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shreddedleopard · 3 years

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Twelve-million more reasons Historia and Levi are part of the Endgame. With Pictures.

You can read the first post I made on this here:

10 reasons it would make narrative sense for Levi and Historia’s character arcs to end together.

(This is the mega-evolved version.)

Okay, I’m going to put this out there now, and before you judge me, please just read the posts. You don’t have to agree. This is just an idea. But it makes a stupid amount of sense, at least to me. So here's your fair warning (and now I'm being bold): If you don’t want to potentially be spoiled, Do Not Read On.

Here’s the Theory:

Historia Reiss will give birth to a half-Ackerman child, and together with Levi, from the ashes and ruins of the world Eren destroyed, they will welcome the dawn of a new age for humanity, where Ymir’s curse and the power of the Titans is extinct.

I know. I sound like some crazy, Rivahisu nut. Granted, I am, but I’m not mad enough to make a claim like this without a shit-ton of evidence, because it’s such a damn twist it feels like it can’t be true. But just humour me.

Here’s the theory, then we’ll look at why it makes sense and how it might have been foreshadowed. Please note: I have less clue how this will tie in to Eremika endgame, so I haven’t mentioned this as much, but obviously that will be the other very important side of this coin.

10 months ago (In Japan, full term pregnancy is counted as 10 months), at the banquet celebrating completion of the new railroad, Levi and Historia, having had 3 and a bit years to bond over their shared experiences and become close, may have gotten carried away together and shared one night of being a bit more than friends. She’s well into her 18th year at this point, just to clear that up. This resulted in Historia getting pregnant. Okay just stay with me; I know. I know. I sound crazy. But hear me out. So this pregnancy, contrary to the belief of the MPs and rest of the damn world, was the complete opposite of planned. Historia tells Levi, and Levi immediately panics. Because, to steal Kenny’s famous line, Levi thinks to himself ‘I can’t be some kid’s dad.’

Levi does what he always does best, and shuts down into business mode, telling Historia she will need to cover it up somehow. Historia does as he asks, probably reluctantly, because she really has developed very deep feelings for him during the timeskip, and finds some farm hand to take the blame, likely saying she made a silly mistake with some random and the father doesn’t want anything to do with the child, and so she needs a father for the child not to be illegitimate. Which is her worst nightmare, because of course, that’s what she was. Levi watches the exchange hidden in that famous hood, feeling very conflicted, because although he cares about her, he thinks it best if no one knows that it was him that got the Queen pregnant, and of course, he’s duty bound, with a vow to fulfil, so he has no time to be worrying about a family. (Silly Levi!)

How ironic this conversation would be if this theory were true. Remember, Historia was completely willing to eat Zeke if needed. Instead, she got pregnant, unplanned, nothing to do with any plot or selfish wishes, just the result of a spontaneous act of love by two people who’ve grown to care for one another a lot. ANYWAY.

Because we know Levi actually has a good heart, he feels immensely guilty for all of this; he's just a product of his upbringing and thinks he doesn’t know the first thing about families, so it's better for all involved if he not be. See where this is going? The old cursed history repeating? Making the same mistakes as our parents? Plus, Levi is bound by his duty. He is incredibly important to the military still, and he cannot just abandon this for any of his own selfish wishes. He’s supposed to be the one to vanquish the beast titan.

Cue ten months of Historia looking hella depressed and hopeless, and Levi being even more of an asshole than usual to everyone, and not really wanting to say too much at all, as well as making some terrible workplace decisions (lol) poor boy be distracted.

Look at his face 😭

Yes Levi. A month. Which means Historia is now due and you’re still stuck with beardy, without a solution and pretty soon no reason for the MPs not to turn the mother of your child into a Titan.

That’s what that face is. I thought he looked a bit weird first time I read these panels 🤔 He didn’t know about the wine. We see that later. Anyway, I keep getting distracted, stop. I’ll come back to this.

But fear not; Levi will have a choice to make.

So this is where it gets a bit more iffy for me, because I'm not sure how it would work, so this could be a way off, BUT. I believe it will come to light that the combination of Royal and Ackerman genes will somehow cancel out a person’s ability to turn into a titan and connection through paths, thus making them truly ‘free.’

The founding titan has the ability to change Eldian physiology, according to what Zeke learned from professor Xavier.

EDIT: Okay so here’s where I’ve had to tweak this a bit in light of there latest chapter. So we just had Zeke in PATHS. With none other than our second resident genius, and as proclaimed by Eren, the saviour of humanity: Armin. What do our boys have a conversation about? Reproduction and the importance of the small moments in life - it’s these little moments which matter, regardless of the desire or need to recreate. Interesting how both the leaf and baseball link back to what their ideas of ‘family’ became. If Historia and Levi were to be in the same scenario in PATHS, what would their items be? What truly means family to them both?

Perhaps Armin and Zeke realise what is needed to lift the curse of the titans - maybe a blueprint for genes which can cancel out the connection to PATHS and the founder? If only they had a child with a new type of Royal-Ackerman DNA which might fit the bill ...

Here’s Levi’s moment. He, with Historia, has created such a child - completely by accident, because of one of those ‘moments’ that both Armin and Zeke mention - moments that are simply just about enjoying what you have with no sense of how it might relate to anything bigger - a real rarity for both of them, considering their roles and constantly being asked to think about the good of humanity as a whole. What a beautiful irony, that in the moment they chose to be selfish and, to use freckled Ymir’s own words, really live for themselves, they set a chain reaction in motion that would ultimately save humanity.

Where does this leave Eren and Mikasa? Good question. I believe Eren will die once the curse is removed, because tragically he is the character that has been forced to choose humanity over his own personal relationships. As Isayama has said before, Eren is a victim of the story. Mikasa will be the last thing he sees, hence the original dream at the start of the manga, where he wakes up crying. Something like this. But probably a lot better. Yeah.

Out of the ashes of the old world, a new one will be built, but through Historia’s kindness and love, and Levi’s guilt and understanding of what was sacrificed in the past, society will not repeat the same mistakes. The final panel could be Jean holding his child, perhaps with Mikasa, if she ever manages to get over losing Eren. That would be vague enough so that Isayama was able to show it to us already without spoiling much. Or maybe Jean’s dead and it’s not him at all. I don’t know. 😭

Right. Okay. So now you’re going, sweet story, but uh, there’s no way Levi could be the father. He’s so much older. Isayama wouldn't write a moment of romance like that. Not with him and Historia. YOU’RE JUST CRAZY.

Well this is where it get’s interesting. LET ME SHOW YOU. It’s foreshadowed literally everywhere. Right under our noses.

There is so much symbolism.

Dedicate your heart to what? has been Levi’s question recently. What are they all fighting for? What is he fighting for? How will he give meaning to his dead comrades sacrifices? Is killing Zeke really the extent of it? Is vengeance the true meaning of their sacrifices? Or is it something a lot more hopeful?

The answer is shown to us in the opening credits. And the ending credits. Several times.

Levi says so himself - he keeps messing fulfilling the vow up - why? Why is he so worried about killing Zeke?

Eren has the same questions to consider. Which PATH is the right one to take - revenge and violence with the rumbling, or love ... with Mikasa. We are literally shown what their choices will be in two virtually identically designed panels, which I’ll show you. Tragically, Eren’s choice is taken from him. He is a victim to the story - he must chose the path that saves humanity. Levi and Eren have been bound together through the theme of choices, and taking the ones which leave you with the least regrets, throughout this entire manga.

The upcoming anime episodes literally plot out the timeline of Levi and Historia’s changing attitude to one another, and then Historia’s pregnancy, it’s just so cleverly subtle. Isayama even tells us when/ during what event her child was probably conceived by just dropping dates in from other, seemingly unrelated plot lines.

Zeke gives pointed comments to Levi constantly - every other line of his is either a different jab at Levi about Historia’s pregnancy, a veiled question, or a reminder that he’s under the pressure of a 10 month time limit to do something about him, or Historia will have to eat him once she’s given birth. We start to see Levi unravel because of this, and make mistakes over and over.

It’s in official art. It’s in the soundtrack. Its in music videos. There’s interviews from Isayama that, when read in light of these ideas, suddenly take on a whole new meaning.

Isayama even trolls us. He’s laughing in our faces, the madman. Like, gotchu 🤣 suckers. While we’re all on Reddit and Twitter like, ‘Levi’s character has become so stagnated! He’s making such poor choices or not giving anything to the plot at all. All that’s left for him now is to give up and die! Be at peace, your story is over.’ OOF. Or, ‘Historia has just been forgotten! She’s become such a pointless character. Isayama just got bored with her and sidelined her.’

I’m going to try and write stuff up in the rough categories below, but these might change. I’ll link them when I’m done, and then pin this post. I’m a bit of a rambler so heads up - this may take a while 😅

There’s also a ton of people I have to mention who have contributed to this - I didn’t spot it by myself. I’ll tag them in the finished post too.

Historia and Levi’s Miscalculation: A manga tale featuring the Jaeger Bros., Pt. 1

Historia and Levi’s Miscalculation: A manga tale featuring the Jaeger Bros., Pt. 2

Historia and Levi’s Miscalculation: A manga tale featuring the Jaeger Bros., Pt. 3

Ackerman-Royal Bloodline and Levi’s Choice Pt. 1

Levi’s Choice Pt. 2

Suns, Moons and Songs

Akatsuki No Requiem - Right theory, Wrong guy

The Farmer and The Cattle Farming Goddess, or WHAT’S IN A NAME.

Mistakes of our parents and breaking the cycle

Memories from the future & Levi’s Guilt

Watch this space. And hold on to your pants. If I’m right, I’m getting very drunk.

#shingeki no kyojin spoilers #shingeki no kyojin manga theory #historia pregnancy #snk #shingeki no kyojin #attack on titan #aot #levi ackerman #historia reiss #rivahisu

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bas-writes · 3 years

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okok i promised to weigh in on Loof thirst at some point so here i am.

I honestly never thirsted after Luffy before, I was just like aww what a goofy guy I'd love to be friends with him :') he's the definition of "I don't care where you've been unless it makes a good story, all I care about is who you are now" so I had a soft spot but no thirst.

Then I saw this gif of him post timeskip, I can't remember which arc right now, but he was like, chugging water or something and I went 😳 and got confused 'cause I only considered him as fun, happy Luffy. It was like someone hit me with a brick, but the brick was the realization that Luffy is ... attractive 😳 I've been carrying that with me and I'd be a liar if I said I haven't wondered about what else he could do with his rubber body.

Seeing him mouth off to Kaido made me realize (as with your recent post) that Luffy is naturally dominant and well.. that scratches a part of my brain I don't usually give attention to.

Okay this is a big fat mood.

Post time skip Luffy really hits different. You can see how mature he became and maturity really boost the attractive matrer. He doesn't change much and yet... He's like a completely different person.

For me I think it started around Dressrosa? He has plenty of serious moments there - and serious Luffy is just insanely hot. Of course, there's the Snakeman entrance in WCI - but I think Wano is... Okay, not opening the thirst door but rather smashing them out of the frame. And I ain't talking about how buff he became, however this is also a big mood 😂

Wano Luffy and his "I always been free" attitude yeeted out my ovaries, stepped on them and in the end decided I don't need them at all 😳 And the latest chapter is just-

Oh Captain, my Captain 😳

#bas thirsts

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novantinuum · 4 years

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Contact (Ch. 3/4)

Fandom: Steven Universe

Rating: T (No TW this chapter, but keep in mind this involves major character injury)

Words: 3.0K~

Summary: The first (and with any luck, only) time it happens, he’s almost 16.

Chapter Summary: Amethyst, Greg, and Pearl struggle to keep it together.

So this fic is Steven and Amethyst centric, set during the 2 year time skip. It’s also kinda in conversation with An Indirect Kiss, and explores the idea of what could happen to a hybrid with a cracked gem. This chapter has no specific trigger warnings.

If you read this and enjoy, I’d greatly appreciate your support through reblogs here, or kudos/comments on AO3 as well. AO3 link will be provided in the reblogs. Thank you! <3

Chapter 3: The Fountain

Discounting extreme circumstances, (such as diamond mind control or flaws in incubation), Gems are designed to have perfect memory.

It’s one of the many aspects of their culture that surprises humans, and all too often one that makes them jealous. But Amethyst doesn’t understand why there’s anything to be jealous about. Sure, maybe it means she can learn a skill once and be done with it, or hold on to cherished moments in crystal clear recollection, but it also means that in some part she’ll always be haunted by everything boring, everything bad. It’s an unavoidable facet of her life: that every passing second of all those years she spent alone in the Kindergarten waiting for orders she’d never receive is forever etched into the baseline circuitry of her gem like ink on a human’s skin, that she can remember every rotten fight she and Pearl ever had with picture perfect clarity, each instance ending with her feeling like absolute garbage for days and days. That... no matter how hard she tries to escape the untimely reminders... deep down, all those selfish, immature versions of herself she wishes she could dump in the past forever are still a part of her coding.

In comparison, humanity has it lucky. In time, they forget. They move on. Even the most traumatizing memories seem to eventually fade by the end of a life, leaving behind only feelings... only scars... just whispering impressions of those experiences.

She desperately hopes Steven takes after his dad and not Rose in this aspect.

The four of them exit the ship in a hurry, Amethyst still helping Greg carry his son, and Pearl advancing ahead to check on the state of the water supply.

As always, Rose’s fountain is a time capsule. The shrubs and trees surrounding the inner pool are tame now, a stark difference from the first time she had the untimely pleasure of visiting, but the cold, staticky sensation rising within her as she steps off the boarding ramp of the Roaming Eye with Steven’s legs secure in her grasp is the same. Amethyst only barely holds back a shudder. She recalls the disorientation she felt in this place so vividly she may as well be cracked all over again.

The world glitches violently within her sights, ashen sky and charcoal stone phasing into each other. Left is right and up is down, hard light stretching out from her broken gemstone like clawing, yearning fingers... forming and reforming, taut at one moment and pliable at the next, and her words are jumbled and backwards, and deep within she knows this with an intense clarity but she can’t help it, she can barely even think, she ca—

“Amethyst, no more roughhousing, you'll exacerbate your crack!”

“Doog m’I, gnihtyna ro yrrow t’nod.”

“This isn't right... the fountain isn’t running.”

“WHY CAN’T I CRY?!”

The thin little circuits of light running throughout her projected body jolt in remembrance of that afternoon, indelible phantom pangs of a sliver of time she can never forget for anything. With a dull huff and a grimace, she adjusts her hold on the boy she’s long come to see as her baby brother. Best to not become lost in the flood of the past when she’s got a mission to uphold. That’s... that’s all this is, ch’yeah? A mission. Just a mission. Retrace your steps, meet your goal, get it done. Easy-peasy. No problem.

Ignore the stakes. Ignore everything that isn’t right here and right now. Ignore the sharp cries of pain that escape his lips intermittently, that stab at you so deep you feel like you should be poofing.

“Amethyst?” a voice comes to her softly. “You okay?”

But don’t ignore Greg. Whatever you do, don’t ignore the people around you, don’t lose yourself to that awful disorientation again, don’t make everything worse, don’t push, don’t roughhouse, don’t—

“She’s been cracked like this before,” Pearl explains as she walks in a frantic pace ahead of them. “And we Gems, well... we remember things vividly, shall we say.”

She scoffs, still inwardly cradling her gem in response to what happened in the Roaming Eye. Sheesh. It’s so typical of her to launch headfirst into other people’s business before she can open her own dumb mouth to explain on her own, huh?

“Wow,” she bites back on jerk instinct, “thanks for the announcement, Pearl. ‘S not like I could’ve said it better myself, or anything.”

The slender Gem snaps upon her bait with a piercing, annoyance-filled gaze, and frankly, Amethyst would’ve doled out another snide comment in return had Steven’s hoarse voice not chosen that moment to hitch in panic, derailing all other thoughts in an instant. Her arms grow just as stiff and locked as the muscles in his calves, be it from sympathy or as a mirror into the bitter past, to a time where she suffered just as much as he is now.

The weight of this realization settles like lead at her core. Her favorite guy in the whole galaxy is in earth-shattering pain, and she’s wasting precious seconds of his life taking cheep shots at Pearl?

Not the time, she growls at herself, shedding her petty feud to the wind. Focus!

“Uh, y’guys? I-I think it’s happening again!” his father says, exhausted arms quivering under the strain of carrying the boy for so long.

“Damnit,” she hisses, and follows Greg’s lead on easing his body closer to the ground before the worst of his fits arrive. This time, Steven lacks the energy to mask his broken sobs, split between desperate gasps for breath. Nothing, not gentle whispers or even his father’s calloused hand delicately brushing through his curls, seems to soothe his anguish now. She doesn’t consider herself much of a crier, but she’s close to tears herself just watching him. As she glances up to check how far they are from their destination, she catches a flash of ivory and blue disappearing between the shrubbery. “Pearl!” she bellows, her shout echoing across the entire garden. “Slow down, would ‘ya? He’s seizing again!”

Her features contort as she whirls around to glance back, unmaskable stress now nearly tearing her apart at the seems. She jabs her finger at the narrow path between the shrubs. “But we’re almost—“

“Fine, fine, never mind! You’re right!” Amethyst blurts, waving her off. “You go run ahead. Just...”

Her voice grows thick as she roughly wipes away the moisture accumulating at the corner of her eyes. She forces herself to drink in the stark reality of their immediate situation, taking note of the injured teen’s hiccuping cries as he recovers from his latest seizing episode, as he continues to ride through the unimaginable torment of a cracked gem left too long without healing... his dad, kneeling amongst dirt and stone, no doubt pressing harsh indents into his knees as he freely offers his lap as a headrest, panting with exhaustion, absolutely wrecked with anxiety and terror despite doing everything within his power to mask it for his son’s sake... and her. Her. Amethyst, Facet-5 Cut-8XM, a Gem who’s become downright traumatized by this place, by this precise scenario, barely able to retain a handle on her own emotions and eidetic recollections to where she actually feels she can be of reliable help.

“I don’t think we can’t follow you anymore, ‘kay?” she says, hoarse. “Greg’s tired, Steven’s flat-up in tears, and... an’ this place is startin’ to really mess me up, y’know? S-so...”

She tugs at thick clumps of her hair as the thought trails off, fingers fruitlessly searching for a clue that might direct her out of these darkened, murky waters and back to shore.

But as always, if you put in the work to look for them, there’s leading lights scattered amongst the mist in places you’d never expect.

“Bring the fountain to you,” Pearl completes, gaze softening within that moment. She nods in wholehearted acceptance of her duty. “I’m on it.”

Thank you, she mouths in earnest, the dull buzzing running throughout her form dropping to a blessed minimum as she— lips parted— watches her longtime friend disappear between the shrubs and vibes, every arc of her movement accentuated by unerring grace. Amethyst flushes, and mentally pushes such sentimental distraction away.

Right. Okay. One problem solved. Back to Steven.

The hybrid in question is cradled in Greg’s care, his head laying in the man’s lap and his limbs twitching without repose. She hasn’t checked the state of his gemstone recently, but given the minutes ticking away since his injury and his steadily deteriorating state, she’s almost too scared to look. Greg continues to whisper thin reassurances to him, wiping the sweat off his dampened forehead.

“He’s getting really warm,” he comments, stress coating his tone, and damn does she wish she could do something, anything, to help, but there’s simply nothing they can do without that healing water.

As the trio waits for word from Pearl, inevitable waves of dread collapsing upon them heavier and heavier with each uneven heartbeat that passes, Steven’s wobbly gaze falls upon her.

“Ah... Amethyst,” he gasps, barely able to attain a full breath.

She snaps to attention, clasping his hand tight in hers. “Yeah? I’m here, buddy, I’m here! Whatever you need.”

“I’m- I’m s-suh—“

Sorry, she realizes he’s trying to say, remembering how he struggled earlier trying not to stumble over the ‘s.’ She swallows hard.

“You don’t gotta be sorry for anything, ‘kay?” she says, rhythmically rubbing the back of his palm with her thumb. “It’s my fault, this is just- I should’ve been looking out for you, I should’ve protected you and I failed. All this is on me.”

