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ljones41 · 2 years

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"GREEN LANTERN" (2011) Review

"GREEN LANTERN" (2011) Review Green seemed to be the dominate colors regarding costumed crime fighters in 2011. The year marked the end of the television series, "SMALLVILLE", which featured Superman's colleague, the Green Arrow. Earlier that year saw the release of "THE GREEN HORNET", starring Seth Rogen and Jay Chou. And during the summer of 2011, Warner Brothers Studios released their adaptation on the DC Comics superhero, the Green Lantern.

Directed by Martin Campbell, "THE GREEN LANTERN" told the story of a hotshot test pilot for Ferris Aircraft named Hal Jordan, who becomes the Green Lantern . . . or one of them. Before Earth was formed, a group of beings called the Guardians of the Universe used the green essence of willpower to create an intergalactic police force called the Green Lantern Corps. One such Green Lantern, Abin Sur defeated a fear-essence being Parallax and imprisoned him in the Lost Sector on the ruined planet Ryut. However, Parallax eventually escapes from his prison, kills four Green Lanterns and destroys two planets. After Parallax mortally wounds Abin Sur, the latter crashes on Earth and commands his Green Lantern ring to find a worthy successor. The ring chooses Hal Jordan and transports the latter to the crash site, where a dying Abin Sur appoints him a Green Lantern by telling him to take the lantern and speak the oath. Back at home, Hal says the oath of the Green Lanterns, while under trance from the glow of the lantern. He is whisked away to the Green Lantern Corps home planet of Oa, where he meets and trains with Tomar-Re and Kilowog. He encounters Corps leader Sinestro, who is not pleased that a human, considered primitive in compared to other species, has become a Green Lantern. Meanwhile, Senator Robert Hammond summons his son, scientist Hector Hammond, to a secret government facility to perform an autopsy on Abin Sur's body. A piece of Parallax from inside the corpse inserts itself inside Hector, mutating the latter and giving him telepathic and telekinetic abilities . . . at the cost of his sanity. Not only does Hal have to deal with his private insecurities and fears about being a Green Lantern; but also, the uneasy state of his relationship with his boss/ex-girlfriend, Carol Ferris; and most importantly, the increasingly dangerous Hector and Parallax, who is slowly making its way toward Earth. Unfortunately for "GREEN LANTERN", it flopped at the box office. Because of its $200 million budget, it is considered a major failure and embarrassment for Warner Brothers. The critics tore the film apart before it even reached the movie theaters. And a good number of moviegoers stayed away in droves. In fact, its failure reminded me of what happened to "SPEED RACER" back in 2008, another Warner Brothers release. Pity. Because I enjoyed "GREEN LANTERN" and thought it was a solid, if mediocre adaptation of the famous comic book hero. Now "GREEN LANTERN" was not the best superhero movie that I have ever seen. The movie's plot struck me as one of those typical superhero origins tale that every fan of this type of movie genre has to . . . well, endure. Some of these origin stories have managed to knock my socks off. I cannot say the same about "GREEN LANTERN". I thought it was tolerable entertainment, yet mediocre. And I do have a major complaint about the screenplay written by Greg Berlanti, Michael Green, Marc Guggenheim and Michael Goldenberg. I thought it had failed to form a stronger connection . . . or relationship between the infected Hector Hammond and Parallax. The two characters only shared one scene and seemed over pretty damn quick. But I do believe that the critics' enmity was undeserved. "GREEN LANTERN" provided drama, some laughs, action and special effects. The screenwriters did a great job in developing Hal Jordan's character, allowing actor Ryan Reynolds plenty of dramatic meat to show off his acting skills. The screenplay also provided some strongly written supporting characters - especially Carol Ferris, Sinestro, and Hector Hammond, who was provided a strong subplot involving his relationship with his father. And aside from my disappointment over the Hector-Parallax connection, I thought the screenwriters did a solid job in providing a strong connection between Hal's personal demons, his introduction to the Green Lantern Corps and the dangers of Parallax. The behind-the-scenes production for "GREEN LANTERN" struck me as outstanding. I was very impressed. Felicity Browning led a team that provided first rate makeup for some of the cast. I was especially impressed by their work on Mark Strong, Peter Sarsgaard, and even Ryan Reynolds' eyes, while in his Green Lantern garb. But Grant Major's production designs for the planet of Oa really blew me away. I believe the visual effects supervised by Jim Berney and special effects by John S. Baker probably helped. Not only was I impressed by the designs and effects featured in the Oa sequences, but also the design of Parallax, which freaked me out a bit. As I had earlier pointed out, the movie's screenwriters did a solid job in their characterization of Hal, making him a complex and interesting character. But it would have never worked without Ryan Reynolds, who not only provided his trademark wit to his performance, but also provided Hal with a great deal of pathos and complexity. Reynolds also created great chemistry with his co-star Blake Lively. I had been very impressed by her performance in the 2010 movie, "THE TOWN". And her performance as Hal's ex-girlfriend, boss and fellow test pilot, Carol Ferris; only proved that my original opinion of her acting talents was not a fluke. She managed to be very impressive. Ever since I saw him in "JARHEAD" years ago, I have been a fan of Peter Sarsgaard. His portrayal of the insecure senator's son/scientist Hector Hammond made me into an even bigger fan. I think it was a testament to Sarsgaard's acting talent that he allowed Hector to remain a sympathetic character, despite his transformation into a villain from the Parallax infection. And it has been a while since I have seen Mark Strong portray a good guy when I first saw this film. For me, his portrayal of fellow Green Lantern Sinestro, seemed spot on . . . and a breath of fresh air. Both Angela Bassett and Tim Robbins provided solid support as government scientist Dr. Waller and Hector's father, Senator Robert Hammond. Mind you, I found nothing remarkable about Bassett's role, which is not surprising, thanks to the screenwriters. But it was interesting to see Robbins portray a somewhat smarmy personality, who seemed more interested in his son's ambitions (or lack of) than the latter's well-being. Look, "GREEN LANTERN" may not be the one of the best comic book hero movies ever made. And it does not strike me as one of the most original, let alone outstanding I have seen of its genre. But I do not believe it deserved the harsh words that many movie critics dumped on it. Thanks to the behind-the-scenes production, Martin Campbell's direction and the cast led by Ryan Reynolds, I thought that "GREEN LANTERN" turned out to be a solid and entertaining film.

#green lantern #green lantern 2011 #hal jordan #ryan reynolds #martin campbell #peter sarsgaard #blake lively #mark strong #d.c. comics #tim robbins #temeura morrison #taika waititi #michael clarke duncan #jay o. sanders #angela bassett #jon tenney #geoffrey rush #Clancy Brown

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fabioemme78 · 1 year

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#movies #isaac ezban #aml ameen #martin wallström #georgia king #mark o' brien #parallel dimensions #multiverse adventure #alternate realities

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bob-the-movie-man-film-reviews · 1 year

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Poltergeist (15): The evils of television.

#onemannsmovies review of "Poltergeist" (1982). #Poltergeist. 40 years on, a spooky classic that still packs a Spielberg-style punch. 4.5/5.

A One Mann’s Movies review of “Poltergeist” (1982). Just to make me feel really, REALLY old again, “Poltergeist” has been re-released to cinemas, for a limited run, on its 40th anniversary. (Basil Fawlty: “That was your life, Mate! Oh, that was quick. Do I get another? Sorry, Mate. That’s your lot.“) I was expecting to cringe a bit at the effects. But, it really holds up pretty well still. By…

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orderforbrian · 1 year

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asked for jmart valentines day prompts and decided to combine them into one little comic! <3 little late but better than never

poor jon 🤭when he said intimate he meant more dear to martin's heart <3

[Start ID: Multipanel comic of Jon and Martin from the Magnus Archives for Valentine's day. Comic is in greyscale except for orange/pink of blushes and flowers. Jon is a thin Persian man with dark eyes and dark, curly hair tied back in a bun, there is a grey streak in his bangs. He has a beard and is wearing a blazer with a business shirt and tie. Martin is a fat mixed Polish/Korean man with dark eyes and short dark wavy hair. He has a beauty mark next to his lip and is wearing a striped, knitted cardigan with a business shirt, as well as browline glasses.

Panel 1+2+3: Martin smiles widely with a small tear in one eye, holding a bouquet of pink and purple flowers with a pink ribbon. He says, "Jon...thank you!! I don't know what to say!". Jon averts his eyes with a small blush and responds, "While flowers and chocolates are nice, I also wanted to get you something more...". It zooms in to one of Jon's eyes, dark and captivating. He finishes the sentence, "Intimate."

