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hoseas-angry-ghost · 3 years

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YES YES YES I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR UR THEORIES

Hello anon! I am very surprised anyone wants to hear my chutney but here's my Strange Man Hot Take with some hopefully interesting info for curious parties:

To be honest, R* included so much misdirection around the Strange Man's identity (especially in RDR1) that I'm not *totally* convinced they're married to any one idea. RDR2 also complicated things by introducing new religions into Red Dead's world (Voodoo, Old Norse, etc.): he's no longer limited to just Christian / Western interpretations, as in RDR1, and it's possible R* might try to syncretise him with figures from other faiths (they did place Bayall Edge in Bayou Nwa, where most of the Voodoo stuff is).

At the same time, though, I think RDR2 actually narrowed things down somewhat in terms of the direction R* chose to take his character, and what we were shown of that. There's still a level of misdirection in RDR2, but IMO, it almost comes off as half-hearted in comparison to what was basically trolling in RDR1 -- it seems like they were a lot more focused on playing the "bad news" angle the second time round.

Based on what we know, and on the balance of things, I'm not convinced that the Strange Man is necessarily meant to be any one thing or figure, but I do think he's meant to fulfil some type of Satanic role within Red Dead's world, either in main or in part.

I won't compare and dissect other theories or anything, I just thought I'd list off some things that people might find interesting:

Armadillo. The deal between the Strange Man and Herbert Moon seems to be a pretty textbook Faustian bargain: Moon is offered earthly rewards ("happiness or two generations"), and although the price was (tellingly?) never specified, it seems like the recent Blood Money update for RDO all but confirmed that the cost was probably his soul. Although it's left ambiguous what Moon actually chose, the Armadillo curse was possibly an unforeseen (for Moon) consequence of the deal's terms, which would fit with similar tales of the devil or demon in question taking liberties with their end of the bargain.

In the files, there's some great audio of Moon off the shits and straight-up saying "I've made a deal with the devil, and I will never truly die!" It's possible this was cut for its own reasons (too overt?), but as a lot of stuff was apparently cut from Armadillo, I'm guessing it was either cut when Arthur in New Austin got cut, or it was part of something that R* didn't have time to implement in the epilogue. Either way, if it's not actually in the game then it's not technically canon, but it is an indication of what R* was thinking during development.

There's a lot of audio from the Armadillo townsfolk in general about devils and "devil curses," but the only thing I know of that definitely made it into the game is a line from the town crier ("Devil has the town in his hand").

There's audio of the Armadillo bartender saying "I heard the Tillworths made a deal with the devil to keep from gettin' sick! I don't wanna die any more than the next man, but ain't no safety worth a man's soul." Possibly idle gossip, but given Moon, possibly not.

RDO seemed to flirt with the idea of soul-selling a little bit with Old Man Jones' line "Well, this is America, so anything can be bought -- even souls," but then RDO pretty much just came right out and said it with Bluewater John in the Blood Money update. Bluewater John also apparently made a deal, almost definitely with the Strange Man (given the Moon deal and how close Bayall Edge is to all the drama); he was based on blues musician Robert Johnson and the myth that he sold his soul to the devil for mastery of the guitar. It's basically a rehash of the Moon deal, except it's... not subtle in its dialogue about deals, devils and souls.

"I GAVE EVERYTHING FOR ART, AND I LEARNED TOO MUCH AND NOTHING AT ALL" written on the wall at Bayall Edge also sounds like a reference to another one of these deals to me ("everything" being their soul, and "I learned too much and nothing at all" the foolishness of accepting eternal damnation for temporary knowledge). I think Bayall Edge might have originally belonged to a painter who struck a deal with the Strange Man for artistic skill, but then the Strange Man slowly possessed him or something -- which could be why some of the landscapes depict RDR1's I Know You locations, and why the writings on the wall kind of look like they deteriorate in quality. The puddle of blood at the foot of the portrait might also be linked to this somehow (whose is it?).

It's the deal-making for souls that really pushed the "devil" theory over the edge for me, because I can't think of whose wheelhouse that would be in except a devil's, or someone similarly malevolent.

Alternative name. The Strange Man's character model is called cs_mysteriousstranger in RDR2, and he's referred to as "the mysterious stranger" at least once in RDR1's in-game text. This could be a reference to The Mysterious Stranger, written by Mark Twain between 1897-1908, in which the stranger is a supernatural being called Satan. (At the end of the last version written, he tells the protagonist that nothing really exists and their lives are just a dream.)

Bayall Edge. Bayall Edge was possibly based on a Louisiana urban myth called the Devil's Toy Box, which is "described as a shack. From the outside, it is unappealing and average. ...The inside of the shack consists of floor-to-ceiling mirrors, including the walls. No one can last more than five minutes in this room. ...According to the legend, if you stood inside this mirror-room alone for too long, supposedly the devil would show up and steal your soul." The Strange Man does show up in the mirror eventually, and it's kind of curious that the paintings that change depending on your Honour act as metaphorical mirrors. This was also cut, but in the files, Arthur's drawing of the interior of Bayall Edge is unusually sloppy, like his faculties were impaired or something.

"Awful, fascinating and seductive". John writes this about Bayall Edge after the portrait is finished, and I think that's as good a description of something like the / a devil as any, but "seductive" is a big red flag for me, because it's such an odd choice of word and, from a Christian perspective, it's so loaded with connotations of evil and sin and temptation.

I Know You. Some have pointed out that I Know You in RDR1 resembles the Temptation of Christ, as it also takes place in three separate locations in the desert, and John is given moral tests in which he must choose between higher virtue or worldly vice. John is also, in a weird way, a kind of Christ-like figure in that he ultimately sacrifices his life for others. I do think the "temptation" in these encounters is very surreptitious but very much there ("Or rob her yourself" -- excuse me??), but they may also be operating on a Biblical definition of the word, i.e. a test or trial with the free choice of committing sin.

RDR1 dialogue. I don't want to get *too* much into this because I feel like we're all just getting punked in RDR1, but I think the Strange Man's dialogue broadly fits with something like a "devil" interpretation, or at least doesn't contradict it.

I'm thinking particularly of lines like "Damn you!" / "Yes, many have" (which would work metaphorically but also literally, given that the devil was thrown from heaven by God and his angels), and "I hope my boy turns out just like you" (of all the leading theories, I think Satan is the only figure who's popularly conceptualised as having a son, or prophesied to have a son -- God obviously had a son, but that ship kinda sailed).

I think the "accountant" line refers to Honour (which even uses an invisible numerical system), and how John's fate depends on the number of both good and bad acts he's committed throughout his life, and how these weigh against each other. If the Strange Man likes to collect souls, then he would have a vested interest in auditing you and seeing if your accounts are in the black or the red, as it were (and providing you with opportunities to push yourself further into the latter...), because if you're bankrupt, you're his.

Blind Man Cassidy. Interestingly, Cassidy seems to distinguish between "Death" and the Strange Man, implying that he's something else beyond his understanding: in one of Arthur's fortunes, after his TB diagnosis, he says "the man with no nose [Death] is coming for you," but in one of John's fortunes, he says "Two strangers seek thee: one from this world, perhaps one from another. One brings hatred; I'm not so sure what the other brings."

Arthur's cut dialogue. In the files, there's audio of Arthur having the exact same conversation with Herbert Moon as John in the epilogue, asking about the Strange Man picture because he "just seemed familiar". I think it's interesting that, like John, Arthur also would have apparently recognised the Strange Man despite (presumably) never seeing him before. Given how strong a theme morality is in Red Dead -- and how much both John and Arthur struggle with it -- my theory is that they find the Strange Man vaguely familiar because they're both familiar with the evil within themselves, or the potential for evil; and likewise, the Strange Man "knows" John because he embodies evil in some sense, so is aware of John's worst sins (like his involvement at Blackwater), or possibly even all of his sins (which would be, like, a lot).

Honourable mention: There's such a greater emphasis on conspiracies, myths, etc. in RDR2 that I half-wonder if the Strange Man's RDR2 incarnation was partly inspired by Hat Man (~excuse the link~ but often it's hard to find good sources for the kind of weird shit R* includes in their games).

ANYWAY, this got a little long but I hope someone found all this at least passably interesting. Thanks again for letting me ramble about the video game man, anon!

#The Strange Man #inbox #Me @ me: God jsut shut the fcuk-

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where-theres-smoak-2 · 3 years

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Riverdale 5x09 Review

Well I didn’t hate this episode like I hated the last one but I wasn’t exactly blown away by it either. It wasn’t a bad episode but I think my issue with it is if you dropped it into the middles of season 3 or 4 it would have fit in. It was fine it was just nothing new which you know doesn’t exactly make me excited to watch more. It was definitely one of those episodes where I either found myself checking to see how long was left or was rolling my eyes at something. Still there were moments I enjoyed. But without further ado lets jump in. As always these are just my own opinions and interpretation also there are clearly spoilers.

Betty and Polly

So a good chunk of this episode was following Betty as she continued to investigate what happened to Polly after finding the crushed telephone booth. Betty hears back from Glen and is told that the blood found on the booth is a match to Polly’s so with the amount of blood that is there it is likely she is dead. When she tells Jughead he tells her that he might have a lead, someone who might have seen something. So they go to see My Dreyfuss. He tells them on two other occasions a phone booth has been shredded like it was with Polly, in the summer of 77 and 82. He explains that its caused by the Mothmen ship’s antimatter fusion reactors which create a gravity field that allows them to levitate but anything that gets caught in that field gets crushed. Which you know sounds legit to me. Though I will say I did think the look Betty sent Jughead when Old Dreyfuss started talking about the Mothmen was hilarious. Needless to say Betty wasn’t exactly sold on this version of events. Which again I found kind of funny considering she hunted down something called The Gargoyle King in high school but apparently aliens are even too weird for Betty.

I am not at all surprised that Polly’s storyline is linking up with the Mothmen one, I’ve been saying for a while now that I thought all the storylines would converge at some point and I expected that Jughead’s and Betty’s would be the first to do that. My theory is that the Mothmen mystery is to do with military testing and that will tie in Archie as well, I also think as the Mothmen body Nana Rose had was found in the maple groves, and Hiram has an interest in the maple groves, that Hiram’s storyline will also be linked in, which will also link in Veronica and the other characters who are going up against Hiram to save the town. I did wonder if maybe its not really Hiram that wants Riverdale to be shut down but rather some rogue section of the military who want to cover up the testing they’ve been doing and that’s why Hiram unincorporated the town, maybe the military are paying him to help them.

So in her grief at what has presumably happened to Polly has sent Betty off the deep end. Now here’s the thing with this I appreciate that not every character’s development goes in a straight line. That’s what makes a character’s storyline interesting. There are twists and turns and they have set backs. That being said this return to dark betty didn’t really work for me. I mean I can understand that she is grieving for her sister, she’s going through trauma because of TBK and all that is making her turn back to her dark side. But for me I thought they wrote a good end to that whole storyline with her going under the hypnosis and kind of telling her younger self she could go play, and basically ‘killing’ dark betty before she is ever born. I liked how, well how I thought they had brought a close to that part of Betty’s character development. I honestly thought we were done with ‘dark betty’. But I guess not. I suppose we see where they take it maybe it will be well written but I’ll be honest it did kind of make me roll my eyes a bit in this episode, I just feel like it was a bit too on the nose and predictable especially after her speech last episode to Archie about how this thing with her sister would probably be the darkest she’d ever have to face. I said to myself then watch them bring back dark betty, so when they did I was just kind of like of course they are going there again. I think that was the issue was it is just more of the same stuff which I just find boring.

There was one thing that I did find a little interesting though and that was the way she was thinking in that moment. The idea that the person in front of her was a horrible person who had hurt someone she loved and so deserved to have justice brought to him in the form of death. Sound familiar? Because it should, its exactly the same way Charles thinks. I do wonder if that was deliberate and we were suppose to draw a comparison between Betty and Charles there.

I think in that moment when she is about to kill the trucker, Jughead’s call telling her that Logan had gone missing reminded her of why she was an FBI agent, to protect people and I think that kind of snaps her out of it. In that moment she could have killed that man or she could go and find the missing child who really needed her and who needed protection which is what she was saying earlier in the episode, that she wouldn’t let what happened to Polly happen to anyone else. At first she decided the best way to stop anyone else from getting hurt is by going after the truckers and stopping the women who are tricking there. But her method has flaws in it and I think getting that phone call reminds her that its not as black and white as she was looking at it.

So poor Alice, I felt really bad for her in this episode she does seem like she was very much giving up hope. I mean Alice has been put through the wringer so I don’t really blame Betty for lying about it being a match to Polly’s blood I mean it wasn’t advisable because the truth was going to come out eventually but I could understand why Betty did it, she just couldn’t bear to take away the little hope that her mother had left. I am glad that Betty turned to Cheryl for this. I said that I thought if it came out that Polly had been killed then I thought Cheryl would be the best person to help Betty through that. You know different people can help with different things and like I keep saying how I really do think Archie will be the best person to help Betty through the TBK trauma I do think that Cheryl was the best person to help Betty here. She gave her some good advice even if Betty didn’t follow it. I think it was important what Cheryl said about how it is best to know the truth because then that allows you to grieve and heal and move on. I also loved that hug Cheryl gave Betty. If anyone needs a hug right now its Betty. Also I do like when they show Betty and Cheryl actually acting like family.