“B-but I—“

To her utter horror, his next words are so slurred in his disorientation they’re all but unintelligible. All attempts on his part to communicate are then broken as he gnashes his teeth together and writhes in his father’s arms. Greg’s brokenly calling his name as he loosens his hold, vying with every slice of will he has left to help him not hurt himself further, help him find any shred of relief, but it’s of little use. The boy is all but unresponsive right now. She tries her best not to internalize the sound of his broken wails, least they be carved upon on her gem forever. Her form flickers in the height of her distress, hard light veins pulsing with unparalleled intensity.

The memories are impossible to dodge now. Those fragments strike like barbed arrows.

The cliffside. The fall. The rock. The audible crack as her fate is sealed. The immediate static rising in her mind as she stands up, only halfway alert, feigning casual indifference as her body quite literally begins to fall apart. I’m fine. I’m fine. The worry, the brambles, the panic, the fountain, the strained tears, c-can’t think can’t feel, can’t —

“It’s empty!” Pearl cries from the distance, voice shrill and laced with panic.

Her eyes split wide as she snaps her head towards the ivory Gem’s call, dread clasping ahold of her like a physical hand to her gem. “What??”

She emerges from between the shrubbery to enter the clearing again, emphasizing her doom-spelling news with a sharp flourish:

“I said, the main fountain is empty!”

“Empty?" Greg repeats, all the blood draining from his face. He squeezes his injured son’s hand with the grip of a man lost at sea, clutching to a life preserver.

But while he freezes upon processing this information, Pearl can’t seem to stop pacing. Her lithe fingers twitch rapid fire as she passes back and forth in front of them, brimming with an infinite supply of nervous energy that’s befitting of their perilous situation.

“Stars, the water we left behind after healing all those corrupted Gems must have completely evaporated...” she mutters to herself, clutching at the lapels of her jacket as if this garment is the last tangible thing holding her form together. “I knew we shouldn’t have left it open to the elements!”

“But then- what the hell are we supposed to do now?!” he says, voice breaking in all his fearful anguish. His gaze snaps from her to Steven laying prone in his lap. “My only son is in agonizing pain! He’s- he’s got a high fever! We can’t just give up! There has to be something!”

“I- I’ll check in the inner chambers!” Pearl says with dawning realization, one last ray of hope penetrating the glossy surface of her gemstone as she jabs her index finger into the air. “Surely there has to be some remnant of Rose’s healing magic left, right?”

Steven shudders in his dad’s arms, sloppy tears streaming down his pale cheeks.

“Tluaf ym lla si siht...” he blubbers, and for whatever reason something about his unintelligible speech seems... different from before. Her brow creases as she searches the infinite wilds of her stored memory for answers, for patterns, anything that might provide the slightest hint of clarity in this fraught situation, and sure enough...

Dawning truth stings like a fist to the jaw as she recalls her own experience and realizes his slurred words are far more than unintelligible; this injury has scrambled his mental processes to such a degree that his speech has slipped backwards. And that can only mean... Lip quivering, Amethyst pushes through the dread tugging at her soul and yanks up the hem of the teen’s shirt. The deep gouge running diagonal across his gemstone has lengthened— edging ever closer to the edges of the pentagon— and threatens to partition it in half. Pearl’s soft “oh no” and Greg’s strained sob tell her everything she needs to know. The consensus is clear: time is not their ally anymore.

“Pearl, HURRY!” she yells, pointing towards the fountain’s heart.

Her fellow Crystal Gem doesn’t even pause to comment on the matter, and instead, water brimming at the corner of her eyes as she spends her last second in their company lovingly gazing upon the boy as only a surrogate mother could, hurriedly disappears between the shrubs to seek out Steven’s last chance of salvation. Left alone in the throes of their mutual panic, Amethyst and Greg place comforting hands upon his head as— huddled together on the cold stone of the fountain’s doorstep— they’re assailed by the terrifying possibility that his life may very well slip between their fingers before Pearl can ever hope to return. Gone, in an instant.

Shattered.

Her shapeshifted stomach churns at the mere thought, like she’s finally eaten something her hard light system refuses to break down. She clutches tight at her own gem, gasping as she rides the sharp wave of distress. In all these years, though every fight and struggle... she’s never seen someone shatter before. Fresh, hopeless tears cut a raw path across her cheeks as her hand trails across his overheated forehead.

Stars, not today. Not him, please not him.

The teen barely restrains a hiccuping sob as he cries out again. “Thgir gnihtyna... od t’nac I, syug yrros m’I!”

Greg’s breath hitches, gaze briefly trailing from his son’s strained face to his still-exposed gem. Whirling to face her, he roughly grabs ahold of her shoulders, his expression downright pleading now. “Pearl... Amethyst, if she doesn’t find anything, if the fountain’s empty, please tell me there’s somewhere else we can go, something else we can do...!”

She frantically shakes her head. “I- I don’t know, we—“

Desperately, she wishes she could give him reassurance. Desperately, she wishes Rose had thought ahead, secured a sum of her essence in another location for redundancy’s sake, but the truth is a bitter pill: they’re all but useless in this place, stripped of their agency and forced to rely on the mercy of the dead. If they can’t find any remnants of Rose’s healing tears here, then Steven’s gem will splinter into shards and he will die. She clenches her teeth together, once again feeling those phantom pains rip through her form, faint impressions of a near-tragedy long abandoned to the past, it’s over, it’s over, get a hold of yourself, keep it together, keep it together, keep it to—

“Yaw siht leef annaw t’nod I- I, deracs os, os m’I, Dad, deracs os m’I... I!”

The boy’s father clutches his hand in his, arm trembling just like Steven’s frail body as— after his long, valiant attempt to mask it for everyone else’s sake— he finally crumbles, failing to swallow his fear.

“Oh- oh god,” he chokes over his words, eyes puffy and red, “I’m... I’m gonna lose him, aren't I? He’s gonna—“

“Eid annaw t’nod I—!”

And then, at the apex of the storm, Amethyst finds what she’s always been searching for: their leading light, burning faithfully through the dark.

“I’ve got it, I’ve got it!!” Pearl cries from the near distance, voice growing louder with each and every syllable. “I’m coming!”

She emerges from between the shrubbery like the first ray of light breaking an eclipse's totality, clutching a thin vial in her grasp. At first glimpse the vial almost looks empty, but after the ivory Gem drops to her knees beside them in the clearing and pops the cork stopper out, sure enough— it holds a few pink-tinged drops of fluid, Rose’s coveted magic. And all they need is one.

They all watch expectantly, blood and hard light alike pulsing through their forms at a unified pace as Pearl tips the vial, allowing the tears to careen downward towards its mouth.

When the single droplet finally slips from the edge of the glass, it hangs in the air right above his cracked gem for what feels like hours, scattering the ambient sunlight across their tear-stained, expectant faces like the dizzying patterns of a kaleidoscope. In an intentional echo of all the once-alien experiences she’s long come to cherish and genuinely respect, Amethyst— despite having no lungs of her own— takes a deep, anticipating breath, her mind running through every what-if as she waits. The futures where he dies. The futures where he lives. The futures where... where she still has a chance to tell him how much he means to her. Where she’s not too late. Not a failure. Futures where they can laugh again, where they can finally begin to move on.

Time creeps forward. The healing tear plummets downward, directly towards his center facet. She exhales.

Contact.

#su #steven universe #amethyst #greg universe #pearl #su fanfiction #my writing stuff

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overwatch-does-stuff · 3 years

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Lindholm Family Headcanon Dump!

I know Michael Chu retracted the statement that Torbjorn has a bunch of kids, but Chu just quit so I make the rules now. It’s a LONG post under the cut because I got carried away. Mostly starring Torbjorn, but featuring Ingrid, Reinhardt, and Brigitte (plus a bunch of other kiddos that exist but I don’t have headcanon names for yet oops.) There won’t be any Bastion in this one because that’s an entire other post’s worth of content.

- Torb has a big family. He and Ingrid had a couple children of their own while he had a stable position in Overwatch, but they found out that they loved having little children around the house, so after all of their biological children moved out, they chose to volunteer in the foster system! This lead to them adopting at least four more kids. - Which means they drive a huge van everywhere. - Both Ingrid and Torbjorn are masters at driving as a result. - They’re exactly equivalent in skill with one exception: Ingrid can parallel park the van, a skill he has yet to figure.

- Their house is pretty big (the Overwatch paycheck paid well, that, along with Ingrid’s income,) so there’s plenty of room for all of them. - There’s three levels: upstairs (for the bedrooms and playrooms,) downstairs (for entertaining spaces/the kitchen and stuff,) and finally, the basement, which is Torbjorn’s personal workshop. - Most third world countries would kill to have a workshop as good as his. - It’s all because Ingrid spoils him so much. He gets just as excited for Christmas as his kiddos do. - “The latest arc welder? Aww, honey, you shouldn’t have!” - Ingrid doesn’t work in his field, but she listens to his special interests dumps, and puts in enough research of her own, that she knows just what to get him every year. - Ingrid doesn’t like getting gifts as much as he does, so for Christmas, he always makes sure to spend quality time with her. He jokes that he ‘sucks at planning dates’ but he really doesn’t! For her, it’s nothing but the top restaurants and most exciting experiences. She loves going ice skating in particular, something that he hates but will always do with her. - Torbjorn and Ingrid split the cooking equally. They’re a bit traditionally gendered with what they like to cook, with Torb leaning more towards grilling and Ingrid preferring baking, but it suits them just fine. - Their grill, along with every other cooking contraption in the house, has been upgraded in some way. In fact, Torb’s the one who grills only because Ingrid still can’t figure out how to use the damn thing since he upgraded it. - Their house is covered in contraptions of all sorts. Other than the grill, Ingrid utilizes every single one of them. Meals get served and sent around via chutes. The floors sweep and mop themselves automatically when they’re dirty. The dishwasher loads, washes, and unloads itself in record time. - You know the zany contraptions in the Addam’s family house? Think that, but more brightly colored. - However, Ingrid’s taste in interior decorating is the opposite of gothic or minimalist- she loves quirky, unique features and bright colors. - She loves thrifting. - The huge chair they got for Reinhardt in the living room was a thrift store find that she’s still very proud of. - She also has an old-fashioned “live laugh love” wall with all of the family portraits. She knows it’s cheesy, but it’s nostalgic for her. - She doesn’t just bring furniture home. She also brings home cats. - That’s right. Brigitte got her cat love from Ingrid. - It’s a long-standing tradition, with the first cat she brought home was over thirty years ago when they were a new couple. - Torbjorn swore that it would be her cat and that he wouldn’t take care of it. - He was wrong. - Very wrong. - He now loves his cats and calls them cutesy nicknames in whatever language he feels like in the moment. - He built them automated feeders, automated litter boxes, and even some automated toys. He spoils them rotten. - Every time Ingrid brings home a new cat it’s the same routine. He swears that this will be the last one and that he’s not taking care of this one! But that’s wrong and he knows it. - But, because Ingrid’s always bringing things home, she’s a little more tolerant when Torbjorn brings. . . a specific Omnic. . . home.

- But that’s a whole other fanfic that I would need to write, so instead, back to the parenting! - Ingrid is 100% a feral soccer mom. Torbjorn is just as bad. - They’re the ones screaming their lungs out at sports games. - They have a house rule where their kids have to participate in one extracurricular sport. It can be school teams, club teams, or even just working out on their own, but fitness is something that both Ingrid and Torb consider important. - Torbjorn, of course, built his own gym in the basement. He trained with Brigitte, and now he trains with another one of his daughters who’s taken an interest in weight-lifting. - But this all doesn’t mean that the Lindholms discourage more creative talents! - Torbjorn crafted a giant steel board where any arts and crafts get hung with magnets. One of his little boys is an artist and he couldn’t be more proud. - Brigitte experimented with metal art when she was a teenager, and many of her pieces are now permanent fixtures in the Lindholm home. - She crafted a particularly beautiful string of lights that hangs above the dining room table.

- Now it’s time for Uncle Reinhardt!!! - Okay, so maybe he’s called just ‘Reinhardt’ by the older kiddos, but everyone knows he’s essentially an uncle in all but blood. - He’s been invited to every holiday celebration for about. . . actually, he’s just always been there. - He’s a true multi-generational staple. Brigitte can’t remember a holiday without him, and now the younger kiddos are getting doted on by him every Christmas. - Rein loves telling stories for the children. He spends the entire car ride there planning his multi-hour epics. - Now that she’s older, Brigitte sometimes helps with the storytelling, contributing sound effects and such. - Something which just causes Torbjorn to laugh and shake his head. - Reinhardt also loves nothing more than being a walking jungle gym. As soon as he walks in the door, he’ll grab the nearest kiddo and put them on his shoulders. He’s often seen walking around with a kid in each arm and usually an extra hanging off his back. - Sometimes he gives Ingrid a heart attack when he starts throwing kids around, but hey, she’s known him long enough at this point that she (mostly) trusts him. - Everyone gets sad when Reinhardt has to leave, but he insists that there is justice that needs to be done. He soothes the kiddos by promising an even better story when he gets back.

- Now it’s time to get sad. . . here’s my Brigitte headcanons. . . - Brigitte was REALLY close with her father growing up. She spent so much of her time in his workshop learning from him, as one of the only Lindholm children to take a liking to machinery and engineering. - However, when she moved out. . . she found it difficult to escape his legacy. Everyone, many of the older industry professionals and the like, expected her to be just like her father. They tried to cajole her into finishing old weapons designs that Torbjorn had abandoned. - It was then that she learned the full extent of Torbjorn’s involvement in the Omnic Crisis. - She had a lot of trouble reconciling this news with her love for him. It’s still something she had great difficulty with. - This shock played a big part in her decision to give up on finding a job in the industry and instead accompany Reinhardt on his travels. - It wasn’t a decision that Torbjorn endorsed, which hurt their relationship even further. - But it’s not like he doesn’t try to keep in touch. They call every other weekend or so to catch up, but there’s always a tension between them that neither one is ready to address. - They will talk about it someday. They’ll figure things out. They care about each other too much for either one to give up. - In the meantime, though, Brigitte has gotten a lot closer with her mother. She calls her much more often. - They talk about all of the things that Brigitte wasn’t all that interested in when she was younger. Stuff like fashion, makeup, and more traditional advice, such as how to get a date or what it feels like to fall in love. - Ingrid also makes sure to show her how the cats are doing over the online call.

- To be truthful, Ingrid isn’t too worried about Brigitte’s decision to live the rough-and-tumble lifestyle. It reminds her a lot of her own young adulthood, where she decided to pick up everything and move to the big city to get away from her parents. - She’s quick to remind Torbjorn that her own little rebellion is how they came to meet whenever he gets worried about Brigitte’s decision. - (They met at Ironclad. The only job Ingrid could find after her big move was working secretary. She fell head-over-heels for him immediately, while it took him a while to warm up.) - (Their first date was just walking around the city, with Torbjorn talking almost the entire time about random things he saw. He’d see the newest cars on the street and dive into what he knew about that industry. They’d pass by a construction sight and he’d point out what tool designs were similar to the ones he was working on.) - (When he realized that she was actually listening to him and taking him seriously, he agreed to a second date and never looked back.) - They aren’t a perfect couple- they’ve had their fair share of arguments, especially because they’re both deeply stubborn, but they’re always able to work it out in a way that makes them both happy. That skill is why they’ve lasted so long. - One thing they’ve never argued about, though, is Torbjorn’s commitment to duty. When they started dating he made it clear that his work was very important to him. Ingrid made it clear that she was willing to be patient. - It got hard when he was away for months at a time with Overwatch during the Crisis and its aftermath, but through constant online calls they managed. - The biggest surprise of Ingrid’s life was when he told her he wanted to have kids when the Crisis ended. - Turns out, having a major life crisis about how your career impacted the world makes someone want to find another purpose in life besides their career. - And thus, they dove into parenthood together. - Now they both couldn’t be happier :)

#overwatch #torbjorn lindholm #overwatch torbjorn #ingrid lindholm #reinhardt #overwatch brigitte #brigitte lindholm #I have so many feelings about Torbjorn and his family. . .#I'm not sure this is very articulate but eh #who cares #it's content

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a-crimson-lion · 4 years

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A Look At Bakudeku’s Development (Based On That One Instagram Post): A Photo-Narrative Analysis

Word Count: 4,287 (Yikes…)

[This got long. Like, REALLY long. Don't expect too many colors. There's a lot to get through...]

For those out of the loop, I recently came across this Instagram post during unhealthy hours in the morning. The purpose of this post, I’d assume, was to debunk any negativity aimed at the Bakudeku dynamic/ship, claiming it was indeed not abusive and that the antis in question are ignoring canon in favor of playing Bakugo’s suicide instigation on repeat. Before addressing the post in question, I would like to state two things:

I am not stuck on Chapter/Episode 1 in the series. I have been caught up proper with every story arc up to the JT Training Arc and am roughly familiar with everything past that point. I don’t just take Katsuki’s now essentially forgotten suicide instigation into account; I’m taking every part of his actions well beyond that moment and how they reflect on him, internally justified or otherwise.

While I’m among the people who believe that Bakudeku as of the latest incarnation of the manga (up to Ch. 280) is indeed abusive, I am open to discussions on why it is not. In any case, however, I cannot ignore the fact that the dynamic/ship is incredibly problematic besides the skeletons in both Izuku and Katsuki’s closets.

So, in order to address this issue to the best of my half-awake brain’s abilities, I will review the screenshots within said post and break down how they factor into the Bakudeku dynamic and the overall development. Be aware that there are some manga and movie spoilers, and this is just MY OPINION. I could be wrong, and I’m okay with that. If you wanna talk without patronizing me, the comments are open. I also apologize in advance if I myself come of as patronizing. All the screenshots I’ll be discussing can be found in the video link above (or here).

Well then, no point in beating around the bush...

1) Izuku Taking Katsuki Out Of The Final Exam Gate (Anime Screenshot)

The first piece of “evidence” used to show the merit of Bakudeku comes from the Final Exam arc, shortly after Katsuki succumbs to All Might’s assault, only for Izuku to come in and deck the #1 Hero in order to grab Katsuki and carry him to safety, allowing them both to pass.

However, this photo marks a recurring trend throughout some of the other photos: they speak more about IZUKU as a character than Izuku AND Katsuki.

Izuku getting to save Katsuki is a major development… for Izuku. One that we’ve seen before. Think about it. The first time Izuku saves Katsuki towards the beginning of the exam, he has to punch Katsuki in the face because he was considering throwing the match just for working with Izuku. And after he’s been saved, Katsuki blows up (figuratively and literally) before aggressively kabedoning him. In this scene though? Katsuki got knocked the f*** out, so he really has no room to protest if Izuku comes in to save him a second time.

Plus, this isn’t really anything NEW with Izuku. We know that he’s aware in an abstract sense that what Katsuki did to him was “wrong,” but he doesn’t hold a grudge or any animosity to him towards that. He’s one of Katsuki’s biggest defenders and supporters, assuming Katsuki allows it. So really, him saving Katsuki isn’t really surprising or a major step forward, ‘cause he was always willing to do it from the get go. And again, Katsuki isn’t conscious during his second rescue, so we don’t really know if he would have let Izuku save him again or if he would have protested.

There’s nothing new here, and nothing balanced to the overall dynamic. Just Izuku being Izuku.

2) All Might Acknowledges The New Bakudeku Rivalry (Anime Screenshot)

Deku vs Kacchan 2 was a big moment for the Bakudeku dynamic. I’m not saying it’s a positive moment, nor am I saying it was necessary, but it was big. And in the aftermath of that fight, where Izuku and Katsuki are having a back and forth, All Might thinks to himself that the two have become true rivals now, or something along those lines. And it’s nice that he’s willing to spell this out for the audience and all, but uh…

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: show, don’t tell.

