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lgbtlunaverse · 2 years

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Hero vs villain: Jin and Hawks

So, the anime is here, and with it will most likely come the second phase of Hawks Discourse TM, but right now, I am much less interested in anyone's personal opinions on if what Hawks did is right, if twice deserved it, if this would be morally permissable if these characters were somehow real people, etc, and focus on what the NARRATIVE thinks of this fight. And in particular, the visual framing during it.

So, if you hadn't noticed, whatever you yourself think of this situation, the STORY thinks what Hawks did is wrong. Not the characters in the story (Though I must point out, Hawks himself calls Jin a good person even after he killed him and does not think he deserved to die) I mean the story as its own entity with themes and messages.

And the story is not on Hawks' side.

It undercuts Hawks' victory on several accounts. The most important one is giving Toga Jin's blood, effectively undoing Hawks' primary justification for killing him. He wanted to make sure the villains didn't have double, an immensely powerful and dangerous quirk, on their side? Well, too bad, they still do! Congratulations, you played yourself.

But that's the plot, the story's in-universe events making Hawks' actions have more negative effects than positive, thereby painting it as the wrong choice. What I actually want to talk about is framing, specifically the way the fight itself is drawn.

Because this?

This is not how you draw a hero.

And interestingly, once you look at the Hawks vs twice fight in isolation- especially its first stretch before Dabi bursts in- without the larger context of the story behind it, it is drawn and written like a very classic hero vs villain fight where Hawks is the villain and Twice is the hero.

Let me tell you a story, it's probably one you've heard before.

Our Hero has recently made a new ally.

Some of their other allies are still wary of this new friend, because of their past loyalties, but our hero is trusting, perhaps too trusting for their own good. And the side this new ally used to belong to treated them badly! Our hero wants them to find happiness here.

But then one day, there's an ambush. Their home is attacked, their allies and friends are pulled into a battle they're not prepared for, and this happens:

Their new ally has betrayed them. They never truly changed sides, and were feeding information to the opponent the entire time. They isolated the hero with a false promise, and when they got them alone they immediately put a weapon centimeters from their skin. Our hero hasn't even moved yet, doesn't understand what's going on, but they're already fractions of a second away from death.

The ally, turned villain, is framed in shadows, only their narrowed, almost glowing eyes are visible, as they stare unmoved and unflinching at the hero.

Our hero tries to plead, still hoping there's another explanation, but the villain doesn't let them speak. They monologue, monotonely, about what a threat the hero is to their side, how they had to be eliminated. They mock them for not figuring out the ruse, for being so trusting. They tell the hero to surrender.

And our Hero?

Thinks about their friends. About how their caring nature had gotten one of them killed before, and now it has brought them in danger again. They break down in tears. The villain's eyes watch from the darkness, silent and unaffected.

The villain looms over them, still shrouded in darkness, as the hero thinks back on another friend, a mentor figure. Someone that saved them when they needed it most, someone they went through hell to save in return not so long ago. They think back on what they said about trust, and they lament that they failed.

"Well, thanks" the villain says dismissively.

But then.

Some of the shadows that envelop the villain's face fade away, they think back on their real moments with camraderie with the hero.

Not even villains are immune to emotions. They don't dislike our hero, they don't necessarily want to hurt them specifically. In fact, why can't the hero join them? They could do so much together. (And this is classic villain monologue stuff, isn't it? Straight from the golden age of american superhero comics mha loves to pay homage to. Join the other side! And it’s always based on a fundamental misunderstanding of the hero that the villain just can’t grasp, which is.. exactly what happens between jin and keigo.)

The next panel pulls away, and the rumbling outside reminds us, the readers, exactly why the hero can't.

Their friends. Who are still out there, possibly being slaughtered by the villain's side. Friends are everything to our hero, they can't just abandon them. (And this is that misunderstanding. Hawks thinks twic eis the only oen in the league who is capable fo being saved. But you can’t save Jin if you can’t save the league. I won’t get into it here but this is why izuku, shouto, ochako and their respective villains are so important)

So the hero refuses.