So lastly I want to cover Glen. I’ll be honest Glen and Betty’s relationship confuses me. Because in the first episode of the time jump they seemed to have something going on between them in that they kissed. But I said then that it didn’t seem like Betty was that interested in him. But since then it seems like she just doesn’t like him at all. I could understand why she was angry in this episode when he says he’s sorry about Polly and she says that if he cared that he would have done something to help. I know Riverdale are trying to paint Glen as this bad person, like how he shows up at the end and tells Alice about the blood and takes over the case. I just know that they are trying to do this because they either want Glen to seem suspicious or they are actually going to go the route of he is evil and somehow involved in it all. What I will say to that is oh for the love of god please no, not this crap again. I just if they make another FBI agent a killer in this series I just no. Can we not keep rehashing the same damn storylines over and over. Can we please introduce a character to the show and not have them turn out to be some psycho because its just boring now. Also like I said I know they are trying to paint Glen as being the bad guy here, but it makes perfect sense for them to take Betty off this case. For one she is still a trainee who is severely traumatised by her capture by a serial killer. On top of that this case involves her family member, there is a reason why irl certain professions don’t allow you to work on cases involving your family members and that scene where Betty had tied the trucker up was seriously considering killing him is why. Firefighter, police, doctors, paramedics and I am going to assume FBI agents aren’t allowed to work on cases of a personal nature for that very reason, they are too invested and that clouds their judgement. Glen should have taken Betty off the case when Polly first went missing, or rather Betty should never have been on the case at all. Also the other question I have is if Glen is here who the hell is feeding Toffee? He better have brought that cat with him. When I made my prediction post for episode 10 I hadn’t seen the episode and so was very confused at the opening shot of the promo where Betty is slapping Glen squarely across the face but I am going to assume it has something to do with this situation. Or maybe he tries to make a move on her and she isn’t down for it? Or another situation is he could find out about her and Archie’s arrangement and make an unfavourable comment about Betty which she decided to set him straight about? Either way there is most certainly going to be some tension between Glen and Betty next episode. What I do find interesting is that apparently the only actors Glen’s actor is following are Lili, KJ, Hart and Wyatt so I am assuming that he has scenes with Archie, Charles and Chic. I do wonder if instead of having Glen turn out to be bad they just have either Charles or Chic kill him.

To be honest I am still in two minds as to whether Polly is actually dead. On one hand that was a lot of blood on that phone booth and we do know that she was in that phone booth and someone was coming for her. On the other it seemed like they were being very careful to say it was the same blood type as Polly’s and not that it was Polly’s so there is that uncertainty. I mean if they have the blood surely they would be able to DNA match it not just go off the blood type?

Jughead and Lerman.

Ok so I’m not hundred percent sure what the point of this storyline was, I feel like its just another piece of the puzzle and we won’t really know the significance of it until the rest of the mystery is revealed. But what did annoy me was the fact that Jughead was reprimanded for talking to his student who he was worried about. I mean when the parents were like oh if you were worried something was wrong at home then why didn’t you come talk to us instead of ambushing our son. I mean the answer to that is obvious if the parents were mistreating their son then talking to them isn’t going to do any good because the parents would just lie. Even if they aren’t really doing anything wrong like these parents they might be wary about telling the truth out of fear of being judged, I mean they didn’t offer up that information about Lerman sleep walking until he went missing, so I think talking to his student was exactly the right thing for Jughead to do. Also since when was there another English class, I mean I thought the school was struggling with staff and that's why they needed the core four to become teachers?

It does seem like something odd happened with Lerman with him going missing and then not being able to remember anything. What is very odd is that you’ve got two sets of missing people. You’ve got the women who keep showing up dead usually with some catastrophic injuries. Then you’ve got the men who disappear for hours at a time but then return but have no memories of where they’ve been. Yet all of it seems to be connected so the question is why are the women dying but the men are surviving? It because physically the men are able to take whatever the testing is but the women can’t and so their bodies end up with these terrible injuries. Or is it that whatever they use to wipe the memories of their test subjects doesn’t work on the women so they are forced to kill them after? I mean physiologically women and men are different so maybe the difference in the hormones or something is what’s causing this difference in outcome between women and men.

By the end of the episode Lerman and his parents have moved out of town and haven’t left any forwarding details. This does seem a little weird but I guess maybe the parents are worried about what will happen to their son if they don’t get him out of there.

Veronica, Archie and The Bulldogs.

Ok I know I said I wasn’t a v*rchie shipper and that as a barchie I didn’t want to see any of that, but Riverdale you didn’t have to stick them in the darkest room ever to have them kiss. Like I know that Riverdale is known for bad lighting but that one scene between them was even more ridiculous than normal. Look if you like V*rchie then that’s all good, there were some scenes that I think were probably enjoyable for you and I am happy for the V*rchie shippers. For me though I don’t know if its just because I’ve seen so much of them at this point that its made my mind go numb to them but I just found their scenes boring. I was actually surprised they didn’t talk more, especially seeing as they’ve just got back together, she’s going through a divorce, but none of that was brought up. Their scenes seemed to be really short and not much happened in them, it was just a couple of kiss scenes and then one bed scene were Veronica says oh I have a plan and then that was kind of it. I thought they’d at least have a scene where they say something like ‘I’m so happy we got back together’ or ‘I’ve filed the divorce paper’s I just have to wait for Chad to sign them’. Just anything to get that continuity, but nope nothing.

To be honest I really wasn’t that fussed about the football storyline. I did find it kind of funny that when presented with the problem of the team losing every game Veronica’s solution was to just throw money at it, like somehow that would magically make them better players. That being said there were some elements of it that I did enjoy. I loved Archie making that speech to encourage people to support their team. It is true that having a crowd behind you and supporting you makes a difference in sports so I liked that they put some attention on that. I also love Britta and I am so happy she was the one that scored. The other thing I liked was that when the kid who was like their star player, Derek transferred to Stonewell there wasn’t any tension between him and his old team. Like I think Hiram was expecting there to be but instead when they met on the pitch he and Britta were really respectful and just fist bumped and got on with the game and I loved that. Also after, he came and spoke to Archie and again he recognised that Archie had taught him something valuable that he was going to keep with him. Again it was very respectful and supportive. Both Archie and the team recognised that it wasn’t personal, it was just that Derek knew he had a better shot at going to college with a football scholarship if he was playing with the Stallions.

Speaking of things that I liked, lets give a hand for Reggie. I have so much respect for the fact that when Hiram was saying he wanted Reggie to basically beat up some of the Bulldog players, Reggie refused and said it wasn’t necessary. Then when Hiram fired or ‘benched’ him as Hiram put it Reggie still didn’t back down and even said that he would be standing with the Bulldogs. Also it was good to see him back in that Bulldog jacket and even though it was a very small scene I loved the three way hug between Veronica, Reggie and Tabitha.

Ok the other thing we had was that part of the plan to raise the teams spirits was to fill the stands, which you know makes sense, like I said I do think having a crowd supporting you makes all the difference. Cheryl decides that one thing that will fill the stands isn’t just a Vixen’s performance but one that includes her. Now me personally I don’t think she’s wrong, like if I heard that the new Vixen coach who was the town recluse and had spend the last seven years holed up in her gothic mansion of horrors was going to be putting on a performance with her Vixens, I am there, front row baby. This I want to see, at best it might actually be good and at worst it’ll be a cringefest but either way it’ll be entertaining as hell. I just think that scene with Cheryl performing was peak Riverdaleness. I know alot of people complain about those kinds of scenes but me personally I think they’re part of what makes Riverdale, well Riverdale. So I just choose to embrace the Riverdaleness of it all.

Overall I think the issue with this whole football storyline is it is once again the same thing we’ve been seeing for the last four seasons. It’s Veronica and Archie vs Hiram and that’s just nothing interesting about that anymore.

Kevin

So Kevin got his own storyline this episode and we got a little background story on him. I’m a bit conflicted about his storyline and this idea that he is ashamed of being gay because I never really got that sense before. To be honest I always thought he was proud and confident of being gay. However I could see him having this experience with his mother where he feels ashamed of being gay when she makes a insensitive comment and then him getting into the whole cruising in the woods as a coping mechanism. It also explains why he still continued with the cruising when the Black hood was around. But then if I remember rightly he did stop for a bit. So maybe he started to heal a bit and become more confident and then that incident with the director from Katy Keene happened and that made him feel ashamed again and brought all that back up again and Fangs was away alot Trucking so he asks for a open relationship so that he can turn back to that old coping mechanism of cruising. That would make sense to me but they don’t really touch on that trauma he experienced in New York with the director in this episode.

Cheryl acting as a relationship councillor was sort of amusing. I mean it was sweet that she wanted to fix Kangs, I think she recognised that what she did was wrong and so she wanted to help mend it. But like Fangs said the games Cheryl played just brought up deeper issues that were already there. I feel so sad for both of them. I mean Kevin is clearly struggling but I really felt for Fangs when he said that Kevin had never really been all in and that he wants to know everything about Kevin the good and bad. In that moment I could see that Fangs really does love Kevin. Also I think the fact that Fangs hit the nail right on the head with Kevin being ashamed of being gay shows that Fangs really does know and understand Kevin. I do feel like Kevin’s view on things right now is very similar to how Betty was seeing things with Archie. I think like Betty didn’t want her darkness to effect Archie, Kevin doesn’t want his to effect Fangs. Both of these views are flawed though because when you’re at your darkest that’s when you need someone to draw you back to the light. I do hope he talks this through with Betty and little because I think they could both help the other see the truth of their situations.

The scene in the sauna was rough to watch. Kevin didn’t deserve that, it was an obvious mistake, he misread the situation and there was no need for that guy to react with violence unfortunately, its sad to say, but we live in a world where this kind of thing happens, where toxic masculinity results in males reacting with hate and violence towards gay men and that is never ok. I don’t think this helped Kevin in dealing with his shame at being gay, it most likely made it worse and that just makes me so so sad.

I’m not gay, so Kevin’s story didn’t hit me on a personal level like I think it might have for other viewers, but his scene with Tom when he was talking about how he was made to feel ashamed of being gay really moved me to tears. I think it was a very touching scene and both actors did a good job. I am so glad that Kevin did open up to his dad. I also thought it was really good how when Tom worried that he might have done something to make Kevin feel that way Kevin reassured him that he had always been supportive of Kevin and had never judged him and I do think that is why Kevin felt he could open up to Tom. Just everything about that scene was done really well. I really do hope that he does find the courage to talk to Fangs about it though. I think Kevin does still love Fangs and its not that he doesn’t want to be with him, its that he doesn’t think that he deserves to be and that is just heart breaking. I still have some hope for Kangs though and I’m really hoping we get to see Kevin healing and working through things. I do think next weeks episode might help Kevin realise what he really wants. We know that he is in a potentially life threatening situation with a gunman in the school so maybe that makes him reflect on his life choices. Seriously though nothing better happen to Kevin.

Little bits

Ok so these don’t really relate to any of the other sections really so I just figured I throw them all together at the end here.

I loved that little parallel to season 1 with Barchie where Betty hears Archie over the speaker and sort of looks up at the sound of his voice. Also that shot of Betty working on the car I don’t know why but she looked really pretty, I really like her hair in that shot.

Sticking with Barchie this one is a complaint about continuity. Riverdale seems to really struggle with this for some reason. But like I said with Veronica and Archie and how there didn’t seem to be any connection with the events of the previous episode this is the same kind of thing. Last episode Betty said she wouldn’t go through everything with Polly alone she would still go through it with Archie and yet despite there being big changes in the case Barchie didn’t interact at all. It could have been something really small like Betty giving Archie a call to let him know that Polly’s blood was a match and him offering her help, her saying no it was ok focus on the bulldogs, him telling her he was there if she needed anything. It isn’t much it wouldn’t have taken up much screen time but it would have given a link back to the previous episode. The same can be said for Minerva. Last episode her and Cheryl kissed which to me was a major development in the relationship and yet in this episode she’s no where to be seen and she isn’t even mentioned. Again Toni, where’s Toni? I thought they would at least mention something like she’s on maternity leave or something. Nope nothing. In fact the only link back to last episode we got was Cheryl talking to Kangs about the games she played causing problems for them. It’s just one of the things that frustrates me with Riverdale the lack of continuity.

No idea what this might mean if anything but did anyone else notice that when Dreyfuss started talking about the Mothmen ship his little burner with the teapot on it, suddenly the flame became higher before it went back to normal? Like there was some kind of energy in play there maybe?

I was really glad to see Tabitha interacting with people outside of Jughead and I liked the little scenes she got with Veronica. I know Erinn said in her instagram takeover that Tabitha would be interacting with alot of the other characters too soon so I am looking forward to that. As much as I love her and Jughead’s dynamic I think it’ll be interesting to see her with others.

Ok well that’s it for this week. I am still looking forward to next weeks episode. I do feel like this episode was a bit of a filler episode but next week looks like its going to be action packed so it should be a good watch.

#riverdale #anti varchie #riverdale spoilers #riverdale review

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sdottkrames · 3 years

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It’s Quiet Uptown

@comfortember Prompt 4: Anxiety

Summary: Peter goes to his first big Avenger meeting and is a bit of an anxious boi. Wanda to the rescue.