Panel 4: Martin blushes with a small frown, a couple sweat marks on his face. "O-oh?" he says, wary (but a little excited?) as to what Jon means by intimate.

Panel 5+6+7+8: Jon chastely holds out a gift box to Martin, turning his head away and closing his eyes. Martin nervously reaches for the box, tucking the bouquet in one arm. He thinks, "oh GOD why is he looking away". Martin opens the gift box, his face and hand silhouetted, and finds a pink polka dot tea cozy inside - over it says ta-da with sparkles. Next panel has Jon and Martin as floating heads. Martin asks with a shock, "Is - is this a tea cozy?". Jon's eyes are half-lidded, a bit embarrassed. "Yes, I knitted it myself." He quietly adds on. Martin bursts out into laughter, holding a hand in front of his wide smile. "Snrk-heh heh heh heh!" Jon is just buggy eyes and a wiggly mouth, asking "What? What? What?".

Panel 9+10: Jon raises a hand towards Martin, looking flustered, a couple sweat marks come off him. "Wh-why are you laughing? Do you not like it? I can get you something-". Martin cuts him off by kissing his forehead, lightly pulling at his neck to bring him closer. He nuzzles into his hair with a smitten smile. "No, I love it." His sentence and the kiss are punctuated by a heart. Jon, under the effects of being kissed, promptly shuts up, blushing and looking starry eyed. His one eye is closed where Martin is kissing his forehead.

Panel 11+12: Martin pulls back, blushing madly. Jon stares ahead with large sparkling eyes, blushing greatly as well with a tiny frown. Mistaking it as discomfort, Martin begins to apologize. "Oh! Oh, I'm sorry! I totally kissed you without--mmf!" He is cut short when Jon turns to him, grabs his cheek and pulls him in to a hurried (and quite fish lipped) kiss. Martin's eye is cartoonishly wide and he is somehow blushing even more than he was before. Lots of hearts surround the two. End ID.]

aaaand bonus little doodle for reading the ID :3

[Start ID: Floating Martin head, he sighs with closed eyes and a tiny smile. He says "When you said intimate, I thought you meant like lingerie LOL". A tiny Jon in the corner screams in horror, "NOO!!" End ID.]

#the magnus archives #tma #jmart #jonmartin #teaholding #jonathan sims #martin blackwood #order up! art tag #this is so ooc but idccccccccc

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aresianrepose · 1 year

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Before the semester kicks off and murders me, @disniq asked for my essay on Jason Todd and hysteria. So, without further ado, here is an actual essay (fucking dissertation) because I refuse brevity. It is extremely long. I’ve split it into sections so you can find the section header and read what you want. This does not encompass all the narrative trauma themes and lived experiences that this boy holds, just specifically hysteria.

Jason Todd, The Hysteric & Bruce Wayne, The Batman

I think it’s a common reading that Jason Todd is girl-coded and the patron saint of victims, at least within the circle that I’ve fallen into within this fandom. There are plenty of meta discussions on why those readings stand, so I’m not going to reiterate them. A pillar of him being girl-coded and someone trauma survivors have latched onto as one of our own has to do with being written in the context of hysterical femininity. And let me just say, I don’t think that writing was done in a way that he was intentionally coded as hysterical, but it is a function of our patriarchal society that this coding was used on him albeit without the explicit purpose of writing a hysteric story.

For the purpose of this post: the word woman includes ciswomen, transwomen, and any person who is socially positioned as a woman regardless of gender identity. I include the positionality here because anyone can experience misogyny and sexism depending on the perception of the perpetrators either interpersonally or systemically.

The History and Context of Hysteria

To understand the context, we have to look at the history and oppression of hysteria. Hysteria (in the modern context of psychology) emerged in the nineteenth century and is difficult to define by design and often applied to traumatized, unruly, and broken women. The main patriarchs who contributed to hysterical study were Jean-Martin Charcot and Sigmund Freud. I only mention this because it’s important to know their names moving forward for any of this to make sense. The beginning of this started with Charcot literally putting women whose lives had been marked by rape, abuse, exploitation, and poverty on display in his Tuesday lectures (which were open to the public) to show his findings on hysteria. This was actually seen as restoring dignity (fucking yikes) to the women because before Charcot these hysterical women were cast aside and not treated at all. In Charcot’s work, the women’s speech was seen as simply “vocalization” and their inner lives, their stories, their words, were silenced. After hearing a woman cry for her mother during one of the public sessions Charcot remarked, “Again, note these screams. You could say it’s a lot of noise over nothing” (Herman).

This led to Freud, Charcot’s student, wanting to surpass his teacher by discovering the cause of hysteria. This was disastrous. Freud started with listening to the hysterics. In doing so, he learned and believed them about the abuse, rape, and exploitation of their pasts. He then published his work and gave a lecture on it. The work rivals even contemporary psychological work on trauma in it’s level of compassion, understanding, and treatment of survivors. However, he was then labeled a feminist (this was all happening during the first wave of feminism) and professionally ostracized. How in the world could these aristocratic French men be sexually abusing their wives, sisters, and daughters??? Insanity, truly. And... This always fucking gets me. He recanted his work and then told his patients they all imagined it because they wanted to be sexually abused by their husbands, brothers, and fathers. This set back the study of trauma by literally a century. One colleague called his work “a scientific fairy-tale” simply because he had the audacity to believe victims. Also, I want to point out that the famous hysteria case during this time was the case of Anna O and she was ultimately villainized by the entire psychological community for going into crisis after her care provider abruptly ended their therapeutic relationship after two years of DAILY sessions.

Anyway. We can see how the power of these men over vulnerable women silenced, pathologized, villainized, infantilized, and used male ‘logic’ to completely destroy their credibility and lives under the guise of care and hysteria. Even when credible men lend their expertise and voices to the victims, their voices are silenced. This particular iteration of hysteria lasted over a century, and we are still dealing with the consequences of these actions and ideas within our social construction, medical and mental health care, interpersonal relationships, and more. Patriarchal pillars such as hysteria don’t die. We saw it move from hysteria to schizophrenia (which used to have the same symptoms of hysteria before the diagnosis changed in more contemporary psychology) after this which led to widespread lobotomies and electroshock therapy (my least favorite case of a lobotomy being done is on a woman who was diagnosed with LITERALLY ‘narcissist husband’) to depression in the 40s-50s with the over prescription of benzodiazepines to house wives to keep them in a zombie state (these prescriptions were sometimes double and triple what we take today with the intent of medical catatonia). In my opinion, as well as other counselors within the feminist therapy theoretical orientation, we are currently seeing it with the emergence of borderline-personality disorder. Think about how BPD is treated and demonized for a second. I professionally know therapists who refuse to work with BPD clients due to this villainization and just fucking gross perception of victims.

These are just the highlights, but it shows the history of hysteria. There have been centuries of women being marked as hysterical and the cures have ranged from lobotomy to bed rest (which sounds not so bad but read the Yellow Wallpaper and get back to me on that one). While the Yellow Wallpaper is fictional, the life behind it was not. After the traumatic birth of her child the author, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, was remanded to bed rest by the authority of her husband and doctor. Within the sphere of medical control, hysterical women are often treated as children while their doctors make decisions for their mental well-being without consulting them, or they hide the truth of their procedures for ��the woman’s own good” and because “she’s hysterical and wouldn’t comprehend the logical need for this.” She then had a mental break due to the treatment. Again, we see hysterical women being silenced, infantilized, discredited from their own experiences, and under the narrative control of male logic and voices.

Hysterical women have often historically been seen as beneath men, except for when they’re dangerous. Listening to victims is inherently threatening to the status quo because all trauma comes from a systemic framework. The framework that upholds patriarchal power. It’s easy to see why that would be seen as dangerous to powerful men. We saw this with the European witch genocide in which oppressed women were targeted and wiped out under the excuse of what was considered women’s work. (Before this time, witchcraft wasn’t tied to any religion and was mostly just seen as women’s work. It was targeted specifically to have an excuse to persecute widows, homeless, disabled, and vulnerable women who no longer had men to reign over them during a time of political unrest and scarce resources). This time period saw hysterical and traumatized women demonized as dangerous, evil, immoral, hypersexual, and supernaturally wily. A threat to the moral fabric of society.

(Interesting history side note: this caused the view of women’s base traits we have today. It stemmed from the Victorian era that came after this time period in which women learned if they behaved a certain way, they would be spared the stake. For example, before the witch trials, women were actually seen as the ones with unsatiable sexual appetites, something we culturally prescribe to men now.)

Notice how none of this has to do with the actual abuse that happens to the women, but instead the labeling and treatment of women when they are already showing the symptoms of abuse, trauma, control, exploitation, and rape.

