s Jedi threw his head back and cackled, before turning his head on the armrest and smiling at the Commander. “Cody.”

“It’s true though!” Cody argued, pushing himself forwards to lean his forearms on his knees. “They don’t even try to hide it.”

Obi-Wan kept laughing, despite his efforts to hide it in his hand.

“Wait, wait,” Quin started. “Explain that, man. Like, give an example.”

“There are no examples! He’s fibbing!” Obi-Wan argued.

Cody loved it when his General teased him, or treated him in that way. It felt, to him, like being seen. Infinitely more seen than the polite, respectful way most clone allies treated him; like they were more interested in being seen as politically correct than actually getting to know him and seeing who he was. Obi-Wan saw him, that that was evidenced by his willingness to completely take the mick in the face of his dry humour.

“I’m not!” Cody shot back and then turned his attention to Quin and his question. “First of all there’s Ventress.”

“No,” Obi-Wan pushed up and sat properly on the sofa and Cody’s full attention was on him in an instant. “I know what your taking about, but it’s just the same thing I’m doing: flirting as a distraction.”

The Jedi took a sip from his beer to indicate he’d finished his point.

“I don’t know what he’s on about!” Quin argued. “What kind of stuff does she do?”

“Strip tease.” Cody deadpanned and Obi-Wan choked on his drink.

“Cody!” He gasped.

“That’s all I’m going to say.” The Commander shrugged, and then with a roll of his eyes added. “And then there’s Hondo.”

“Hondo is defiantly not in love with me.” Obi-Wan argued, composing himself from the choking. “That smuggler would proposition anything that breaths.”

“Who’s Hondo?” Quin asked but went ignored.

“Exactly,” Cody said. “He’s definitely not picky with partners but who does he keep coming back to?”

“I- Cody!” He said again, disbelief lacing his voice.

“That’s my name, don’t wear it out.” Cody leaned back on the sofa again. “And anyway, with the whole Cad thing, I’m sure if you missed something it probably wasn’t important. He probably just said something like, I hate having my job done for me.”

Obi-Wan gave a surprised laugh at Cody’s impression and the Commander couldn’t be happier that he didn’t even try to hide it.

“That’s exactly what he sounded like!” Quin butted in, a stupid grin spreading over his face.

“It’s spot on.” Obi-Wan agreed through his subsiding chuckle.

“Don’t laugh.” Cody continued in Cad’s voice, pushing to keep that smile on his General’s face. Force knows he doesn’t do it anywhere near often enough. “I am being serious.”

“Oh, I know you are my dear.” Kenobi laughed.

yeah. This is just an in-between scene at the start of the fic. The general premise is based around Cad saying the Separatists are paying a million credits for a Jedi and these three idiots coming up with a plan for Cody to fake betray Obi-Wan to get the credits then escape. Obviously, it doesn’t go to plan and Anakin comes to rescue his master, trying to hurt Cody in the process and when Obi-Wan defends him Anakin’s like: Master I know you’re in love with him but he’s a traitor! And Cody’s just like: what. theres also some good angst about Cody pretending to be evil and feeling awful about it. i might post that scene for more feedback if this one is well-received.

anyway, any and all feedback is appreciated! If you take the time to help I will be infinitely grateful to you!

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minuy600 · 5 months

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The Arcade Games Of 1980 #9 - Crazy Climber

Now, I was originally to put my Checkers review here, but today, something amazing happened. I beat one of the bullshittiest unfair games there is in all of gaming. At least so far. So that's what we're gonna discuss while it's still fresh on my mind.

Whereas Rally-X was the game I hated to like, I *really* like to hate this one. In the game, you climb with some dude who looks like 18-Volt from WarioWare and have to avoid all kinds of obstacles to get to the top of 4 buildings total. The first 3 stages all introduce some extra mechanic that's increasingly hard to avoid, while the 4th and final stage before looping is more or less a 'worst of' with the obstacles they chose.