All Might is essentially telling us that Izuku and Katsuki are rivals now. What does the story have to show for it? A brief conversation during their house arrest, followed by a massive stall due to the Shie Hassaikai Arc and Cultural Festival Arc (albeit with one more instance we’ll cover later), and then what essentially equates to Katsuki yelling at Izuku a lot during the Joint Training Arc.

...that’s ...not much.

And yeah, you could expect me to be a good bean to the author and wait until the later arcs, but even then, the execution… just falls kinda flat, at least for me. Going back to that particular moment with All Might’s thought process, it kind of reminds me of Eraserhead essentially acting as a mouthpiece for the Ochako vs Katsuki fight during the Sports Festival, but that’s a can of worms I won’t be indulging today.

What I’m getting at is this: All Might letting the audience know that Bakudeku have reached rival status is great! Now if only the series could deliver more on that...

3) Standing With Two One For Alls (Heroes Rising)

Okay, seriously, if you haven’t seen Heroes Rising yet, I implore you, GO. WATCH IT. It is an incredible film and I would recommend it with warm words. And I’ll admit, it gives us a better incarnation of Bakudeku compared to the rest of the series.

Yes, I said “better,” not “great.”

Look, I’m all for Izuku and Katsuki working past their differences and the clusterf*** that was their childhood, and maybe Horikoshi not being as integrally involved with the film’s writing as people think he is has something to do with it, but uh… you do not say “put myself as low as to working with Deku” or something like that and expect to be casually tossed aside, at least if you’re me. And while I’m glad there was some genuine emotional tension as Izuku gave Katsuki OFA, some part about it feels… off. Like, nothing was really truly resolved. Katsuki wasn’t given OFA as a sign of forgiveness, as an acknowledgement. Katsuki was given OFA because there was an AFO level villain about to wreck the place and kill some peeps and oh look, the narrative made it so that Katsuki was the only convenient holder around! It kinda stings when you look at it that way.

Not that it matters, because a big thing most people forget is that at the end of this movie, THE ENTIRE THING IS ESSENTIALLY SWIPED ACROSS THE DESK AND ON THE FLOOR. Even if it was going to have some level of effort towards the development of the dynamic, that effort is essentially GONE because Katsuki doesn’t remember SQUAT, and what happens to OFA after the fight is NEVER DISCUSSED. It’s just a hard reset, BOOM, back to normal. *Sigh*

Really, the whole double OFA thing was for convenience, less so for any emotional leveling up that could have been done. And even then, Izuku is still somehow the one putting more emotional input into the entire thing than Katsuki.

4) “I Thought You Were Gonna Get Ahead Of Me!” (Anime Screenshot)

Katsuki’s methods of motivation are… admittedly not for everyone. They seem to work fine for Izuku, as seen sometime after the Cultural Festival Arc, but again, that’s just Izuku. We know how he takes Katsuki’s words and turns it into motivation, but why does Katsuki bother at all?

Well, maybe this comes with desperately trying to find reasons to like a character but progressively despising him and his narrative placement more and more as time progresses, but here’s my angle on it: Katsuki just doesn’t want Izuku dragging his weight for nothing.

Keep in mind, we’re talking about the same Katsuki who held a grudge against Shoto for holding back during the Sports Festival. The same Katsuki who wanted the #1 Hero to go all out and would continuously press to fight him. The same Katsuki who wanted to fight a deadly villain even after being instructed to get back to camp for his own safety. The same Katsuki who challenged Izuku to a fight to finally determine where the gap was, and who was frustrated when he won because the power Izuku possessed was All Might’s, so clearly he shouldn’t have lost.

In short, Katsuki doesn’t like it when people don’t give it their all. And I believe it’s been stated once or twice that once Izuku makes One For All his own, there’s a good chance they’re gonna fight again. So it’s in Katsuki’s best interest to make sure Izuku isn’t half-assing anything, because he wants to prove he can beat Izuku at his best, thus proving that KATSUKI is the best.

So it’s less so for Izuku’s benefit as it is for Katsuki’s own.

5) One Giant Leap (Heroes Rising)

Arguably one of the best moments of the entire Heroes Rising film amongst the fandom is the big handhold scene between Katsuki and Izuku as they make a last gambit effort to take down Nine with two One for Alls. Admittedly this is one of the best if not the best moment throughout the entire progression of the Bakudeku dynamic thus far. I’ll give it that much.

...which makes it all the more frustrating because again: MIND. WIPE. The audience knows it happened, but in canon we never know if Izuku discusses it with Katsuki or if anyone else was aware of the moment in greater specificity. IT ESSENTIALLY NEVER HAPPENED, and I’m starting to legitimately wonder whether or not it was for the best...

6) Datte Atashi No Hero (Anime Screenshot)

First off: how? Second off: huh?

Believe me, the second ending of Season 3 is an absolute bop, don’t get me wrong, but uh… again, it provides NOTHING balanced for Bakudeku, once again relying on Izuku’s perspective on the entire matter. I once read an interesting meta about this ending and how it could be interpreted (take this with a grain of salt), but the biggest contender is that this is in fact Izuku’s fantasy. Think about it:

Izuku is a humble traveling warrior, with nothing to distinguish himself in his own opinion.

Ochako is a magician because she’s alien to Izuku, an unheard of phenomenon.

Tenya being a knight, Shoto being a prince, and Momo being a warrior princess all correlates to their high standings in society, heroic or otherwise.

The reason Katsuki is a barbarian king is because he’s familiar to Izuku in an ancient sense; he’s known him for a long time. The list goes on, but you get the jist.

With this in mind, it’s not difficult to understand that even Katsuki willing to work with Izuku would be another aspect of Izuku’s fantasy: to be able to stand beside his childhood friend once more. And remember the ending of that scene, when Izuku does that big sword slash? That’s him having fully mastered OFA. Both are things that could happen given the manga’s recent direction, but still have yet to happen because this is, again, a fantasy.

And apparently Datte Atatshi No Hero is a reflection on Izuku’s feelings towards Katsuki. Take that as you will, but again, this does not speak for Bakudeku as a whole. Just Izuku’s feelings on the matter.

7) Win to Save, Save to Win (Manga Screenshot)

Since I’ve already penned myself into a short story at this point, might as well take the time to look at this famous phrase from the story.

Personally, I consider it bulls***. It harms both characters overall; yes, I said both. It excuses Katsuki’s need to be a blunt powerhouse that only targets villains, and it redundantly demands Izuku do more of what he was already doing, albeit with less sympathy. I know it sounds corny to say saving is more important than winning, but in the heat of the moment, what gets to the civilians in danger more often? Seeing a guy in a cape deck the latest disaster right in front of them or from a distance? Or said cape guy risking life and limb making sure that this person gets to see life another day?

There’s no perfect answer to it, but that’s my stance.

And this quote, “Win to save, save to win,” justifies the one thing that keeps Katsuki from truly outgrowing his past: his need to be the best. If winning is on the same level then saving, and Izuku has an innate capacity to save, then that means it’s okay for Katsuki to have to win all the time, right?

No. It’s not. And that’s not speaking for all the “Gary Stu” crap, either.

Because being pressured into being the best is what caused Katsuki to hate any kindness offered to him by Izuku. The desire to be the best had him bully Izuku for a decade to ensure that Izuku remained the loser and Katsuki remained the winner. That desire characterizes arguably the worst aspects of Katsuki’s character, and those aspects aren’t gonna fly in the Pro Hero world. Because if Nana Shimura, Shota Aizawa, the Pussycats, Mirio, Sir Nighteye, and a handful of other incidents have taught us anything, it’s that even at their best efforts, heroes don’t win all the time.

Katsuki needs to learn this, or it will crush him in the long term. But he hasn’t. The narrative has kept letting him rack up wins, and his current actions in the manga were spurred on by the fact that he still has yet to truly take a loss.

Say what you will, but I don’t like this line. For what it says about Izuku or Katsuki.

8) The Only One Who Can Accept His Feelings… (Anime Screenshot)

Me @ #7: Wanna see me go off?

Me @ #8: Wanna see me do it again?

Izuku’s perspective on the entire Bakudeku situation is a major reason why most fans condone it. “Izuku doesn’t appear obviously bothered by Katsuki, so that clearly means it’s not abusive/problematic, so just shut up!” or something like that. Well, I’m no psychologist, so I won’t go into a spiel about people ignoring their pain for the sake of others or people trying to excuse others in order to place fault on themselves whether or not it be accurate.

Really, all I can say is that NONE OF THIS should be Izuku’s responsibility.

I’m not blaming this on Izuku because he hasn’t had actual friends or a healthy support system in a long while, but the fact that he decides to take on and enable Katsuki in his element just… doesn’t sit well with me. The logical conclusion would be talking, not throwing hands. I don’t care if they’re “distressed teenagers,” neither of them should be doing this, and Katsuki was fully aware that the teachers would stop them in the first place; that’s not simply adults meddling in what isn’t their business. Katsuki should have really figured out by now that maybe the best course of action is to actually vent to someone without blowing their face off, and I get that he’s absolute s*** at feelings, but really, that’s more of a red flag that he needs to actually get help. And if you think a little too hard on Izuku’s feelings of the matter, well…

Imagine being ostracized for so long that you lose all sense of self worth.

Imagine being told time and again that your worthless, which checks out for you because clearly if your worthless, the guy that enabled that mindset is obviously better than you, and he’s entitled to use you for his own ends.

That’s what I get from this scene.

And again, this is all from IZUKU at this point; virtually NOTHING from Katsuki.

9) Double Detroit Smash (Heroes Rising)

I’ve already said my piece about the film. At this point, it’s beating a dead horse with a stick. Moving on.

10) Word of God (Miscellaneous)

Here’s the thing about Word of God in fandom: the general consensus is that it’s nice to get confirmation from a credible source, but unless it is portrayed in canon, it’s just more words which may or may not be true.

In this case, Kohei Horikoshi, the mangaka for BNHA, is saying that eventually, Katsuki will have to apologize to Izuku. Eventually.

As in, it still hasn’t happened yet.

As in, Katsuki still has yet to decide that what he did in the past was wrong and he should try to fix it.

As in, it currently shows no bearing towards Katsuki’s current character nor the overall Bakudeku dynamic.

Sure, it MIGHT happen, but in another interview (or mayhaps it’s the same one), Horikoshi stated that Katsuki originally wasn’t intended to get as much screen time as he did. Both of these situations are different of course, but with the recent turbulence of the War Arc shaking up the manga, is it really so hard to believe that an apology might slip away from Katsuki’s thought process?

On the bright side, an apology could happen. But until it’s canon, then it’s only a possibility, and therefore can’t be used fully for the intended argument.

11) X-Catapult Handhold (Heroes Rising)

I bet some people working on the movie and some fans on the movie felt spoiled when they included not one, but two handholding scenes for Izuku and Katsuki.

And while the first handhold is certainly a marvel of battle tactics, again, there isn’t much else going on with it. Is it nice to see Katsuki working with Izuku again? Yes, but contrary to popular belief, it doesn’t go past that. Katsuki’s just willing to work with Izuku, full stop. He’d probably be willing to work with anyone because Nine is f***ing tank. And sure, getting a handhold tease is nice, but it’s only to facilitate Katsuki’s subsequent yeeting of Izuku at Nine in an attempt to do damage. Nothing more pressing about the circumstances of their past or anything like that.

12) A Bit of Advice (Anime Screenshot)

Look, this is one of the tamer, better looks at Izuku and Katsuki’s relationship. He’s willing to put his pride aside and give Izuku some advice. But remember what I said earlier in #4?

It’s not just to make sure Izuku gets better, but so Katsuki can feel like it’s a complete win when he beats his ass.

And if we take the line “It pisses me off” into account, we can look at that flaw from the same angle. Remember, Izuku has All Might’s power, the #1 Hero’s power. To Katsuki, that means he shouldn’t have the luxury of making mistakes. But Izuku does. He makes mistakes, and Katsuki sees them and he doesn’t get to exploit them. He still wins, but not because of those mistakes. And part of that pisses Katsuki off. Izuku shouldn’t get to slack. So, Katsuki gives him some advice. Advice that will no doubt help Izuku in the long run, for his (and Katuki’s) sakes. It’s a good outcome from a not very good reason...

13) Have You Made That Borrowed Power Your Own? (Manga Screenshot)

Yeah, no.

I don’t care if Izuku is used to this treatment, it still isn’t reinforcing an overall positive tone.

I don’t care if Katsuki acknowledges at some level that Izuku’s power is becoming his own, he still has the gall to say it was no wonder he passed BECAUSE of his power. Which may be true, but it’s not like Izuku was relying on it 100%, and lowkey comes off as Quirkist.

All it tells me is that Katsuki is starting to acknowledge Izuku, in the “gadfly I can’t get off my back” sort of way. Is this the “best development” y’all are rooting for? Basic acknowledgement of another human being?

14) Outta My Way Punk! (Manga Screenshot)

Katsuki reflexively tells Izuku to get out of his way.

Izuku is used to it, again, that does not excuse it.

Once again, Katsuki reverts back to his usual behavior instead of showing a more subtle approach to show the audience that maybe he’s changing beyond what a chorus of other characters saying “he’s changed!” has to offer.

...even if it’s not abusive, you can’t really say that’s a “good” relationship, either.

15) Blackwhip Training (Manga Screenshot)

Katsuki willing to train with Izuku to help him master his Quirk(s) is nice.

Still blatantly in his element with lots of needless yelling and dominance assertion, but still nice.

And keep in mind, right after it’s clear they aren’t getting anywhere and Izuku tries to rationalize it, Katsuki decides to dip seeing as it’s not worth his time anymore. And even before that, at least in my translation, Katsuki seems to be more interested in beating out Blackwhip instead of having Izuku get a handle on.

Again, maybe not abusive, but not exactly supportive, either.

16) ??? (Anime Screenshot)

I personally have no idea what they were going for with this screenshot, but if I had to guess, that’s after Katsuki gives Izuku an escape window whilst he faces off against All Might alone during their Final Exams.

While I understand that this is early on in their dynamic’s development, the fact still stands that Katsuki still wants to fight for fighting’s sake. He may have been willing to at least give Izuku a chance, but he still sees Izuku’s retreat as cowardly, even though it’s a perfectly valid way to pass the exam. He still just wants to fight.

There’s no mutuality in that sense.

17) Quote from Justin Briner (Miscellaneous)

I don’t have much of an opinion for Izuku’s English VA, but for what it’s worth, I think overall he’s a really cool dude. The same, however, cannot be said for his quote.

I can buy into Izuku wanting to get stronger because of Katsuki, since that is a major plot point. I can’t do the same for Katsuki seeing the good in people because we don’t ever see it, really? In fact, it’s more like people latch on to Katsuki and he just tolerates them until they’ve completely wormed their way into his life. There’s no scene where Katsuki considers someone a good person because of something Izuku did, or anything even vaguely along those lines, at least to my knowledge.

As for their relationship, there have been more downs than ups, and it isn’t relatable to me in the slightest. Maybe that’s just ‘cause I don’t get the overall appeal, but their friendship never really strikes me as a… well, friendship. You could argue that’s the point and that’s what makes them different and interesting, but I would much rather we see more concrete proof of their relationship being at more understandable highs and lows while actually demonstrating it was mutual.

But again. That’s just me.

18) Joint Training Pep Talk (Manga Screenshot)

I’m basically repeating myself at this point. Katsuki might be keeping tabs on Izuku, but again, it’s not entirely for Izuku’s benefit. He just wants to make sure his new “rival” (successor to the #1 Hero, I might add) isn’t dragging his feet through the mud and actually getting s*** done so their eventual third clash will actually be worth his time.

...this relationship is so one-sided in two entirely different ways, I swear.

19) Speaking With Kacchan So Naturally (Manga Screenshot)

Why are we congratulating Katsuki for adding one more person to his already (surprisingly) sizable tolerance pile?

Why are we congratulating Izuku for bridging a gap other people managed to cross with little to no effort even though he didn’t do anything wrong?

Izuku is essentially saying “Good job on me for finally getting the same treatment as everyone else from that one person after over ten years.” Good on him, but uh… that’s not exactly a landmark worth framing the way the fandom does...

The relationship might not be outright abusive, but HOO BOY the bar has never been set lower...

20) “You’ve got a good friend in him” (Manga Screenshot)

And finally, the pièce de résistance. Which is really more narrative mouthpiece-ing.

Even before that, Katsuki yet again can’t take a compliment from Izuku for whatever reason. Yet again, Izuku just shrugs off all of Katsuki’s discouragement, intentional or otherwise. And I love me some Dadmight as much as the next guy, but really, does he have a good grasp on relationships? His only friends in his life were David and Naomasa, and he’s been shown time and time again to not be the infallible man many think he is due to being the Symbol of Peace? But suddenly he goes “Bakudeku rights” and y’all jump on that with no room for argument?

Katsuki has yet to prove what All Might has been saying. Again, telling rather than showing, therefore removing the meaning from the entire thing. Unless Katsuki proves otherwise, I call bulls***.

-------------------------------------------------------

So, my final verdict? Bakudeku is fine. It’s just not as great as the rest of you are making it out to be. I’m not gonna dictate whatever you ship or what you enjoy, that’s not my place, but at least keep these perspectives in mind. You don’t have to believe them, but just… stay aware, y’know?

Alrighty, I’ve wasted enough of your time. If you’ve read it until the very end, then… thanks. Carry on.

-Crimson Lion (10 August 2020)

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shy-magpie · 3 years

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RQG 157

these things get long and are by definition one spoiler after another, so live blog under the cut

pre episode nonsense:

My hopes for this episode are mostly just the obvious: For Zolf to pull out of his spiral; for Azu to talk to someone about how she's doing; for Hamid to find his footing with the Kobolds (loving that they are devoting a proper arc to using unearned privilege/power rather than pretending it doesn't exist); more Cel lore; a Wug; and for someone to shake answers out of the Brorb. Not sure Alex is going to let us get to know the kids individually which makes sense as juggling 7 new NPCs would seriously cut into everyone else's screen time. I think we will get more of Skraak & Hamid working through their issues, and Skraak's helping the kids through recovery. If we are very lucky maybe Zolf & Skraak will talk rather than just have Zolf resent the Kobolds for putting Hamid in a place to fall into old habits. Okay lets hit play!

Episode live blogging:

Intros are quick: Zolf sounds low, Ben sounds higher energy than he was.

Oh the Brorb drawings come better when the other half is distracted but not thinking about the real topic.

Krakens are through out the globe, unknown numbers, not true instances of Shoin, network is down.

Cel and I both react to having Shoin be the one to come closest to a truly non physical form.*

Krakens are cloned brains in robot bodies. Specifically said Daleks not Jurassic Park.

Shoin thinks he sent a ransom note using the Kraken as a threat against the world.

Does not handle it well when Zolf hones in on that no one knows who he is, much less trembles at his name.**

Hamid follows Zolf's lead and twists it towards boasting about beating the Infection. The talking half doesn't seem to know how he did it as clearly as the drawing bit. Unfortunately its strictly surgical which would be hard to reproduce at scale even before you consider the side effects.

Quick huddle with the rest of the team:

Cel always wanted to go to London?

Zolf wants to ask more about how the infection works so they could prevent infection. Wilde thinks he is suggesting using Shoin's solution, I get Alex has to catch people up but I don't like Wilde being a paragraph behind me or underestimating Zolf.

Bryn wants to review the diary. Alex confirms the diary says he had a possible way to "end it" as a whole.

They go back and Cel feigns being extremely impressed that Shoin might have a way to stop the infection. I think having time to regroup cut him off from his memory of the infection again. Alex spells out Shoin loses coherence whenever they bring up the infection/the time period around when he was infected.

Heal check time. Zolf crit fails. Azu got a 29 and can see where his theory was better than his surgery. It may be an aphasia (issues to with communication. can't get to certain words, some can't be spoken even if he understands the concept; others he can't understand if he hears them even if he uses the word/concept himself. Brain trauma, memory problems more severe the more recent you get, sounds like unable to store short term memory properly so anything longer ago than a week but after surgery likely lost.)