Notes: I just really want more fics with Peter and all the avengers, ya know? Like, they fill my soul with happiness. So here, have an anxious Peter (sorry, baby) and then some comfort in the form of sweet Wanda. I feel like she deserves a little love.

Also, this is totally inspired by the fact that Elizabeth Olsen lets Chris Evans draw on her hand when he gets anxious, which is the cutest thing 💜

Read it on AO3: Here

Peter was surprised. When he’d been told the team was meeting at the compound, he hadn’t expected to be included in that. He’d barely been made an avenger before he’d crumbled to dust with half of the rest of the world, so could you blame him? But they’d requested he come and meet the whole team. He’d fought alongside most of them in the big battle but never officially met them, and, honestly, Peter was already starstruck.

“Hey, Happy,” he chirped, sliding into the back of the van, bouncing his leg excitedly.

Happy nodded in the rearview mirror, but Peter was used to the “forehead of security” and his gruff nature, so he chatted happily to fill the silence.

“So Mr. Harrington said that I did really well last year in Academic Decathlon, and he wants to talk about making me co captain with MJ this year. MJ didn’t seem opposed. Actually, I think she’s starting to like me. Like, like-like me, you know? I keep finding her looking at me. I’m not entirely sure, though. Ned says that she might just be being MJ, but I kinda get the sense that it’s more.”

Happy smirked slightly in the front seat, and Peter was grateful that the older man didn’t mind his rambling. After rehashing everything going on in his life, Peter turned on some music, and was surprised to see Happy tapping the steering wheel in time with the beat.

They made it to the compound, and Peter happily accepted Tony’s welcome hug.

“How was the drive, Spider-ling,” the older man asked, slinging a casual arm around Peter’s shoulder. Peter leaned into it as they walked down the hallway, Happy trailing behind them.

“Great! Happy actually tapped along to my music, Mr. Stark. I think he’s coming around,” Peter said, shooting the man behind him a grin. He received rolled eyes in response.

Tony chuckled. “I’m sure he is, kid. It took me literal years to get him to warm up to Back in Black.”

“Oh, I love Led Zeppelin,” Peter said, and Tony screeched to a halt.

“You did not just say that.”

Peter just grinned and started walking backwards. “Maybe I did, maybe I didn’t. C’mon. Keep up old man. We can’t be late for my first big Avengers meeting!”

Tony looked at Happy and shook his head. “I swear he’s going to send me to an early grave.”

“Sure, boss. Out of everything that kid does, confusing AC/DC and Led Zeppelin is what will do you in.”

Tony narrowed his eyes. “You know, you have a point.”

“Come on, you slow pokes,” Peter called, halfway down the hall.

He had no trouble finding the room. It’s large, opaque glass doors are embossed with the Avengers logo, making it obvious. As he stared at those heavy glass doors, the enormity of what was happening hit him, and his excitement slowly faded. He was going to meet Natasha Romanoff. Bucky Barnes. Stever Rogers. Bruce Banner. Thor! Everyone.

His fears pinned him to the spot, and he was unable to move to open the door.

“Kid, you okay?” Tony asked, coming up behind him.

Peter swallowed. “Uh...yeah. Yeah.” In slow motion, as if from outside himself, he watched his hand reach to take the handles and open the door. His mouth felt like sandpaper, and his mind was a jumbled mess.

Would they call on him to say something? Was he supposed to contribute ideas? Oh, gosh, what if he said something stupid?

The strange, out-of-body experience continued as Peter walked to a seat with his name in front of it on a neat white card. It was all the way at the end of the table with some newer Avengers, and his heart started to race even more as he realized Tony would be clear at the opposite end of the table.

Peter looked down as he sat and closed his eyes, trying to get his breathing under control. He could do this. No need to freak out. He was sitting next to Falcon. Falcon was nice. And the girl on the other side- Wanda, he remembered- was nice. It’s fine. He’s fine.

He looked up, but the sight of Bruce Banner talking to Steve Rogers made it clear very quickly he was very much not fine, and he looked back down so fast his neck cracked.

“Hey,” an accented voice called. He looked over to meet Wanda’s eyes. “First meeting?” she asked. Peter nodded, not trusting his voice. “You’re going to be just fine. I was terrified the first time I met them all, too. Well, met them for real.”

Peter remembered hearing about her powers. She must have had a lot of reason to be scared to meet them all after manipulating their brains. Some of the tightness in his chest loosened at her words and he smiled at her gratefully. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. Peter, right?”

“Yeah. Wanda?”

She smiled. “Yes.” She thought for a moment before reaching into a purse at her feet to pull out a blue, ballpoint pen and offering it to Peter. “Here. I promise I’m not using my powers, but I can tell without them when a brain is being too loud. If it gets too much, go ahead and doodle on my hand. It helps. Steve let me do it my first few meetings, and I still bring the pen just in case.”

Their conversation ended abruptly as Nick Fury stood up, but Peter took the pen and smiled gratefully again. He would have made it through the meeting just fine, feeling much better after his small conversation with Wanda. But then he was asked to introduce himself.

He stood up, hugging his arms to himself, a nervous habit he’s had since childhood. “Hi, I’m Peter. Uh, Spiderman, but nobody else knows that besides you guys and my Aunt. I’m 17, I live in Queens.” He hesitated, before deciding that was probably all they needed to hear. “It’s nice to meet you all,” he said, and awkwardly gave a small wave before sitting down.

He was breathing fast again, overthinking every word that he said, his brain getting “too loud,” as Wanda put it. He jumped slightly as her hand slid into his and she nodded to the pen.

Grateful for the distraction, he uncapped the pen and started drawing. He was no artist, but he could draw basic geometric shapes and soon he was so engrossed in the motion of the pen and ink swishing across her skin that his brain is quiet enough for him to actually pay attention to the rest of the meeting. The hour passed quickly as he drew circles and squares and infinity signs (which he saw somewhere was good for anxiety). He didn’t take his eyes off the smooth motion of the pen until he heard chairs squeak as everybody stood up.

“Thank you,” he murmured to Wanda, putting as much gratitude as he could into his voice as he handed her the pen.

She smiled at him. “Any time. It wasn’t a bother at all. If you ever need it again, I’ll be right here.”

He nodded and started to turn around, but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder. He turned to look at her again. “Welcome to the team,” she said, and Peter couldn’t help but smile at her.

As everyone gathered around to greet him, he forgot what he was so nervous about in the first place. Stars in his eyes replaced the butterflies in his stomach as he shook hands with his childhood heroes.

“Peter, Stark has told me much about you!” Thor boomed, and easily scooped the young boy up in a bear hug which nearly gave Peter a heart attack because Thor (Thor!) is hugging him.

“Okay, Let the kid breathe,” Steve said, shaking Peter’s hand and dispelling any lingering doubts about hard feelings due to Germany.

“N-nice to meet you both, Mr. Rogers, Mr. Thor, sirs,” Peter stammered out.

“Alright, Underoos,” Tony cut in, saving Peter from embarrassing himself. “Have you met everyone? You ready to head to the lab for a couple hours before we get you home?”

Peter nodded and bid goodbye to everyone (Thor promising to come spend more time with him at some point) before he and Tony walked together down the hall to the elevator.

“Everyone was really nice. Thanks for inviting me.”

“You're welcome. I was worried you were gonna bolt at first,” Tony teased.

“I was really nervous,” Peter admitted, looking down. “But Wanda helped.”

“Yeah, she’s a good kid. Like you. I knew you two would get along!”

Peter blushed, pleased at the praise. The elevator opened, and as they headed down to the labs, a thought occurred to him.

“Did you put me and Wanda together on purpose?”

Tony shrugged. “Like I said, I thought she might help you be less nervous around all those stuffy superheroes. I’m glad it worked.”

And Peter’s heart filled with gratitude. His brain is blissfully quiet, he made a new friend, met his childhood heroes, and got to spend time with his Mentor.

Maybe being an Avenger really wouldn’t be that bad!

#comfortember #comfortember 2020 #mine

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theangrypokemaniac · 4 years

Text

I've been on Tumblr ten months now, and this blog has existed for nine of them. During that time I have noticed something.

The majority of the posts I've come across have been by and for the S&M scene, as is to be expected.

The second-most frequent are Indigo League, which I don't think is bad going considering it was broadcast before most Tumblerries were born.

Third-most popular I would say is Sinnoh, probably for being the introduction for many here.

After that I've seen bits on Johto, a smattering of Orange League (unsurprising given it's briefness) and maybe a single item on Hoenn.

No one likes that then? Is it Max? Go on, it is.

What I find odd is that, in all that period, I haven't seen anything on Unova or Kalos. No fan art, no screen shots, nothing.

I'm sure someone can point to a bounty of pieces I've overlooked, all done within the last year, but if so, they're well-hidden, as none of the people I follow have shown any interest in re-blogging them.

If you have done any, you must admit the amount has depleted considerably.

Why is this? Is it of no interest anymore?

This in itself validates my own opinion. Had I been here when Unova and Kalos were broadcast, I presume over half of the posts I'd see would've been devoted to them. If I then spoke harshly of either, that would not have been well-received.

However, if dropped, both by the audience and writers as soon as the latest generation arrives, wasn't I right to not be impressed?

If cast aside by those who claimed to worship them, were they really of any worth at all?

Well the same fate has now befallen Alola. I make no secret of how much I despise it, and can not grasp its appeal for anyone.

I don't know how Pokémon even has a fanbase anymore, given that it's ugly, boring and repetitive.

Prior to the arrival of the S.S., I suspected that Alola material would drop, vanishing altogether once a year's worth came to a close, and so it has proved to be.

It's gone from making up roughly 60% - 70% of dashboard posts to about 10% - 20%, in only a few months. Is it that bad then?

It can't be explained as excitement for the new, not with the amount of coverage Kanto gets, and even that isn't motivated by reminiscence, given the average age of the current viewer.

Why are you still posting about something that old? It reminds me of my wasted youth, but what's your excuse?

Why, when the writers want to wallow in nostalgia, do they hark back to Kanto, which no modern fan can remember?

Is no one looking with misty-eyed fondness at Iris and Cilan? Why not?

Or is that an admission that it was so appallingly bad even the writers recognised it, that's why it's been so hastily forgotten?

You could watch Pokémon from the beginning to the close Sinnoh, skip the next two eras, starting again with Alola, and you would never know there'd been a between.

Unova is described as a 'soft reset', with regards to its inverted nature. The arrogance of those writers is staggering:

• Trying to erase all that'd gone before, supplanted by their half-arsed efforts.

• Redesigning everyone with Fish Eye and flat profiles.

• Resetting Ash as not even knowing the basics.

• Warping Team Rocket's established personalities into disgusting, soulless lizard people robbed of all charm and charisma.

• Only new Pokémon existing.

• Catches kept with Juniper not Professor Oak etc.

The irony is that Unova Pokémon are copies of the first 151, so whilst deliberately ignoring the past, they can't resist imitating it, thanks to their own woeful inadequacy. I suppose they hoped if they didn't notice, we wouldn't either.

They then undermined their own decision by stuffing everything available into the third run, as a blatant effort to win back the crowd, including:

• Reverting to Team Rocket's actual motto, not that embarrassingly pretentious codswallop.

Too bloody lazy to make it rhyme now!

Notice they opted not for the Sinnoh one, although more recent. It was straight back to the beginning.

• Look at these hundreds of Pokémon we suddenly remembered!

Just before Giovanni's mid-life crisis, Ash spotted a Rattata, but it having been so isolated from the outside world, his brain fell to mush at the concept, and pronounced it 'retarda'.

Idiots are so easy to please!

• Charizard! Genwunners love Charizard! Give 'em Charizard and they'll forget everything else we've done! Let's condense his entire story arc into one episode of meaningless retelling!

So, Charizard was there to bait the first wave, and yet we had the plot we know repeated to us anyway?

Don't refer to the past and everyone will think it's brand-new!

It makes no sense. How could this be done with the hope of drawing in old fans, and yet filling up an episode with it as plotline isn't an issue, when the intended targets know it's been done before?

• Butterfree! Genwunners loved Butterfree leaving! Let's condense his entire story arc into one episode of meaningless rehash!

Why would they remain when finding the same thing again, absent of feeling and subtlety, not to mention upon discovering the damage done elsewhere?

Recent incomers, who might assume it's a fresh idea, have no emotional connection with Butterfree, so who is it meant to please?

Why is Mewtwo a woman?

• Mewtwo! Genwunners love Mewtwo! Let's copy its background for Genesect rather than be creative! Look, it's Mewtwo! Watch it!!!

Erm... It's not the same Mewtwo...

It's not the same Mewtwo?

You believe the way to an original fan's heart is to lie to them, and in the process smash a fundamental principle of canon that there can only be one Mewtwo?

The writers get a deserved excoriation round these parts, because someone has to, as what part of that film suggested the current crop give the tiniest toss about what matters to you and me?

I'm glad Unova is labelled 'the Dork Age' as every series since its dawn has been atrocious.

Hoenn and Sinnoh held massive flaws, but they're masterpieces compared to what followed. At least they felt like Pokémon, albeit a watery interpretation.