Stage 1 introduces closing windows, the bird who seems to have a particularly bad case of stomach trouble, the dudes who throw flower pots on your head and a very odd looking King Kong knockoff. Stage 2 adds girders into the mix, my worst enemy, as well as these 'helpful' balloons that barely bring you further in the stage, and a Nichibutsu sign that goes effin' wild and can electrocute you if you're exposed to it's loose wires for too long. Stage 3 has one new addition in the falling signs that conveniently tell you what game you're playing. They can be placed in even more evil ways than the girders and become completely unavoidable at very final stretch of the final stage. See what I mean with unfair?

Nichibutsu decided to be additionally clever by introducting a completely new control scheme to coincide with this new genre of game. You control each arm of your climber guy individually and that means you have to push the joysticks in their right directions so you can go up another floor. It's shaky in execution as i've had several of my inputs taken away, but I much prefer it over having the same old same old done poorly.

If there's any game I wanna compare this to, it's Getting Over It. Extremely frustrating whilst also giving you significant reasons to come back to it to see if the odds play into your favor THIS time. And so I did. For several weeks. I'm done now and I did it legit. That's worth taking to my grave.

The Verdict

Graphics (9): Extremely good for the time. The climbing genre appears to be a completely new concept in gaming and would rarely be revisited later. Ya got a large variety in enemies that all look significantly more detailed than most other games, and ooze personality even if there's not something in the way of named characters. The helicopter, the balloon, even the climber himself, it's all of the utmost quality one can ask for. With the exception of the crazy ape, he's creeping me out with his red eyes and scrungly face. Donkey Kong he ain't. Aside from some minor graphical glitches and the title screen being very whatever, this is close to the peak as to what you can expect from a 1980 title.

Sound (7): One look at the developer would scare the shit out of anyone in the know. Nichibutsu, or Nihon Bussan as it was still called at the time, broke my hearing with their last outing, Moon Cresta. Sincerely awful, droning, weirdly pitched sounds were what held the game back from taking the glove to Space Invaders. But there was potential in that it was very varied in it's awfulness. And that potential gets utilised here! Mostly.

Most events of the game have their own little jingle or noise to coincide with their appearance. The animals and balloon have music, there's a tune at the start and end of each stage. These are actually great, how they managed to get the Pink Panther theme for the ape, I wouldn't know. The climber himself has a handful of voice clips that differ depending on when you're playing the US version or the original. As i've mentioned in the King & Balloon review, neither version is intrusive in the slightest with them. In fact, all of this combined makes me feel i'm playing a 30s cartoon. Kinda awesome!

What isn't awesome are the final remains of the Nichibutsu earsplitters. The girders drop down with quite possibly the WORST choice of sound effect they could've done. It's the type of cartoony shit you'd expect, ya know, something that lowers in pitch as it goes, only it's pitched SO highly and repeats itself SO frequently that it cracks the praise i've otherwise had in half. I can't ignore it either, these girders are *everywhere* from the second stage onwards. You were so close to making the perfect audiovisual experience, guys!

Fun Factor (6): Speaking of girders... fuck 'em in general. And fuck the Crazy Climber sign as well while we're at it. If flower pots sometimes not allowing you to keep balance by holding down on the joysticks wasn't enough, neither of these allow you to survive in general unless you get very lucky with the former. There's also the windows that conveniently seem to shut down in front of you on the thinner parts of the building. You have to anxiously wait for those to open, while there's always a chance the window you're hanging onto closes as well.

No, this game is not for the impatient. Yet still! I can't help myself with continually trying over and over again. It's THRILLING alright. First game in a while that got me sincerely anxious and determined to pull through and stick it to the man. Figuring out a new strat or sidestepping just a little bit faster so I would have more lives remaining at the later death traps, it's that kinda trial and error that would make arcade games increasingly awesome. Lastly, it helps that the game is nice enough to remove the next few floors worth of traps if you die, meaning you are rarely ever completely blocked from progressing. I am not gonna give a high score for obvious reasons, but I can't help myself with letting it get a pass. It sets a very intriguing precedent.