Jason Todd, The Hysteric

So, how does this relate to Jason Todd? To say that Jason has experienced trauma would be an understatement. Extreme poverty, loss of parent to death and addiction, loss of parent to the justice system, parental abuse, manipulation, witnessing violent crimes, witnessing the aftermath of sexual abuse and assault, arguably (not explicit in the text) his own sexual trauma, witnessing the dead bodies of victims, a violent death, and subsequently a violent resurrection. There’s also an argument to be made for being a child soldier and how that is romanticized up until he dies, but the text does not treat this as traumatizing.

Now, I’m not going to dive into the trauma he experienced. The purpose of this is only to look at how he’s framed as hysterical in the narrative, and as I stated, hysteria was a word slapped on women after they tried to talk about their trauma or exhibited symptoms (or were just unruly women). Jason does embody many facets of the victim experience and this is just one of them.

Feelings vs “logic” - Firstly, it is really hard to talk calmly about things that you carry, your experiences, your trauma, and things that specifically harm you. It is easy to talk calmly about things that don’t. This is why there is an abuse tactic of gaslighting or silencing victims by framing their very real reactions to harm or their triggers as abuse, this is known as “reactive abuse.” This tactic is also employed in oppressive settings where the privileged group will often default to ‘winning’ a debate by being able to remain calm while the marginalized group whose life, personhood, etc is being harmed by the things being discussed and are unable to have a sterilized, emotionless debate.

Both of these settings fit Jason nicely within the moral context of vigilante comics. He fought back, he didn’t lay down, and he will do what he deems as necessary to protect himself and others from his fate. This, however, is framed by Bruce and others as being just as bad as his murderer or even just as bad as Joe fucking Chill. To put this in perspective of a real world equivalent. Combine every billionaire on this planet into one person and instead of their shitty business practices murdering people, they did it with their own two hands. And due to their resources and political power, they would never, ever stop killing or be reasonably contained. More people would die with absolute 100% certainty. Would killing that one person make you equally bad as that person or violating the sanctity of life? That’s the moral question that Bruce puts onto Jason. While the moral question inherent to Jason is actually, is there a line worth crossing to provide reasonable safety (for yourself or the nameless community)? There is actually a difference between those two questions and the reactive abuse framing is certainly a choice. Also, it is funny to me that a man with the amount of power Bruce has (and frequently misuses) can lecture a murder victim on the misuse of power and morality. Are we supposed to be agree with his stoic, philosophical lecturing to a marginalized, abused, murder victim? (yes, we are). Bruce leverages (personal) philosophy against victim’s voice for their own safety, and take a wild guess which one is framed as logical and reasonable.

Jason’s morals come secondary to Bruce’s philosophy in a universe where there is still harm being done (but it’s an acceptable harm). Why is killing the line? Bruce is regularly destroying families and lives by feeding them into the prison industrial complex while supporting it with his whole chest. Or he’s disabling and seriously maiming people with the level of violence he uses.

Crying - Throughout the entire story of Under the Red Hood, we never once see Bruce emote while interacting with Jason outside of tight grimaces. With the exception of the shock he shows at the Joker’s life being threatened, which... Okay, suuure. We never see him cry during any of their interactions, but we do see Jason cry. Specifically, we see him crying when he’s at his most emotionally vulnerable and physically dangerous to the toxic male power fantasy. This kind of vulnerability is rarely shown by male characters, and when it is, it’s usually done with a mist of a tear in their eyes or their face is hidden. There are a few narrative devices that allow men to cry, but they are the exception rather than the rule. Usually, it’s to play for laughs, infantilize, or emasculate. Here, we see Jason combine the violence of a bad victim, bucking the system of power, and fully crying. Just slide right into that hysterical coding like a glove. Jason often shows his feelings entirely. Time and time again, the readers have seen Jason have breakdowns, cry, and be overcome with grief. This is tied to his portrayal as hysterical and unstable in the narrative, but in actuality it shows his capacity for love and how vastly impactful his death was.

This fits nicely with the next point that Jason fits into the hysterical box. Love is framed as one of his key faults. A son reaching for his father.

Love - One of Jason’s defining features is the amount of love and compassion he holds. He’s willing to put up with any treatment, shoulder blame, and sacrifice himself for others to almost an unhealthy degree. However, this doesn’t extend to what he defines as his baseline safety. This one line of safety is the one thing that can’t be crossed, even with all of the love he feels for his father. He desperately wants to feel connection, have a family, and be loved in return with the same unwavering ferocity love that he gives. This is such a fucking key part of the victim experience, especially victims of childhood trauma. The desperation to just be chosen. He’s raw and honest with his reasonable expectation for love to provide safety for him and that is framed as hysterical, needy, unstable, naive, and fucking childish. Victims know what they need to have safety, and this framing as Bruce knowing what’s best for Jason and literally giving a cold shoulder to his needs is disgusting.

Less than - Jason is portrayed as less powerful than Bruce even though they have similar expertise. There are so many instances of this that if you just open any media they both appear in, you can close your eyes, point, and land on an example. It makes me die laughing every time I remember that the Arkham games made Jason just one inch shorter than Bruce. Like, they can’t even be the same fucking height, that’s the level of insecure masculinity surrounding this relationship. Jason cannot and will never be able to be on par with Bruce because of his hysterical femininity and the power of Bruce being the self insert for the toxic male power fantasy. This power dynamic applies to the other batkids as well, but specifically in Jason’s case there is an element of hysteria. The reasons change because he’s so inconsistently written but usually he can’t surpass or even meet a stalemate with Bruce because he’s too emotional, he’s unstable, traumatized, and simply Bad. It’s even explicitly stated by Alfred in Under the Red Hood.

Victim blaming - Jason deserved to die because he didn’t follow orders. Jason deserved to die for not following his training. Jason deserved to die because he was an angry Robin (oh no a child had an appropriate reaction to sexual violence). Jason deserved to die for being human.

Infantilization - Jason is repeatedly infantilized in contrast to Bruce. When given the ultimatum at the end of UtRH, Bruce speaks to Jason like a child, or a bad dog. Ordering him to do things like, “enough!” or “stop this now.” Bruce knows what’s best for Jason (and for everyone in the entire world), we should really just take his word for it and not the victim’s. Imagine staring at a 6 foot wall of a man and scolding him like a child. Beyond that, as mentioned above, his views of love and safety are framed as childish. Even though they are actually leaning more toward collectivism rather than the rampant individualism that Bruce so strongly defers to. (also, just a side note, collectivistic methods in healing from trauma is actually the only scientifically reliable way to heal. Every other method has absolutely abysmal results and higher rates of relapses.)

Silenced and Safety Villainized - Jason is silenced in his own story, acceptable and honored when he was dead and met with vitriol in life. All of the love given to him as Robin turns to ash as soon as he collides with Bruce’s power and morals. I think any survivor can relate to the experience of being told that what happened to them was a long time ago and it’s time to move on. Or even that they’re leveraging their own safety to get what they want in a manipulative way. Regardless of whether or not there was any accountability or justice for the harm done to them. Alfred asks Bruce if he should remove Jason’s memorial in the cave like two seconds after learning of his resurrection because Jason’s methods of securing safety for himself and using his own voice to define his story. Bruce was able to tell Jason’s story when he died. He was able to memorialize, grieve, and ultimately define Jason’s story because Jason wasn’t there to speak for himself. When Jason does speak for himself, he is villainized and literally stripped of his past significance as Robin (or a good victim) by Alfred within seconds. This is reflected in real life with adoptee advocates speaking about how adoption is unethical/harmful/traumatizing and subsequently being framed as ungrateful, selfish, etc. They were little perfect victims without voices before they grew up and could speak for themselves.

Erased - Gestures at the entirety of how Jason is either talked about or completely erased during the 90s Tim Robin run. He wasn’t convenient to talk about, as victims rarely are. This also ties into how Steph’s death was erased and Babs was written like she “won” at trauma by simply... beating it???

Dangerous - Jason is framed as threatening the basic fabric of society (in a story with vigilantes this is hard to do, so they have him oppose the no-kill rule, and then doubled down on Bruce’s characterization of no-killing). Anything that bucks the status-quo is usually marked as villainous in mainstream vigilante/superhero comics, but this is a step beyond that into the interpersonal and political sphere. Hysterical women are often framed as dangerous, villains, snakes, and treacherous (the other side of this coin is weak, pathetic, and pitiable) because they are victimized and then have the audacity to do something to the system about it. Whether that be the system of their immediate families or the political sphere. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Jason was paired with Talia in Lost Days to hammer this point home to the reader. It could’ve just as easily been anyone with access to the Pit that rescued him, but no, we had DC’s favorite brown, treacherous, venomous, female punching bag.