Unova has to be truly lowly for the dunces responsible to recognise it, and neither Kalos or Alola have been as cut off from their predecessors.

I don't believe that's a sign of contrition, more a matter of necessity. Thanks to the same personal limitations there just weren't enough new Pokémon in either era to make such insularity possible. Even between the two it'd be a scrape.

Except whilst previously invented Pokémon designs may be involved, there's no sign of actual familiar characters.

Ash took his original team to Johto, and even in Hoenn and Sinnoh, where local catches took precedent, older Pokémon were still referenced and came back for the League, but that stopped with Unova.

It's evil influence strikes again!

Despite flimsy nods to the past, which can't be avoided, each generation is now a world unto itself, to the point that individual episodes live by their own canon, a feeble web of strands unrelated to anything else.

Why is it considered 'retro' enough to say, have Forms of Kanto Pokémon, for which we're expected to be so grateful, when there's no mention of Ash's earlier squad?

Remember Tauros? And Kingler? And Muk?

Remember Bayleef? And Noctowl? And Heracross?

Remember Corphish? And Torkoal? And Swellow?

Remember Buizel? And Gible? And Torterra?

They don't. As far as I can tell none of them exist anymore, and maybe aren't meant to ever have done.

Same as Gary, Cassidy and Butch, Jessibelle, Tracey, and so on. Until they do, and don't again. Whatever is convenient to today's storyline.

My typical attitude is that the first series is the best thing ever, and it's all been downhill from there, with Unova and all that came after reaching incredible depths of tedium. I don't suppose you like that, but the ephemeral tendencies displayed on Tumblr hardly help change my opinion.

At some low ebb I'll get round to watching Galar, which I'm confident I'll hate as much as the last few generations, based on what I've already seen and heard.

There's little point doing otherwise. Why bother getting involved with the 'plot' or characters if, when it's over, they'll never be spoken of again?

What incentive is there for me to even force myself to like Galar when, once the ninth generation (Pokémon Keenan and Kel) emerges on the distant horizon, those who've sung its praises for three or four years and scoffed at criticism, will drop it without a backwards glance?

Yet talk about the Indigo League is ever present, somewhat proving its superiority. Attachment to it is a subconscious acknowledgement of the dearth of quality in the modern mentality, but which no one can bring themselves to admit.

#Pokémon #Unova #Iris #Cilan #Charizard #Butterfree #Mewtwo #Tumblr

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fangirl-ramblings · 5 years

Note

misc. 28 with johnny marston pls?

A huge thank you once again for use of your prompts list 😘

“You were far too good looking for your own good anyways”

Pairing: John Marston x gn!reader

Word count: 686

Notes: Not quite angst / not complete fluff I’m not sure how to label this one🤷‍♀️

Somebody else also requested this prompt, but for Arthur, so I’ve changed the line ever so slightly so I don’t feel like I’m rehashing ideas.

~* Tumblr Masterlist | Stories on AO3 *~

Pulling a rickety old chair in front of the window, you shivered as you wrapped your arms around you to try and get a bit warmer. You weren’t sure if your leg was shaking because of the cold or if was due to you worrying that three of your camp mates could be lost in the blizzard that was raging outside.

In the aftermath of escaping Blackwater, you had had no time time to think, and even as you helped Miss Grimshaw & Pearson set the new camp up in this abandoned mining time, you hadn’t realised that John hadn’t returned from his scouting trip that Dutch had sent him on two days previously. It was only when you’d finally chance to sit down earlier that morning that you overheard Abigail mentioning that John was yet to return. You’d brushed the thought off until Arthur had returned from his own scouting mission and you heard Abigail plead with him to go that you started to worry for his safety.

Listening to the conversation, Arthur very nearly refused to go, what with there still being bad blood between the two of them, but before you had chance to volunteer Hosea had managed to persuade him & Javier to go take a look and see what they could find. That was almost 6 hours ago and the night was beginning to draw in.

Reaching in your pocket you pulled out a cigarette & lit it in the hope it would provide some kind heat, or at the very least, help steady your nerves. After taking a long drag from it, something outside caught your attention. Against the sea of white, you could make out two dark spots that seem to be slowly getting closer & closer. You tried to focus your eyes, wondering what they could be, until you recognised Arthur’s blue coat & Javier’s colourful poncho.

“They’re back!” you exclaimed jumping from your seat & running outside to greet them

“Come on!” Javier yelled on approach “Someone help John down off this horse!”

“Can we get some help here?” Arthur asked as you rushed towards them both, quickly followed by Abigail, Bill & Lenny.

“You okay?” you him asked as Abigail ran up alongside you.

“You’re alive! Oh you’re alive” she cried as the two men helped John dismount “Come on let’s get you warm” she told him leading the way as Lenny & Bill helped him into the cabin.

You followed them in, holding back a touch, rolling your eyes as no sooner had John been laid up on the cot at the back of the room you heard Abigail starting to berate him.

“This is a new low, even by your standards”

A few days since John’s return, the blizzard had died off but you were still holed up inside Colter, waiting for the perfect opportunity to leave and set up camp somewhere a bit more comfortable. Each gang member had been taking it in turns to sit with John, checking he was okay and today was your turn.

Seeing that he had his eyes closed, you gently sat in the nearby chair and pulled a book out of your satchel.

“Dammit, you’re not gonna start reading to me now as well are you?” he joked “I’ve already had Dutch telling me all about Evelyn Miller’s latest one”

You laughed at the thought and moved closer looking at his bandaged face “How you feeling?”

“I’m still here ain’t I?” You nodded sympathetically “Listen, we’ve always been honest with each other, tell me the truth – how bad does it look?”

“I don’t….I …”

“Please (y/n), I need to know” he pleaded. Reaching back into your satchel you pulled out a small pocket mirror and handed it to him. “Well, shit” he mumbled assessing the damage.

“They should heal pretty well, Miss Grimshaw did a fine job of stitching you up” You told him, trying to cheer his spirits up.

“Well it looks like I’m stuck with these scars now” he replied absent mindedly running his hand across his bandaged cheek

“That’s okay, you were far too good looking for your own good anyways”

#thanks for requesting!#fangirl answers #kingtrevor #fangirl writes #red dead redemption 2 #rdr2 #john marston x reader #sort of #rdr2 fanfic

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ertrunkenerwassergeist · 4 years

Text

Dreams of Our Past - Chapter 26

I forgot it again. Anyway, new chapter!! Here’s the Link to AO3.

Luna II

8.5.755 ME

Province of Tenebrae, Fenestala Manor

Empire of Nifelheim

With a critical eye she inspected the long and powerful legs of the adolescent chocobo, and nodded in satisfaction. The chocobo took long and slow strides as he was guided to walk in a straight line in front of her. At her sign the stable boy stopped in front of her and made the bird lift his legs as if he was climbing a rocky hill. He was clearly much more suited for running than climbing. Which was a problem in Tenebrae's mountainous terrain, but he had great potential as a racing bird.

Luna sighed. Too bad she couldn't take a foothold in the racing scene, it would be unseemly for the Oracle. She suppressed a snort in derision.

The bird gave a silent kweh and stretched his thin neck to nudge her with his beak. She smiled a slight smile and gently stroked his neck. The feathers were a blue so dark they were nearly black. Strong, fast and an even temper. She didn't want to sell this one.

“Shall I put him back into his box, my Lady?” asked the stable boy.

“No, let him run for a bit. He deserves it after behaving so well,” she said after a moment of deliberation.

“Of course, my Lady,” said the stably boy and led the chocobo away.

“This is beneath you, Lunafreya.”

Surprised, she turned around. Ravus stood not far from her on the dirt path leading up towards Fenestala Manor. An irrational spark of irritation burned in her chest and her lips pressed themselves into a tight line.

“Do you expect me to stay in my room and do nothing but wait, until I am needed for one thing or other?” She heard the bitterness in her own voice and winced.

Her brother's face was carefully blank, but she could see the tightness around his eyes, a sign that the hold on his temper was slipping. He was paler than normal and the shadows around his eyes had grown more pronounced since the last time she saw him. What had Ulldor wanted from him now that made him fray at the edges so?

“It is beneath you to waste your time waiting for a King that has long abandoned us. Abandoned you. Lunafreya, open your eyes, it is time to admit that this isn't going to work.”

Ravus took a step towards her, his face beseeching, wanting her to understand that this was futile. Luna stood there, in front of the royal stables, the familiar smells and sounds of chocobos on the wind, and had never felt so alone.

“The Gods are restless”, she finally said, helplessly.

She hadn't seen Gentiana since a few days after the strange earthquake. The Astrals hadn't deigned to tell her what the cause of it had been, and neither had their messengers.

A sigh made her focus on Ravus again. It sounded in equal parts tired and aggravated.

“Sister”, he started, and Luna knew they would rehash the same old argument yet again like they did every time they saw each other now, before he suddenly stopped, eyes drifting to her right where a grove of ancient ash trees grew.

She followed his gaze and gave a small, happy cry as Umbra trotted out between the trees and towards them. Gravel crunched underneath her riding boots, as she met her trusted companion halfway, glad that he had finally come back. She had started to worry after the second day. Would Umbra stay away again for days and weeks in search for Noctis and come back, his task incomplete? Yet here he was, his tongue lolling out of his mouth in a doggy smile and tail wagging.

Her knees hit the ground, but she ignored the resulting pain in favour of stroking her friend's soft, grey fur. A rough tongue licked along her jaw in a wet kiss, causing her to give a tiny giggle.

“I have missed you, too, my friend”, she said.

That was when she saw it. Tugged away within the folds of the shawl wrapped around his neck, was an envelope. For a moment she could do nothing but stare, her breath stuttering in her chest. With trembling fingers she reached for it, nearly let it fall once, twice, before she managed to open it.

The handwriting was unfamiliar to her, and for a heart-stopping moment she feared that somebody else had written her, to tell her that Noctis was dead, that the prophecy was null and void and the world was doomed to darkness eternal, but then Umbra wouldn't behave as he did, if that was true. Her vision blurred as she saw the signature.

Your friend, Noctis.

It was him. It was really him.

“Lunafreya?” asked a concerned voice next to her.

She turned her head and saw Ravus kneeling next to her, not caring if his pristine military coat was dirtied by this action. Only now she became aware of the tears dripping down her face.

Gently, Ravus took the letter from her fingers, the paper crumpled where she had clutched it too tightly. His eyes flittered over the writing, a crease forming between his brows. A sneer tugged at his lips as he saw who had written it, but still he refolded it carefully and precisely along the creases. Slowly, as if he didn't know if his touch was welcome, he wrapped his arms around her in a hug. It was warm and comforting. Oh, how she had missed this.

“He is alive”, Luna whispered into her brothers neck, tears still falling and shoulders shaking. “He's alive.”

“I know,” answered Ravus, a hand drawing circles between her shoulder blades in comfort.

She knew he wasn't exactly happy about it, that he held the hurtful words back for her sake. Luna hugged him back as tightly as she could.

Theoretically she had known that Noctis was alive. Gentiana had told her so many times over the years, but holding actual proof within her hands was such a relief, it nearly overwhelmed her. The guilt on not trusting the Gods words enough was swept away instantly in the current of her chaotic feelings.

Luna had no idea for how long they kneeled there on the ground, visible for everybody who passed the stables. Her knees were numb by the times she had calmed down enough that she felt she wouldn't start to cry again the moment she saw that letter. Ravus let her lean back, but didn't let her go quite yet, clearly as reluctant as she was to leave the comforting warmth of a sibling's touch.

“Are you sure you want to read this?” he asked, holding the letter up between them.

She leaned into his side, now fully sitting on the sun warmed ground, and wondered how long this closeness would last before Ravus her brother vanished again behind the military commander Nifelheim and his own resentments had turned him into. At her nod he hesitated for but a second, before he handed the folded papers to her.

The letter was multiple pages long, written in an old fashioned and hard to read cursive that was so different from Noctis' normally careless scrawl. He must have written and rewritten this multiple times considering the wording.

My dearest Luna,

I know words will never be enough to apologize for the pain I have caused you. The rest of my life won't very likely be enough either, but the only thing I can give you for now are my words.

To start I want you to know that whatever happened and will happen between me and the Astrals is due to no fault your own. You could not have averted this, even if you had known it was to happen. Know also that I do not blame you for it. I beseech you to keep your head down and not to confront Gentiana once you have read this. Not even I know everything that is going on, but I will tell you what I can and led me into hiding from the world.

Do you remember when we first met as children? Of course you do. But do you also remember how remarkably well your mother said my wounds were healing? We heard her talking about it with my father when we were about to enter the room they were in. Do you remember also the questions I asked you when you were showing me the sylleblossoms growing outside the manor? The ones about your magic?

You probably thought it was the pure curiosity of a child, and to a certain extend it was, but it also wasn't. I wanted to learn. I wanted to learn so that I could understand my own powers better.

For you see, Luna, I am not a black mage.

She had to stop reading. This couldn't be true. Her heart hammered within her chest like a fast paced drum. Next to her, Ravus was a grounding presence, helping her to not lose herself within her own head. She didn't want to believe that this could be true, but if it was, it would explain so much.

Bahamut's edicts, the laws about keeping the different kinds of magic separated. The Drakonian could kill Noctis – her best friend – for this. For not being a black mage like every member of his family was supposed to be. How had this even happened? Different kinds of magicks didn't just crop up in lines that weren't predisposed for them.