Longevity (7): 4 stages is not a lot, yet they're gruelling and lengthy enough that it feels like a substantial game for the time. More disappointingly(!), once you beat them, the game essentially resets with your data still intact. There's no reason to play past that point unless you wanna max out the score or somethin'. Please do not attempt that. I would've enjoyed a nod that you did so well to come that far by tweaking the existing stages juuuust a tad. Then again, it would've made my victory feel a lot more hollow. Maybe it's for the best not to let this experience drag more.

In Conclusion

#retro gaming #minuy600 #review #sona #arcade #1980 #crazy climber #nichibutsu

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boseobrien · 2 years

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The Chapa and Miles pairing is alot more layered then people think.

Chapa and Miles have such an interpersonal chemistry. Miles seems to be the only one who isn't put off my Chapa's hard-core personality, he isn't scared of her like the other are and in fact I feel like he enjoys her company at lot more. We all know how Chapa loves zapping things or people who get her on nerves even for the smallest reason and you would think since her and Miles bicker the most she would have zapped him by now. Now done with season one and Miles was the only person who chapa didn't electrocute, that's a big deal if you look at the context of things. Miles is the only person she hasn't purposly tried to harm. They way she stuck up for Miles in 'Miles has visions' was unexpected because her character is usually the one with the idgaf attitude. They perfectly even each other out considering Miles can handle Chapa when she goes on her little tantrums. He always matches her energy and I think Chapa might like the fact that someone actually challenges her. They even seem to compare when it comes to rage, like their random out burst. Also i've noticed the way they tend to finished each other's sentences or thoughts without even knowing it. It's like their opposites but then they're like the same person at times which really seals the deal.

Now In more depth of Chapa and Miles caring for each other/ Chapa altering her hard-core personality [ To be revised]

In prank wars, Chapa stumbles into the mans nest in a cheer uniform making her look 'cheery'. She is alramed and disturbed, Miles gets to her first wrapping a blanket to cover her even though she wasn't wet nor seemed to be cold) so i conclude he did it because he knows how much Chapa hates looking cheery; which is later confirmed in the next scene. Chapa falls into Miles arms and he catches her.

But before she fell back she told them to avenge her. Miles in return is the one to declare war on Rivilaton.

• This scene marks Chapa and Miles relationship especially because it was the first scene we see Chapa vulnerable and knowing who she is, she would most likely never let anyone hold her like Miles did willing. Miles being the one to call war to avenge Chapa is him showing great care for her.

In Miles has visions, Miles starts to see things from the future and since no one knows what it is everyone is freaked out and worried the timer jerker is in his head

This is where Volt gets worked up and says "well I say we go down and tell this time which to stop messing with my friend Awols head".

• Empathizes on the MY, she could have said OUR but her referring to him as if he was only her friend shows this attack against Awol was personal to her.

In a Henry among us, Volt and Shoutout are kidnapped and Miles is determined to find them while everyone else is side tracking the mission and don't seem as worried as Miles was.

• Which makes it that he holds Chapa more dearly then the then others.

"What about Mika?" Well yeah, he especially cared about finding her because she's his sister and loves her the most.

In where's my man buggy, Chapa accidently zapped Miles and he cries out in pain. Chapa immediately goes to check if he's okay mouthing an apology.

• Which was really sweet of her considering she doesn't aplogize or seemed to care about what or who she zaps, she usually has a 'get over it' attitude.

In Power Problems part 2, [ Chapa's speech to Miles ]

Chapa's character is described as ' a powder keg of emotion - dark, cynical, and quick to get in a fight'

Miles's character is described as 'Calm and philosophical, Miles is always looking at things from a different perspective, often offering an insightful take on the situation'

Really different right?

In power problems part II, Chapa and Miles are hiding from big beard; not sure how they can handle the situation any longer. [Miles is seen as wise, so he doesn't give up so easily because he believes he's destined for greatness and the being a superhero was what he was meant to do.] However, Miles wants to call it quits which debunks his philosophical trait. Not having a superpower leaves him feeling helpless and in the moment he's at his lowest and defeated. Unexpectedly, Chapa, who doesn't look on the bright side often, tells him " You think having powers makes you a superhero? Because I know a guy named miles, and what really makes him super is his strength, and determination and his knitting game".