Cel switches to the simulacrum. He verbally dismisses it as a waste of time. His hand keeps drawing based on the previous question re:stopping the infection.

Alex calls for a sense motive. Zolf & Azu see the latest drawing is a landscape using technical notation. Its a barren mine. Yes! it's the entrance to Svalbard. Cel can see its a circuit. Alex makes us/Lydia wait until after he's done with the simulacrum stuff.

Shoin thinks using humans as your base design to improve from is the wrong approach, gives some credit to Francois Henri for taking a different approach.

The circuit maybe to transmit something, it needs an organic component. Cel couldn't roll much better then that so they probably need to kick it towards the Harlequins to set a team on.

Shoin is moaning about paying the bills. Took on the contract to provide Simulacrum fluidics to Damascus for the money.

Drawings change shape get less technical and focus on the cavern entrance. Ben catches it sounds yonic, Alex was trying to not go there but did he really think you could go from cave imagery to seed imagry without stopping there?

Hamid tries to get more on how he caught the infection.

Bryn and Alex spell out that to get answers you ask a real question he won't answer verbally but will answer with his hand, with a decoy to keep the talking him distracted while the hand answers.

Decoy question is about Harrison Campell.

Concept drawing of a person, overwhelmed by an image of a huge figure with lines going from the small to the large? Is he suggesting they plant someone they prepare to be infected, and have them infect it back?

Proofs? Minor changes between the proofs and published version of early Campbell books.

Another review session upstairs. Hamid's red string wall got cited as being useful! Cult of Hades/Wellington may have been the one to hire Shoin to make parts for Damascus. Zolf and Hamid talk briefly, about work and as dry "stick to the subject" as possible but they are talking productively.

Oh Ben finally gets in that the interrogation is hard on Zolf's knees because he has to keep his legs out of the cell. He snaps a little at Cel when they comment on cell vs Cel. Carter suggests "naughty box" which nicely derails that point of tension. Cel refers to Shoin as being more pleasant to talk to than Carter. Not sure if that undermines the tiny Cel/Carter ship or fuels it with tension.

Cel asks who hired Shoin to make Sim parts. He can answer directly. Well directly for him, it seems to be mostly justifying stealing Tesla's work on the basis that Tesla wasn't going to implement his theory. Hamid snipes him with a shot praising Edison to get him back on topic. Shoin says Edison was being backed by a big investor. Is it to much to hope this is Alex finally consolidating the factions? If Hades is Edison's investor (leaving Edison & co as effectively their minions, rather than a faction of their own) and the factory owners we can cut down on sides considerably.

He goes on about how he spied on Henri, religion as money maker. Shoin was directly approached by Hades lot. Shoin made sure his bits won't work since he didn't want competition. Wellington was his contact with Hades. Wellington always had a pair of cloaked figures. Vinegar + squizard = funny? Could be useful.

Do not follow what is going on with the hand.

Shoin is still unstuck in time and thinks he is going to connect them. Cel unplugs the speaker on his villain speech. Cel induces a dream state by powering him down

~break~

Cel suggests painlessly killing him. Zolf seconds the idea because its immoral to keep him like that. Hamid points out the longer the keep him around the more likely it is for someone to be infected. Wilde rules they should kill and seal it off.

Cel & Zolf have an argument about having the Kobolds handle the remains. Cel calls Zolf out on his inconstant stance on whether the Kobolds can be infected because if he doesn't believe that then he is risking them.

Wilde is moving on? Cel suggests letting the Brorb die, putting it in a bag of holding, keeping the bag in the anti magic field.

They can't just call Einstein because using unofficial channels is bad when irregular behavior is a sign of infection(?)

Alex's unhealthy attitudes about productivity are called out when he refers to the time Wilde spends thinking/planning before getting their transport arranged as "working" (with the inverted commas) rather than considering it part of the work.

They work out possible paths if teleporting is off the table.

And the boys are snapping at each other again. Zolf, you can't flip out every time you are reminded that Hamid doesn't have the experience or expertise of a seasoned sailor. Yeah you did leave the team without your skills and maybe the kid was a bit green for a field promotion; but you know what? He did a fine job, and the other choices were Sasha, who wouldn't lead, and Bertie, who shouldn't. Just because stepping down was the right thing to do, doesn't mean you get to lose it when you are confronted with the mere allusion to the idea it had consequences.

Barnes tells Hamid why going over the pole is a really bad idea. That Azu's suggestion is carrying Hamid has troubling symbolism.

Zolf actually comes more or less to Hamid's defense by pointing out that all their options are bad options, so having a go at Hamid's idea in particular is unwarranted.

I'm not going to bother listing out options. They will pick one or won't need to pick one. If we have been a very good fandom Alex may reward us with Earhart coming back as their preferred transport.

There we go, Hamid suggests her, Zolf seizes on the idea compliments Hamid on it, and immediately takes it to Wilde. Thank God he isn't so far down he can't do that. If he isn't compulsively shooting down any hope (especially from Hamid) then he really is on the upswing from the low brought on by quarantine stress.

Lydia isn't happy that there isn't going to be an American chapter. Then again we wrote off Svalbard, so don't give up!

Its the Northwest Passage and its so weird realizing that not everyone has it as a cultural reference. Wonder if it's an Oregon thing or a US thing.

Yes it would have been cool, but I think Alex is not going to let us have cool new story arcs when we haven't played with the ones we have at home.

Einstein and Earhart are our two best transport options. I am a happy fan. Especially if Zolf has to use his family and Earhart’s reaching out to him near the end of the journey to appeal to her. I mean we did get more on Zolf's relationship with his family than I expected after Paris, so I'm not going to sulk if they don't pursue this, but it would be nice.

Conflicted as a fan, its hard to remember that this taking months extra is a bad thing when the end of the series is feeling too close for comfort.

Zolf, look at you leveraging your experience with moving even when things feel hopeless!

Cel I love you, kraken as submarine is brilliant. Air kraken is suggested by Carter.

Hamid plays with the ideas while Alex goes "why?". Because you are going to have to work a hell of a lot harder than that if you want Hamid to see it as a no win situation rather than proof he needs to redouble on cheerful creativity. Feeling like he had no options led to the worst parts of Hamid's life, the things he is truly ashamed of; having few losses outside of those, he is going to make Kirk's Kobayashi Maru hang ups look amateur.

Zolf is heading to the beach.

Cel is checking on their village.

Hamid wants to contact Einstein himself, Zolf says he should talk to Wilde about that. Hamid wants Zolf with him for that meeting. Zolf either doesn't want to be a safety blanket, wants Hamid to get used to dealing with Wilde directly, or completely missed Hamid offering a chance to work together because he is incapable of seeing Wilde as an opponent. He does say some nice things about being a team.

Hamid tells Cel to say hi to Jasper for them. He is good at the people side of leadership. Remembering names and relationships, knowing how to show he cares because it's important to Cel without overstepping. If Zolf can learn to let go of the rank stuff, they could be an unbeatable team of co leaders.

Zolf nods at Azu. Azu smiles proudly back. Alex jokes about not liking giving them time to heal because they coordinate.

Hamid offers hugs to both Cel and Zolf. Because this entire character is a "fuck you" to toxic masculinity and he is not afraid to openly show affection to his friends.

Cel gives him a great hug.

Zolf hesitates but gives him a pat on the shoulder. Hamid's has high enough charisma to make that not awkward. Good kid, accepting that Zolf is reaching out as far as he can.

Hamid talks to Skraak. Hamid is worried about taking the kids. Maybe Skraak can convince them to stay & help Jasper with science. Because RQG loves us and wants us to be happy, they are considering a fantasy some of us harbored since "science" as a serious possibility. Could solve the issue with Alex not wanting the kids to take up too much screen time too. Skraak is the perfect character for Hamid to have as his second. He believes in Hamid, and can be confided in, but isn't going to take an ounce of self pity or bullshit.

Alex that village better be okay. Smoke? Controlled burn. Ben lightens the mood. The tank is still guarding the village. The barricade is up but they are guarding about as well as a village of level 0(1?) characters can be expected to.

They are having a party and there is a bon fire. Because Alex knows we wouldn't have trusted him if there wasn't a little scare with the smoke. !puns

The village is visibly healing since the weather is fixed. They thank Cel but know better than to ask.

Jasper! Jasper is looking good. He stepped in as a leader of the village. Cel and I could burst with pride. Jasper thinks Cel is coming to stay, Cel tries to explain they are going to help save the other villages around the world and mentions that Jasper would like the Kobolds.

!puns

* One day I need to hunt down the right corner of SF because there has got to be a decent amount of trans humanist fiction for trans humans out there somewhere.

**Not sure if I should feel bad for hoping this gives him a safe target for his destructive tendencies. Ideally Zolf would get past that point without indulging his dark side lest he reinforce bad coping mechanisms. Ideally Zolf would have weekly therapy without the fate of the world on his shoulders too. Its the more personal version of looking forward to a fight after Hamid's been stressed because he seems to find cooking baddies cathartic.

#Rusty Quill Gaming #live blog thingy #RQG 157 #RQG Spoilers #RQG Season 4

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aion-rsa · 3 years

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The Suicide Squad: How Idris Elba Brings Bloodsport to Life

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

Idris Elba has a certain unmistakeable, charismatic vibe about him. The resulting magnetism extends to the wide range of characters he has brought to life over the years – from playing the second-in-command to a drug kingpin in The Wire to playing a guy who has to deal with the likes like Michael Scott in The Office, to playing a dedicated horseman committed to fighting off gentrifying developers in his neighborhood in the recently released Concrete Cowboy. Whether it’s as a leading man or part of a larger ensemble, Elba’s performances always stand out because of what he brings to each role.

Later this summer, Elba will make his DC Extended Universe debut in James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad – a comic book adaption full of talent who could carry their own features if given the opportunity. We recently spoke with him about his role as the lesser-known comic character Bloodsport and what it was like to be part of such a chaotic batch of DC villains and antiheroes.

How were you first approached for the role for Bloodsport, and what made you say yes?

James Gunn reached out to me and said he had this project that he wanted to work on and didn’t tell me what it was. We had a meeting pretty late at night [and] what was appealing to me was that it wasn’t a continuation of the last film, and this is a new character. I just wanted to see where James wanted to go with this new film and this new character. So that was really what drew me in.

Bloodsport isn’t a very famous character. So what did you learn about him and what freedom were you given to bring him to life?

Like you say, he’s not very well known so I sort of traced his history back in the DC world. He’s popped up in some places. He’s more of the vigilante soldier type. He’s not going to have special powers, he’s just a really good assassin, basically. That was pretty consistent throughout his history. There was a little bit of leniency between myself and James collaboratively just working it out … what we want to bring to life. I felt very involved in that process, so essentially I got to bring him to life the way we wanted to.

You’re no stranger to superhero movies. You’re an MCU alum and I consider Hobbs & Shaw a superhero movie because you played Brixton Lore, the fantastic “Black Superman” in it. Did you bring any of those experiences to Bloodsport?

Playing any action character requires a level of real dedication just to the amount of work you have to do. So although I’ve been in the Marvel universe, Heimdall isn’t so much of an action character, despite moments where he’s had action. But Brixton in Hobbs & Shaw was 100% full on. Going from that into The Suicide Squad was a great transition because I basically brought some of the things I learned from the experiences I had on Hobbs & Shaw. It’s not the same character, but the level of effort is the same.

This ensemble cast is one of the wildest we’ve seen in a superhero movie. What was it like to work with everyone?

That was a lot of fun. It’s challenging keeping your character in one lane while you’ve got these really larger-than-life characters around you, especially Peacemaker who is a natural rival [to Bloodsport]. It’s kind of hard to sort of stay in your character with John Cena, who is incredible with improvisations. And then everyone else has this quick-fire banter, but Bloodsport, he doesn’t even like to talk. It’s like, you don’t want to be too friendly with these people. But I think that’s what’s beautiful about his arc. When you see the movie, he goes on a journey.

The dynamic with the actors is incredible. Really good, nice, hard-working people. James was so specific around timing and comedy and how you say lines and stuff. It was great to be a part of that. It’s almost like he’s a comic strip artist and he had these characters to play with and built these amazing frames. I love working with directors that have a complete vision, but allow you a little bit of latitude to bring it to life.

What was it like wearing that intricate Bloodsport costume?

The suit was very tricky to wear. Each component of his costume does something else, so it’s quite a tricky costume to design. I remember speaking to James about the many machinations of designs that he had gone through with this costume. When I came on board, it had to fit to who I am and how Bloodsport moves. It’s intricate but it looks incredible and badass when you see it in the film, but it was a real journey getting there.

What are his weapons like?

Just imagine a weapon that can transform from one thing into another and keep going. He’s got a pretty cool array of weapons.

In the trailer we see Bloodsport in vacation wear, a nice pair of grilling sandals and linen pants. Do you believe that Bloodsport is good on the grill and who would he play Spades or Dominos with and why?

With a name like Bloodsport he’s definitely going to grill. I don’t think he’s the guy that’s seasoning, but I think he’s behind the barbecue with the fire, making sure that meat and blood are cooking. As far as playing games with anyone, he doesn’t do that, he’s solitary, he doesn’t like company, and likes to be alone. He’s very guarded. He just wouldn’t find it interesting to play cards against anyone. He might play chess, maybe, but I don’t think he’s playing Spades at the barbecue.

Earlier this year, there was an announcement about you and your wife, Sabrina, teaming up with your respective production companies to develop an Afro-futuristic animated series. Can you speak to some of the motivation for wanting to put a story like Dantai out into the world?

I can tell you that it’s mainly the brainchild of Sabrina. Her deep passion and history with anime introduced me to it. From my perspective, I just love telling stories, but also this is a medium that’s kind of new and interesting to me, and it feels underserved in many, many ways. Sabrina is a super, super geek when it comes to anime [laughs], so, you know, I’m there. But I’m so engaged from what I’ve learned so far, Crunchyroll is incredible. We want to make something really exciting, hopefully that will maybe even bring more people to the genre.

You don’t know how happy it just made me to hear that your wife is a huge anime fan. I’m a huge anime fan, so finding other Black women who love that art form always makes me happy. So thank you for sharing that.

Yeah. You guys could definitely travel down some wormholes and discuss because she can go deep.

Would you all ever consider developing a superhero story or comic book adaptation?

We haven’t considered it. It would certainly be sort of a natural course of action in terms of how this came about. We would certainly consider that, but right now it’s one step at a time to try and get [Dantai] right and see how we go. But for me, if you know anything about me or my ambitions are out there, so (laughing) I’ll end up doing something in that space for sure.

Retcons and remakes and comics all go hand in hand. Are there any other comic characters you’d love a chance to bring to life, even though you’ve already been in the DC and the Marvel universe?

Well, we all need to see Black Superman but someone else is putting that in the works. But you know, that’s practically my nickname right now. (laughing) I’m being honest. I’m not the best dictionary of comic books [so] I honestly couldn’t speak with authority.

There is a character named Icon from Milestone comics, and although folks don’t like when you refer to him as the Black Superman, he is kind of like that analog. So I mean, there is still a chance for that to happen.

Oh, really?

Yes.

Wow. Okay. Thank you for that tidbit. What did you say was the name of the company it comes from?

He comes from Milestone Comics. They were a Black imprint. Dwayne McDuffie was part of this startup, but they were an imprint of DC Comics. Static Shock, Icon, Rocket and some other really prominent Black superheroes came from them. I’m sorry. I’m a comic nerd.

No, I did not know that. Who has it now?

DC does. Unfortunately, Dwayne McDuffie passed away. But DC is bringing it back. There are some actual comics that are in the works right now. Static Shock is one of them. I know that. I believe Michael B. Jordan is producing the movie. So they’re around. Yeah. So I’m just putting that bug in your ear.

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

Thank you very much. That’s great. I’m looking it up as we speak.

The Suicide Squad opens on Aug. 6 in theaters and HBO Max.

Check out more on The Suicide Squad in the latest issue of Den of Geek!

The post The Suicide Squad: How Idris Elba Brings Bloodsport to Life appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3vpOily

#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

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bloody-bee-tea · 5 years

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Inktober for Writers 2019 Day 24

Dizzy - Strength

Warnings for child abuse and homophobic language. It's over 2.5, so there's a read more.

Jiang Cheng silently and swiftly makes his way to his chambers. He hopes to make it there before his mother realizes his dad let him leave, but of course he’s not that lucky.She intercepts him before he’s even half-way there and Jiang Cheng breaks out in cold sweat.Jiang Cheng tries to stand tall, to meet her with as much anger as she always meets him, but it’s hard. He’s terrified of her and what she’ll eventually do to him, and he wishes, selfishly, that Wei Wuxian was still there to take the brunt of her anger.He loves that his siblings are with the people they love; Jiang Yanli with Jin Zixuan, who really came around ever since that public confession on Phoenix Mountain, and Wei Wuxian with Lan Wangji, wandering the world and doing what they do best. He can’t blame them for getting out when they had the chance.But a little part of him, a very resentful part, if he’s being honest, hates them, too. They left him alone, left him behind, abandoned him with a father who rather talks about Wei Wuxian and his very many accomplishments than acknowledge his own son, and a mother whose hatred against Wei Wuxian, and to a lesser degree, Jiang Fengmian runs so deep she started hating her own son, too.There is not much left in Lotus Pier to bring him joy, but he does have his duties as Clan heir; he can’t just run away like his siblings did, as much as he wishes for that.He fears his mother would drag him back kicking and screaming anyway.“Did he already give up on you?” Madame Yu asks and her tone is scathing in a way Jiang Cheng has long since grown used to.It still cuts him.“There was nothing left to discuss,” he gives back with a polite bow, voice forcefully even.He’s reminded of the comment Wei Wuxian made once about dogs, about how they can smell fear and pounce on you when you show them even the slightest sliver of it.Madame Yu is not unlike a dog, in that regard. And Jiang Cheng is very afraid.