Her friend would die the moment one of the Gods found him. The thought was like a kick to her chest. She gasped, shoulders hunching.

She was the Oracle, instrument of the Gods. Their voice on Eos and the messenger of humanities wishes.

“What am I supposed to do?” she whispered, not sure if she was asking Ravus or the Gods or herself.

Ravus held her as she sat there and didn't answer. Neither did the Gods.

#ffxv #dreams of our past #lunafreya nox fleuret #enter ravus #ravus is not a total dick #ravus loves his sister #luna gets a letter #that's the whole chapter #luna's first step towards the road of her murdering bahamut #bahamut is a dick #he threatens her best friend okay?#that's Not Done #luna needs to have a talk with noctis #my fics #the spirit writes

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girlobsessed21 · 5 years

Text

The 100 - 6x04: The face behind the glass review and predictions.

Before we get into the specifics, I’m a little scared of the rehashing of old narratives that comes to surface in this episode especially. Not sure how I feel about all the parallels. In my trailer analysis, I did point out the fact that it does not seem that much different than previous seasons: There are no good guys, we kill them so that we can live and blah, blah, blah. Even so, I’m interested and invested to see what types of unique twists and turns this story will throw at us. Jason Rothenberg, you better not disappoint.

The face behind the glass written by Charmaine DeGrate and directed by Tim Scanlan, who is known for directing the sex scenes on the show. Dead giveaway. Not my favorite so far, but a lot of things happened that has me excited for the rest of the season.

Is there a better way to open an episode than Diyoza joking with her unborn child? It’s no secret she’s in my top 5 favorite characters and keeps climbing the charts. So, the Sanctumites offer her a deal: Save Rose and we’ll take care of your baby, which she takes, to offer her child a life and it’s something to do other than trying to survive. But in known Diyoza fashion on condition of a gun and a bike.

Then, Simone begs Russel to cancel naming day on account of spies inside the compund. They’ve already been deprived of three primes (Kaylee’s family) and Rose. Pushing them towards extinction at an alarming rate and it once again becomes obvious that Clarke will become Josephine, yet I’m now intrigued by Madi. The cultish way in which these people worship the primes are uncanny and wayward. But then again all cults are weird. I don’t believe in the divinity of the primes either.

Russel disagrees by saying: “If we cancel, Gabriel wins.” Last week I thought that Gabriel will be brought back to life in one of the hosts, but I think there’s something else going on there. It’s clear now that Gabriel and his children are against the revival of the primes, bringing about the question: How has he survived all these years?

Priya and Jordan share some sweet intimate moments where he tells her he feels guilty for becoming another taunting face behind the glass. Which was necessary to show he’s still grieving his parents even while having fun. Her referral to this line later before she becomes a prime is crucial though, meaning there might be a possibility for her to come back.

The four pillars of Sanctum: Repent, Renew, Rejoice, Rebirth. Accentuating rebirth very literally. We know from episode two that Russel Lightbourne does not believe in God, but by killing a person for no reason other than so that someone you love can live is playing god in the cruelest way imaginable.

Embracing their traditions, Clarke decides to repent for her sins. She tries to apologize to Raven who won’t have any of it and compares her to Octavia. For me, the biggest difference between Clarke and Octavia is the remorse she feels. She knows what she did was wrong and she’s trying to make up for it. Therefore she deserves forgiveness. I wonder how Raven will react to Clarke’s death?

Gabriel? Who the f#@k are Gabriel and his children?

As I said earlier, the old man is definitely Gabriel. We don’t know if he’s dead or alive. It can’t be that he lives within a computer because then his existence would be known.

My guess is the split within Sanctum came recently (using the term loosely). Gabriel had to be one of the 12 primes since he came with them and his blood was also altered. Meaning his conscience was also transferred into a host. He was against the hostile takeover of innocent bodies and decided to rebel by saving the hosts.

If this happened sixty odd years ago, Gabriel could still be alive somewhere (perhaps in hiding due to a failed conviction) and old. Very, very old. I’m not sure whether his followers are literally his children or just those that have sided with him, but either way, they want to continue his cause. Which they’ve clearly lost sight of. Save the hosts, don’t kill them.

Or this anomaly they mentioned somehow extends life, only it’s dangerous. Who knows, I’m a bit boggled here.

Xavier purposefully left his bag out to save Octavia and Rose. I’m sure I’ve seen this before. Right, Lincoln kidnapped her and saved her simultaneously. I know this is such a retelling of their story, but I loved Linctavia and thus cannot help boarding this ship.

Another season one throwback to Bellamy and Charlotte. But I think I’ve voiced my concerns about these. Poor, poor Rose. That scene was heartbreaking.

Boy oh boy Bellarke and their romances

Clarke apologizes to Bellamy and states her reasons even though Bellamy has already forgiven her because he would be a hypocrite not to. And they share what has now become known as a Bellarke hug since it’s all these idiots can ever do.

Clarke hooks up with Cillian (who turns out to be the spy) within two seconds, now I’m not sure about you, but I rolled my eyes. Oh, cute, Clarke has yet another lover added to her long list of previous ones. Finn, Niyalah, Lexa, and Bellamy always on the side. I’m glad it’s a guy though to showcase that she is indeed bisexual and not gay. Bisexuality really needs some appreciation.

No one can tell if Bellamy was only upset with the party as he stated or Clarke having fun with some random dude. Most will say it’s the former and it probably is, yet it’s filmed in a different way. Why did they put him in this scene in the first place?

When he sees her having fun, he smiles, he’s happy for her. Then the doctor’s all over her and all of a sudden his attitude changes. I don’t want to read too much into it since I had to watch it like six times to draw this conclusion.

He’s hurt and grieving over a lot of things, especially his sister and then he witnesses his “platonic soulmate” in the arms of another man. She’s always known exactly how to get him to open up, what to say to make him feel better and even though he knows he’s not allowed to feel that way, he’s jealous, he realizes he still needs her.

And that spurs the single tear and his fight with Echo. He even spares another glance over his shoulder when she asks what’s wrong. Or was that just random? Because once he’s calmed down he apologizes to his girlfriend and comforts her when she tells him her backstory after six years of being lied to.

I felt for Echo, her life wasn’t easy, but none of their lives were. Honestly, I just can’t find Becho’s connection. Even though I try, because at some point we have to accept the fact that this is possibly a long term pairing. I’ve made my peace, I’ll ignore them. Give Echo an individual storyline and I might just start liking her more.

A Red Queen and a terrorist walk into a bar

First of all, I have to show my gratitude for the glimpses of Octavia’s humanity. She’s in there and she’s slowly swimming to the top. That thorned rose is blossoming once again, thank you, Bellamy, for your part in this.

This is a weapon of mass destruction if I’ve ever seen one. A pregnant terrorist and a former evil queen. Yes, this is what I’m talking about. I might just write fanfiction about it.

“The devils of earth become the heroes of Sanctum.” They’re set out to kill Gabriel, but I doubt that will occur. From all I’ve heard, he’s good. Enhanced by Cillian’s words: “There are two sides to every story.” So, they will most likely join forces against Sanctum in some way. Hopefully not blowing up another planet. Please do something interesting here.

Josephine!Clarke

Okay, my first take on Josephine Ada Lightbourne was very wrong. To me, she seemed smart, funny and confident. Now she looks like the devil in disguise (No pun intended.)

Reverting back to my earlier assumption about Delilah/Priya. It’s evident that Delilah no longer exists within her body which sets Jordan on edge. But that small statement along with knowing the mind of the host is erased but the brain is unharmed propels me to believe they can come back. Somehow. Hopefully.

Simone says, “I’ll prep for insertion, you clear the host.” Did that mean Clarke’s mind might be stored in some device too? They must have a way of extracting consciousness to transfer it to a host. Thus Clarke Griffin’s mind will be backed up somewhere as well. Not for too long before it’s disposed of, I’m sure.

Come on Madi (Lexa and Becca), Bellamy, Abby, Jordan, Raven, Murphy. You have to figure this out and bring her back before its too late. I refuse to believe Princess Clarke is dead. If she is, my mind is blown in a bullet to the brain kind of way.

One scenario is that Josephine will have to give forth a ruse of being Clarke and willingly accept the “honor” of becoming a prime. She’s been indulging in all their other conventions, why not this one, right? But Jordan now knows what happened to Delilah, so they will try to stop her. Most likely Madi or Bellamy will notice a difference within her.

The dangerous alternative will be for Josephine to simply embrace her new host by saying they brought her to life after Cillian murdered her. Sanctumites, you have no idea how much Clarke’s people care about her. This might even sway those currently mad at her for an investigation.

A few last things

Russel does feel bad about what he’s doing, but so did Dante Wallace.

Raven and Wick (Sorry the other mechanic) what is that? Five minutes after Shaw’s death. Or was it only the motorcycle. Why does this show give us seedlings of relationships that will have no chance of growing?

Is Shadeheda Cadogen and what will he bring to the table?

Madi tasting her first cookie was awesome!

I missed Murphy this episode. His presence is required at all times.

What will happen to Niylah on the ship? And when will Indra make her appearance?

Will Russel and Simone find out that Abby knows how to create nightblood?

Let me know what you think.

#The 100 #the100 #the 100 season 6 #The 100 s6 #the1006x04 #the 100 season six #the 100 6x04 #the100 6x04 #the100 6x04 review

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wariofranchisefanblog · 6 years

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A little delayed, due to my awkward vacation timing, but I have been playing WarioWare Gold a ton since coming home, so it's time for an impressions post.

Just gonna say right off the bat that I will be talking about the final stage and while spoilers really aren't a big deal in WarioWare, I do think that the stage is much cooler if you don't know anything about it, beforehand.

Let's go by bullet points, for the sake of organization:

Story

At it's core the individual characters' stories are still simple, but fun affairs, however I do think that the voice acting does a lot to add a ton of energy and personality to it, with the characters being more lively then ever and able to express more, well...character then ever before, I mean who in the world saw 18-Volt's story being so rap-tastic coming? I also enjoy how the remix stages actually have the characters get together and interact a bit, that's something I always wanted to see and here it is.

Amazingly enough the main story is actually a little more developed this time around, with Wario becoming increasingly more agitated by the player progressing in the Wario Bowl. This reaches it's peak during the Wario Deluxe stage, when Wario actively opposes the player and the entire presentation of the stage is not only surprisingly climactic, but it really does give you the impression that you are fighting against someone, especially when Wario starts to take away your ability to know which controls to use for the next microgame, only for Lulu to come in and go against him. Story progression mid-stage, a first for WarioWare.

I did not expect it, but Gold really did go further to do more with the Ware cast and world, which is something I greatly appreciate and I think the team behind WWGold knew what they were doing, when considering the sheer amount of positive buzz that the cutscenes, voice acting and general presentation are generating online.

Visuals

The new designs are understandably divisive and I did raise an eyebrow myself once or twice (looking at you, Dr. Crygor), but honestly, the new style as a whole, along with the designs I used to be iffy on, have grown on me while playing the game, I just appreciate that Ware is getting more of it's own visual identity again, instead of it just copying Rhythm Heaven's artstyle (which I do enjoy, I should clarify), like Game & Wario did.

The microgames themselves naturally got a lot of graphical updates, some more major then others, but it is the usual zany WarioWare fare and in some cases the visual changes can help to make a returning game feel just a touch more different.

One downside to the visuals is that the added production values in the form of full voice acting make the very flash-esque nature of the cutscene animations a lot more appearent. It's not a huge deal, since WarioWare has always been simplistic in it's animation style (though it did start to look surprisingly nice in Game & Wario) and in a way that's part of the charm, but it can be distracting at times and it's really blatant when a character just has their base artwork plastered into a scene, rather then a unique drawing.

Music

The game is full with catchy beats as always and I was bobbing my head along a lot while playing, but I want to adress two particular highlights:

-First are the unlockable records, which include all previous vocal themes, but not in their in-game versions, but rather their uncompressed original forms! Sure the instrumentations for several of the tracks are a bit simplistic, but clearer sound quality is really nice, even if I liked the original GBA/DS versions all the same.

-The Final Stage theme, which adds to the surprisingly climactic nature of it all, especially since it is essentially a dark reprise of Gold's main theme:

youtube

Voice Acting

A major addition to the game and there were bound to be a lot of voice changes, so this is where opinions are going to split a lot, but I found the acting quality as a whole to be a pleasent surprise. Nobody sounds bad, I got used to the voice changes rather quickly, the voices fit the characters, with Ashley and 18-Volt being particularly perfectly cast and Charles Martinet continues to be brilliant as Wario, to the surprise of nobody ever.

Gameplay

It's WarioWare, but for the first time since Smooth Moves it's a new title where control is really the only major gimmick to the game, which is nice to have again. We get four stage dedicated to the Mash, Tilt and Touch controls, two remix stages and Wario Deluxe, which mix those, along with Fronk microgames and Mic games, several Challenge modes and missions.

The Fronk and Mic games have a more downplayed presence then I expected, especially the Mic games, which there's only 5 of, along with a few Wario Deluxe games that also involve the mic and I honestly think that's alright, I didn't mind the Mic games in Touched as many others did, but the control scheme makes many of the games feel very alike in how you play, so it's not really suitable for a whole stage in my opinion.