It’s of note here what exactly our two sides look like going into this battle. One is crying, in pain and betrayal, ready to sacrifice their life if it give their friends a chance at safety.

The other?

Resigned. Eyes narrowed. Weapons ready to strike. Not showing any emotion on purpose because showing emotion is showing weakness.

And that unevenness, that contrast, persists throughout the fight. Our villains does not move a single inch as they slaughter a dozen clones of their former friend apart. Everything on the page moving, desperate, violent, except for them. They comment on our hero’s skill dryly, not even out of breath.

Generally as readers we sympathise with effort and like conviction, and repression of emotion is seen as a negative trait. Such an obvious difference in visible effort (No doubt thawks is ACTULLY putting in a lot of work to get his feathers to be so fast and precise, this can’t be easy for him. But it LOOKS easy) also creates an underdog narrative, and we tend to naturally root for the underdog.

And then comes the line that sums up this entire fight:

“I could never allow mere sentiment to trip me up,”

Because ultimately, this is not just a fight between two people. It is a fight between human connection and duty. It is a fight between someone who refuses to hurt the ones they love and someone who will. Who is, in fact, doing so right now. Our hero fights because they refuse to give up on people, our villain fights because they already have.

And if you wanted it to be any more obvious, here are the physical manifestations of all our hero’s friends, being mercilessly sliced apart! How’s that for heavyhanded symbolism? Though, really, if you come to a superhero comic for subtlety, you might as well go to the beach to wash out the sand in your clothes.

So we’ve been looking at this fight ignoring the context, that the hero in this scenario is not twice. He is the villain of this story, even if he is not the villain of this story within that story.

For this next page, that context will come crashing back in. So I want to ask you to read these lines while mentally erasing the word “villain” and “hero” from your mind. What do they sound like now?

“Why do you think I prioritize speed when taking my enemies down? Because it’s the ones who don’t give up that I fear the most.”

In not just superhero comics at large, but the shounen action genre specifically, tenacity, hardheadedness, and never giving up on one’s friends are the classic traits of a protagonist. They’re basically staples of the genre. (Hell, deku, the actual protagonist of this very manga, fits into that mold perfectly) Speaking outright of fearing and hating those who never give up, who have genuine conviction they are willing to die for, is something so classically villainous i’d call it cheesy if it was played straight. That’s cartoon villain shit.

Our hero has no time for this speech either, they start to say “Shut-”

-”Up.”

They don’t even get to finish their sentence.

The shadows are back. Notably, our hero is all dressed in black, but their face is illuminated. While the villain’s clothes are all drawn in light colours, but their face is hidden in darkness. Some very nice traditional color symbolism here.

And what are our heroes last words as they face their imminent death?

Their friends, especially the little girl they’ve grown closest too these past months. They know the villain doesn’t care, but it’s more like a need when they tell them that this girl they dismissed is kind, that she took care of them. This girl, that the world can see only a monster in, they have to affirm, even to a person who won’t listen, that she’s good. That she deserves to have someone be willing to die to protect her.

“I’ll be sure to tell the league that.”

Is it mockery? genuine? Do they even care enough about anyone else in the league to bother to follow through, or is this just a casual dismissal?

It doesn’t matter.

They don’t have to.

And if this were one of those classic superhero stories, or an early more traditional shounen, then the arrival of this friend would have spelled the end for the villain. This whole fight has been about he power of human connection in the face of cold and uncaring order. And what better way to end it than by having the hero’s friend prove him right? Especially the one who’s been rude and distant this entire time, who was the other one to bring this ally-turned-enemy into their ranks, who’s been constantly denying that their friends are even their friends to begin with? But they came, in this moment, and that’s what matters.

But this is not a classic story. Twice is not our hero. And this friendship does not save the day.

It ends with a high five

And a stab in the back.

And a girl’s smile fading.