• In that scene, Chapa stepped into his shoes for a little while and knew what to say to give Miles this boost of confidence. She made it about who Miles was as a person, separating him from his alter ego Awol. Which is important because it means she recognizes these core traits of his and it holds value to how she sees him.

#danger force #nickelodeon #miles macklin #chapa de saliva #dangerverse #henry danger #henry hart #random thoughts #chiles #my fav ship #ray manchester

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mydisenchantedeulogy · 2 years

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Where the Tainted Kiss [Chapter Nine] Fate [Vaas Montenegro]

A/n: thank you to my readers for all the support you've given me on this story. I appreciate it. If you'd like to be tagged, please let me know and I'll start a tag list.

Warning(s): Vaas being Vaas, torture, firecrackers, threats, mention of alcohol abuse.

No Minors Allowed!!

Liv narrowed her eyes in concern as she stared at the metal 2-gallon bucket that Vaas had pulled from the back of the Scavenger. She had no idea what he was doing with it, but she knew that it could not be good.

"Cheer up, querida (darling). I have something special planned for you once we return to the outpost. My pirates have been working hard on it all morning," he stated with a grin.

Now Liv was curious. What did he have planned for her? She was nervous; there was no need to deny it. As far as she knew there were still several episodes to film, though she wasn't certain. Vaas had her head all sorts of messed up lately. She was second-guessing herself; confused about how she was seeing him. Yes, he was a murdering psychopath, but he was also cordial towards her. It made no sense.

She found herself growing fond of him when alone; their little talks were a breath of fresh air compared to the other happenings on the island.

Perhaps his insanity was infecting her.

Liv took an uneasy breath and tried to focus. Vaas should be the last thing on her mind or at least needed to be at this time. She walked beside him down to the beach and over to the tripod - someone had moved it for her - offering Chris a sincere smile. He looked worn-out, but at least he was alive.

Once the camera was set up, she gave Vaas a quick nod; the sooner this was over the better.

"Good morning, Chris," the said man greeted as he walked into the frame and kneeled. "Did you have a good night's sleep?"

Chris uttered yeah despite not looking rested. He looked out of his mind.

"You look like shit," Vaas pointed out.

"Please no more. Please," Chris attempted to beg.

The former turned his eyes to the camera in concern; fake or not, it was hard to tell.

"Seriously, you look like shit."

Vaas stared at Chris a moment then slid the bucket over his head, ignoring the actor's questions as to what he was doing.

"I'll be right back."

The pirate stood and ran to the tree line where Carlos was standing, taking something from him. Liv narrowed her eyes in question and watched as he flicked open a lighter, catching the string of something on fire. She recognized the familiar hiss and watched in horror as Vaas ran over to Chris, shoving firecrackers beneath the bucket. He held it down in childlike excitement as they went off; Chris shouted in pain.

Once it was over, Vaas slowly lifted the bucket, calling out his name in a singsong voice.

Wisps of smoke floated into the air, but Chris didn't reply. His eyes were shut and his head was slumped over. Liv felt her heart speed up; she already feared the worst. There was a reason people were not allowed to toss firecrackers at one another – it was dangerous – and he had taken them to the face.

Vaas laughed and leaned down to examine him.

"Chris?!"

There still was no reply.

Looking up at the camera, Vaas saw the worried look on his camera operator's face. He turned his attention back to the silent actor.

"Chris, you didn't think that was funny?" He poked his cheek. "Amigo (friend)? Chris wake up."

Oh, no.

"Chris, hey!" Vaas shook the actor's head. "Stop fucking playing games. Chris?!"

Suddenly, he leaned up and turned towards the group of pirates near the tree line.

"CARLOS! GET SOME WATER! BRING THE BATTERIES, THE SPIDERS, EVERYTHING! BRING IT!"