Jiang Cheng purposefully doesn’t mention that his father had talked more about Wei Wuxian and his latest letter than he had paid any attention to Jiang Cheng and the Sect matter they should have been discussing. His mother doesn’t need to know that.“Did you even learn a single thing today?” Madame Yu demands to know and Jiang Cheng nodds.“I did, mother,” Jiang Cheng replies, lying to her in hopes of her letting him off easy.She doesn’t need to know that Jiang Fengmian had barely glanced at Jiang Cheng during the hour they spend together.“You lying bastard,” she hisses at him, and Jiang Cheng’s heart drops to his knees as Zidian crackles around her wrist. “Do you think I don’t know what you did in there?” she asks with a court nod back to Jiang Fengmian’s study.“Mother,” Jiang Cheng tries but she silences him with a glare.“I know that you did nothing but talk about that servant child,” she spits out and Jiang Cheng wants to say something, wants to defend his brother in everything but blood, but the appearance of Zidian silences him very effectively.“Mom, please,” he still tries when she doesn’t immediately lash out at him. “Dad was just showing me his most recent letter. We did discuss Sect matters, I promise you.”And they did. For all of the two minutes it took Jiang Fangmian to tell Jiang Cheng that everything was well in the Sect and they didn’t need to go over anything today.It still counted.“How dare you,” she says through clenched teeth. “You are just as useless as your father. Choosing that bastard over your own family!”Jiang Cheng wants to protest, wants to tell her that Wei Wuxian

family, but the words get stuck in his throat when Madame Yu raises her hand, Zidian making a wide arc over her head.The pain doesn’t register for a few seconds, though the sound does. That alone is enough to leave Jiang Cheng stunned, but then the pain catches up with him.He gaspes, going to his knees and he feels dizzy, his vision swimming before it briefly goes black around the edges.The pain is worse than anything he has known before, spreading into every corner of his body and he can’t help the tears that spring to his eyes.Madame Yu raises Zidian again.“Don’t,” he gasps out, but Madame Yu only looks at him with a sneer before she brings the whip down again. Jiang Cheng knows that closing his eyes won’t do anything, will only make the impact worse since he can’t brace for it, but he can’t help it.The pain is already overwhelming. He knows he can’t stand another hit.Zidian zaps through the air, Jiang Cheng can hear it, and when the sound of an impact reaches Jiang Cheng he jerks in anticipation, but the pain doesn’t come.“You!” Madame Yu yells and Jiang Cheng slowly opens his eyes.Lan Xichen is standing in front of him, Zidian wrapped around his wrist, but it doesn’t seem like he even notices it.“How dare you interfere in our Sect’s business?” Madame Yu demands to know and yanks her hand back.Lan Xichen’s grip on Zidian doesn’t falter, and he doesn’t let go.Jiang Cheng pushes himself up on unsteady feet and grabs the back of Lan Xichen’s robes.“Don’t do this,” he whispers, because despite what Madame Yu thinks, he knows about Sect business.This will cause an incident between the Yunmeng Jiang Sect and the Gusu Lan Sect and Jiang Cheng can’t stand to be the reason for that, can’t bear if the relationship between their sects crumble to the point where he is no longer welcome in the Cloud Recesses.It has been his only refuge these past couple of months.Jiang Cheng doesn’t care how his father justified his many trips to the Cloud Recesses to his mother, but he had gladly taken any and all opportunity to go there. The Cloud Recesses, and more importantly Lan Xichen, had always welcomed him with open arms and if he can’t go there anymore, Jiang Cheng doesn’t know how he’ll find the strength to go on.“Jiang Cheng is a close personal friend and a trusted ally of our Sect and I will not allow you to treat him like this,” Lan Xichen says and Jiang Cheng has never heard him sound so cold.“‘A close personal friend’,” Madame Yu repeats and Jiang Cheng can see the disgust on her face. “Don’t tell me you’re a cut-sleeve like your brother.” She turns her glare on Jiang Cheng, who shrinks under it. “And don’t you think I will allow you to become just as wrong and warped as that bastard is.”It’s not like it’s a surprise; Jiang Cheng has always known that his mother would disapprove of his inclinations. It is just another thing he envies his brother for; Wei Wuxian doesn’t care for Madame Yu’s approval.“There is nothing you can allow or deny us,” Lan Xichen calmly tells her and finally drops Zidian. He held his grip on it all this time, and Jiang Cheng wonders just how strong Lan Xichen has to be to endure it that long. Zidian is a first-class spiritual tool. Its power is not something to be sneered at.Lan Xichen turns around, turns his back to Madame Yu in a clear show of dismissal, and Jiang Cheng admires how daring he is. Even though he wishes Lan Xichen wouldn’t see him in a situation like this.“I’m sorry,” he says, because it’s his weakness that forced Lan Xichen to step in, and Jiang Cheng never wanted Lan Xichen to think less of him.He should have known there was no use to wishing.“Are you okay?” Lan Xichen wants to know ad his voice is so full of concern, tears spring to Jiang Cheng’s eyes.“What are you doing here?” Jiang Cheng asks as he furiously scrubs his hand over his eyes.“Pathetic,” Madame Yu says behind Lan Xichen, and distantly wonders how Lan Wangji can say the same thing to all of them all the time, and yet it never cuts like Madame Yu’s words.“I’m here to see you,” Lan Xichen tells him with a small smile, as if Madame Yu wasn’t still fuming in the background and Jiang Cheng can barely meet his eyes.“You should get back to the Cloud Recesses,” Jiang Cheng mumbles because he should.If he leaves now, maybe they can somehow salvage this situation.“Yes, we should,” Lan Xichen agrees and Jiang Cheng stumbles over the ‘we’.“What?”“You’re coming with me,” Lan Xichen determinedly says and then seems to remember himself. “If you want to, of course.”“He doesn’t,” Madame Yu chimes in and Jiang Cheng instinctively ducks.He does want. He’s just not sure he can.“Jiang Cheng,” Lan Xichen softly says. “Do you want to come with me?” Jiang Cheng thinks of Lan Xichen’s soft voice and gentle smiles, how he’s always there for Jiang Cheng, how he doesn’t mind his sometimes unpredictable moods. How the Cloud Recesses have been more of a home these past few months than Lotus Pier has been ever since his siblings left.“Yes,” he chokes out in a moment of weakness and tightens his grip on Lan Xichen’s robe. “Please don’t leave me here.”“I won’t,” Lan Xichen promises and pulls him into a hug, one arm securely around his waist.Jiang Cheng can’t see Madame Yu like that, and he presses himself tighter to Lan Xichen. He doesn’t want to let go.“It’s okay now,” Lan Xichen mutters and gently breaks the hug, though he keeps his arm around Jiang Cheng’s waist. “Let’s go. Do you need anything?”Jiang Cheng shakes his head. There’s nothing he he wants to take with him except Sandu and he’s carrying that with him.“Alright then,” Lan Xichen says and steers them away from Madame Yu.They have barely made a few steps when Jiang Cheng can hear Zidian whir through the air again. Lan Xichen turns, Shuoyue deflecting the hit without much problems and Jiang Cheng closes his eyes.He knew his mother wouldn’t just let him leave.He tries to get away from Lan Xichen, to draw the focus of her attack on himself, but Lan Xichen won’t let go of him.Jiang Cheng isn’t quite sure how Lan Xichen manages it, but after an intense stare down Madame Yu turns away from them.“Fine,” she scoffs. “Then take him. He’s not good for anything, anyway.”Jiang Cheng can feel these words like a physical hit, and his ears burn because Lan Xichen heard them, too.“And that’s where you’re wrong,” Lan Xichen calmly tells her, before he turns around and presses a kiss to Jiang Cheng’s temple.It’s like he’s soothing Jiang Cheng’s very core with that.Lan Xichen finally drags them away from Lotus Pier, carries them on his sword and Jiang Cheng is thankful for it.He doesn’t know if he could have managed to stay on his own sword.When they touch down for the night, Lan Xichen turns worried eyes on Jiang Cheng.“How’s your back?” he asks, already reaching out to check for himself and Jiang Cheng takes a step back from him.As much as he wishes to go with Lan Xichen, he knows he has to turn back. He had all the flight to think about this, and it’s the only solution.Madame Yu will be furious, and she will try to rage war on the Cloud Recesses, just to make an example and Jiang Cheng can’t allow Lan Xichen to suffer for his kindness.“I have to go back,” he forces out and Lan Xichen frowns at him.“Do you want to?” he carefully asks and Jiang Cheng shakes his head. Of course he doesn’t want to. But he should.“Then don’t,” Lan Xichen imploringly says. “Come with me. We will protect you.”Jiang Cheng allows himself to imagine, just for a moment, how it would be. How Lan Xichen would look after him, protect him, assimilate him into the Gusu Lan Sect and its thousands of rules.Rules Jiang Cheng will all break, sooner or later, because he is too angry, too proud to be a good Sect member, too weak and mediocre to be a good cultivator. Madame Yu made sure he could never forget that.“The rules,” he haltingly starts but Lan Xichen immediately interrupts him.“Don’t worry about them.”“How can I not? I know them, Lan Xichen. I’m not a good fit for the sect.”“If Wei Wuxian can live in the Cloud Recesses then so can you.”“My brother--is with you?” Jiang Cheng asks and he hates how his voice shakes, how badly he wants to see him.“For a few weeks now,” Lan Xichen replies.“And Lan Qiren allows it?” Jiang Cheng weakly jokes.“He might not be the biggest fan of Wei Wuxian but even he knows better than to be against Wangji’s cultivation partner.”“Oh,” Jiang Cheng breathes out. He hadn’t known they were cultivation partners already.“He didn’t mention that in the letters he send to my father,” Jiang Cheng says. He tries to keep the bitterness out of his voice but it’s almost choking him. He would have loved to receive a letter from him, too. Instead, Wei Wuxian only ever addressed them to their father.“He didn’t want to get you into trouble,” Lan Xichen gently tells him, and Jiang Cheng burns with the reminder that Lan Xichen had witnessed the whole ugly scene.“I’m sorry you had to see that,” Jiang Cheng mutters and pulls his robes tighter around him.He feels cold.“I’m just glad I was there in time,” Lan Xichen gives back and covers Jiang Cheng with his own cloak.Jiang Cheng knows he should give it back, but it’s warm and smells like Lan Xichen and so he desperately clutches to it.“I don’t know what to do now,” Jiang Cheng admits, because there’s no place to go for him now.Sure, Lan Xichen might allow him to stay in the Cloud Recesses for a while, but eventually he’ll want him to leave again. They all do, in the end. Maybe he can find refuge with his sister, for a while at least.“You’re going to come home with me,” Lan Xichen says, and his voice allows no argument. “And then you’re going to stay.”“But for how long?” “For as long as you want,” Lan Xichen says as he cups Jiang Cheng’s cheek in his hand. “You’ll always have a place with me.”Jiang Cheng thinks back to all the little moments that had occured between them in the past months, about Lan Xichen’s gentle touch and comfortable silences and meaningful looks. About how Lan Xichen hadn’t denied that he was like his brother.And maybe, maybe Jiang Cheng allows himself to hope. “Okay.”

Next part

#bt writes #inktober for writers 2019 #untamedfest #xicheng #the untamed #au #abusive parents #homophobic language #angst #hurt/comfort #lxc continues to be the best ever

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6ix-dragons · 4 years

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Edens Zero: The Chapter 83 Uproar (and What’s Next)

(Please be advised: important spoilers for the latest chapters of Edens Zero will be found below!)

When I mentioned in one of my previous posts, the other day, about having to take a break from this series...I was actually half-joking about it. More on that, at the end of this post.

But, ladies and gentlemen...even ‘though it has been probably mentioned multiple times, by now—can we still talk about how incredibly dark the latest chapters have gotten, for this series...so far? I mean...pump the brakes there, Mashima! We can’t handle all this angst, and feels, that quickly!

As long-time followers of Hiro Mashima’s works would know, these dark themes and situations are really nothing new. We’ve seen them before, in Rave Master. We’ve seen it also happen in Fairy Tail—despite it being considerably lighter in nature, compared to Rave. However, all of those darker moments in both series don’t come even close to what had just happened with the latest chapter of Hiro’s newest series!

Now, for those who have actually yet to be caught up with the story, I’ll just cut straight to the chase: Shiki and a few of his prominent allies of the Edens Zero have taken on the next biggest villain (and, arguably, who might yet be the most infamous amongst those who the EZ crew faced, when this is all said and done), in Drakken Joe, and his equally-challenging cronies that are the Elemental Four.

Long story short—all of the more prominent members of the Edens Zero crew end up losing their fights to them, and are promptly captured by Drakken Joe, and his group. What then happens next will may as well have sent most of the fandom into quite the shock they’re having right now.

Not long after Weisz ends up losing his arm, as punishment following their defeat, Drakken Joe—who claims he doesn’t kill people (yeeeaah...keep saying that, why don’t you? /s), makes the serious decision to execute Shiki, by putting a friggin’ bullet right through his head!!

I haven’t seen an execution this brutal being carried out by a villain, ever since Arlong did it to Bellemere, from who knows when!

Okay, now, not long after this chapter was released, I made the social media rounds to see how readers of this series really felt about what had happened in that chapter. There were some who actually praised Mashima for taking a more realistic, grounded approach, as well as for bringing the tone and themes more in line with Rave. Personally, I don’t see much of a problem with these opinions. I also did think that Edens Zero should stand out more than Fairy Tail did, in terms of both. However, as I will mention this later on, I was also concerned at the same time, as having something like this happen much earlier in the story, does bring major implications to the entire story itself, including its direction.

Aaand, then, there are the opposite reactions from the other portion of the fanbase. I’ve heard rumblings of a lot of readers who were upset (rightfully so, but greatly) by this latest development. In fact, they were so upset about it, they actually sent hate messages—and, probably death threats, too, while we’re at it—to Hiro’s social media accounts! At least, that’s what I’ve come across from others in the fandom, who were warning those not to do these kinds of things.

So, what are my actual thoughts, and opinions, about what had just transpired from all this? Having read the latest chapter myself, I had the same reaction just like most of the fanbase did. I was shocked, and upset, at what was being done to, who is (apparently), one of the major, prominent leads of this series. And, just like certain portions of the fanbase, I had previously expected a different outcome for the main characters involved. Just an outcome that would not potentially divide the fanbase in half, much like now. That wasn’t quite the case, unfortunately, as I have mentioned everything above.

As it stands right now (as of the time, and date of this post), it seems that Shiki has been ‘killed-off’...maybe for real, but, maybe not. It’s hard to mention, for sure, if he really is—unless there’s solid confirmation from Mashima, himself. All I can say is, ‘though, Shiki’s ‘death’ does open up more new questions, than it does answer the ones that have already been established before.

Questions, like, how does this really address the nightmare that Rebecca had, from a few chapters earlier? In that sequence alone, we do get to see Shiki in it, as he tries to lead her out of an intense battle happening somewhere, at some point in time. How do the events of this newest chapter factor into what was already happening before?

Another question, I think, would be even bigger than that. We’ve seen, from the beginning of the series, and onward, about what each character’s motives are, and their goals. Shiki’s ultimate goal was to find the mystical space entity, “Mother”. With the events of chapter 83 seemingly putting that into major doubt, however...that just makes me wonder what Mashima’s true intentions are, for this series. Were we really to believe that this would just be about the protagonist going on a journey to search for this entity of sorts—only for Mashima to mislead us into thinking that, and what really ended up happening, was definitely all for naught? Because, I certainly want to know what Hiro was truly thinking, when he planned out this arc of the story.

Then, there are the significant implications to the future direction of the story that I previously mentioned above.

So, it’s obvious enough that Shiki is, at the moment, ‘killed-off’ quite early in this series. Where does it all go from here? As I previously mentioned above, Shiki’s goal was, ultimately, to find Mother. Without him at the helm of the Edens Zero, however, it won’t be possible anymore. Maybe the rest of the crew there can take the mantle from him, but I have a hard time imagining that would be the case. After all, he is the one guiding them, in the first place.

With all that being mentioned, I’ve been hearing from some who have mentioned that Shiki should make a return into the story, at some point. I also think that he should come back into the fold, too. The only questions for that, is: how—and, how soon?

Let’s start, by answering the first one. Assuming, again, that Shiki isn’t 100% confirmed to be killed off, for sure (which, also again, is pending on what Mashima says, himself), there are already a few possibilities on how he can make a return to the story in some form, or capacity.

One of the most common theories I’ve come across from readers, is this whole C.A.T. idea. It’s been mentioned more than once in the story, including one from Master Noah, of all people. The thing is, ‘though, we still don’t know anything of what C.A.T. really is about. That’s where the whole aforementioned...mention from Master Noah comes in, however. He claims that Shiki is the key to unlocking C.A.T.—as he is talking about Rebecca, in the same breath. What does this all mean? Not much, but I believe Mashima should address that question, in a later chapter at some point.

Speaking of Rebecca...another theory some fans have, has something to do with her recently-discovered Leaper ether-gear ability. They theorize that Rebecca would use that ability to somehow reverse these particular events from happening in the first place. Some of them have also included the above-mentioned C.A.T. idea, and combined the two together. I would seem to think there is some plausibility to this notion—it all comes down to how well Rebecca can develop her ether-gear to that point, however.

The third-most plausible theory would have something to do with Shiki himself. I believe it was either Drakken Joe, or Master Noah (correct me if I’m wrong; I’m trying to remember what happened in that chapter, as I’m typing out this part xD), who mentioned that Shiki ‘wasn’t human’. However, let’s go way back to the beginning of the story, when Shiki and Rebecca visited her guild, for the first time. Shiki claimed that ‘he saw Mother before’, after when said entity was mentioned by someone else. Maybe there is something more to how Shiki and Mother are greatly linked to each other, than we already know, in the grand scheme of things.

And, then, there’s this theory thrown out there that might be one of the least-plausible. A certain section of fans claim that Shiki could possibly make a return to the story...not as a human, ‘though—but, as a robot/cyborg of some sort. Yeah. No. Seriously. While it does lend credence to an older, but still-relevant idea that the Demon King Ziggy could actually be Shiki himself, I also have a hard time believing it would happen so soon. I mean, it’s still a possibility, of course...but, given the timing of it all, I reserve a healthy amount of doubt about this one.

So, the other question to answer about Shiki’s (assumed) potential return in the story, is, how soon?

From how the story is paced yet, so far, I have my doubts that he will make a return that quickly. There is a source I’ve come across on Twitter, recently, who regularly posts spoilers for upcoming chapters of this series (I won’t name the source here, ‘though; you’ll just have to look it up, yourself). Based on the purported synopsis and spoilers straight from this source, for the next chapter—chapter 84, it appears that the focus is on what happened after the previous chapter, roughly a week later...mainly on Rebecca, herself, as she tries to make her escape.

Of course, there are also other questions to answer that remain from the last chapter, such as the whereabouts of Weisz, Homura, Happy, and Pino. But, regardless, I digress. The point I’m trying to make here, is that, assuming Shiki does come back into the story...it probably won’t happen, until at some point later on. How late, we don’t really know. It all depends on what Mashima does next, for the upcoming chapters, soon. But, we can only hold onto the hope that he does write Shiki back into it all. Otherwise, I...well, I don’t know what to think of, anymore, then.

This has been a long post, so far. I only typed this out to let it all out from my mind, because of how chapter 83 had actually bothered me. I’ve been into Edens Zero a little bit more, now that the story has gotten somewhere—and that Shiki happens to be one of my favourite characters from that series, just like Natsu, from Fairy Tail. These latest revelations from the last few chapters, so far, have put a damper on what I expected out of this cast of characters, going forward. I know that there are some who wanted this series to stand out from Hiro’s previous works, through the inclusion of darker themes, and moments. But, this is something I think was a bit too extreme, in my honest, personal opinion. It also lead me to think more about how this series is going to progress, as well...which is why I made this post, and posts like this one, prior.

Anyway, I had already stated that I would be taking a break from Edens Zero, for now—half-jokingly, that is. I will still try to keep a close tab on what will happen, every now, and then. But, you can let me know when Shiki does make a return (or, not) in the story, by leaving a reply on this post, or you can DM me. Either way, thanks for reading this entire post. Click on the heart if you like this; reblog this to all your friends...and, I will now focus on the Fairy Tail side of things. At least that can’t be any more messed up than EZ is, right now...

...right??

#edens zero #ez spoilers #chapter 83 #shiki granbell #rebecca bluegarden #weisz steiner #homura kougetsu #edens zero happy #em pino #hiro mashima #fairy tail #long post #personal takes

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mobius-prime · 4 years

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129. Knuckles the Echidna #26

The First Date (Part One of Three): She Loves You… (And You Know That Can't Be Bad!)

Writer: Ken Penders Pencils: Chris Allan Colors: Frank Gagliardo

So this arc is kind of… eh, awkward and dull. There's really no action, and it's all centered around love and dating and whatnot like we're suddenly watching a bad will-they-won't-they sitcom. Everything is extremely heteronormative - like look, I get this is the 90s, but everything is about "boys and girls" and just ends up sounding really juvenile as a result - and everyone is really out of character, too. I mean, do Knuckles or Julie-Su seem like the types to wander around all lovesick like shallow high schoolers? Not to mention the Chaotix, especially Vector, are… well… ugh, let's just jump into this and get it over with.

The Chaotix are hanging around in their usual burger joint, when Espio mentions that recently he's heard some surprising news about Prince Charmy - namely, that he's gotten engaged!

Now, you remember how a while back when the Chaotix were first introduced I had to clarify that unlike in the games, where he's six years old, in the comics he's sixteen? This is one of those moments that completely threw me when I first read the comics, because I had been operating under the assumption all this time that he was six. Now, obviously sixteen is still pretty damn young to be getting engaged, but I was sitting here with my eyebrows furrowed wondering why Charmy's friends didn't seem more concerned that this six year old child suddenly had a fiancée. I thought that his parents had arranged his marriage to Saffron (for whatever reason her name is misspelled in this issue, with only one F) and that by going back to his role as a prince he'd basically doomed himself to having his love life strictly controlled. But no, I guess somehow in the short time since he left the group and went back home, he got into a serious enough relationship with Saffron that he proposed (or hell, maybe she proposed, who knows). It's possible there was still pressure from his parents considering his heritage, but for now we can only assume that it was a totally voluntary action on his part to get engaged to Saffron, which is just… really, really weird.