Bruce Wayne, The Batman

Bruce fits well into the father, enforcer, and logical man slot in Jason’s hysterical story. There is a history of ownership throughout women’s history when it comes to their subjugation to men. Women actually couldn’t be put on trial before the witchcraft genocide because they weren’t seen as legally a person. Their male owner would be put on trial instead. Women would go from being owned by their fathers to their husbands after entering marriage, the most dangerous woman being one who isn’t owned (orphaned, widowed). Bruce does treat (and even thinks) about Jason like he’s something that he owns. He’s his protege, his son, and his responsibility.

The narrative function of Bruce as a perpetrator in Jason’s story.

“The perpetrator asks the bystander (reader) to do nothing. He appeals to the universal desire to see, hear, and speak no evil. The victim, on the contrary, asks the bystander (reader) to share the burden of pain. The victim demands action, engagement and remembering” (Herman).

Bruce does remember what happened to Jason. He keeps a permanent memorial to his dead son. However, this doesn’t translate into any kind of tangible action. He doesn’t do anything to actually stop the murderer who took his son’s life and he continues to throw child soldiers at the problem of crime (how many children have died for the sake of his no-kill rule at this point?). When met with the reality of his inaction, he fits into the perpetrator’s role like a glove:

“In order to escape accountability for his crimes, the perpetrator does everything in his power to promote forgetting. Secrecy and silence are the first line of defense... If secrecy fails, the perpetrator attacks the credibility of his victim. If he cannot silence her absolutely, he tries to make sure that no one listens... From the most blatant denial to the most sophisticated and elegant rationalization... One can expect to hear the same predictable apologies: it never happened; the victim exaggerates; the victim brought it upon herself; and in any case it’s time to forget the past and move on. The more powerful the perpetrator, the greater his prerogative to name and define reality, the more completely his arguments prevail” (Herman).

I think it is simply fact at this point that Bruce is the head patriarch in Gotham if not, arguably, in the entirety of DC. That level of power in the narrative cannot be ignored, especially when faced with the very real, screaming voice of a victim that Bruce uses all of that power to silence. Bruce, because of his status as patriarch, default protagonist, and self-insert for the toxic male power fantasy, has the ultimate power to name and define reality. Especially to the reader. Bruce doesn’t deny what happened to Jason, because that’s physically impossible to do. But what he does do is ensure that no one listens to Jason, discredits him, and rationalizes his own inaction, actions of violence towards Jason, and victim blames.

Here’s Bruce using the most base form of denial and victim blaming:

After this panel, Bruce also revokes Dick’s access to his childhood home simply for asking a question.

This theme extends to other members of the batfam because of Bruce’s narrative power over them. It’s why we can’t have Dick, Steph, Babs, or even Damian step in and relate to Jason’s trauma or vindicate him. Even when we, the readers, can see parallels and wonder why these conversations or bonds aren’t forming. Jason HAS to be a lone wolf because he is hysterical and a threat to the system of power. This also shows why most of his runs in group settings outside of the batfam fall apart or fall flat. If he was humanized by any other character or had his trauma validated in any actionable way, it would be recognizing the failure of the toxic male power fantasy. The readers are not supposed to see the flaw in this system that allows the bodies of children to pile up and sympathize with one of their voices. It would be a crack in the system of power that exists not only in the source material, but very much within our real world.

Side note: Jason is allowed to interact with others in a wholesome and validating way when he no longer threatens the systemic power of Bruce. When he is silenced by the writers and plays the “nice victim” (like Babs does), he is allowed connection. Only when his healing is done in a way that doesn’t demand action and is only his personal responsibility (gotta love the rampant individualism). If he is hysterical, demands action, and asks for someone to be held accountable for his death, he is shoved away into a lone wolf box. Examples: Gotham Knights (from my very basic understanding, I haven’t played the game, only seen play throughs) and WFA. Victims are acceptable if they do their healing in a neat little box and stay there, but hysterics are the ones who step outside of that box.

Red Hood, The Political Voice of Hysteria and Trauma

Red Hood is deeply political in terms of hysteria and trauma. Herman stated that victims and those that authentically care for them or listen to them intently (whether that be interpersonally, clinically, or professionally) are silenced, ostracized, and discredited. Survivors need a social context that supports the victim and that joins the victim and witness in a common alliance. On an interpersonal level this looks like family, friends, and loved ones. However, trauma is systemic and the social context mentioned above must also be given on a wider social scale. For this to be done, there had to be systemic change and political action. Jason had the interpersonal social support and witnesses to his trauma ripped from him by Bruce. So, we see him move onto a systemic level of addressing trauma in his own political way. He literally cannot escape Bruce and this constant trigger because of Bruce’s philosophy and just... fucking power to define reality... being re-enforced constantly in DC no matter where he tries to go. So, he tries to heal by taking the systemic issue of perpetrators who cannot be held accountable or have fallen through the cracks of accountability into his own hands in a very personal way. A one man political movement.

Whether his methods are moral or ethical doesn’t really matter in the overall framing him as hysteric. He simply has to be opposed by the male power fantasy in some significant way. This shows that the goals, needs, and work towards victim’s and the marginalized’s freedom is dangerous, doomed to fail, and ultimately unethical if the victim is framed in a villain light instead of the more pathetic/pitiable iteration of hysteria.

You can see how this is not only problematic but also reflects the real world values instilled in arguments against human rights movements (which are intrinsically tied to victims rights). Defunding the police is dangerous, the MeToo movement is dangerous, abolition is dangerous, trans rights are dangerous, etc etc etc. Think of the victims voices tied to each of these movements and how they are integral to the real change offered by these political movements. You can’t have human rights violations without creating victims. And you can’t have political movements surrounding human rights without listening to victims.

We can also see how the individuals within these movements are ostracized, villianized, and often silenced (sometimes ultimately silenced with death) because they rally against the systems of power that victimized them. The framing of traumatized, vulnerable people as hysterical is integral to upholding the system of power that traumatizes and harms them.

A popular comic book movie adaptation that highlights the importance of Jason’s hysterical framing and how it impacts the political narrative/how he is written is V for Vendetta. To be fair, it received an insane amount of backlash by conservatives (not within leftist or liberal spaces) for V’s methods in over throwing fascism, but only because of the movie’s release date being so close to 9/11. V and Jason have many parallels, it’s only the lack of hysterical framing that makes V more palatable to the viewer. We are told, not shown through behavior, that V is traumatized by his past and he does not pick a fight with the protagonist that functions as a toxic male power fantasy. He is the protag, with his version of Bruce being men who are not framed in a sympathetic, heroic, or relatable light.

Additionally, there is literally an unemoting mask standing between the viewer and V, whereas Jason takes off his helmet to allow the reader to see every aspect of his trauma and pain. V readily dehumanizes himself into an idea, rather than a person. Whereas Jason screams to be seen as a person in a very hysterical way. So, we can see how the framing of Jason as hysteric against the logical, heroic man greatly impacts how the audience reads him when contrasted by a very similar political story/character who uses similar (and arguably more violent) methods to meet his ends. (This just made me realize that I would die for a Jason adaptation written by the Wachowski sisters).

Jason’s work as Red Hood is seeped in leftist, victim, and community centered politics. His portrayal as a hysterical antagonist (at best an anti-hero) is rooted in misogyny and upholding patriarchal, capitalist, and the prison industrial complex systems of power. He is the righteous embodiment of “the personal is political” for victims. Even his Robin run draws attention to and shows correct, angry reactions to the system of patriarchal power in sexual violence.

Patriarchal Writing and Enforcement

Jason is girl-coded and hysterical because he’s supposed to be emasculated, discredited, and disliked by the reader. He serves the narrative function of boosting the toxic male power fantasy of Bruce and in doing so, the writers use one of the oldest tropes in the book (one that we have all subconsciously been taught since birth) to get the reader on their side. Make him a hysterical woman.

References: for anyone interested in furthering their understanding of any of the concepts mentioned above and to, you know, use sources for my own writing.

Barstow, A. Witchcraze

Bondi, L., Burman. E. Women and Mental Health: A Feminist Review

Freud, S. The Aietology of Hysteria

Gilman, C. P. The Yellow Wallpaper

Herman, J. Trauma and Recovery

Ussher, J. The Madness of Women.