Liv watched the wall of a man race back into the dense jungle, most likely heading towards the Scavenger. Were they trying to exacerbate the situation? Throwing spiders on him or electrocuting him wasn't going to help.

Vaas continued to attempt to wake him, but when Chris wouldn't respond, he cursed beneath his breath and took off after Carlos.

Liv panicked. She turned off the camera and ran over to Chris, collapsing to her knees in the sand. Reaching out to touch his dirty face, she pressed her fingers against his neck to check for a pulse. He was alive, but he needed water. Averting her eyes to the jungle, she tightened her jaw, then took an uneasy breath and grabbed the 2-gallon bucket.

Running down to the ocean, she filled it, but a sudden irritated shout made her jerk in fear and turn. Vaas rushed towards her.

"Where the fuck do you think you're going?" He asked. Yanking his gun out, he watched her fall to her knees and cover her head with one hand; the other was wrapped firmly around the bucket.

Liv shook in fear. She just wanted to help. Her eyes filled with tears.

"Get up! Get the fuck up!" Vaas shouted as he aimed at her. He was livid.

The nerve of her.

Standing hesitantly, Liv hugged the bucket close. Her heart was erratic, so much so, she feared she might faint.

"Please... I––"

"You what?! Hmm?" He paused and turned his attention to the object in her arms. "And put that fucking bucket down."

What was she doing with it? Seeing the water inside, Vaas put two and two together. He scratched at his brow, then turned and shouted into the air.

The pirate then laughed and turned his attention back to her. "Fuck, querida (darling). I thought you were running on me... I thought this puta (bitch) has balls."

Liv sobbed; she was terrified. It was a stupid move on her part.

Vaas reached forward and took her by the arm, leading her over to Chris. He had to wrench the bucket from her hands, but once he did, he motioned for Carlos to come over, ordering for him to take her back to the Scavenger.

"And don't point any fucking guns at her," he added as Carlos pulled her along.

She didn't understand why, but the wall of a man did as instructed, keeping his gun near his side as he took her to the vehicle and ushered her into the backseat.

"Luck must be on your side, puta (bitch)," Carlos uttered.

Liv shot him a glare. She wanted to smash his face in with her shoe, but she ignored his comment and leaned down, resting her forehead against her knees. Her nerves were a wreck. Gripping her keychain in one hand, she covered her head with the other. Tears poured down her face as she sobbed.

It took a while for Vaas to return; Liv had lost track of time. He passed along the news that Chris was alive and OK – she doubted the latter – then got into the back next to her. She refused to lift her head as the vehicle started and drove down the road. Even as it rocked and bounced, Liv kept her head down.

Back at the Broken Neck Home outpost, Vaas ushered Liv from the vehicle and walked her through the gates; she shambled like a zombie the entire way.

"Carlos!" He shouted, pausing near the door to the mobile home.

The said man came to his side.

"Have the assholes bring the thing."

"Yes, Jefe (boss)."

Once Carlos was gone, Vaas opened the door and ushered Liv inside. She had no idea what was going on, and at the moment, she honestly didn't care. Her body was still shaking from the incident and her eyes were sore. However, she was aware that the pirate had taken her to the makeshift bedroom where the laptop was. She sat on the bed as he took her phone from his pocket, putting it on the charger. Before he sat beside her, he turned on some music.

Bob Marley's 'Waiting in Vain' played quietly in the background. Liv raised a curious brow. His choice of song was odd. It detailed Marley's frustration with having to wait for the love of his suitor without knowing whether or not it would work out. Though, perhaps Vaas just liked Marley; Liv had several of his songs on her phone.

Hearing a sudden knock on the door, an unnamed pirate brought in a tray of fruit; mango, banana, and kiwi were among those she recognized. He sat the tray down on the bed between them, then left a moment, bringing back two glasses of red wine. When offered one, Liv shook her head no; she hadn't drank a drop of alcohol in almost ten years, and though she wanted it, she opted not to indulge herself.

"That's Argentinan wine. It's the best," Vaas mentioned.