Now Vector is very displeased to hear this. Vector is, in fact, something of a gigantic sexist douchebag in this issue, talking big about how no woman could handle him, prompting Espio and Mighty to joke that Julie-Su is more than his match if they were to go head to head in a fight. We then cut to Julie-Su angrily and viciously firing her blaster while shouting about Knuckles "running out on her."

Geez, man. You think her insurance covers blaster burn marks on the walls? She's mostly angry because she wants to talk to Knuckles one on one, but he's not there with her right now. He's with his father, in some kind of apartment-like space within Haven (it's not really clear, but I'm assuming Haven given we're talking about Locke here) as his father makes him breakfast. Out of nowhere, Knuckles asks his father about "why boys and girls get together," prompting Locke to immediately spit out his coffee. Knuckles, unfazed by the sudden brown-colored backwash all over the table, starts going on about how whenever he's around Julie-Su, he feels "weird."

This is maybe my least favorite part of Kenders' worldbuilding in the comic. Apparently, the Soultouch is an instant romantic attraction between two members of the opposite sex amongst echidnas, essentially love at first sight. It's not outright stated, but in case you haven't guessed, this is why Julie-Su so abruptly left the Dark Legion when she first spotted Knuckles many issues ago, feeling like she "had to find him" but didn't know why. Knuckles asks that if the Soultouch is accurate, why Locke and Lara-Le ended up splitting up, to which Locke shrugs and says that he doesn't know, but even the best of relationships require a lot of work, which is maybe the most accurate thing written in this entire arc. Knuckles then utterly hilariously, and completely accidentally, makes his case for homosexuality by saying he thinks things would be easier if guys stuck with guys and girls stuck with girls, noting that he gets along way easier with his male friends and "doesn’t even think about other girls." Kenders clearly wasn't meaning to characterize Knuckles as a closeted gay, but that's how it comes across and it's amazing. Let Knuckles be gay if he wants, man!

Meanwhile, out on the street, Espio and Mighty start challenging Vector's flippant attitude toward women, taunting him that he probably doesn't even have the backbone to ask a girl out on a date right now. Vector, his fragile masculinity sufficiently rattled, stomps away and begins casing out the women in the area in perhaps the most uncomfortably out of character series of panels I've ever seen.

*sigh* Kenders… why in the unholy hell… did you think this was okay? Remember the sweet but clueless Vector in Sonic X who did his utmost to help Vanilla out and give her nice things because he had a crush on her, not caring about how "hot" she was or that she was a single mother with a little kid? Yeah, this isn't him. Ugh.

Julie-Su, meanwhile, has had enough of moping around in her apartment and takes a walk outside, trying to think of ways she can improve herself and become more confident. She happens to pass by a clothing boutique and glance inside, and as she muses to herself that perhaps she needs to stop being so serious all the time and learn to have a little fun - probably a good idea, considering she was part of a technological military group for so long - a passing echidna suggests to her that she go inside and try out the hat she was absentmindedly staring at. She's startled, but allows herself to be led inside by the echidna and an attendant of the store.

I very much disagree that it's "so her" - I feel like Sarah-Connor-style badass tank tops and combat boots are more her aesthetic - but regardless, the echidna encourages her and then invites her out for lunch. Fun to contrast his polite and complimentary approach towards Vector's more misogynistic one, huh? Back in Haven, while Locke is out of the room, Knuckles' musings are interrupted by Archimedes poofing in and immediately noticing his lovesick state. Upon hearing that Locke was rather awkward in trying to explain the source of his feelings, Archimedes offers his own advice for Knuckles' problem which basically boils down to "you'll never know if you don't take the plunge." Knuckles, encouraged, stands up and has Archimedes poof them away, and a second later Locke walks back in, surprised to see the room empty. Back in the streets, Vector is still trying to "score" to prove himself to Espio and Mighty…

That is the most uncomfortably-drawn swan I've ever seen. Like… why in the world does she have boobs? She's a bird! Birds don't need boobs! Argh! Archimedes poofs Knuckles straight into a restaurant, apparently having homed directly in on Julie-Su, because there she is, out to lunch with Raynor the echidna who asked her out, and to Knuckles' shock, she's holding his hand… better make a move fast, man, cause this polite dude is gonna win her over first!

Friend in Need

Writer: Ken Penders Pencils: Manny Galan Colors: Barry Grossman

So I think this is actually the first KtE arc that has a secondary story at the end of each issue - previously, they've all had one story taking up the full span of the pages. This story follows Mighty, in which he is approached by Nicolette the Weasel, who prefers to go by Nic due to her full name "not sounding tough enough for a bounty hunter," and who is Nack's previously-unmentioned sister (and looks exactly like him but with eyelashes and a crop top, because girl). She gives Mighty a red collar, which in shock he realizes used to belong to Ray the Flying Squirrel, whom he used to know. He agrees to come with Nic on her latest treasure hunting venture, providing the brawn she needs in exchange for his chance to look for what happened to Ray. While they're flying to their destination, Mighty becomes lost in memories of how he met Ray, leading to one of the most jarring character revelations next to "Charmy is a prince" - all we've ever known about Mighty up till now is that he has super strength and likes hanging around on the Floating Island, but apparently, six or seven years ago he was captured by Robotnik's forces and taken to a goddamn slave labor camp, where he found himself on a prisoner transport cart along with Ray. Ray had a very bad stutter, most likely due to fear and trauma, but was still kind to those around him, and Mighty began to look after him even though he was shackled due to his strength. But unexpectedly, one of the other prisoners on board this cart was Sonic! Keep in mind, we're talking about a cart full of eight year old children that Robotnik was shipping off. Mighty was skeptical of Sonic's confident attitude, with Sonic claiming that he was there to break everyone out, and that Robotnik didn't suspect him since he was only a child and up until recently adults had been carrying on the fight. However, with recent losses, the Freedom Fighters formed by Sally in the Sonic Kids special started taking up arms against Robotnik as well.

Let that sink in, man. This is why the leading members of the resistance against Robotnik were children and young teens. All the adults were dead or roboticized. Anyone who could have fought was gone. These children had no one else to stand up for their freedom; circumstance forced them to step forward and take the lead instead. Remember what I was talking about a while back, about Sonic having trouble settling down after Robotnik's death and how he was so used to war as essentially a child soldier that even in peacetime he found himself unable to relax? This is the true horror of the war against Robotnik. King Acorn's abrupt disbanding of the Freedom Fighters several issues ago may have seemed dismissive and uncaring, but in the end, his point of view does make sense - he doesn't want literal children robbed of their chance to, well, be children. Just think of how many main characters, and hell, even side characters, thought for so long that they were orphans until their family members started turning up after the war. Think about how many are still orphans for all their know - where are Amadeus and Rosemary Prower? Where's Bunnie's parents? Antoine's mother? Amy's parents? That is what the war against Robotnik cost society. It's actually kind of chilling.

Anyway, Nic wakes Mighty up from his train of thought as they land at the site of the now-deserted labor camp. Mighty is a little jumpy, still reluctant to trust Nic fully, but suddenly an unexpected face makes her appearance…

Fiona? As in, the robot that Tails supposedly fell in love with right before his solo adventure? She's a real person? And Mighty somehow knows her? Oh boy, there's a lot to cover here…

#nala reads archie sonic preboot #archie sonic #archie sonic preboot #sonic the hedgehog #kte 26 #writer: ken penders #pencils: chris allan #colors: frank gagliardo #pencils: manny galan #colors: barry grossman

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annakie · 4 years

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An Annotated Mass Effect Playthrough, Part Five

Will we make it off the Citadel in this update??

List of Posts: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Flux is my favorite bar in all of the first game, I know there’s not many to choose from, but I like the music best, everybody’s clothed, everyone’s having a good time, there’s slots upstairs for entertainment, there’s dancing, and plenty of space to chill out in. Also the color scheme is great. It looks particularly great now with the graphics mod improvements.

Doran gets a nice glamour shot here.

I’m a tattle tale who always turns this guy in. I agree with Kaidan...

Also I really love Rita’s quest with her sister. She loves her sister, Jenna wants to be helpful, even Doran’s like “Hey I’d love to give her her job back.” Everyone here is pretty wholesome. And Jenna gets one of the best surprise appearances in ME3 if you do things right. ME1Recalibrated fixes the bugs with her quest, too!

Speaking of bugged quests, Hello Conrad! ME1Recalibrated fixes Conrad’s bug, and even if it doesn’t, ME2Re does. The only bad thing about that is it makes his apology for accusing you of something you maybe didn’t do make no sense.

Everyone else was sure Conrad would turn out to be evil, too, right? Instead making him into just a big lying dummy with an advanced degree was a great move. I was kinda hoping he’d show up in the Citadel DLC.

Harkin is JUST the FUCKING WORST. I’m always tempted to let Garrus cap him in ME2 because what a waste of air he is and doesn’t learn his lesson.

This is also maybe the most overt place where FemShep experiences sexism. I mean, don’t get me wrong, there’s some pretty shitty sexism sprinkled throughout the games (as discussed a bit last post) but ugh this guy, if I could shoot him this game, I might. At least on renegade playthroughs.

Speaking of Garrus...

Finally, an alien who wants to hang out with us.

As primarily a Kaidan-romancing gal, who tends to keep up with the Kaidan Alenko tag, especially back in the heyday of tumblr, for a while, loving Garrus was... difficult.

In October, when I was finishing up my latest ME3 playthrough and also cleaning up my blog, and also rewatching Doctor Who and thinking a lot about Rose Tyler and Martha Jones, I posted a long thing in a post about Kaidan and Garrus and badly behaving fanbases, which I don’t feel like typing again. Here’s the whole thing, but I’m going to pull a part of it into here.

I love Garrus, so much. And I was thinking with this whole parallel DW rewatch / Mass Effect replay think I’m doing right now how both Rose Tyler and Garrus Vakaraian are characters that were ruined for me for awhile due to their respective… overly enthusiastic fanbases who a small percentage of were dicks to people who loved other characters. The Kaidan tag (and from what I understand Thane got some of this too, but not nearly as bad) was a pretty hostile place for awhile (and yeah I used to regularly check the Garrus tag too and there was a small amount of tag-invasion there but uh, like 5% of what the Kaidan tag got) which made loving the character of Garrus a lot harder for awhile. But when actually watching seasons 1 & 2 / the end of 4 of Doctor Who, or actually playing the ME games, those characters are awesome.

Fanbases can be amazing or terrible, and time and time again I think you start to realize that no matter how great a fandom is, there are going to be a few people who can only enjoy themselves by feeding on drama, or on lifting up what they love by stomping on other people/characters/plotlines.

It’s not fair to characterize everyone who loves a popular thing as someone who does this. It’s also hard to avoid completely because there will always be jerks, or young/new people who don’t realize what bad form they’re showing. I did learn by trying to fight it for a year or two, that responding might help that one person not do it again, but it’s not going to stop overall.

Anyway, don’t be a dick about the things you don’t like.

It’s sad that even thirteen years past the release of ME1 and eight years past ME3 some people still need to have this fight online. It’s basically impossible to enjoy like, any non-curated Mass Effect space online because of pissing contests or people spouting the same boring opinions. Which they’re entitled to. I’m just real tired of “Kaidan is boring!” “Ashley is a racist!” etc with no further depth of thought being given.

The ability to mute / block people and get away from the worst of it is one of the reasons I’m still on tumblr. Especially always mute/block “confessions” blogs. Yeesh.

---------

I’m glad Garrus is here, and I’m glad he’s on the team. What’s funny though, is that people tend to forget that Garrus like, wasn’t really all THAT popular of a character before ME2. I know I was only in the fandom for a year before ME2 but I dug in pretty deep in that time.

It wasn’t until he gets his face blown off and starts talking about Old Times that a lot of people started to REALLY like him. He’s still great in ME1, but not like, elevated to god-tier that so many people did post ME2 release. But in ME1 he IS neat because he’s really malleable. Probably the companion who can have the biggest personality shift depending on your choices.

Also, I remember a time when the people who wanted to romance Garrus were like... outliers? I remember thinking “GARRUS? As a romance? That’s... weird. Who would do that!?”

OH HOW I WAS WRONG. But that was before reach and flexibility.

Hey I even have a Shep that romanced Garrus in ME2 and ME3. And I loved it!

Were I to replay a different Shep, she’d be my first choice.

So yeah, I love Garrus, I keep Kaidan in the squad all the time in ME1 and the other spot I try to rotate everyone else somewhat evenly, but you’ll see plenty of him. Then ME2 he’s by my side most of the way. And an awful lot in ME3, too. But I’m happy for him to get crushed on by Dr. Michele and glad to see him and Tali find happiness in ME3. SO that’s the path we’ll be going down if we get that far here.

I love the Destiny Ascension flyby moment on the Citadel, and it’s so easy to miss. Also really hard to get good screenshots of. Thanks Flycam. Don’t pay attention to the untextured wall in the first pic, just look at the pretty lights!

Let’s go get another squadmate! This time, a not-as-initially-friendly alien!

What an amazing entrance for Urdnot Wrex.

“Do you want me to arrest you?”

“I want you to try!”

Hell. Yeah.

Here’s where the somewhat in somewhat evenly comes in. I probably do favor Wrex and Ashely in the squad in ME1 a little because... well you know what’s coming for Ash and Wrex you get the least amount of time with by far of the other companions. Also, he’s just... great? A tank, with some biotics and a shotgun... okay well so am I as a vanguard, but Kaidan has just enough tech powers for us to muddle through where we need to when Wrex is in the squad and he’s so much fun to have around. His “Fuck you, I don’t care” attitude is great, and his growth story throughout the trilogy is one of the best arcs a character gets, imho. I just really love Urdnot Wrex.

This is a real nice flight control office you’ve got here, C-Sec. It would be a shame if someone planted a bug in it later, since literally anyone can just walk on up here uncontested.

This entire area really is so pretty though.

I always pump points into Paragon as much as possible from as early on as possible, and saving these poor guys’ lives is one of the big reasons. They don’t need to die.

Ash usually still stays in the party up to this point, though sometimes it’s Garrus. Fist is still a dick in ME2 but he doesn’t need to die here, sorry Wrex.

...raise your hand if you still occasionally forget to pick up Emily Wong’s evidence and have to reload. I remembered! ...once I was almost out of Chora’s Den and had to turn around this time.

Kaidan? Kaidan my love? My darling... perhaps YOU shouldn’t be the one standing in the middle of the corridor with no barrier or protection? (I suppose I could scooch over but then I’d look less badass for these screenshots. Naaah.)

It’d be a shame if someone properly lit the corridor so we could see what’s going on.

But hey... TALI! Tali Tali Tali! The first quarian we see, and only one for... awhile? Is there another quarian in this entire game? I’m trying to remember and seriously can’t think of one.

Anyway, I love Tali, but another character you really need to ignore their most rabid fanbase portions of. Yikes, Talimancers were really something back in the day. The biggest problem I have with Tali being in the squad is that normally she’s REALLY useful against Geth and... not so much against just about anything else. She gets sidelined on my team more than I wish she would. Especially since she doesn’t show up until very late in ME2 and late-midway through ME3.

Finally, the proof we need. And the game continues to introduce new concepts to us with the Conduit and we hear the word Reapers for the first time. We also get a loredump on the quarians and the geth.

Tali’s voice doesn’t have quite as heavy of an accent in ME1 as it does in 2 and 3. I guess we can assume she’s lost part of it while on her pilgrimage? Picking up the local dialects a bit? The next two times we see her she’s just spent a lot of time with her own people.

Tali’s suit and omnitool look SO GOOD with the updated textures.

I swap Ash out and Tali in at this point, and usually finish up a few more quests along the way.

Ah, Septimus. You lovesick fool.

Honestly, the very best thing with Septimus is to bring Garrus here if you’re gonna romance him, have Garrus laugh at him for coming undone for love and then... well, ME2 and especially ME3 happen. But still. Septimus... always needs a kick in the pants but will get around to doing the right thing.

Hey here’s a cool thing ME1Recalibated does -- Morlan carries a Squad Iconic Armors stock, so you can always find tier-appropriate default look armor for you and all the squad. Very cool of you, Morlan. You are currently my favorite store on the Citadel. Now stop sending me spam, I didn’t sign up for your mailing list.

Look, I have questions about what exactly Xeltan told the consort and how... all that... works... but... I don’t think I actually want to ask them. Just.. let’s all shut up about all of it, it’s over now.

BTW, according to one of the novels, Councilor Anderson finds Ambassador Cayln super annoying. I need to re-read that book.

OK fine... I’ll go talk to the Council.

Coming at ya with Actual Proof and a quarian tagging along to back up the claims, the Council is ready to listen. And while not surprising that it’s finally time to become a Spectre, the actual ceremony is really well done. With the swelling theme music blaring, and all three councilors stressing what a big deal this is and what will be expected of you, you really feel the weight of this moment. People take notice. Although apparently later, Kaidan or Ash get an entire televised event around becoming a Spectre, I guess there’s no time for that right now.

It definitely feels like the game so far has been building towards this moment, not only with POUNDING it into your brain about who Spectres are and why they’re so important and letting you know you’re being evaluated... but it feels like there’s been a shift in the game after this moment. It’s A Big Deal.

I didn’t finish all the sidequests on the Citadel yet, they can wait, I’ve been here long enough. Let’s go check out the new cool stuff we can buy.

ME1Recalibrated adds in this Spectre Armor. Eeehhhhh... no thanks. We’ll stick with Onyx.

I did cheat myself in a bunch of credits and picked up Spectre weapons though. This ain’t no tryhard playthrough.

Well OK, we can finish ONE more quest. Thanks, startlingly loud and triumphant music queue that’s never used again!

Man, this would be SUCH a good pic of the Normandy if... the airlock didn’t go straight through the ship.

We’ve got a ship of our own! And most of our squadmates to put on it!

Sucks for Anderson to be sidelined, though. We already love you, Anderson!

It’s cool to get a bit more of the Saren & Anderson backstory here for real. Still, I enjoyed the book more. Maybe I’ll do a re-read of all the ME books here soon.

Udina... just keep being you, I guess.

WE HAVE A SHIP!!!

Okay, whew... we made it off the Citadel. Now I gotta actually play some more to have more updates to post. Might be a few days. Have to actually go back to work tomorrow. :p

Let’s probably do like one sidequest then go get us an Asari!!

#mass effect #bioware #kaidan alenko #garrus vakarian #urdnot wrex #tali'zorah #annakie's mass effect stuff

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adevotedappraisal · 4 years

Text

Short Story: Gershom, part one of two

A short story about a memorable day in the life of the most famous folk-hero of Barbados, one Winston Hall. I played loose with the actual facts of Winston’s life, the way all folk tales do, but also because the story is less about the particulars of his life and more of the imaginary mind-state and desires of a person in solitude who wishes to connect with a country that is as scared and confused about him as he is of the country itself. Enjoy.