And, no matter what you think of this fight in context, EVERYTHING on the actual pages of the manga depicting the fight itself is trying to tell you that Hawks is doing the wrong thing. That Twice- regardless of his overall morality- is RIGHT to stand by his friends and not give up on them. Even if those friends are villains. Even if he is also a villain. According to the story, Hawks is wrong, and Twice is right.

#bnha #bnha spoilers #bnha season 6 #twice #bubaigawara jin #hawks #takami keigo #bnha meta #story analysis #please don't think i hate hawks because of this he is my blorbo despite the atrocities he's comitted <3 #i emphasize a lot on how unmoved he looks by everything which is of course because he's so used to repressing his emotions #but out of context and therefore to jin it just looks like he doesn't care #which is another great way this fight plays with tropes #it MAKES him look more uncaring and villainous #which is the whole point #that the corrupt system has made this hero indistinguishable from a villain

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marc--chilton · 4 months

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house and wilson. but they are cats. warrior cats, if you will,

(bases by googaoo!)

#warriors #house md #james wilson #gregory house #hilson #(because it goes without saying i think)#sometimes house uses a stick to get around but as cats sometimes it's more trouble than it's worth #and on bad days his leg tends to drag hence the scarring on his foot #house's little forehead mark is kind of a joke on how people put stars on leaders #which i love but thought it would be funny for house to have a mockery of that #'starclan gave me the power to see through your bullshit' (he would use human curses obviously)#and wilson gets markings like labcoat and tie :) and gloves!#i love wilson but he's like some guy. a pretty guy of course but i couldn't think of him being otherwise terribly #interesting as a cat. just brown. brown cow #i'm just getting to season 3 so i feel like i don't have Enough to give them good names Yet #in the meantime i guess i could go with goldentouch for wilson and icewhisper for house

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worstloki · 2 years

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people fr are like "do you expect Loki to always be in armour? 🤨" and I'm here to answer that Yes! Yes I do! In fight situations, at the very least! Take a look at Thor! Take a look at Loki in Thor 1! Or either of them in Avengers 1! Or even - dare I say - Thor 2! Loki's got LOTS of outfits, switching pieces between them and across scenes, even. He goes through the most outfit changes, and they were all cool and detailed and suited to the situations! Even when not armour! So Yes! I either expect him to reflect such bombardment of clothing in the series as well (within bounds of what is reasonable) or armour when he's fighting. Or at the very least for him to be wearing some green.

#'why is it BROWN' 'omg you can't just ask why it's brown...' 'ok. why is he working with the timeline brainwashing genocide fascists?' 'um'#the Loki show #is the mcu for real like we're not going to put loki in his signature colours in a show with his name on it #what kind of clownery #my dude he was in green when he was in a cell on asgard #he got away from thanos in green - albeit hastily modified and a bit worn down - armour #bestie he didn't don a single horned helm in the entire season #my guy that is not loki if he cannot summon a new outfit even when the exact topic is broached in a conversation #my friends please consider that he has inexplicably not been able to get a single dagger of his own to himself in the show #his magic looks like goop and is used twice maybe three times in the series #he calls enchanting an amateur thing and then 3 episodes later needs to be taught by Sylvie and struggles #WHAT IS GOING ON #Thor 1 is shaking in Loki's custom made baby seal leather boots rn #L-Loki can't even do mag-- I can't say it 🤢#THOR has recently done more actual proper magic than Loki #my goodness the lad can't even fight well #what happened to his ridiculously accurate dagger aim and the whole mastery of magic and whatnot #AND THEN THEY ALSO WON'T LET HIM HAVE DECENT CLOTHES?#im losing it #are we sure this is Loki? as in LOKI Loki?#''do you expect Loki to always be in armour'' NO BUT IT WOULD BE NICE FOR HIM TO RESEMBLE THE CHARACTER #don't tell me it's Loki being out of his element he did that in Thor 1 Avengers 1 Thor 2 Thor 3 and Infinity War already #don't tell me they needed to strip him down to build him back up. Thor went through that in Thor 1 and it was respectful #it's not even that it's office wear that bothers me it's that it's BORING office it's unsuited to the character #his whole thing is breaking boxes what do you mean he's worn grey and brown the entire show #Wanda got a glow up and Sam got a glowup and Kate and Clint got new fits #man... Loki got a glow down #and that's saying a LOT since he started the series at the end of Avengers 1 after Thanos and getting beat by the Hulk/Avengers #if Loki being a good guy means everyone keeps calling him evil and he's gotta dress down and get beat up constantly... let him be a bad guy #he's literally got nothing to lose here but a shirt that will expose every blood vessel in his abdomen if attacked with 1 glass of water