Van der Kolk, B. The Body Keeps the Score

Wilkin, L., Hillock, S. Enhancing MSW Students’ Efficacy in Working with Trauma, Violence, and Oppression: An Integrated Feminist-Trauma Framework for Social Work Education

#jason todd #bruce wayne #hysteria #dc #meta #clovis writes #listen I regularly have to write 20-30 page research papers on therapy theory and mental health #I'm so sorry this is so long but it is actually impossible to shorten it #one of my profs once said I write in a way that's academic but still readable and know the meaning of brevity #and I was like: sir I've never been accused of brevity before #this took 3 days to write and get my thoughts straight on it #remember: you asked for this lol #holy fuck the word count on this is nearly 5k I'm so sorry #I literally can't proof read this because my brain has shut off from reading this post #there's probably some stuff misspelled and also missing from this but I'm done with it lol

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oh-saints · 1 year

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sunshine becomes you (pt.1)

Despite his young age, Martin's the captain for the Arsenal for a reason. He's calm and collected most of the time and opponents rarely could ever entice any provoking display of emotion from him. But there's one person in London Colney that rubs him in all the wrong way...

Grumpy!Martin Ødegaard x Sunshine!OC

word count: 3.7k

tw: mentions of cheating (but not the MCs)

note: due to the popular demand (thank you whoever started this and @wingsofanillyrian for telling me to drop this down), here goes a Martin Ødegaard two-shot because he deserves this and we all deserve this. but as usual, i happen to write this at dawn A CENTURY AGO so this is ofc not proof-read. oh, and feedbacks are always welcome! hope you like them as much as i like writing them!

sunshine becomes you masterlist here

“Good morning, Granit! Good morning, Martin!”

While the Albanian-descendant reciprocated her greeting, the Norwegian only recognised her presence by throwing a nonchalant sideway look at her, followed by a deep sigh, before continuing his way to the interior part of London Colney.

No words exchanged, as usual.

“Don’t mind the lad, Eve,” Granit must’ve sensed her—daily, by now—disappointment. It had been more than a year since she first started this fantastic job at Arsenal, yet the creative midfielder hadn’t even spared her a full glance all this while, bar the first time he signed the contract. “It always takes a while for him to start his engine in the morning.”

“It’s just…” Eve sighed, unable to hold the pout from showing up on her lips. She only had good intentions; she loves the club and the players who played for the badge, greeting them was simply her way of expressing gratitude towards them. “I wonder what I’d done wrong…”

Granit threw her a sympathetic look as he signed some papers for his packages. “Oh, honey… don’t we all wonder the same?”

＊✿❀○❀✿＊＊✿❀○❀✿＊＊✿❀○❀✿＊

As soon as Martin stepped into London Colney building that one, particular morning, he immediately sensed something was off before he could put a finger on it.

At first, he thought he was only imagining things but later, as he saw Louisa running back and forth to every side of the building as if she’d catch fire on her arse if she didn’t, he realised something had gone terribly off the mark.

Tracking back, only then he noticed everything had gone wrong from the first moment his feet landed on his club’s training centre. No citrus scent poking its way to his nose and certainly no bright-as-fuck ‘good morning’ greeted him right after. No heels clicking throughout the hallway at this hour and was instead replaced by Louisa’s trainers screeching against the wooden floor as the junior receptionist ran, trying very hard to fill in her counterpart’s unusually immaculate pace on getting the delivery job done.

Not that he minded Eve’s absence—he actually longed for the day it came—but it had been a year or so and she never failed to greet everyone with her chirpy voice and a blazing smile the first thing everyone walked into the facility. It was only natural everyone thought that was naturally her friendly personality.

Well, except him, of course.

Martin simply thought she was impossible. How could someone be all sunshine blazing at full watt, not only every morning but throughout the day as well? One couldn’t be that happy at every moment in her life.

His take was it was either she wanted everyone in Colney to like her or it was her façade to hide her true personality. Either way, he didn’t like any kind of fake person and he’d appreciate it if one day he could prove his theory true.

“Ah, fuck me,” Suddenly a Scottish accent boomed throughout the gym, signaling the club’s resident DJ, Kieran Tierney, had graced the facility his presence. “Lou messed up my stuffs, mate.”

“Yeah, she did mine, too,” Martin always wondered how Kieran and Rob could compliment each other so well when one was always angry all the time and the other was super happy-go-lucky kind of guy. “No offense to Lou, but I swear I need Eve back asap.”

Kieran sighed at the reality as he played the opening song for the day.

Ain’t no sunshine when she’s gone.

＊✿❀○❀✿＊＊✿❀○❀✿＊＊✿❀○❀✿＊

A week passed by and London Colney was still missing its beloved front desk. Louisa was visibly struggling more and more each day to complete a job that was supposed to be shared between two people, and the residents of the training centre were getting more and more anxious that Eve wasn’t coming back.

Initial rumours had it that Eve asked for an emergency leave last week, right before the home game against Leicester City, via text. It caused quite a stir amongst the front office staffs for—apparently—its anomaly:

1) Eve rarely texts people about work,

2) Eve finally used her leave for the first time since joining the club,

3) George, the Head of HR, approved of her block leave at this time of the year without further questioning.

Not that Martin was paying attention to the gossips, God no. But he could swear the women could definitely bite his ears off during lunch if they kept it this way. Martin silently prayed for Eve to comeback, genuinely this time around, for his ears’ sanity and more importantly, to avoid falling follicles of everyone’s heads due to Lou’s incompetence.

However, after full ten days, Martin knew straight away Eve was back as soon as Colney’s majestic doors went wide open at his approaching steps.

Albeit faint, the signature citrus scent from the air humidifier she turned on lingered in the air and Martin, to be very completely honest, had never felt more familiar with the grandiose training facility than at that moment. It was as if half of Colney’s soul was slowly brought back to life.

He was expecting the woman to throw him her overwhelmingly annoying good morning, Martin! that made his ears rung as he entered Colney but to his surprise, no sounds ever made it to his hearing organs. Martin prided his hearing ability just fine, so this should be recalled for its credibility this time.

Who would’ve thought the day Martin had been dreaming of come earlier than expected?

He was caught off guard, to say the least, that he had to spare the woman a glance to make sure this was reality. But there she was, behind her desk, back straight up ever so professional, eyes down as she scribbled on something—everything was as usual, except for the whole different exterior she was donning.

Eyes cold and lifeless, pale lips on a perfectly straight line.

Martin should be glad his hypothesis was becoming align with reality but instead, he felt more annoyed at the sight—so much more annoyed than when she blasted the ball fire of sun towards his direction.

If Eve tried so hard to change her demeanour, she should take a look at the mirror; going full-on cold city girl didn’t suit her at all. Nothing makes Martin more irritated than someone trying so hard to be intimidating so others can take them seriously.

＊✿❀○❀✿＊＊✿❀○❀✿＊＊✿❀○❀✿＊

“You’re resigning?”

Louisa tried so hard to maintain the decibel of her voice but it came out as a whispered screech instead.

But that wasn’t the reason why Martin stopped in his track, it was the sentence that escaped Louisa’s mouth. No one else other than those two front desk staffs, Louisa and Eve, was around, which meant Louisa was addressing the issue of Eve resigning.

Of all surprise Martin had been getting today, this was the most shocking one. Eve and the word ‘resign’ truthfully didn’t match well in one sentence. Everyone—including Martin to some extent, thanks to the talking walls of the building—knew how much Eve enjoyed her job, being a lifelong fan of Arsenal herself.

“I am,” Eve sounded firm and final from where Martin stood behind the wall. “I just submitted my resignation letter to George this morning.”

“Did you get an offering from somewhere else?” Lou asked, but Martin somehow knew the answer to that question before Eve even answered her partner. “I knew they’re not paying you well for the fantastic job you’ve been doing.”

“It’s not that, Lou,” Eve let out a very tired sigh. It was starting to feel like she wasn’t even trying to put up with the reserved persona today, she was as she sounded like; simply exhausted and resigned. “I don’t know why you haven’t heard anything yet when it’s literally what everyone’s been talking about. Bob cheated on me with my friend, Lou. He brought her along to the physio’s internal party last week, when I was mourning for my mother. Mourning, mind you!”

Yeah, Eve might put a foot on Martin’s nerves with no avail every morning since he signed for Arsenal but at that moment—God, fucking hell—Martin couldn’t decide which one irked him more:

a) there was a fellow human being that acted less humane than a pitted dog, or

b) it took another air-wasting scumbag to prove his own theory of Eve being capable to show emotion other than elation on her face.

“I can’t possibly face everyone here without being pitied by. I don’t want to let them pity me,” While her sentence induced a resolution, her strained voice gave away everything that was silently crumbling inside of her. “I’m not a charity case, for God’s sake.”

Nothing could fill in the seething anger and exasperation in the air.

“I can’t change your mind, can I?” Louisa asked, but the silence that followed pretty much answered everything.

＊✿❀○❀✿＊＊✿❀○❀✿＊＊✿❀○❀✿＊

“Hi, Eve. I’m coming to get something from home.”