The basic gameplay is classic WarioWare, without any major tweaks to the formula, though some stages will have you switch between the different control schemes, which thankfully works better then I initially worried it would, with the transition being pretty smooth and giving you time to adjust, without breaking the pace.

The microgames are an interesting case, most are returning ones, but a number of them have seen some tweaks to make them feel a little more fresh, such as Smooth Moves' games being repurposed to work with Tilt or Touch controls or how Loot Scoot from the first game is now a boss game or how some games while largely the same have slightly altered objectives, such as the Mario Clash microgame requiring you to hit an enemy twice, on Level 3. With that said, even with those changes the feeling of familiarity with the old games is still quite appearent, the combination of new visuals, gameplay tweaks, new games in between and having them all mixed together does a good job of not presenting the game like a rehash, but rather a ''best off'', but if learning and memorizing whole sets of brand new microgames was one of you favorite parts in previous games, then this one won't deliver as well in that regard.

The challenge modes range from the usual Tower modes, to the welcomed return of WarioWatch and Gamer, as well as four new ones, like my personal favorite of the new modes ''Split Screen'', which has you alternate between the 3DS' screens, essentially playing the games back to back, with no transition and very little time to prepare. After Game & Wario I got interested in the idea of trying to mix the WarioWare gameplay with some major gimmicks like Gamer did, so I was naturally happy about this.

Souvenirs

This is one part that's a bit disappointing, there's some good ones here, such as the music records, the ability to voice cutscenes yourself or extra minigames, but many of them feel like filler, such as alarm clocks of every single character or phone numbers, which are only there to be used on the phone souvenirs and aren't interesting on their own. This is one aspect of the game that feels like it got the short end of the stick, the souvenirs were always just toys to play around with, but you got a lot of creative stuff out of it, there isn't a whole lot of that here, unfortunately.

Wario Land References

I am fine with Ware doing it's own thing, but I always appreciate nods to Wario's other major series as well and Gold is really generous in that regard.

-The entire plot of the game is kicked off by Wario stealing a treasure.

-Loot Scoot which was blatantly Land inspired has been promoted to a boss minigame.

-The new version of Driver's Ed from Smooth Moves has Wario drive in his car from Land 4.

-18-Volt's set includes a Land 3 microgame.

-The new version of Fly ' n' Fall from DIY features Tiny Warios.

So yeah, you have listened to me gush over the game for long enough. It doesn't reinvent the wheel, but it's the first Ware game in a long time and the first non-experimental Ware game in an even longer time and it does a lot of things that I like and/or wanted to see, so yeah, of course I'm going to be happy.

Good game, that's the sweet and short version right there.

#WarioWare #WarioWare Gold

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lirlovesfic · 6 years

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The Choice

A Doctor Who fanfic Summary: After GitF, the TARDIS brings the Doctor, Rose, and Mickey back to the estate to solve a problem involving the TARDIS herself. But when they see a familiar face, the face of someone who should not exist, they realize the problem is deeper than they thought and could endanger the Doctor’s very existence. Primary characters: Ninth Doctor, Tenth Doctor, Rose Tyler, Mickey Smith, Jackie Tyler. Genres: Romance, mystery, adventure, drama, character study, HN AU, fobbed!Nine, sick TARDIS. Pairings: Nine/Rose, Ten/Rose Rating: Adult

Warning: None for this chapter

a/n: I am currently working on editing this chapter-by-chapter, with the hopes of completing a chapter a day until I catch up with myself. As I mentioned in a previous post, I’m doing it to try to get back into the swing of writing and to build some momentum in order to finish this. Also, there have been some tiny things nagging at me for a while (grammar, punctuation, etc.) so I’ll be correcting as many of them as I can find as I go. The story will not change. In fact, most of the changes are going to be so minor that I doubt anyone (besides myself) will notice. But to keep me on target, I’ll be posting it all here as I go, with links to the other websites it’s on. I hope you enjoy it.

This chapter: on AO3, on TSP, on ffnet

Chapter Three—London, 7 July 2007

A holographic image of the younger Doctor appeared. He was lying on the floor, clearly unconscious. As the image flickered, something that looked like a helmet descended from the ceiling and fitted itself neatly onto the younger Doctor's head. There was a flash of light and the hologram vanished for a moment. When it returned, the trio could see the TARDIS door open. A portion of the grating that made up the floor lifted up, causing the Doctor to roll out the door. The door shut again and the image abruptly shut off. Rose and Mickey turned and stared at the Doctor they were with. His jaw had dropped in shock.

"Blimey," the Doctor said under his breath.

"What… what just happened?" Rose asked. "What was that thing?"

"Something I never thought I'd ever have to use," the Doctor said. "And as for what just happened, I'm not entirely sure. But I think I need to see the man who looks like the old me." He ran a hand through his hair, causing it to stand up. "The question is, how? How to get a good look at him without him seeing me?"

"But if it is him, you, it'll be before you've regenerated, yeah? So he won't know who you are," Rose said.

"I can't count on that," the Doctor told her. "I told you that there's an echo when I meet myself."

"But if that's the case, with you here, shouldn't he be feeling the echo now?" she asked.

"Assuming the person you saw is me," the Doctor said, "we both should be. But it's possible that I'm not feeling one because we're not close enough together." He frowned. "Under normal circumstances, and admittedly these are not normal circumstances, if we met face to face he'd be able to tell I'm a Time Lord, and since there aren't any other Time Lords, and since he wouldn't recognize me, he'd know I was a future version of him…"

"But you said you've met yourself before," Rose said.

"Yeah, I have. But in this case I'm interfering in my own timeline. This has to be handled delicately. If it's not handled carefully enough, the results could be catastrophic. And not just to me... Well, let's just say I don't want to risk it." His brow furrowed thoughtfully. "Mickey said whoever that was may have recognized you, but he didn't know who you were. That would mean he's met you before. If he's me and I've already met you, why wouldn't I know who you were?" He sighed loudly in frustration. "And why don't I remember any of this?"

"I dunno," she said, "but I do have an idea about seeing him. There's a couple of restaurants right across the street from the garage. Maybe we can wait in one of them until the shop closes and he leaves. We should get a good view of him without him seein' us."

"What time is it?" Mickey asked.

"A little after five, local time," the Doctor answered.

Mickey shook his head. "It's Saturday. The shop's probably closed by now." He pulled his mobile out of his pocket. After a brief conversation, he rang off and turned back to them. "He's already gone for the day. Did find out his full name though." He looked at the Doctor evenly. "John Smith. Isn't that the name you used when you were teachin' at Deffrey Vale?"

The Doctor and Rose exchanged glances, with Rose's clearly saying I told you so.

"We need more information about him," the Doctor said. "How long he's been here. Where he lives. Where he was before he got here."

"So you're no longer denyin' he's you?" Mickey asked.

The Doctor yanked on one ear and grimaced. "With the evidence we have so far, let's just say it's… possible he's me. But the jury's still out." Mickey rolled his eyes. "The question is," the Doctor continued, "if we can't talk to him directly, don't even know where he is, how are we going to get the answers we need?"

Rose and Mickey exchanged glances and smirked. "Well, there's one person on the Estate that not only knows everybody but everybody's business too," Mickey said.

The Doctor glanced from one to the other of them. "Who?" he asked. And then it hit him. He got a pained expression on his face. "Oh, no."

~oOo~

John unlocked the door to his flat and carried his dinner straight back into the small space that was his lounge. Not one for cooking, John had picked up a sandwich and crisps from the deli down the street and some beer from Tesco Express on his way home. It was either takeaway or beans on toast, and even the idea of beans on toast made him shudder in disgust.

He set the food down on the beat-up old coffee table and sat down on the threadbare sofa. Not only was the sofa worn, it was ugly. It was covered in a rough, plaid fabric in orange, yellow and black that hadn't been popular since the '70s. The flat had come furnished, which suited him since he hadn't owned anything except a change of clothes when he had arrived back on the Estate, but everything in the place was in bad shape and hadn't been particularly nice when new. The only exceptions were a very expensive new mattress and a state of the art computer system that he had purchased himself. To the outside world they would have seemed like luxuries, particularly in light of his meager salary, but he considered them necessities. The computer system was vital for his continuing search for clues to who he was. And the need for a decent mattress was self-evident. The old one was badly stained and emitted an odor whose source didn't bear thinking about, plus it had had a spring that caught him in the back no matter how he lay down on it.

He flipped on the ancient television before cracking open a beer and unwrapping his sandwich. There was nothing of interest on, nothing that interested him at any rate. He wasn't into sports, the news wasn't new but a rehash of what had happened the previous week, game shows were too easy and thus boring, and dramas? Too domestic. He watched a few minutes of an American science fiction program until he decided the science behind it was so ridiculous that it made the show unwatchable.

Finally he found a channel broadcasting a film he hadn't seen, a recent James Bond film starring an actor he didn't know. He took a swig of his beer and sat back, willing to suspend disbelief for a few minutes. But his mind wandered back to the garage and the girl he had seen. He had seen more than blonde hair. He had caught a glimpse of her face before she had left. He sat back and closed his eyes, trying to recapture the image.

Blonde hair. A wide mouth...

He was startled from his reverie by something jumping onto the sofa next to him. He opened his eyes again. A black cat was sitting next to him, calmly helping itself to his sandwich.

It was not his cat. He did not own a cat. He raised an eyebrow.

"Where did you come from?" he said, figuring it had wandered in from the Estate through the cat flap built into the exterior door. He vaguely recalled someone telling him that the strays would do that but he couldn't remember who, or when he had had that conversation.

The cat did not deign to answer, not with a meow or even a glance in his direction. Instead it continued to focus on trying to eat his dinner.

"Oi, that's mine," he protested. He ripped off a chunk of the sandwich—the portion that had been chewed on by the cat—and put it on the floor. The cat jumped down, pulled the meat and cheese out from between the bread slices, and began to nibble on them.

"You must be thirsty," he said. Shoving the rest of the sandwich in his mouth, he got up and went into the kitchen for a bowl of water. On the way back he retrieved his sketchpad and pencils from the bedroom.

"Now you can stay for a bit," he told the cat as it—no, she—began to drink. "But you can't move in. Don't know how long I'm stayin' here."

The cat ignored him and returned to eating the cheese. John watched for a minute and then turned to the sketchpad. He flipped through the pages, glancing at his drawings. Monsters, metal men, pepper pots fitted with eye stalks, plungers and whisks—a psychiatrist would have a field day with him. He flipped quickly through those pages, as he did the pictures of planets on fire. Perhaps not typical dream images, but all they were were dream images. They could have nothing to do with his previous life.

He turned the page and saw the sketch of the girl he had been working on that morning. Now he could see what was wrong with it. Her nose was slightly shorter and wider than he had drawn. And her ears… They were smaller, but there was more. Something missing.

Earrings. Big gold-colored hoops.

He made the corrections, just barely adjusting a line here, a shadow there, and then added the earrings. When he was finished, he sat back and stared at the picture.

It was her. The girl he had been dreaming about. But more than that, it was the girl he had seen at the garage. The girl's hair had been shorter, her makeup different, but it was her, he was sure of it.

The cat jumped back up on the sofa and rubbed against him, purring. He absently stroked her head as he puzzled over the drawing.

"Who are you?" he said. "And how can I find you again?"

~oOo~

"Now remember," Rose said, "don't tell Mum we've been here all day."

Both the Doctor and Mickey rolled their eyes. They were carrying a couple of pizzas: part dinner, part peace offering just in case she had heard they were back and hadn't stopped by the flat first.

"As if," Mickey said.

Rose unlocked the door. As they walked in the door, she was struck as always by how tiny the flat was. Despite having recently been repaired from damage it had received at Christmastime and received a fresh coat of paint, the narrow hall looked cramped and dark. Perhaps the flat seemed small because she was comparing it to the grandeur of the TARDIS, she supposed. Or perhaps she had just outgrown it, as she had outgrown estate life while traveling with the Doctor.

Deciding not to dwell on that thought, she called out to her mum.

"Mum, we're home. Are you here?"

Before the words were out of her mouth, Jackie ran out of the lounge and met them in the hall. "Rose!" she exclaimed and pulled her daughter in for a hug. "Why don't you ever call? Why bother even having a mobile when you don't use it?"

Rose knew that her mother really didn't expect an answer. "We brought dinner," she said when her mother let her go.

"Thank goodness," her mother said. "I've got nothing in. Certainly not enough for those two." Jackie cast a disparaging glance towards the lounge. The two women followed them in to find that in the short time she had been hugging Rose, the Doctor and Mickey had gone into the lounge, settled themselves on the white imitation-leather chairs, and begun to eat. Mickey had a slice of pizza in one hand and was using the remote to flip through the channels on the telly with the other.

"Don't get too comfortable," Jackie told them all. "Stuart is comin' over."

"Stuart? Who's Stuart?" Rose asked. "Whatever happened to Dennis?"

"And as far as that's concerned, whatever happened to Howard?" the Doctor added.

"Howard was ages ago, and as for Dennis…" Jackie made a rude noise. "Stuart works over at the Chinese takeaway," she told them.