Gershom part one (the mid-day son)

By Christopher White

Run always. Run until it doesn't make sense, until it gets too thick and it makes more sense to stop. Do the patrol. First go up to Old Ledge and do some sight seeing from there. Look. Look at the brown on the rooftops. Look at that section there with the path by the side. You made that path, trample all over the grass. It makes the runs quicker. Sky is clear. No rain smell, good. Mrs. Graves must be cooking by now. She makes good veggies. Are you hungry? You aren't hungry, good. Anything out the ordinary from the sight-seeing? No. Children going school. Look at that little one. Cheez on bredders I know he mother back when she was a child, now look she got a lil' boy. What's her name? She was cute girl, she used to look at me and smile sweet. I thought she did love me, but I was seven, I ain't know what love was then. She was cute. What was she rassole name now? It's an 'M' name. Anyway, check the trespass traps. No one has been up here. Good. Look up again. Look at that sky. Now look at the green. Go over by that mango tree and tie your lacens. What was her name? Winston stood by the mango tree overlooking St. Joseph and tied his shoe-laces carefully. The wind was soft but enough to push the trees to swaying. Down the hill was a pasture, a display of overgrown grass with an arcing path carved into it, made by Winston four months earlier. The countryside was silent save for the cheering that the leaves made in the wind, the occasional high shout of the school-children going to the nearby Primary School. A wooden crate laid half buried and overcome by the dirt, and one of the primary school boys stopped to kick at it. His mother quickly came and slapped his hand and the boy cried and breathed in, cried and breathed in, breathed in, then breathed in again, and then let his cry carry over the sloping section of the country, through the primplers of the dunks trees, over the ribs of the stray dogs, under the stereo of Stephen ' Step-Hen' Roberts, and into the tightly knit and thatched corridors of the Hill-trees (sparkling from the sun light coming through), past the perpetually deciduous Breadfruit tree until the last bit of the cry met the mango tree, and made Winston Hall look up, causing him to pity the boy and his own childhood, the recollections of which were as faded as the child's bellow.

The sun went on during the morning as Winston stayed mostly behind the large and thick line of trees, and carried his supplies as he made the trek to Chimborazo, where a sizable patch of farm land lay. On his walk along the ridges and down the dips along Joe's River and up through the slowly-swaying trees Winston remembered bits about his childhood. He thought about Primary School sports and how he was real good with the egg and spoon race. His little secret was to do the race on near tip-toes. A strange sort of balance, a strange sort of control occurred when he did this. The finals race was him up against Peter from down the gap, and Peter was the favourite because he had just won the 200m easily, but Winston had his technique. By this time of the day the sun was becoming soft around the Pasture of the school sports, and the sno-cone vendor had run out of evaporated milk, and Winston was ready. He got the lead early, trying to absorb all the shock of movement through his toes and knees. His eyes were on that egg, brown and wobbling, then he looked up at the yellow tape. He kept his nerve, trying to keep all his might and auspices on this one task. Mrs. Licorish was shouting "Go Winston! Lick down boy, lick down!" and he kept it all out while he warbled on. Winston stopped his thinking of his younger-Winston and looked up because he thought he saw someone. Down boy. keep low. Look for shadows that don't move like trees. Could be an animal. Could be nothing. It's not a person, you would have heard something by now. People is mek noise when they walking without minding their walking. Look the field over there. Good carrots and lettuce. The soil real dark. Gets turned over alot. He could grow some weed at the back there. Make himself some extra money. Remember Dizzy. Dizzy used to get a small boat and go over to Tobago every fortnight to get weed from he stash. Went with him sometimes. On the boat over he used to sing Sam Cooke tunes. Good voice. Barely used to hear him and was right across from him. It real hard to sing at a whisper and sing well. But you could do it if ya practice. I shoulda win that egg and spoon race. I lose concentration. I was thinking about the prize before I get it. Got complacent. Rest pun my laurels before I had de laurels. Peter just took advantage. He was safe tho. It was my fault. I wonder where that silver medal is? Mummy was proud or not? Mummy say once that she wish she had chinee eyes. I tell she I still proud of she eyes. She hug me. Okay stash de bags here. Come back later tonight. Get some carrots then. Sometime during the day you gine be hungry. Just hol off till you get to Robert. Robert got something for you. Remember. Later this evening. On his way back near Suriname, Winston heard a rap song. He wondered when was the time that rap got so popular in Barbados. He cared neither way for the music, it wasn't the music of his youth, and he really hadn't the time to learn new music. After getting free from prison during the late nineties he made it to the foot hills of his home-hamlet of Suriname, but on the way he remarked at all the antennae that were on top of roofs, all the fancy new cars on the road, and the even more churches that popped up during his imprisonment. By the time he reached Robert's house he was dirty, smelling of sweat, and tired, but the first thing he whispered to Robert was "wait Robert, Bajans sell dey ass to de Devil to get these new tings or wha?"

The sun had gone behind a sudden construction of clouds. Through the spaces in the clouds the sun came down in verdant lines. Winston was in a tree looking out at the country-side and nursing his right knee with a handkerchief in a way similar to this:

He had injured his knee on his latest escape from prison around four years ago. It was morning and the guards knocked on his door and said "Hall! Bath!" Winston got up off of his lumped bed and pushed against the wall. Silently he pushed against the inside of his cell, grimacing his futility only to himself, fingers clawing the faded paint, the thick stale air reminding him of his situation, of his choices. He did this same gesture to the walls everyday he remembered to do it. The young guard knocked on the door then the door opened. He stared at Winston. "Come 'long." he said.

Down the corridor he walked with the two guards flanking him, looking at the sorrowful structures of the century old prison. The feeding chain in the prison no longer surprised Winston. 'Big Criminal eat the little one' he mused. He noticed his feet chains were not the way he remembered them. He was walking with more freedom than the previous mornings. 'water goes to the path of least resistance' he thought. 'Geography teacher said that. But what was his name?' he thought. Then he pushed the guards fiercely aside and ran.

A large percentage of the Prison officials were in a meeting, and Winston ran like if he knew this beforehand - with reckless determination. Prison pants-legs rubbing swiftly against each other as Winston darted through some boxes then up near the play-court where Justin Maynard and Harold Peters stared in amazement at Winston's bursts. So concentrated, yet so risk-taking. Winston ran like freedom to the wall. The guards ran in pursuit and motioned others to tell the rest in the meeting. Gravel sparkled over his legs, then no gravel as he leaped up onto a shed and then onto the sharp-toothed wall. He looked back, at the galloping guards, at the stunned new-comer prisoners and the observant veterans who stopped the basketball game the moment they realised that this was an example that their fellow prisoners should view. They stood up, some cheering, most just beholding. Beholding Winston thirty feet up in the air on the precipice of a barbed wire wall that overlooked an over-run gully packed tight with all types of things discarded.

Winston jumped, not flailing, but not sure.

Don't squeeze it, just put you hands around you knee. Just let it know that you there for it. That jump was messy as blood. Uneven ground to land on. Thought it was broken. Thought it had snapped. Still bothers me to this day. Doesn't hurt when I bend down, only when I get up. This is good enough. Look at the sky. Sun coming back out. Look at the cloud shadow on the ground. That woman is coming back from dropping she son off from school. She doesn't work. Now I remember, she does, she just goes out 'round mid-day. She breasts look good. She do she hair pretty well up just to drop she son off. That's what I like. A woman that care what she look like. What is her name? I should run down there and ask her. Just ask her and kiss her and tell her I ain't got shite to give you but my heart and hope. I should tell she I want she to hope for me. Hope I work something out of this life. I is a good kisser I feel. Suck bubbies good. I would be a good father for de child. Child father aint around. I don't see any man ever with her. I would discipline the child good. I would love the child good. Tell he everything I know. Tell he everything to make sure he never end up like me.

Miriam Lowe walked down the cracked road to her home. She took her glasses off and started to clean them while walking by memory. She put them on again and stared at the trees and over-run grass behind the row of houses where she lived. Some of the children call that area the jungle and so she forbade her young one to go there without her. Her slippers flapped lazily as she walked up staring at this elaborate chaos back there. Fear truly resides in the unknown. Because fear implores you to assume, demands that you suppose the nature of the things that scare you. She day-dreamed a cabal of mad rastas in the hills, scorning the plaintive practicality of a remote control. Or she dreamt about drug dealers with huge weed trees reaping their harvest that would stick a knife through anyone who discovered their bounty, or any little boy. Maybe back there was a time warp, and pirates and runaway slaves and vampires and duppies and ravenous forest wolves all lived between the trees, all waiting to feast on the minds that fear them, the minds that are so scared of them, that they imagine them on morning walks while cleaning their glasses. Miriam walked up the unpainted steps and into her home. She put the boy's colouring books into a pile, and looked at the back of the newspaper. She then looked straight ahead at the picture of Kevin Lowe, staring straight ahead, policeman hat and visor sloping and shiny across his forehead, lips pursed, against a plain blue background. She stared at him and smiled at the dead man. On the nights that she would invite a man over for a night-time coupling, she would turn that framed picture down onto the glass cabinet that held assorted souvenir cups and decorativia. She put the kettle on the stove, sat down to gather herself before she left for work at a Christ Church hotel. She sat in her chair, bright from the sun coming through the ajar door, and thought about the duppies going to work in the bushes behind her house and up the hills. She thought about this until the kettle began to scree, unsure at first, then full throated as soon as enough of the water had boiled within it. Winston was down in a depression near Joe's River checking on stash B. He had a series of places where he stashed supplies, clothing and weapons. He walked further into the dense grass and further into the hills to Stash C. Stash C had dry foods and loose magazines he managed to get. He took out a green plastic bag filled with dry food and walked further down until the denseness stopped and the ground became softer. The ground gathered on his shoes but he walked on. The ground became sturdy again and a small pasture emerged; mostly dry grass and cracked earth. At the far end of the pasture was a tree with rope tied onto the base. Attached to the base was a dog, pacing silently back and forth, wagging all the while. There he is. He always lets me know he missed me. Give him a hug. Scratch his belly. Wrestle the bastard to the ground. There you go. He likes so much games. Is that lice there? No just dirt from the play-fall. Well, give the bag of dog food. Look at him nose through that. Sometimes you wait too long to feed him. Remember that. There was a boy in primary school who used to take children food from them. Used to call him Charles Bronson. Found out years later he was taking all that food home to feed his brothers. I would have given him the food if I had known that was the reason. He didn't have to hit me that one time. I cry but stop real quick. But I learn that sometimes you could reason with a man, but sometimes it doan matter. When a man hungry, all he know is letting go blows for food. Everybody like that. When dey back to the wall, they would beat they dog for food. Policemen is got to beat confessions out of people to get de case finish. Dem aint care, but when they job on the line dey beating up poor people. And if that poor person was a policeman he would do the same thing. Sometimes my back was to the wall. Sometimes I didn't have nuh big money for nothin. And sometimes I had to share out fuckin blows too.

And so Winston went through the day, hiding between one spot and the other, travelling with his dog, scouting out movement in the areas of St. Joseph, and thinking an assembly line of thoughts to stop himself from going mad. Winston's torment was not only his choices of his youth ( a naive 20 year old creeping up to a plantation house looking for quick money), but also the realisations that these choices were simultaneously making him more popular and more apart from this country he took for granted in his youth, as we all have. By the time of his second escape from prison (third from police custody), Winston Hall had managed to become the most well known male in Barbados while at the same time being the one person who had the least knowledge of what was occurring in his country for a man his age. He could tell you the best escape route from the gully near Richmond's house, and the best unguarded breadfruits in the parish, and how to separate normal flashlights from more expressive police flashlights, but at the same time Winston had no idea of the movie theatres that were cropping up, the dynasties of night-clubs that rose and fell over the decades, the spread of the internet, the drugs, the government, the rise of women in schools, the travel accounts for black managers at insurance companies, the carve of a rally-car tire into the asphalt, the smell of the west coast after it flooded and killed a few people, the look of a signature on an invoice slip of a DVD player bought at a department store, the progresses, the illusions, the pursed lipped rage of this country, all these things were apparitions - stories he might hear about but never care about because his country was not our country, his anthem was not the same we sing at events half-heartedly, his motto was of no high-minded Pride and Industry, but of only one word embedded into his thoughts, permeated into his action. His only motto was Survival. The sun was beginning it's slope downward now. Mid-day had come and Miriam was in a Transport Board bus rocking slightly, hopping up whenever the huge busses went down into a hole in the road. The grass and boundless grass that went by the window went into her eyes, left the memory that this road had grass on the sides of it, and then the rest of the images left her mind. The distinctions were only picked up by her under-mind, her subconscious, and her under-mind seldomly reminded her of how the world truly looked, of how the world truly operated. While the Bus stopped at a traffic light, and in the background, Grantley Adams Memorial School loomed sprawled by against the pastures. It was then that her under-mind began to remind her of the way her life truly was. The images of her late husband slapping her into the wall of their house came up. Miriam closed her eyes. She countered by reminding herself that he truly loved her, and she was not a door-mat for her man because she could get any man she wanted in Surinam or most places. She knew of the constitution of her breasts. But she stayed because she realised that things get complicated when you get older. "When you are a teenager or a girl like that of course you coul' leav ya boyfriend like that, because the only obligation is to the relationship. There is that thing telling you that you could get a better man. "But when you get married to a man, have a child with a man, get a house with a man, appliances, garden supplies, new bed sheets with a man, ya is become more entrenched. It's harder to leave. All of a sudden you start weighing everything. You is say to yaself 'yeah he hit me las night, but he change de child diaper real good and fix de back door'. The practicality of him over-weighs the emotional shite he might get on with. All of a sudden you get stresses when he get stressed, and vice-versa. We hurt each other differently when we in bad moods that is all. He shoved me into a wall when he was angry, and I tell he that he need to clean he ass better or I ain't gine suck he balls no more. People get hurt in different ways I guess." she thought to herself. The bus went along through the country. Past the mini-marts and the wooden churches and the rum-shops, and into the roads filled with hotels and night-clubs and well-designed restaurants. She rang the bell and got out, and went into her hotel. In the back room Janice Callender had her hand up her skirt pulling her shirt tail down so that it was all flat against her. The younger girl looked at Miriam as a bigger sister, an aunt, a guiding hand of some sort. "Miriam," Janice said while they got prepared for their work of work and smiling. "Yeah what happen Janice?" "Um, wha you would do is you man cheat on you? You woul' cut off he doggie?" "Nah, I wouldn't do that." Miriam said, "Men gine do tings like that sooner or later. I wouldn't even leave he." "Fuh trut? Why you wouldn't leave he?" Janice asked. "Because if you want to be in a relationship you is realise that ya aint in just a relationship, you in a life together. You have to learn patience, and hope, and most o' all, forgiveness. Love is mess up we head, and make us put up wid a lotta shite from de people we love. But to tell ya de truth, I wouldn't have it any other way." Miriam said. The two stood in the back room fixing up, and then Janice said, "but what if he was pun de down low with a man?" "Then I woul' throw he bullin ass out de house and cut off he doggie." Miriam said as they both laughed themselves into the hallway.

All was calm during the afternoon. The grass was knotted up amongst each other and the clouds moved softly. Years ago, there would be Reddifusion boxes wheezing out the hymns and solemn-spoken events of the day, but now those radios were gone and now a home stereo would vibrate bass-lines from a house where an unemployed man might live, or a woman at home with her child, or a middle-aged man going through a youth resurgence, listening to young-people stations while taking a day home from work. The community was at rest, as it usually is, as it usually expects itself to be. Winston sat behind a clutch of dunks trees mostly bare from being picked by Winston all the time. He was sharpening a piece of wood by planing down the edges to a point. Maybe he'd use it as a weapon, maybe he could stick it in the ground, tie rope to it and use it as an anchor for a make-shift tent if he suddenly had to run. Mostly he was doing it so see the soft, tender slices of wood peel off from over the knife and flick off playfully to the ground. Thin bends of wood, making not a sound as they were cleft from the wood that they were part of. No reason that they were now separated from their wood except from pure boredom now, or maybe pure usefullness. In any event, the wood shavings probably understood that these things were a course of life, and it didn't have to be fair, or expected, or planned, or even holy, in order for it to be a part of life. Winston took up the shavings from the ground lest anyone find them and suspect that he was living nearby. He was chewing some tamarind leaves slowly. "Tastes just like de tamarinds" he always told himself, and even as a little boy, it always calmed him down whenever he remembered that tamarind leaves calmed him down, because sometimes he didn't remember. He sat in the shade, his stomach not grumbling, and just stared at the countryside. Most would not believe this but he was not overly concerned with his legacy. He was so pre-occupied with survivng for no other reason than to survive that he seldom really thought about the impact of his survival on people who didn't have to. He once read an article when he was in Trinidad about the situation of the ghettoes around and the near Port-Of-Spain. The reporter asked a question, "How do you think your condition here in this squalour reflects on Trinidad and Tobago on a whole?" and then the reporter reported that the ghetto citizen had nothing to report on the question initially. He wrote that the man just stared at him as if he had never thought of anything related to this. The citizen then said " Ah cahn really say what other people should tink, ah only know what I tink. Maybe it reflect bad bad bad, but maybe nobody else really tek this ghetto into dey mind. In fact ah doan tink they do tink about the ghetto enough to feel ashamed or anyting about it." He heard shouting, but did not startle himself because he immediately recognised it as children's shouts. He slowly looked out and down the road from behind the trees and stared. He counted the money and objects in his pockets as he stared. Bajan women legs either small or big. They either skinny or meaty. no inbetween. They hips move like if only the hips dancing. Mrs. Fenty hand is getting better. Moving it better. One two three four five six seven eight nine ten eleven twelve I feel her husband broke it thirteen fourteen fifteen she looks like the type that would get beaten sixteen seventeen eighteen nineteen twenty and that's where ya is usually grab a woman when ya hold she rough twenty one twenty two twenty three twenty four - twenty four dunks in de right pocket. There's the little boy. The neighbour is carrying him home along with her son one two three four five his face is round just like his mothers six seven eight nine what is her name? ten Maureen? eleven Mary twelve wait Mary? thirteen Mary-Ann? fourteen fifteen Maybe Mary-Ann is she name. That is the closest I could get. I still feel I wrong, but less wrong than before sixteen seventeen. Seventeen bills I got, de same as yesterday so I know is de same amount. I is think about that girl too much one two three I getting feelings for she but I need to still concentrate on tings four five six seven eight she is treat people so good tho nine she so sweet to de other people ten when she laugh I is could hear it eleven and it is a laugh that so sweet twelve I want to mek she laugh like that bad bad bad thirteen rassole I love she? fourteen love who? I only love myself and mummy fifteen I have to talk to she, introduce myself to she, mek she laugh for me eleven, shite I think I lost count. Miriam tugged on the left side of the bed to make sure both sides of the sheet tails draped evenly off the bed. She looked outside the window at the sand, at the waves. She thought about drowning and then moved away from the window. She walked down the corridor, light thumps on the carpet when she walked. She sat down in the break room where the lockers were and unfolded the foil over her lunch. The smell of the beef chunks rose up and made her scramble for her fork. She speared one and shoved it in her mouth, biting down forcefully. She pushed the other chunks to the side to keep for later and scooped up the rice with her thumb on top of the place where the fork bent downwards. She enjoyed the meal but didn't smile about it. Smiling usually comes from enjoying the thing itself only for the entertainment in it. Food that you ate when you were hungry served the purpose of keeping you alive more, so there was little entertainment to enjoy about hunger-eating as opposed to say, eating ice cream. Miriam thought about when she was a child hiding from her father. Balled up inside a suitcase, she watched through the open zipper teeth as her father looked under the bed, sweetly growling her name, with his penis dripping. Yolanda came into the break room. Miriam looked up at her. Yolanda smiled back. "Doan be so sad Miriam. Jesus helps us all." "yeah...you right." she said, then took the beef into the fork and carefully bit the meat from the solid bone, using her tongue to rotate the piece, while she thought about dark rooms.

The sun was on it's stage to rest by the time Winston got underway to see the dog again. He thought about the future for the first time in a long time. He usually only thought about the future in terms of where things should be, where things are expected to be tomorrow: the sun comes up over there in the future, the school children sound this way in the future, the crickets will go like this in the future, the wind is expected to blow like this, and then like that, and then it would relent. But he never usually thought about that other future - the future that you can change. He wasn't one to think about five years into the future, because in his mind that was absurd. Other than the days, or maybe hours before a jail break he didn't think about his involvement in the future. Even in Trinidad during the calm nights, rain outside and the woman warm against him cooing herself to him saying, "Tony you is mek me feel safe, ya is a strong man ya hear me?", he never thought long about marriage, or where the little children would be in ten years or anything large like that. He just went on in his mind about what the rain was expected to sound when it slowed down to a drizzle, where the only big sounds would be the fat-as-cunt rain drops that fall from leaves, or dribble down the galvanize roof notching into the ground. He would think about that, then about the next day, and only after tomorrow came would he start to think seriously about the day after that, and what the accoutrements of then should look like. End of Part one.