Eve could confidently say she has the ability to match a voice to a name without looking at the speaker, but this time she had to look up. None of the Colney residents sounded like this man, complete with an acquired Cockney pronunciation but a slightly mixed accent she couldn’t put her finger on.

Oh, how much she regretted sourcing where the voice came from.

“Hello? Earth to Eve?”

She had to remind herself to take a huge, deep breath and close her gaping mouth. “Martin.”

“Yes, Eve. Now can you—” It seemed Martin pursed his lips to stop himself from saying something. “Can I get the packs my mom sent me here?”

Eve almost fell off her seat at the significant difference in the tone Martin used before and after putting his lips on a straight line. Now, it was pretty clear he was agitated at first before biting his own tongue and calmed himself down, switching to a gentler tone—of which was the world’s newest seven wonders, Eve presumed.

“I—” It was honestly too much for Eve to take on at once that she had to remind herself to collect herself. “Yes, of course. They came this morning, let me get them for you.”

“That’d be nice, thanks.”

Okay, this is officially weird, Eve thought as she walked into the mailing room behind the partiture. First, instead of tailgating someone else to fetch his packages or letters, Martin graced his presence to the front office, alone. Second, he speak nicely to her. Thirdly, he was able to say ‘thank you’?!

“Here’s the small one, Jordan can help with the big one when you clock out.”

“Oh, no need. I’ll just hail it over my shoulder before I clock out,” Eve could definitely tell Martin was in awkward place, shifting his weight from the right foot to the left. “Where do I sign for these?”

Did someone dare him to talk to me? Eve couldn’t help but be suspicious. None of these made sense. “Here and here. There are also some mails from the fans back there. I’ve sorted them out for you.”

“Ah, okay. Great,” Martin reached for the pen as fast as the lightning. “Thanks.”

Oh, how much Eve hated this kind of pregnant silence. There was a reason why she wanted people to warm up to her so she could talk anything and everything to fill in these dreadful moments, but it seemed like Martin forgot to pick up the notes she left on the locker room.

Heck—Eve couldn’t think of anything else but Martin walking past her notes without sparing a glance. He’d detested anything that could relate him to her.

“I heard you’re resigning.”

Okay, the Earth is definitely ending tomorrow. Martin Ødegaard making small talk to her?!

“I see the wailing wall has reached your ears,” Eve tried to laugh off how much he put her into the same awkward place as he was. How could he know...? Is that my heart skipping a beat? “But yeah, I’ll be gone after the upcoming Manchester City game.”

“So soon, huh?” With that, Martin signed off everything necessary. “Have you thought about the parting gift?”

“I’ll probably send you all a customized letter or something.”

Eve couldn’t believe her ears as Martin scoffed at her idea. She was only joking, sure, but it enticed another reaction from the Norwegian other than annoyance? What kind of sorcery is this?

“You don’t strike me as someone who writes,” Shoot me, how the fuck did he know? “I’d quit with one last bang if I were you.”

“That’s a wonderful idea,” Eve couldn’t believe she was actually considering Martin’s idea. Oh, how much she’d like to leave an imprint here, especially to that ex-boyfriend of hers. She’d pay to make him regret his decision until the day he died. “But only if I knew how.”

“I’m sure you’ll figure it out,” Martin picked up his box, signaling he was departing. “You’re a bright woman.”

＊✿❀○❀✿＊＊✿❀○❀✿＊＊✿❀○❀✿＊

“Morning, Eve.”

Even though Eve could now register his voice without seeing the handsome face, Eve swore to God she’d never get used to with Martin Ødegaard greeting her first. If he kept up with being this friendly—yes, at this point Eve considered Martin being friendly, despite their (still) lack of interaction—Eve might not survive the New Year.

“Oh! Hi, Martin!” She didn’t even bother covering up her surprise. “What can I get you today?”

“My mom sent me something again, she said.”

“Uh, I haven’t received any. I’ll let you know in theWhatsApp group if they’re here.”

“Alright, thanks,” and off he went.

Back again with two-word answers. Maybe Eve put the friendly label far too soon.

But it’s okay, she thought to herself. At least I resign from this place without any beef with anyone here.

“Why are you smiling to yourself?”

“Jesus, Martin!” Eve genuinely put her hands on her chest from the shock of Martin returning. She’d literally be dead before the New Year at this point. “I’m not smiling.”

“You are,” Eve wondered how Martin could say something meant to tease her with such a straight face. “I’m just going to take it as you’re planning the plan to leave this place with a bang.”

“Ah—yeah, about that,” Eve shifted her weight to the other feet nervously, remembering how she went to countless Tinder dates these past two weeks without any result as to whom she’d go to the party with. “I’m thinking of going to the Christmas party with someone but none of the dates I’ve met so far could go on par my standard.”

“And what is the standard?”

“Considering Bob’s ugly, I’d say someone younger than him but more good-looking than he’ll ever be,” Eve shrugged, masking off the disgust she once dated such guy. “But has to be way smarter than he is.”

“Okay, so in short,” Eve’s feet moved backwards on its own when Martin placed his crossed arms on the table, body leaning in towards her as if he was thinking hard. As if whatever Eve might say next interested him. “You need someone better in all aspects.”

“Exactly.”

“What if I know someone who might not be smarter but so much more popular than him?”

Martin’s helping her?! “Define more popular.”

“Verified account on Instagram.”

Martin’s helping her. When would this guy stop surprising her? “Awesome, when can I meet him? You know, to run through stuffs so he doesn’t blow—”

“Chill, Eve,” How could Martin sense she was getting excited but at the same time panicking because of hoshe badly wanted to blow Bob’s arse off the water? “He knows the deal.”

“He’s like, what? A professional con artist?” At her submission, Martin laughed. Like the genuine laugh she only saw when he was around others that was definitely not her. Like the one that lit up his entire face, cracking away that cold, Scandinavian features. “What are you, Martin Ødegaard? Why are you friends with such people?”

“As tempting as that idea sounds like, sadly I don’t have that kind of friends,” The smile remained etched on Martin’s face and Eve had to remind herself how to breathe properly. She was devastated he was the only person that wasn’t talking to her then, she was devastated he was the only person that could coax this bodily response out of her now. “What I mean is he knows about the whole Christmas party thing.”

“Is there another staff that’s single that I don’t know of?” Eve immediately recounted all of the single male staffs in the building that could potentially be her partner for a night in her mind. None that met her standard. “Who is it?”

“You’re looking at him.”

Image be damned, Eve must’ve contorted her face all in the wrong directions like she usually did when her friends dropped the bomb they were getting a gunshot wedding. Not that she was judgemental or anything, but it always came as a shock when they did, growing up together and all.

Who the fuck could contain their composure when Martin Ødegaard dropped the same kind of bomb? Nuclear might as well be more fitting in this context.

“What?” Martin’s face turned into something else, confidence was definitely not in the cards anymore. Eve immediately rectified her expression, not wanting the luxury of having Martin Ødegaard she’d seen minutes ago disappear into thin air. “Don’t I qualify?”

“No! I mean, yes—” Eve unconsciously reached for Martin’s arms when he started pulling himself away. “You do, you’re an excellent candidate—”

“But?”

“But you’re you,” Eve lifted her eyebrows in confusion, not knowing what else to say to emphasis he couldn’t possibly be her date for the Christmas party. “You’re Martin Ødegaard.”

“I don’t see anything that complicates your situation.”

Based on Martin’s expression, he truly didn’t see anything weird about it. About them coming from two whole different worlds. About them getting together meant it only happened in fairy tales. “You’re an Arsenal player. No one’s going to believe you’re going out with me.”

“Then we’ll make them believe.”

＊✿❀○❀✿＊＊✿❀○❀✿＊＊✿❀○❀✿＊

“Martin!”

As soon as she called the Norwegian, Eve regretted her action with her whole being. She moved without thinking much, too eager to talk the concerns that had been plaguing her for the past fortnight with her soon-to-be partner-in-crime, that she didn’t realise she was already reaching for his hands, stopping the football player in his place.

However, not only the said player stopped his tracks, but the rest of the canteen went silent at their once-in-a-lifetime—as far as the public knew anyway—interaction.

“Ummm,” Under everyone’s scrutiny, Eve faltered, her hands falling to her sides. “Uh, I—”

“Have my packages arrived?”

That was certainly not why she looked for him but as she met his eyes, she sensed that he was merely helping her out of the awkward situation. How she knew the hidden meaning behind his words, it was a wonder she certainly would have to figure out.

But later, not now, not when her brain was melting under the spotlight. How could Martin play a sold-out match almost every week? “Yes! Yes! The mailman needs your signature.”