"I... Had a problem with alcohol when I was younger. I stopped drinking, but I appreciate the gesture," Liv explained in hopes that she wouldn't offend him.

He snorted.

"You are an unpretentious woman; I can respect that."

That's more than most he knew.

Motioning for the glass, Vaas told the pirate to fuck off.

Liv raised a brow in question. What was going on?

"May I ask a question?"

"It will cost you," Vaas answered.

Of course, it would. There were far more important questions to ask than the current one. Between the music, the fruit, and the wine, it wasn't hard to figure out. But why? Liv took an uneasy breath. She took 10 from her pocket and gave it to Vaas; the money was crinkled and worn from having to be sun-dried.

"In addition to the 20 that should be enough for a question."

Vaas grinned and raised two fingers.

"For almost shooting you."

How kind. Liv had to refrain from turning up her eyes. At least she had another question. How truthful Vaas answered them was another story.

"What are your plans for me?"

"You don't like to be surprised, querida (darling)?" He asked.

Liv shook her head no, tightening her jaw. All she wanted was information. She watched as Vaas picked up a piece of mango and put it into his mouth, sucking the juice from his fingers.

"Eat your fucking fruit and I'll answer your questions."

She hesitantly ate a kiwi slice, humming as the bitter juice covered her tongue. It was delicious.

Vaas grinned and ate another piece.

"We're going to ransom you, but not until your face heals."

Ransom her? Liv widened her eyes. So, Vaas and his men were traffickers. And murders. But what about them? His victims. Why did he not ransom them?

"And if no one pays?" She asked in a panic.

"That's question two," Vaas pointed out.

Shit!

Liv let her emotions get the better of her. Tears filled her eyes. She was going to use her second question on Barry; not waste it on herself.

"Do you have no one to pay for you?" Vaas asked.

She had her aunt but as an RN, she didn't make nearly enough to pay whatever amount Vaas was going to ask for; she knew it would be ridiculous too.

Did that mean he was going to kill her?

"Hmm? By your silence and those unneeded tears, I guess the answer is no. But others will pay well for you," Vaas mentioned.

He stood up and yanked the charger from her phone, silencing the music. Turning it towards her, Liv stared at her tear-stained face in the camera. Her eye was black and her hair was greasy and unkempt; a cut on her lip made her frown.

"Look at you," Vaas ordered. "For an Americana (American), you are preciosa (gorgeous). Some rich fuck is going to pay a lot for you."

That didn't make her feel any better. She wasn't going to die, but the idea of being sold to someone made her sick to her stomach. Liv reached down and clutched her keychain.

Why did you have to leave me? This never would have happened if you had--

Vaas tore her from her thoughts, snapping his fingers in her face.

"Why are you crying? Always with the fucking tears."

"I can't-- I'm so pissed," Liv answered with a huff.

She had every right to be. Her life was a fucking joke.

"You feeling destructive?" Vaas asked.

He grabbed her by the arm and yanked her from the bed, leading her outside. Near the gate, Vaas took out his gun and put it in her hand, positioning her towards the jungle.

"Go crazy," he ordered.

Liv was stunned. Did he not consider that she might turn and shoot him? No. He did and that irritated her more. She stood there for a moment, glaring at the gun in her hand.

"Have you ever shot a gun before, querida (darling)? A modest woman like you--"

Steadying the gun with her left hand, Liv yanked back the hammer and aimed down the road, having no particular target in mind. With the safety off, she slowly emptied the clip until it was exhausted, then took an uneasy breath. Her anger wasn't sated, but she felt a little better; too bad there were no actual targets.

"I think I'm in love," Vaas uttered.

Liv snorted.

"I'm from Hope County," She mentioned as she handed the gun back to him. "Everyone there knows how to shoot a gun, even the preacher."

The pirate grinned.

"Continue to surprise me, and who knows, perhaps I'll keep you."

Her face heated up. Part of her knew that was a terrible idea, but part of her wanted it. With time, she might be able to escape. Her fate was not yet set in stone.

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