Rose frowned thoughtfully. "Stuart, Stuart… Oh, I remember! Isn't he the cook over there?"

"Yeah," Jackie said.

"Oh! Is he the one who does the wonderful chips?" the Doctor asked.

"That's him," Jackie said. "Does a gorgeous curry as well."

"You know, you should tell him to put the chips in newspaper," the Doctor told her. "Nothing like chips served the traditional way in newspaper. They taste better than when they're wrapped in foil. The newspaper doesn't trap the moisture like foil does, and it absorbs some of the oil, leaving them crisp instead of soggy."

Rose rolled her eyes. "I think you just like the flavor of newspaper ink," she said.

"Depends on the ink used, Rose," he said. "Some are quite bitter."

"Trust you to know," she muttered.

Jackie retrieved some plates and napkins from the kitchen. She pointedly handed a plate and napkin each to the Doctor and Mickey, warning them not to make a mess. Mickey took both without turning from the television. There was another match on.

After the two women helped themselves to slices of pizza and sat down on the sofa, the Doctor turned to them.

"So, Jackie," he said between bites of extra cheese and pepperoni. "What's new around here?"

Rose's eyes got huge. What are you doing, she mouthed. She knew from long years of experience that asking her mother a leading question like that could set them up for a several hour gossip session despite her mum's new boyfriend coming over.

The Doctor ignored her and grinned at Jackie.

"Well," Jackie said conspiratorially. "Rose, your cousin Lavina is pregnant again. This will be her fourth. Mo got a new job, not sure doin' what though. Bev's sister's daughter got another tattoo. This one winds half up her arm. Looks like a snake." She shuddered. "And someone new just moved in across the way. A real grouch. But that's not all bad. He managed to get Rita and Chuck quiet for once. I thought the row they were having this morning would last into next week…"

As Jackie continued to talk, Rose watched the Doctor take another bite. The cheese stretched, forming a long string between the slice of pizza and his mouth. He wrapped it around his tongue three times before biting it off and pulling it into his mouth. She stared at him, disturbed by how disgusted she was yet at the same time how oddly arousing she found it. As if he knew what she was thinking, he smirked at her and gave her a wink.

"Git," she said under her breath.

An hour later, Rose shifted uncomfortably in her seat. Mickey had switched to watching a movie at some point and was still staring at the screen. And her mother was still talking. The Doctor was pretending to be engrossed in the dramas taking place on the Estate, periodically making sympathetic noises. She didn't know how he could do it. Listening to her mum go on and on like that made her eyes cross.

"And Brian's son what's-his-name is marrying that girl he's been living with the past couple of years," Jackie said.

At that, Rose's ears perked up. "Susie? Rob's marrying Susie?"

"Yeah," her mother answered. "Wasn't she one of the ones that you used to hang out with?"

"Yeah, she was." Mickey answered for Rose without turning from the telly. "It was Rose, Susie, Shareen, Keisha, and Rita. They'd all go out clubbin', then come home absolutely pissed. Sometimes Rose'd stay out all night with 'em and say she'd stayed with Shareen or Keisha and they'd say they had stayed here."

As Jackie raised an eyebrow at her daughter, Rose glared at him. "And thank you so much for sharing that with my mother, Mick. Just wait until I tell Mum and the Doctor about the time you…"

At this, Mickey finally turned from the television. "No!" he said quickly. "Don't need to go into all that."

The Doctor leaned back against the back of the sofa. His eyebrow arched and a small, amused smile played around his lips.

"Anyway, if the two of you were friends, you'd probably be invited to the wedding, Rose. That is, if you were here," Jackie said pointedly.

"We might be able to come back for it," the Doctor said, and Rose looked at him in surprise. Shock was more like. Are you sure, she mouthed. He shrugged indifferently.

"Uh, yeah," she said, turning back to her mother. "We might be able to come back."

"Good," Jackie said vehemently. "People are always askin' about you, what you're doin', when you're comin' back, that sort of thing. I never know what to tell them."

"Tell them I'm traveling," Rose said.

"Traveling? People will only buy traveling for so long, and then they begin to wonder if you're in jail," Jackie replied.

"Or dead," Mickey said with a sharp glance at Jackie. He had never completely gotten over the fact that for a year people had thought he had murdered Rose when she had begun traveling with the Doctor. Rose's mother, who had been behind the rumor of Mickey murdering Rose, didn't have the grace to look shamefaced. She had apologized, and in her mind that was the end of it.

"So, Jackie, Rose and Mickey went past the auto repair shop today…" the Doctor said, changing the subject. He didn't need to say more. It was enough to get Jackie started again.

"Oh, yeah, they've fixed it all up," she said. "They've got a new mechanic, too. He's the one who ended the row between Rita and Chuck." They all looked at her blankly. "I told you, but as usual none of you were listening. He just moved in across the way a few months ago. Works at the shop and does odd jobs around the Estate. Had him in here myself to fix the tap in the kitchen since no one here was around to do it."

"He was here?" Rose asked incredulously. "In the flat? And you didn't mention it?"

"Why would I?" Jackie asked. "'S just a tap."

"Did he look like anyone you know?" Rose asked. "Seem familiar in any way?"

"Not really," she said. She thought for a moment. "Maybe a bit like that American bloke from the Tour de France. Lance something or other."

"Lance Armstrong?" the Doctor asked incredulously.

Jackie nodded. "Yeah, that's the one," she answered. "Not much, mind, but a bit."

"Why would Lance Armstrong be livin' on the Estate?" Mickey asked.

"Didn't say he was, did I?" Jackie said.

"Did he remind you of anyone else?" Rose asked.

"Well, he did look a little like first him," she said. "Just a little bit, though. He's got much longer hair and a scruffy beard half the time, and no leather jacket. Course it is July…"

"And you didn't think to call me?"

"Why would I?" Jackie asked again. "'S not him, after all. He changed. Doesn't look like that anymore. 'S not like he can change back." She paused as if a thought just occurred to her. "You can't change back, can you?"

"No, he can't," Rose answered.

"I don't know why you think I should have called. You know it's not him, Rose. He's sittin' right there next to you."

"Yes, of course I am," the Doctor said smoothly. "And where else would I be?"

Jackie frowned. "Why all the questions?" she asked suspiciously. "'S not like any of you to care one way or the other what happens around here."

They were saved from answering by a knock at the door. Jackie got up. "That'll be Stuart," she said. "I'd invite you to stay…" Her tone indicated that that was the last thing she wanted them to do.

"Nah, we'll be on our way," the Doctor said as they stood. Mickey picked up the pizza boxes. "Things to do, places to go and all that."

They met Stuart on the way out. He was a short Asian man who appeared to be in his mid-forties and smelled vaguely of Chinese takeaway and chips.

"Have you ever considered serving your chips in newspaper, Stuart?" the Doctor asked after they had been introduced. "It really brings out the flavor."

Stuart looked puzzled at the question. "Newspaper?" he asked.

Rose poked the Doctor in the side. When he turned to her she glared at him. "Ignore him," she said to Stuart. "That's what the rest of us do." She turned to give her mother a hug. "We'll be back soon, yeah?"

"Just don't let it be three months this time," Jackie replied.

"Oh, it won't," the Doctor said. "Probably will be tomorrow."

Jackie rolled her eyes. "I'll believe that when I see it."

"Tomorrow?" Rose asked as the door shut behind them.

"I doubt the TARDIS will let us take off yet," the Doctor told her. "Probably won't until we know more about what's going on." He looked across the courtyard. "Hmm. Should have asked Jackie which flat he's in." He glanced back at the door and then grimaced. "Nope. Not going back in there."

"I could ask around, see if anyone else knows what flat he's in," Mickey suggested.

The Doctor scratched the back of his head thoughtfully. "No, I don't want him to find out people have been asking questions about him. Tomorrow is soon enough. With both TARDISes out of commission, it's not like either of us is going anywhere." His voice dwindled off, and he frowned. "I'm still not entirely sure what happened or why. I need to try and get more information from the TARDIS—see if I can clear up some of the interference. Only then can we figure out how to fix all this."

As the Doctor and Mickey began to make their way to the stairwell, Rose hung back, staring at the windows of the building across the courtyard. Lights were just beginning to come on in the windows, and she wondered which one was his.

He was over there somewhere. Her first Doctor. Her heart ached at the thought. Even though the Doctor was still with her, sometimes she missed his old self: beat up leather jacket, big ears and all. She wished she could see him again, just spend time with him, kind of like she had wanted to see her father again, but not. The feelings she had had for her Doctor were nothing like what she had had for her dad.

But look how seeing her father had turned out, with the Earth almost being sterilized by reapers. She couldn't risk the paradox.

But what she wouldn't give to see her first Doctor again.

"Rose, Rose!" The Doctor's voice pulled her out of her thoughts. She turned to him. "We're headed back to the TARDIS. Are you coming, or are you staying here?"

"I'm coming," she said.

He nodded. As he headed down the stairs, she began to follow, but not without a backward glance at the other building again.

#the choice #revision #ficandchips #only minor changes here #I think #I actually did this one last night #most of the changes are minor anyway #occasional word choice #spelling #grammar #etc

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wedoyouressays195 · 4 years

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Methodology Of Cyberbullying Studies Psychology Essay