“Alright, I’ll meet you downstairs.”

Without further ado, Eve dashed out from the canteen without looking back.

Stupid, stupid, stupid. Of course, everyone would look at them. Eve and calling the name ‘Martin’ didn’t belong in the same sentence—couldn’t, even. As far as everyone was concerned, there was an Atlantic Ocean between them.

Eve didn’t even realise she was restlessly pacing back and forth in her small space of working until Martin got a hold of her wrist, stopping her motion. She turned around to face him, unfazed with what had just happened.

“You’re panicking.”

Oh, how much she wanted to scream ‘you think?!’ at his face.

“Breathe,” Martin’s eyes told her it wasn’t a moot point, so she did. She still felt like she’d explode anytime soon. “You should stop doing that, it doesn’t suit you.”

“What?”

“Panicking,” he answered as easy as the breeze brushing her face. If she wasn't busy sending signals to her brain to not puke on him, she’d notice her breath was now turning more regularly due to the small circles Martin drew on the back of her hand he was holding.

“What does, then?”

“Talking to people, so talk to me. What’s up?”

Eve swore she’d warn Martin to stop whiplashing her reality left and right with his unpredictable answers after they wrapped up this whole fiasco. Like he knew everything about her. Like he wasn’t breathing fire down her way a week ago whenever she tried to talk to him.

Now, she had to confide him her biggest concern. “I don’t think I can do it.”

Martin didn’t show any reaction to her submission. Not a blink, not a muscle pulled—nada. And it scared her because she was used to seeing people’s reaction to what she said. She liked Martin more when she could read between his lines, like how he saved her from a trouble less than five minutes ago, and not this expressionless one.

“Why are you not saying anything?”

“I thought you have more to say,” Martin replied, as if it was the most obvious thing she should know. “I told you not to think, just walk me through whatever it is you’re feeling.”

“And I told you, I don’t think I can pull it off.”

“Why?”

“I heard he’s going to come.”

“Isn’t that the whole point?” Martin was still so calm and composed, it terrified her. While she liked when people used their brain for most parts, she should’ve come to someone else who could actually support her decision. “What are we going to do if he’s not there?”

“He knows I hate going to places like that, where I go against the company’s policy for internal dating,” Eve shook her head fervently, trying to make sense to Martin, albeit knowing how futile her attempt would be. Martin was the club’s captain for a reason. “He’s not going to believe this charade, Martin.”

“Good thing I’m technically not an employee here, then.”

Eve internally groaned—well, she thought she kept it to herself but it seemed like Martin caught on it.

“Look, Eve,”

What’s that sound? Right, that was the sound of her heart taking a deep plunge as Martin held her in place by the shoulders. It was amazing how light his grip was but it made her senses aware of nothing else but his hands on her shoulders.

“What he’s doing is basically parading a trophy girlfriend. You know how brilliant you are by refusing him? You showed him that you’re so much more than that,” There goes another beat of my heart. No one had spoken to Eve like that, especially with such confidence towards herself, not even her girlfriends that she usually sought advice for. “By coming with me, you’re basically giving him a big, fat fuck you in his face because it takes someone like me for you to break your own rules. You’re going to show him you know you’re worth and that he’s not worth your time from the beginning.”

A small part of Eve didn’t want to cede to Martin’s logic, proving to herself she was worrying over something so useless. “But what if that wench’s also there, Martin? I can’t stand the disrespect—”

“No one will disrespect you while I’m there, Eve. Not under my watch, they won’t,” Eve had heard so many men saying such lines with the same level of resolution in his voice, but never one with the same amount of determination that laced his words and plastered on his face.

It was Martin’s game face, meaning he didn’t intend to entertain child’s play.

“They’ll have to step over my dead body.”

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nightswatchdisbandmentera · 1 year

Text

There was this thread on r/asoiaf the other day that was complaining about how ASOIAF stans seem to lose all creativity when it comes to theorizing about Dany’s endgame. The OP argued that people are so sure that Dany’s story can only end in death even though nothing is set in stone and the story would still be very good if she lived to the end.

Predictably, the comments in the thread proceeded to double down on why Dany is 100% “doomed” and marked for death, which is very funny because not only did they completely miss OP’s point, but they started citing statistics that I have personally never heard of. How can anyone except George R.R Martin know what is 100% Dany’s endgame? Are there some mathematic equations I need to be aware of? Can someone share with the class please…

See, I agree with that OP big time. It’s a bit annoying to go through fandom spaces and have to see the same old posts about how Dany is an instrument of death and so she needs to be put out at the end of the story. Others will try to argue that she will die a hero as a means of being a bit more charitable. It seems that everywhere I go, Dany’s endgame always ends in death. There really is an obvious lack of creativity when it comes to speculating about her endgame.

I have an issue with using death to define Dany’s story because she is so much more than that. People get so caught up in the “bride of fire” and “daughter of death” aspects that they forget about what Dany actually does. She goes around liberating people! Yes she brings death…to those who harm others and deserve it. She is not bringing death wholesale to innocent people but she is bringing death and destruction to corrupt institutions. That’s the whole point of her character. She is a liberator. She is a savior! She is a dragon and the dragon cleanses. To the slaves she is the Breaker of Chains. To those who have glimpsed of the coming Long Night, she is the Prince(ss) That Was Promised. To all, she represents hope for the future. Hope for life and liberation from death.

Dany gained so much power throughout her arc so far and she could have taken a ship straight to Westeros, but she used her new found abilities to free people from slavery; she chose to liberate them from death. Really, that’s how I view Dany’s campaign against slavery. Slaves aren’t treated as people; their humanity is discarded, they have no will, no future, no hope. It’s almost like a death of the person though they may not physically be dead. Then in comes Daenerys Targaryen, a young girl with nothing but her dragons and her compassion, who says to them “you may not matter to them but you matter to me and I will save you”. Where the slaves didn’t have free will before, Dany gives it to them. I’m remembering the unsullied who didn’t even have names but Dany gave them the ability to pick and choose their own; which seems like such a small act but means so much more because names are important in humanizing people. She represents new beginnings.

Dany’s crusade across Slaver’s Bay is a big deal. She didn’t have to do it but she did it anyway. There was no personal gain for her but she did it because she cares so deeply about people. And then she gets to Meereen and decides to stay there because her “children” need her. She cannot and will not abandon strangers to a fate of death. And the people know that.

I’m just thinking of this quote:

“I am no lady,” the widow replied, “just Vogarro’s whore. You want to be gone from here before the tigers come. Should you reach your queen, give her a message from the slaves of Old Volantis.” She touched the faded scar upon her wrinkled cheek, where her tears had been cut away. “Tell her we are waiting. Tell her to come soon.”

- Tyrion VII, ADWD

And this one too:

“I told you, I know our little queen […] this Mother of Dragons, this Breaker of Chains, is above all a rescuer. The girl who drowned the slaver cities in blood rather than leave strangers to their chains can scarcely abandon her own brother’s son in his hour of peril.”

- Tyrion VI, ADWD

These people have never even met Dany but to them, she is hope and freedom and life! She is salvation, and that’s the point. She has spent much of her arc fighting slavery which is in preparation for her ultimate destiny as a savior to defeat the Others. Because they not only bring death to the land but they also threaten to enslave humanity through death. However, they cannot triumph over the Breaker of Chains; the great savior that is Daenerys Targaryen! That’s what her story has been building up to. And it’s not that Dany is saving people and peacing out (e.g., dying in a sacrifice). The point is that she herself persevered. And because she persevered, her people will too. It’s that her constant survival ensures that of others.

Dany grew up penniless, homeless, hungry, and even started out as a 13 year old slave to Khal Drogo. She could have given up but she didn’t because through everything, she is resilient. She is determination and perseverance in the face of death. When she walked into that funeral pyre she could have died, but she lived and emerged as the Mother of Dragons - these dragons that have been instrumental in freeing slaves and will ultimately be important in the Other’s defeat. She “died” in that pyre and was “reborn”, and this rebirth is moving her closer to ensuring that the rest of her people overcome death as well.

That’s why it’s more thematically meaningful for Dany to survive the Long Night, in my opinion. She, more than anyone, represents what it means to constantly fight against the odds. She represents what it means to go through all the worst life can throw at you and then not only come out on top, but turn around and use her own survival to ensure that of others’. She has lived through so many trials and persevered; she is the very embodiment of what it means to survive. Because her survival means that where death could destroy, it didn’t. Instead, life prevailed.