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petorahs · 9 months

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me, gearing up to explain why the dragon prince's latest seasons have continued to disappoint me, that while i love the lore and worldbuilding and characters there are clear pacing issues that are so jarring it takes me out of the experience, and that i say all of this with great love for the series but there's only so much good concepts can do before animation has to catch up in order to retain the average viewer's attention. that although season 4 and 5 have been branded as "the mystery of aaravos" the titular character barely appears and that is a crime to me, that even if it's for the suspense and intentionally leaving the viewer/main characters in the dark it's not doing a good job at building up his character and i fear for the exposition dump that will inevitably happen later on. that i will be harsh in critiquing this series because i love it so much and want it to be the best it can be: *inhales*

also me the moment i actually finished the goddamn season:

#no fair viren i want a canon lovechild with aaravos too are u kidding. i'd do anything to let him manipulate me #AARAVOS<3333 #as mlm there is just something so lovely to me about aaravos like they put something in him that activates my neurons #aaravos #the dragon prince #the dragon prince season 5 #love them. love this hot elf bastard. i feel ill #my critiques still stand btw. but god its so hard to hate it when hehe elf man <3 #think im just grumpy they dont show aaravos more when hes literally the only thing keeping me watching at this point.#at first it was rayllum #but hmm....#some of the emotional side plots are... cheesy at best.... i wanted to roll my eyes at a lot of points... its just so overdone?#is it just me being used to these kinds of storytelling?? like its good but its not anything im not used to so i just put it on bg noise as #as i wait for the season to finish..#i hate to do this but not only is it avatar tla but also somewhat reminds me of RWBY. king i'm sorry to do this to you i really am..#to be fair theres nothing wrong. with being any of this. i think tdp is still nice standalone #it just drags out sometimes it's silly #also those clumsy sequences where it wanted to replicate that 3D + 2D animation hybrid #that spiderverse pioneered???? i mean. there was an attempt and i respect that #overall though!! i really do love this series i think it's still charming and im def tuning in to the next season with bated breath #i have more good to say than bad tbh if i tried theres just so much about it :]]]]] i love <3

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brittlebutch · 3 months

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Desperately trying to make sense of Alex's motivations in Season Two and you know, I do eventually have to wonder if maybe Alex wasn't actually lying in the majority of those tapes.

Like, we tend to assume that Alex's motivations have been a consistent throughline since the college years, but do we actually know that that's the case? Do we know for sure that Alex was acting in deliberate, calculated ways in 2006; or could it be that he's telling the Truth on those olds tapes when he says he's blacking out and can't remember what's happening to anyone? After all, if we're assuming that Season 2 Alex's motivations are the exact same as his motives in Season 3, then it doesn't make any sense at all that he spend months working with Jay to try to find Amy; Season 3 Alex would have attempted to kill Jay like, on sight just to get things over with as quickly as possible and contain the spread of contamination as best as he could.

But, maybe, if Alex really had been separated from Amy after the events of the 04-04-10 tape, and if he really doesn't know where she is, then maybe that could make things start to make more sense. Maybe he really had been watching Jay's channel, and seeing Jay start going through the same things he went through in college without things devolving into violence and disappearances, and wondered if things maybe could play out differently this time. Maybe he really did send that tape to Jay to ask him for help, maybe he really was just trying to find Amy.