Technique Of Cyberbullying Studies Psychology Essay As per Dooley, Pyzalski, Cross (2009, p.182), until this point in time, numerous creators face challenges in characterizing and looking at cyberbullying in view of the utilization of various strategies. (No Flow from reason of various technique to definition) Cyberbullying has been from a general point of view characterized as harassing through an electronic methods. Drawing from Smith et al. (2008, p.376), cyberbullying alludes to a forceful, intentional act done by an individual or a gathering of individuals, utilizing electronic contact implies, over and again for a specific period against an individual who can only with significant effort guard herself or himself. This definition stresses on the demonstration being forceful, purposeful, and dreary just as having the nearness of intensity irregularity. Belsey (2004) further characterizes cyberbullying as utilizing advancements of data and correspondence to help deliberate, regular, and unfriendly direct by an individual or a gathering, with the point of hurting others. From Belseys definition, power irregularity is missing, which suggests that force doesn't really shape a basic segment of cyberbullying. Then again, Wolak, Mitchell, Finkelhor (2007, p.52) contend that, a precise definition should see rehashed activities of online threatening vibe as online provocation (How is this connect to the past purpose of Belseys definition?). What's more, since the casualty can end negative online relations effectively, the individual in question has a specific degree of intensity, which they were not fit for having if the provocation occurred inside the schoolyard where they can't escape without any problem. Unexpectedly, there are instances of online badgering, which the casualty can't end effectively, for example, challenges engaged with disposing of data from the web (From where? What does this show?). The recognizable proof of the fundamental components of cyberbullying is important for a uniform advancement in cyberbullying contemplates. As indicated by Vandebosch van Cleemput (2008, p.500), an exploration was done through spotlight bunches on 10 to multi year olds in Belgium with respect to their encounters on cyberbullying and their utilization of data and correspondence innovation. The discoveries of the exploration demonstrated that, cyberbullying activities are steady with the definitions to such an extent that they are intentional, dull, and embodied by an awkwardness of intensity (Mention Results). These highlights portray customary up close and personal tormenting. The examination additionally suggested that, in cyberbullying, conduct is increasingly significant when contrasted with the medium utilized (What medium? What does it appear?). Kowalski Limber (2007, p.24) further characterize cyberbullying as, essentially the electronic sort of up close and personal tormenting rather than an unmistakable marvel. Review cyberbullying as essentially a type of up close and personal tormenting can ignore the troubles of such practices. (Notice generally speaking non-accord with definitions) Contrasts between Traditional Bullying and Cyberbullying As indicated by Zacchilli Valerio (2011, p.11), customary harassing includes various key segments. Tormenting is forceful, intentional, incorporates power irregularity and is additionally dull. Hostility alludes to any direct planned for hurting someone else. Harassing includes intentional damage applied on someone else and it is, in this way, not lively. Drawing from Coloroso (2008), customary tormenting takes three fundamental structures including verbal, social, and physical. Verbal harassing is the most broad structure and includes the utilization of words to hurt others. Physical tormenting is noticeable and incorporate practices like kicking, hitting, gnawing and slapping. Social harassing is across the board in the midst of young ladies when contrasted with young men. It might include overlooking, prohibition and spreading gossipy tidbits. Further, cyberbullying seems to have various highlights of both social and verbal tormenting. Cyberbullying is another examination zone (When was it in the past contemplated?), and it is in this way indispensable to have an evident definition in regards to what cyberbullying involves. Hinduja Patchin (2008, p.152) recommend that, cyberbullying is tenacious and can make persistent mischief someone else through the methods for electronic substance. This definition centers around the idea that, cyberbullying involves a goal, and accomplished for a specific period. Smith et al. (2008, p.376) proposed an indistinguishable definition where they characterize cyberbullying as a purposeful, forceful and rehashed act by an individual or a gathering utilizing electronic contact implies against someone who can't watch herself or himself. This definition additionally accentuates the possibility that cyberbullying is an arranged, forceful conduct happening a few times. Kolwalski, Limber, Agatston (2008) looked into customary tormenting with cyberbullying dependent on definitions. The two sorts of tormenting involve hostility, reiteration, and a disparity of intensity. As far as contrasts, cyberbullying is all the more engaging when contrasted with customary harassing because of secrecy. For example, an individual can be a casualty of tormenting for quite a while without recognizing the domineering jerk. In this manner, a harasser may consider cyberbullying all the more engaging since it is extremely difficult to follow the source of the tormenting. In addition, reformatory feelings of trepidation and disinhibition separate customary harassing from cyberbullying. At the point when teenagers or kids become survivors of cyberbullying, they may not inform a grown-up concerning it because of a paranoid fear of being denied the utilization of PDAs or PCs. Disinhibition happens when individuals do or make statements that they can't do if the casualties could recognize them. Not at all like cyberbullying, casualties of conventional tormenting for the most part distinguish their harassers (Olweus, 1993). (What does this show?) Discussions and Arguments Regarding the Definitions Most contentions and discussions among creators on the meanings of customary tormenting and cyberbullying identify with reiteration and force awkwardness. Despite the fact that larger part of creators by and large affirm including redundancy when characterizing tormenting, banter with respect to its significance nature despite everything proceeds. Tattum (1989, p.17) guaranteed that, proceeding with sentiments of strain in regards to an event might be considered tedious despite the fact that it happened only a single time. Reiteration, particularly in cyberbullying, is hard to operationalize, since distinction may exist between the impression of casualty and the culprit on the quantity of frequencies and the possible results. For example, Slonje Smith (2008) keep up that, however reiteration is evident when the culprit sends a few messages or instant messages, it isn't clear when the culprit makes one disparaging site or an online message, which a few people can get to (Shows Whats?). With respect to lopsidedness, a model by Aalsma Brown (2008, p.101) of a second grade kid kicking a 6th grader consistently in the transport recommends that, no harassing happened since the subsequent grader is littler and less incredible truly contrasted with the 6th grader. From the model, surveying power irregularity is mind boggling since it is difficult to assess, especially in youngsters. In any case, Rigby (2007, p.19) contends that, any place power irregularity exists, paying little mind to its source, the status of an individual might be decreased. (By and large smaller than usual synopsis) Difficulties of Self-Report Self-Report Studies on Traditional Bullying and Cyberbullying (I dont need this bit, rather I need more accentuation on the difficulties of self report issues of overview questions) As indicated by Arsenio Lemerise (2004, p.989), numerous investigations have over and over asserted that, domineering jerks can have shortfalls concerning their ethical quality (Very arbitrary; all of a sudden). Late integrative formative good speculation models have focused on the requirement for examining both good effect and good discernment in understanding individual varieties in practices like tormenting since there is an exact and reasonable cover between customary harassing and cyberbullying. Harassing has a positive relationship with self-revealed moral separation in the two teenagers just as in kids. An exploration by Pornari Wood (2010, p.86) demonstrated that, moral separation isn't identified with conventional hostility, however to digital animosity among peers. In addition, it demonstrated that youths and youngsters who had visit contribution in tormenting turned out to be all the more morally separated and had less moral mindful legitimizations. Menaces legitimized their ethical bad conduct of an alleged domineering jerk fundamentally from a narrow minded perspective, and their considerations concentrated on accepting individual increase from their negative conduct (Menesini Camodeca, 2008, p.187). Ybarra Mitchell (2004) analyzed online provocation utilizing 1,501 normal clients of the web matured somewhere in the range of 10 and 17 years in the United States. In the investigation, online provocation alluded to an intentional and obvious activity of hostility to another person who is on the web. The outcomes demonstrated that, 15% of the considerable number of members were out of which 51% of them were likewise survivors of customary tormenting, and 20% were cyberbullying casualties (the rest of ?). The outcomes propose a high connection between conventional exploitation and online badgering (Indicates what ). (No stream b/w focuses) furthermore, Raskauskas Stoltz (2007) examined 84 American understudies between the age of 14 and 18. They broke down the connections between customary tormenting, electronic harassing, conventional exploitation, and electronic exploitation. They especially inspected in the case of being a casualty of customary harassing or a conventional culprit predicts holding a similar situation in electronic tormenting. From the examination, about every single conventional domineering jerk were additionally cyberbullies, and practically all customary casualties were cybervictims (Shows What?). Gradinger, Strohmeier, Spiel (2009, p.211) did an investigation to look at joint harasser and casualty lead of understudies on 761 ninth grade understudies of 10 particular schools in Vienna, Austria. From the investigation, cyberbullying, just as digital exploitation, happened preferably inconsistently over conventional structures. On the con

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nitrateglow · 6 years

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Thoughts on The Last Jedi (spoilers under the “keep reading” line)

I originally wanted to just make a small list of things I liked and did not like about this movie, but I’ve come to realize my feelings are a bit more complicated than I expected. I don’t hate it, nor do I think it is the worst film in the series; however, I am baffled by the arguments that it’s somehow a clever deconstruction of the Hollywood blockbuster formula or finding new ground for SW. If anything, I found it an aimless, poorly paced retread of familiar tropes and ideas with only a few interesting elements to save it from being mediocre.

I’ll start with what I considered all-around good: the acting is excellent across the board. Every actor is game, doing their best and even elevating the material at times. It was a bittersweet experience to see the late Carrie Fisher here and even with her limited screen-time, she brings a great deal of dignity and spunk to the princess/general we know and love. Mark Hamill gives one of his best performances as Luke, communicating worlds of pain and regret with his eyes alone. While he isn’t one of the greatest actors of all time outside of the voice-acting world, he is incredibly effective here. Thankfully, Oscar Isaac gets more to do this time around. And everyone else is on the whole fine, even great at times. I was also impressed with the visuals and editing, which are often breathtaking, especially on the big screen. The casino planet was pretty rad too; I can so see the rich and powerful hanging out in such a place. And—everything else is extremely mixed for me.

This movie reminds me of Attack of the Clones in that it is all over the place tonally. I am all for genre hybrids or movies that can touch on several emotional shades at once, but it is a hard thing to do and this movie isn’t up to that. One minute it’s dead serious and in the grand epic mode, then the next we’re dealing with broad comedy more appropriate for a Marvel film. That juxtaposition felt awkward in the prequels and it feels awkward here.

For all the critics’ talk of this movie breaking new ground, I remained frustrated by the same old rehash of lines and themes from the OT. There’s still the good versus evil, the empire chasing rebels Everything is also rushed beyond belief, which seems like a weird conclusion to draw about a 2 ½ hour movie. Rose is barely developed, despite her potential to be a great character (her romantic feelings for Finn are woefully half-baked; I would say the only thing that even makes you believe she was into him was her slight bout of hero worship in her initial scene with him). Finn doesn’t evolve beyond what he was in TFA. Rey doesn’t change, despite the challenges posed to her ideas about the Force by both Luke and Kylo. Her training with Luke, if you can even call it that, is basically nothing, even less than the crash course Luke got from Yoda in Empire. We’re led to believe Luke has some great development, but that’s yet another thing that has little payoff.

Overall, I am torn on Luke Skywalker’s characterization. On one hand, I believe he would become disillusioned with the Jedi after he lost his nephew to the Dark Side—however, do I believe he would stay on that island after hearing one of his oldest friends was MURDERED by the former student he feels he failed? I’m sorry, I don’t. I know people change as they get older and I know enough cranky old people to see how life can beat you down and make you emotionally exhausted. But the thing about Luke is that he’s stubborn and contrarian; when Yoda and Obi-wan told him to give up on Vader (a Sith who committed WAY worse sins on a much grander scale than Kylo-Ren ever did), he went with his hunch that his father could be redeemed, even though he had only his gut instinct as evidence to go on. I have a hard time believing he wouldn’t try to right the wrong he did to his nephew. Him retreating from the conflict feels as false as the strong-minded and very active Padme losing the will to live at the end of Revenge of the Sith. His death sits even less well with me, since I feel the character had more to do and should have been more active in trying to aid the Resistance and train Rey.

Kylo-Ren is more interesting this time around, more conflicted and morally ambiguous. His temptation to turn to the Light mixed with his savagery is great. His interactions with Rey, which are simultaneously uneasy and charged with sexual tension, are fascinating. And yet, like so much else in this movie, it all goes nowhere. I still have no clue why Kylo is drawn to the Dark Side. With Anakin, it was an outgrowth of growing up as a powerless slave and losing those he loved to war and violence, which makes it clear why the idea of a fascist dictatorship would appeal to him. For Palpatine, it was because he was a greedy psychopath. But Kylo? I have no idea what he feels he’s getting on an emotional level from the Dark Side. What do Snoke and the Dark Side promise him that makes turning evil so tempting? He didn’t hate his parents, however lacking he felt they were. Luke was hard on him, though we learn that’s because the kid was already turning to the Dark Side. So where does it all originate? I have no clue and I think, yeah, it’s not unreasonable for me to understand what motivates one of the major villains of this new trilogy. Because otherwise, it is hard for me to be fully invested in him as a character.

In fact, the whole First Order are just disappointing villains, a second-rate empire. I have no idea how they were able to come to power, not only because it’s never brought up in either this film or TFA, but because these guys are about as competent as the Three Stooges. Hux is a punchline subjected to “yo mamma” jokes and proving himself utterly useless time and again. Phasma is pretty much like Boba Fett: she looks cool and fights well, only to get killed off without ceremony. Snoke is a dumber Voldemort, built up as this clever, evil genius only to be proven even worse at underestimating his employees and enemies than Palpatine! I was never a fan of the character to begin with, finding him bland, but here, he just shows up, cackles evilly, then dies in a rather comical manner. How did he come to power? It has to be more than just his powers; even Palpatine was a politician and he preyed on the Clone Wars’ devastation to convince people to make him Emperor. But Snoke? Nothing.

The pacing was also a huge issue for me. Now, I normally dig slow pacing—but this was excruciating, probably because I felt like the story was going nowhere much of the time. Finn and Rose are wasted, given nothing but a McGuffin side-quest. Every time we cut to them, I just lost so much interest. As for the political “subtext” (if you can call an explicitly socio-political monologue subtext) in the Finn and Rose sub-story, I’ll just say I agree with critic Tim Brayton on the matter:

And this plotline feeds right into the absolutely unforgivably terrible subplot, which is the adventures of Finn (John Boyega) the cowardly ex-storm trooper, and Rose (Kelly Marie Tran), the class-conscious engineer, who go on a fetch quest that is every bit as pointless as the whole matter of the military nonsense, only even worse, because it hinges on terrible comedy, bad CGI, and a spectacularly horrible moment when Johnson stops the film in its tracks to provide a ruthlessly on-the-nose lesson about economic inequality and the military-industrial complex, and I hate this all the more for the film's message in this moment being one I passionately agree with - if something has to be artless and awful, better that it not take down a cause I hold dear as part of the collateral damage. And it really is awful; the worst thing in the movie, despite the best intentions of various film critics to defend it (I am sorry, but "has politics I like" is not all it takes to make a movie good. If all you want is for a film to spit your ideology back at you, and it doesn't matter if this is done with any grace or artistry at all, congratulations: you are a Stalinist. I like politics in movies - I love politics in movies - but not every political filmmaker is Sergei Eisenstein, and they should damn well not be treated like they are).

I have no problem with this political/social angle being there; hell, I love the idea of the Rose character and the theme of inspiring the downtrodden (the idea of legends and the power of storytelling really appealed to me, and I loved that last scene with the kids re-enacting the OT story in the stables), but like so much else they feel underwritten and clumsily implemented. It doesn’t help that this side plot feels oddly disconnected from everything else and is far less interesting than Poe or Rey’s stories. And once again, I feel like it accomplished nothing whatsoever, much like the majority of this story.

Now, people might argue the main theme of this movie is about failure and how we must learn from it, thus making this side-plot appropriate. The thing is, I don’t think anyone besides Poe learned much of anything from their mistakes or failures, let alone Finn and Rose. According to writer/director Rian Johnson, one of the big inspirations for this film was the 1964 classic Three Outlaw Samurai, a movie in which the titular heroes become disillusioned with the samurai code and the corruption of the culture in which they live. Concepts such as honor and loyalty become muddied. TLJ is clearly trying to weave a similar theme, with Kylo, Luke, and Ghost!Yoda calling for a new age in which the Jedi and Sith are no more. The problem? Kylo still embraces much of the Sith ideology as much as he claims he’s let go of it (okay, yeah, Abrams claimed he wasn’t a Sith, but that seems more like an in-name only affair given the dynamic between Kylo and Snoke), and Luke, for all his “the Jedi gotta go” lip service, ends his life by triumphantly claiming, “I will not be the last Jedi,” implying he’s passing the torch to Rey. So much for questioning the past.

At the end of the day, the movie left me frustrated and hollow. I’m not very excited to see where they take the story next, because it’s clear they’re going with same-old, same-old, only with vague motivations and no sense of direction. I don’t get what the big point of this new trilogy is. The OT is at its heart about Luke coming of age as a Jedi Knight and redeeming his father. The PT is a tragedy about the fall of both a man and a democracy. The sequels though? I have no clue. I don’t think they go far enough in their attempts to challenge our ideas about the Force or the Jedi, or good and evil. It’s the same old rebels versus tyrants fight, only this time around the villains are more inept than usual and the good guys, for all their failures, don’t appear to learn much of anything.

#thoughts #i think the conflict within me beats out even Kylo-Ren's!!

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