If she survives the Long Night, she remains a constant symbol - a beacon if you will - of what’s to come which is better days. Those who are suffering can look to her and see how she went through hell and lived. This would go a long way in boosting morale especially in the aftermath of the Long Night. Because think about it, the people fought against the Others and overcame death, but now they have to survive what comes next. I think Dany is needed because she has already gone through this cycle and will not only be an important figurehead during the War for the Dawn, but she will also be important as the people try to find a will to live beyond death (winter and the Others).

The last book is called A Dream of Spring so I assume this means that it will still be winter - though the Long Night may be over. People will still be hungry, they will be homeless, and they will be tired. They will not know what comes next only that they have to move forward and survive through this new hardship. And you know who has personally experienced these things and knows what it’s like? Daenerys Targaryen! She has survived through it all. So imagine just how powerful it will be for those who survive the Long Night to look at young Daenerys and go, “you know what, I think we’ll get through this one too”. And it will be even more poignant for Dany to lead them to that rest and restoration. Because it’s not just the people who need rest after fighting for so long, Dany does too:

“It is such a long way,” she complained. “I was tired, Jorah. I was weary of war. I wanted to rest, to laugh, to plant trees and see them grow. I am only a young girl.”

- Dany X, ADWD

People take the “dragons plant no trees” part that comes after to assume that Dany will remain stagnant for the next two books and it really is a pity. Someone pointed out a while ago (and I cannot for the life of me remember who this was) that Dany tends to pivot at the end of each book. As she continues to grow and develop as a character, her plans and priorities change. So it’s a bit sad how people assume that she will constantly be in a state of warfare. Because at the moment, Dany’s didn’t isn’t over yet.

Her campaign in Essos must continue and she still has the Others to fight in Westeros. So for now, she cannot truly settle down to plant trees. But she has been learning! She tried to do that throughout ADWD and I don’t see why that learning arc will be discarded at the end of the story. Especially when we consider that few others have actually been learning to lead. The only other character who has is Jon Snow but funny enough, many in this fandom think that he too is doomed to die. I’m not sure why George R.R Martin would kill the two up-and-coming leaders in the story who best answer “what was Aragorn’s tax policy?”

Ultimately, when all is said and done and there are no more wars to fight, I think Dany will finally find her peace and will learn that dragons can plant trees and watch them grow. As all the other heroes in the story, she will probably come out of the Long Night battered and bruised, but everything will be okay because she will still be alive; just like that Bran scene at the end of ACOK, which to me is the very definition of bittersweet. A better ending for her in my opinion isn’t dying in the cold of winter, but rather living and healing and finding a way to build a house with a red door, even though she cannot return to the one she knew as a child. Not only that, she can also provide this house with a red door” for the homeless, beaten, and bruised who survive the Long Night. It’s certainly possible that Martin could write Dany’s death in a way that is poignant and beautiful, but my personal preference is that she lives because of what her survival means for the larger themes in the story.

This whole post has been so jumbled and I’ve rambled a bit but I hope it made sense in the end lol. But anyway….the point is, I’m 1000% Team Dany Must Live!

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brightlybound · 10 months

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“i should still hate you. why can’t I hate you?” for hinny as a prompt please?? :)))

Just angst this time. 😇 Read here or below.

The Coop

Mum is not well enough to assign chores, so Ginny selects some on her own.

She must stay busy, mindless, if not she will go mad.

The first day back at The Burrow, Ginny has to accustom herself to bare walls, an empty living room, the smell of something burnt lingering in the air. She opens the windows wide, makes up the new beds, avoids Fred and George’s old room like the plague. Fleur takes charge of the visitors and the hoards of prepared meals they bring along, and they eat dinner on uncomfortable, conjured furniture, no happiness in magic anymore, no satisfaction of a cushioned seat.

On the second day back, Bill brings home a second-hand dining table with matching chairs, and he sands it all down with a wave of his wand, erasing scrapes marks and mending water rings with ease. Ginny occupies her spare time with staining it all by hand. The mechanical movements thankfully blur her brain, blur time, and when she’s finished, there's dinner, Dreamless Sleep Draught, and bed again.

Three days back now, and she keeps her ears pricked for a voice she longs to hear. After her heart has risen with anticipation and fallen from disappointment a good dozen times, she steers clear of the fireside and locks herself in her room.

It is on the seventh day that she finds Mum sitting at the dining table laden heavily with breakfast dishes. The dirty clothes Ginny had bunched up and left in baskets by the scullery last night are empty, the sound of the washing cauldrons is something of a dull roar in the room.

“It’s six in the morning,” is Ginny’s greeting.

Mum smiles over at her, but it doesn’t reach her eyes. “And you’re dressed for the day.”

“I was going to start breakfast. And laundry.”

What will I do now?

The thought of Death pounds away at her head almost immediately, and perhaps Mum sees the flicker of panic in her eyes…

“Your father is purchasing chickens today.”

Death retreats, but only just, a lingering presence she is all too familiar with.

“Chickens?” she asks dumbly.

Mum nods, offers, “You could muck out the coop.”

That would take hours without a wand.

It was perfect.

After helping herself to a stack of toast and bacon, Ginny heads outside in Percy’s old jean shorts, Ron’s ratty Martin Miggs shirt, and her filthiest pair of trainers. Sweat immediately soaks through her bra upon beginning the hard, disgusting work, yet she’s practically gleeful as she rakes out old hay and droppings, scrubs the little platform down with a brush and rag so thoroughly that it looks virtually unused. And there are still weeds to pull! Grass to trim! Her head is blissfully empty, thank god.

It is after she surveys her work, sees a loose board near the roof of the coop, and climbs in to fix it that it happens: a sudden crack of apparition, close enough to be in the wards. Ginny starts, banging her head on the overhead rafters, and peeks out through the unfastened bit of paneling. With a sharp breath, she pulls away, heart hammering in her chest.

Harry’s here.

She is debating on whether or not to hide in the enclosure until he leaves, escape in favor of another hiding spot, or march into the house and demand to know where he’s been, when she notices movement from her spyhole and sees him again, striding out of The Burrow almost as soon as he’d entered, peering over at the coop quizzically.

Her mother has divulged her location. Bugger it all.

“Ginny?” he calls when he’s only feet away. “Are you… er, are you in there?”

She rubs at her sore head with the heel of her hand and looks down at herself miserably. There was nothing for it.

Grudgingly, she responds, “Yeah. I’ll be right out.”

Wiping the perspiration from her face with the collar of her shirt and wringing her grubby fingers in its hem, Ginny tightens the extra fabric in a little knot at her waist and takes another breath of stale air. She ducks awkwardly out of the hutch and hops down to face him.

She shields her eyes from the sun to squint openly at him. He’s shaved, perhaps yesterday, judging by the amount of stubble around his jaw, and his hair has been trimmed up a few inches, shorter than the style he’d worn when he was fourteen, but longer than subsequent years. His skin is still bordering sickly pale, his cheeks hollow, and the brand-new Auror robes he wears hang somewhat loosely off his shoulders. Her gaze lingers over the straps and brass buckles pulling across his chest.

“Hey,” he says finally.

She waits, not wanting to make this too easy. It’s been a week since Fred’s funeral, a week since she laid eyes on him last. A week too bloody long.

“How are you?”

When she doesn’t answer, Harry blanches.

“Right. Right, um… Ron and Hermione just left. For Australia.”

“Yes, I know. They stopped by last night to tell us.” It takes everything not to hex him, so she asks him instead, hoping to get a rise out of him, “Are you bored?”

His eyebrows furrow. “Bored?”

“That’s why you came by, isn’t it? Because you’re bored?” There’s a real bite to her words, bitterness and anger shaking her voice. “Finally remembered I’m here?”

He struggles for a moment, the very picture of surprised, then says, “This is the first spare moment I’ve gotten since—”

“This is different, you know. You can’t just—” She’d be lucky if she makes any sense. She suddenly can’t string two thoughts together. “Everything is different now. I should still hate you.”

He'd left her, left her, could have been out of her life forever, willingly walked into the Black Forest and left her. Yet somehow, he was here, alive and still, still, there’s not enough time for them. She came second every time, and she wasn’t sure how much longer she could take it.

And god, god, why did it even matter?

Fred was dead.

Ginny’s head spins, and she leans back against the chicken coop for support. “Why can’t I hate you?”

Harry is looking down at his feet, then raises his eyes to scan over the fields of green. His tone is low, quiet, when he says, “I’m sorry.”

Ginny exhales roughly through her nose, exhaustion settling over her like a weighted blanket. She shuts her burning eyes so Harry does not see.

“I’m tired." She hates the way her voice is pitched high and broken. “I’m so fucking tired.”

His hand is gentle, gripping her wrist and pulling her against him. She folds into him and cries.

#hp #hinny #harry/ginny #prompts #asks #answered #anon #brightlybound #my writing

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