But then, instead of actually being helpful, Jay makes it extremely clear that he's a lot more interested in stalking Alex than he is in finding Amy. Alex asked for help, and instead there's a bunch of masked dudes on Jay's heels that keep attacking him, Jay is breaking into his house, stealing his things, leading the Operator right to him all over again, keeps trying to get other people (namely: Jessica -- if Alex is being honest when he says that his call reassuring her that Amy had been found was an effort to make Sure she stayed away from everything that was happening) involved; and instead of anything getting better, instead of anyone finding Amy, things are just getting worse all over again.

It's not until after the incident at the tunnel that things seem to start rapidly devolving. Rather than a calculated attempt to finally follow through with his need to curb the spread of contamination, this is very clearly an outburst of rage and terror. Alex's "I told you not to follow me" line in conjunction with Jay speculating that Alex didn't know who that guy was, to me, pretty firmly seems to speak to Alex having mistaken that stranger for Jay. From his point of view, Alex knows that Jay and totheark know where he live, have broken in before, he suspects that Jay stole a key to make it easier to get into his house, and he's been followed on the daily for months -- Alex is sitting at the tunnel because he doesn't know where else he can go without being constantly surveilled, hunted, and assaulted. And instead of getting a moment by himself to breathe, Jay followed him out there all over again (it feels like Alex looks directly at the camera in Jay's footage of him from this day; he knew for a fact that Jay was there), and then to make matters worse now 'Jay' won't even keep his distance anymore.

So Alex lashes out. And it's not until afterwards that he looks down and finally recognizes that this wasn't Jay -- it was someone completely innocent. Things have finally reached the low point he was at in college all over again; maybe even worse this time. If Alex doesn't remember attacking anyone in college, but he was at least partially conscious of it this time, then things have reached an entirely new rock bottom, they've reached an absolute point of no return.

He has no idea what happened to Amy, and he's spent months trying to find her with no hint of where she could be; he doesn't know where Jay actually is or what additional trouble he could be causing at this point; he does know that now innocent people are getting caught in the crossfire (in regards to the stranger in the tunnel, and also Jessica now that Jay has her phone number, and the untold number of people Jay got involved when he started posting videos to the Marble Hornets channel); things are spiraling out of control and there's no one left to ask for help. The situation isn't getting better, it's getting worse; things aren't getting easier to handle, they're just getting more out of hand; the negative impact is spreading and who knows how much further it can still go?

So, Alex decides to go scorched earth. He disfigures the body with the rock either to hide evidence or to make sure the guy would actually stay dead and not just get back up to start his own cycle of contamination in a few years. He tries to give Jay one last chance to back off, and Jay instead admits he's been talking to Jessica, acts obstinate and lies about not having Alex's spare key, and then breaks into Alex's house a second time (minimum). If Alex doesn't stop him now, who will? Alex met with Jay planning to kill the others, and then himself, so he could put a stop to this once and for all and keep things from getting any worse than they already were.

Maybe it makes a lot more sense if, rather than being a strangely incomprehensible detour on what should have been a straight path, the events of Season Two were the breaking point that put Alex on that path to begin with.

#N posts stuff #idk!!! I've been thinking a lot lately about the tendency to take Characters at Face Value; when they tell us things we tend to #automatically believe them despite what evidence we might have to the contrary. & like when it comes to deciphering what #went down during the college film project it's mostly totheark that posits that Alex was Definitely Lying and Definitely Acting on Purpose #(even Jay is largely ambivalent - wondering which way it leans and basically saying it could go either way)#but. do we KNOW that they know that? Do we Know that they're Right when they claim that? Or are they just Assuming based off #of their own rage and animosity towards Alex due to what happened? Do we Know for Sure that Alex Was Lying in s1?#i don't know if we do!! And so without Knowing that for sure; how can we speak to Alex's motivations in season one OR season two?#now TO BE CLEAR: I am not saying this in an attempt to claim that Alex is somehow completely innocent of all guilt and that like.#Jay is the 'Real Antagonist' of the series - not at all my intention. this is just More of my usual 'look. Everyone in this series is #all kinds of Morally Grey; no recurring character in this series is free of guilt they ALL have unique fatal flaws & trends towards #antagonism that makes things worse and dooms them all' shtick - a la 'everyone Thinks they're doing the Right Thing but No One Is'#BUT i Am wondering if this Does help to like. clear up some of the ambiguity/uncertainty of Season Two - and even Season One - and #lets the series as a whole read a little bit clearer? idk i know that Jay does Claim to think that Alex was bullshitting him #the whole time & was Actually planning on tying up loose ends the whole time but AGAIN it doesn't make Sense he'd wait so long #idk - Am i making sense? does any of this track? i'm trying to figure it out; i am open to comments on the subject to help #i haven't rewatched season 3 yet today and so maybe there's stuff in there that contradicts this whole theory lmao but i'm taking a break #and just posting this anyway; we'll see what happens lol #marble hornets #mh lb

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technicolourtelevision · 2 years

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Tom telling Ken he’s been fucked a lot + Ken getting fucked a lot

→ {For @cauldronofmorning}

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drbtinglecannon · 2 years

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It's actually really disappointing people are genuinely angry/upset about Hunter's haircut

Y'all. It's the exact same scenario as Amity changing hers

It was a style their abusers forced on them to mimic a specific person, so by changing it they get to take their autonomy back

The other thing with Amity's cut is it was symbolic of her cutting her abuser out of her life; between the new color relating to her passion (abomination) & purposely keeping some of the brown rather than it just grew in over time (her father's hair color), it was some cool foreshadowing that Amity was going to cut Odalia out of her life, like she did the green out of her hair, but that Alador was gonna stay. I wrote a post about this months ago after COTH aired

Hunter's cut is the same symbolism. He only had that style because he was modeled after Caleb, and because Belos genuinely never saw a single GG as their own person, they were all just Caleb to him. Yeah, I would've liked to see the headcanons of him dying it red for Flapjack, but him changing the style itself is still symbolic of him no longer being modeled after Caleb, and literally cutting away the last of Belos' influence on him.

I'll admit I found Amity's new cut weird when we first saw it but I was fully behind the idea of her completely changing it after we saw it was modeled after her abusive mom. Now when I rewatch S1 the old style looks weird to me bc I'm so used to the current one (and the meaning behind the old style really sours the look of it for me which is a shame cuz I loved the green when we first met her)

Hunter's new cut might look weird (esp since it's just in a poster rn) but again, I'm fully behind the idea of him completely changing it after everything we've seen since Hollow Mind. We won't have nearly as much time with it as we had with Amity's new look, but I'm sure the "it looks weird bc it's different" feeling will fade just as fast as it did for Amity, especially when you remember the meaning behind the old one.

TL;DR even if you think the specific style of Hunter's new cut looks weird, 1. It's because it's brand new you'll get used to it, 2. The meaning behind the cut is more important than "his old style looked better"

#toh #toh spoilers #the owl house season 3 #toh hunter #amity blight #the symbolism of cutting abusers out & taking back autonomy matters more than if its hot or not y'all. hes 16 let him have an awkward cut #im kinda flabbergasted to see the angry & entitled demands it be changed back or changed to something better. like. dana has already been #treated so poorly by execs this entire time & now fans are crying their fav got a haircut & demanding she change it? fucking come on #tc posts #the hair noodle being a thing Flapjack & him had is kinda the same how i feel about darius using little prince anymore. yeah it was their #thing but they can get a new thing that isnt related back to belos in anyway & its ok to allow that kinda change!#toh meta #i saw someone mad about the haircut & the gloves like! do you want your traumtized fav to heal or not pal?

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