#short story #winston hall #caribbean #barbados #long read #Black Fiction #island fiction

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kingofthewilderwest · 5 years

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Things I Fucking LOVE About VLD S8

Katie watching freaking Defender of the Universe and marveling at how Pidge’s voice actor sounds.

Katie Holt looking adorable wearing ponytails.

Mrs. Holt totally momming Katie.

GIRL’S SHOPPING DAY GIRL’S SHOPPING DAY GIRL’S SHOPPING DAY!!! Getting together Nadia, Ina, Allura, Pidge, and Romelle?!!

Pidge and Nadia being such gaming nerds.

Pidge exploiting her fame as Pidge and dressing up as freaking Darrell Stoker / Retro Pidge. Like you have no idea how much I wanted to scream in happy seeing her with the old outfit and hairstyle, this is such a blessing. SUCH a blessing holy crow.

Allura wearing one of her old outfits from the 1980s too! So many DOTU references this season!

Coran is having way too much fun with Lance.

Lance and Keith chilling out together on top of the lion watching the sunset and having a good convo. Look how far these two’s relationship has come. Look at them. It’s so good.

Dinner with Lance’s family is so pure.

The visuals with Allura and the tree are so beautiful.

Cute photograph moment!

There’s an entire episode dedicated to Honerva’s past, showing her struggling emotions now that she’s remembering everything that’s been, showing her internal conflict and struggle, giving us a clear and deep understanding of her hurt and hate.

Baby Lotor is fucking adorable. Like look at that kid. Look at those big eyes. Oh my gosh he’s adorable.

Lotor’s past is painful and it’s exactly the sort of crap I expected. Received no affection from his father. Was pushed into a Galra empire that didn’t value mercy. Watched the place he cultivated destroyed. Exactly the sort of thing I was expecting from his past to lead to his current state of mind as we meet him in S3. It shows how he’s someone who wants to revolutionize the empire, but is someone whose mind and ideas have been clearly influenced by his culture and upbringing.

I like how the robeasts have been developed throughout the series. How they clearly evoke the past ideas from DOTU/BKG of turning biological creatures into mechanized weapons. How the first season starts with Voltron doing lots of single episodes one-on-one fighting the robeasts, akin to the 1980s show. How the robeasts grow into an increasingly great problem by S8, and are now piloted by brainwashed Alteans. It’s a legitimately cool progression and makes the robeasts feel like a threat even while not repeating the same episode format over and over.

So many Altean warrior ladies on the forefront of Honerva’s forces.

“The Prisoner’s Dilemma” is a fan-fucking-tastic episode all around. One of my favorites for this season for sure.

It starts with Voltron, the ATLAS, the rebels, and the MFEs working together to take down a base. This is an amazing fight moment. It’s showing how far everyone has come since the start, how much they’ve grown, and it sings. And it’s showing REALLY cool team coordination. This is like. All around epically cool I fucking love it.

Matt Holt and his ponytail <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

I love how this episode focuses on trying to end the Galra Empire’s remaining power but also trying to show mercy to the Galra. I love how it shows a Galra leader who’s had help from Voltron before still being doubtful - and how more acts from Voltron bring him around. It takes time to convince someone who’s been part of the Galra Empire that Voltron is okay to ally with - and it shows how the Voltron Coalition is gaining ground.

There is some serious nice creepy tension in this episode.

KEITH BLASTING THROUGH THE DOOR WITH EPIC BIG GUN!

I love how Lance’s characterization feels like they took him and turned him more into his DOTU self over the course of the series. Honestly, as with all of them! The characters grow into those positions and selves.

“Battle Scars” is probably the episode that got me the most emotional. Olkarion is a planet and culture I loved, too. Watching it fall - watching that beautiful planet actually get destroyed along with many of its citizens - was painful. This is a good way to show Honerva’s power and the high-stakes dangers of her actions.

The idea of Pidge watching the past to learn what happened was a cool narrative effect, and also had good long-term story arc development since she learned how to track the robeasts, too.

Also amazingly good lesson / theme for that episode.

“The Grudge” is another cool episode that’s got the unique twist of the Paladins relying not on their typical weapons, but on having to be resourceful with the minimum. Another good, original premise.

Acxa and Veronica. Acxa and Veronica. Oh my gosh Acxa and Veronica. Acxa and the rest of the MFEs. Acxa and the humans. It’s so great. Acxa saying everything and it’s coming out SUPER edge-lord and everyone’s trying to figure out how to handle it.

I fucking love Ina Leifsdottir. I love her personality so much. And I’m 99% sure the writers intended her as autistic representation and I think they did a good job with her.

Okay but this season really has a lot of fun with the MFEs. They don’t steal the show and take too much time, but we get a GREAT sense of personality from them. Rizavi and Kincade together is a delightful combo. I love her energy and love of action. I love his nerdy passions. They’re so fun.

Let’s be real: one thing Voltron does consistently well is that, no matter how much screen time we have with a character, we get a GREAT sense of their personality, and we love them. There are so many different, lovable, often quirky personalities in Voltron. It’s so rich with its character personalities. I love how there’s a broad cast of characters and yet I can still connect to them all.

I appreciate how S8 wrapped up the story of Lotor’s generals. It would have been easy to have them die, just be casualties, and not have them or their narrative go anywhere. Instead, we get a wrap-up. They’ve been through a lot of twists, turns, and confusing life choices. Now they finally find a place. I like that Lotor’s team (who followed a man who was extremely misguided but wanted some good things) ended up being able to find a productive cause in the end.

SPACE GALRA LESBIANS RETURN!

I honestly love the dynamic of ATLAS + Voltron. The Castle of Lions is really cool and I felt extremely sad and nostalgic when they lost it. But ATLAS + Voltron has a legitimately awesome sci-fi, mission-oriented dynamic. The Castle of Lions felt like there was always a home, whereas ATLAS gives the sense of being in space on a journey and mission. It gives me Vehicle Force Voltron vibes, ESPECIALLY with the inclusion of the MFEs.

Speaking of the 80s show and retro Voltron references, we got Merla!

This season focuses a bloody fuckton on Allura, but it shows a lot of depth and conflicted thoughts with her. It shows her as a woman of power. It shows her as someone tempted with problematic solutions or darker powers. It shows her loving, being loved, finding family, and marching ever-steady onward with her purpose. There’s a lot of complex psychology with how Allura’s handling these latest events and it’s written in a way we can understand exactly why she’s making the choices she does, good and bad.

“One... two... three... ALUMINUM!”

I love how Sam Holt overall gives Slav good respect for his more “superstitious”-esque approaches to things, and also valuing Slav for his powerful mind and abilities.

Lots of things from earlier seasons get remembered - Olkarion, Slav, Matt Holt, Shay, the Balmera, and more - and continue to play out in the final conflicts.

I legitimately love seeing Voltron team up with ATLAS in its transformed form. Shiro and Keith working completely equally. Keith’s become a fully-fledged leader. Shiro’s got hoards of respect and leadership power. Together everyone coordinates and kicks butt.

HOW have I not mentioned the visuals yet in this season? This was the most colorful and visually appealing season in Voltron YET - and we’ve been given season after season of really beautiful images. I love how, even though Voltron is set in SPACE, which is so full of voidness, we get so much color and light and appealing color pallets. Voltron is a visual delight.

“Day Forty-Seven” has got to be one of my favorite episodes of this season, if not a stand-out for the entire series to me. Some people might feel differently about this episode than me, but I honestly find it so unique and fun. It’s legitimately hard to try to write an episode following one camera for twenty minutes, while also telling a coherent story. And yet it DOES. We get a good narrative - while at the same time it feels so REAL. “Day Forty-Seven” gives us the ability to watch the entire ATLAS crew work, and allows us to watch Voltron from an outsider’s perspective as they go on dangerous missions - without the music, fanfare, camera angles, etc. And it’s so amusing getting everything from a dog carrying a camera around to Rizavi being upset that yeast is part of the documentary. And it shows so many characters and character dynamics and a sense of a full crew where everyone knows each other. And Rizavi and Kincade together are such a DELIGHT. And oh my goodness I could gush incoherently about this episode for a long time. It’s so much fun.

Keith and Hunk stuck on a musical ride. Love it.

The bargaining Pidge and her mom do!!! The Holt family photograph!

Epic arm wrestling competition is epic. And I love how it all started because Shiro felt abashed being called “old.” Poor guy’s still in his 20s! And I love how it turned into all of Team Voltron CELEBRATING THE FUCK out of Shiro winning. Like, these guys have fought countless dangerous foes across the universe. And these dorks get over-the-top excited at Shiro’s accomplishment of winning an arm wrestling competition at a fair.

I laughed so hard at the Warden talking about how he found a purpose in arm wrestling.

The Voltron team joining up with the original Voltron team was pretty cool. I also love how it was animated where we would see the original Team branching off like apparitions out of Voltron, or how we’d see the pilots in the cockpit fading from one to the other.

Allura and Alfor reunion!!! I think this was done right. I am not a fan of stories where a character seems to lose someone, only for that person to magically be brought back. In this case, given the location of where Allura and Alfor unite, we know they’re not going to be able to resume a life of father and daughter. It’s a temporary reunion, and it happens a VERY LONG time after we’ve suffered through all of Allura’s pain in VLD about leaving Alfor behind. It doesn’t compromise the integrity of all the seasons that have come before it about their loss of Alfor and the Alteans, but it also gives us a touching moment of Allura seeing someone she’d never thought she’d see again.

VLD S8 shows that people aren’t cut-and-dry “always evil.” It shows how it’s a complex combination of your environment and your choice. Zarkon isn’t someone who is innately evil pure and simple, nor is Honerva, nor is Lotor. It also makes sure to remind us of the power of choice. Zarkon and Honerva also aren’t JUST victims of the entity - S8 reminds us that they pursued quintessence and poor choices that led to further bad consequences, too. And just because someone might not have been a villain with alternate choices, and just because someone DID become a villain... S8 reminds us that they still took this particular path. It doesn’t erase that Lotor might have wanted to make some positive differences, but turned into a villain. It looks at the complexity of people, how they have both goodness and badness within their potentials. And... it lets it be shown that just because you make a bunch of bad decisions doesn’t mean that it’s impossible to leave those choices and turn around. People aren’t “just evil.”

How have I not yet mentioned I love the uniforms that the Paladins wear when they’re not in their Lions?

THE ATLAS-VOLTRON FUSION. THE ATLAS-VOLTRON FUSION. THE ATLAS-VOLTRON FUSION. THAT IS AWESOME AS FUCK!

The S3 idea of alternate realities gets brought back in QUITE the way as Voltron chases Honerva through many realities.

I appreciate how Honerva spends so much time trying to find the perfect reality... and when she thinks she’s found it, it doesn’t do what she wants. It’s exactly what we would respect she’d reap. You can’t just tear across space and time to find happiness. At the same time, we can also feel her pain.

Okay but Honera? I love her armor in this season too. Man I just. Love lots of what people wear this season.

I love Allura’s send-off. I love that the stakes got so high in VLD that we had to lose a main character, but not in a way that felt like a painful death. I love that Voltron was willing to give us a concrete ending where there’s no “going back” to the way things were before. I love that they still give us a sense of hope and growth even with the hurt of losing a main character. I love how it takes Allura, who always had such a strong sense of responsibility, and act on that responsibility in the most responsible and selfless choice possible. I love that she got to embrace every Paladin and say how much they mean to her. I love that they cried. I love how this was done. That’s a proper send-off, one filled with heroicism and selflessness and responsibility and power and strength and emotional pain and also a sense of HOPE.

There are some fucking powerful quotes this season.

I love how we got Altean Lance? Like honestly, when I first heard fans theorizing about it, I thought it was wishful fantasy and the typical desire for AU characters. But the way this was incorporated into VLD actually in canon was really cool.

I love seeing Pidge create Chip. DOTU REFERENCE!!!!!

I love how the Galra Empire has been shown fracturing for seasons, and how it’s finally come to a point Keith can naturally talk about needing change - and it’s believable to think that the Galra would now be open to this change happening.

I love seeing the entire team together after everything’s ended.

I love how in S2 characters talked about defeating the Galra Empire would mean that Voltron was no longer needed. I love how the writers stick with that. I love how the Paladins choose to retire from being Paladins, but intentionally go forth to make the universe a brighter place - there’s still so much to do. I love how the lions themselves choose to fly away.

I love seeing their selfies. I love that they intentionally make sure Allura’s in their Paladin team reunion selfies. I love seeing how the characters age.

I love how Keith’s hair just keeps growing.

I love that ENORMOUS fucking Vehicle Force Voltron reference with the Holts! Holy crap! I’m actually seeing characters like Cliff and Wolo in the background!!! And given the premise of Vehicle Force Voltron seeking out a new planet after humanity has contacted alien civilizations, it feels entirely fitting that this is how Vehicle Force Voltron gets incorporated into the VLD timeline.

I love how the Holts, such a POWERFULLY BRILLIANT family, are the people who keep exploring technology and build the next round of Legendary Defenders.

I love seeing how Hunk’s passion for cooking isn’t treated as trivial. It’s treated as a means of creating intergalactic peace and happiness. He uses it as a way to treat the Alteans with kindness when they’re prisoners on the ATLAS. He uses it to create a culinary revolution after Honerva’s defeated. Hunk is revolutionizing society and making an enormous positive difference because of his passion. That’s majorly epically awesome like fuck I LOVE it.

I love everyone’s endings, honestly. I love how Lance chooses a quieter ending. He wanted a lot of glory as a fighter pilot at the start of VLD S1. He grows into someone so much more mature. Now he’s someone who understands he’s impacted the universe. He’s willing to talk to Alteans at school and spread positive messages with the people in his life. But he’s also taking quiet time for himself. The homesick boy from the early seasons isn’t feeling that more - he has a concrete embedded home to return to, valuing family ever onward. And it’s all embedded in him surrounding himself in the memory of people like Allura he’s held dear. It’s bittersweet and one that happens when someone you love is gone, but it’s not a sad ending, and it’s one that will turn into a lot of happiness, peace, and meaning. This boy’s got a good ending.

I love that we even see where Krolia and Kolivan end up.

And dude. Keith continuing to work with the Blade of Marmora but turning it to humanitarian relief??? This guy’s amazing. So amazing.

I’m a Sheith shipper but I never expected a canon-concrete Sheith end game, so I’m totally happy seeing Shiro’s ending. They gave this guy the happiness he needed. This is someone who’s been trapped in war for so long. He’s had to work so hard without break because of the necessity of defending the universe. This is someone who can finally leave the battlefield and rest. Anyone who thinks for a second Shiro and Keith are any less close just because it’s not romantic is kidding themselves - their relationship shall be as pure and close and powerful and deep as always. And we get an on-screen gay kiss! An on-screen queer marriage!

This is a good ending in that it wraps up all the conflict... but it gives us a look at the hope of the future for everyone’s lives.

I’m here to spread positivity and excitement for the good Voltron Season 8 did. A show doesn’t have to be “perfect” (nothing’s perfect) to be awesome, meaningful, and enjoyable. This show has been SUCH a wonderful ride, start to finish, and I can’t be more grateful to have been an audience member for this story. It’s going to last as one of my favorite animated series of all time.

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sailor-cresselia · 5 years

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Zi-O Episode 33: featuring the Power of Music

So, RiderTime Fansubs picked up Zi-O starting with the Agito arc. They’ve already got their release of ep 33 out, so I’m using their version this time around.

Now then! Onward!

Tekken 7 returns! And it’s being played by the latest Hibiki’s pupil! … Or, his FORMER pupil. Looks like he dropped out of Oni training. So, Heure ‘offers’ him the chance to A; help lure Hibiki out into the open, and B; become an Oni.

Of course, said method of becoming an Oni is a bit… unconventional.

Oh WOW, I really like Another Hibiki’s look. He gets to go all in on the traditional Oni theme!

((WHOOPS ALMOST FORGOT TO PUT THE READ MORE IN MY BAD))

Sightings of harness-less Geiz: Two? Two. He apparently takes it off to sleep, and to work out… in the middle of the shop. (Oh, sweetie…) Also, clearly under the harness, jacket, and poorly-fitting pants, Geiz is ripped.

See, this is why you don’t work out in the middle of the path. A distracted Woz will walk right into you! And incidentally make your lack of harness a REVEAL.

Also Geiz’s first reaction to being nearly stepped on is to assume there’s an Another Rider. I mean, there IS, but that’s not it.

WAIT NO DRAT he’s still wearing the stupid harness. Drat. It just blended in better than it usually does. ...My point about his choice of location still stands.

Woz. Woz? You okay there? Why do you not want to let Sougo remember it’s his birthday? Why are you so dead set on that, that you stop his uncle from saying it?

The boys have one brain cell, and it looks like it’s not Woz’s turn to have it today.

For SOME reason, Junichiro decided that he’s going to bring out Sougo’s elementary school yearbook. Since he has this one, I’d assume it’s from the 2009-2010 school year, so Sougo would have been 9. That would make it… 3rd grade, since he turned 9 that April. And looks like he had a classmate that even Sougo thinks was odd, but they still cheered each other on. But really, Sougo thought that Tsutomu was odder than him. That. That says something.

(As Junichiro goes to reheat breakfast, him and Woz share A Moment of ‘We’re Totally Not Conspiring Or Anything.’)

Also, Tsutomu said that ‘his master was Hibiki, a great Oni’. That’s actually really cute.

The thing is… Asumu was, like, 14 when he met Hibiki in 2005, and Hibiki was a bit reluctant to take HIM on. So… Tsutomu was WAY too young to be studying for that type of thing.

And the Zi-O trend of ‘finding the next Rider by Coincidence’ continues. Sougo and Geiz come to the same conclusion immediately – “Hey, maybe we can find Kamen Rider Hibiki and his Watch!”

Sougo knowing about Hibiki actually works, too, according to past events in Zi-O. Decade used Hibiki against him back during the first episode of the Ghost arc, so Sougo has, technically speaking, seen said rider before. And, as has been previously established by arcs such as Wizard, Tsukuyomi may have the tablet and the fact-finding, but Geiz knows what Riders ‘used to’ exist. Which is now clearly ‘which Riders came before them,’ as opposed to ‘which ones happened once upon a timeline.’

Woz. Woz, the camera’s over here. You’re going the wrong direction. … Oh, wait, no, he’s going upstairs… and immediately dashing all hopes of us seeing a set for even a hallway, as he warps straight into his Storytime Vault. And we’re not getting Hibiki Hibiki, of course. No, we’re getting Kyosuke Kiriya, who… I GUESS has taken over as Hibiki. Or is carrying his watch?

I haven’t watched Hibiki, I don’t really know how the mentor system there works, aside from the fact that it’s a thing.

No I totally didn’t start singing the theme song with my parents around. What are you talking about? That’d be silly.

… I totally sang along by instinct.

… I know they think I’m odd for this already. I don’t even know HOW to explain that I’m liveblogging a show. At least they’re used to my being a fan of kids shows at this point.

(Over Quartzer is TOO DAMN CATCHY)

Geiz: “So there’s no doubt that the next Rider we’re looking for is Hibiki?” And he’s immediately proven right by Another Hibiki taking a flying leap at them.

… Hang on, there was a sound effect right before Sougo and Geiz turned around. Did they hear that? Or something like it? Some sort of acquired ‘time has gone wrong’ sense?

Seriously, the choices for the Another Riders are usually really good. Ever since Another OOO, they’ve been incredible. ...Well, except for Another Quiz, but that’s my preferring to not have brain motifs in character designs.

(Yes, I’m calling out Brain himself with that comment, too. That’s the worst part of his new bike.)

Aw, Woz made Sougo a fruit tart! It’s not nearly large enough for the candles and decorations, but it’s a nice thought!

And he wants to make celebrating his Demon Kings birthday AS EXTRA AS POSSIBLE, to the point that it looks like he’s starting to Blue Screen at not being Extra enough.

His usual IWAEs will not suffice.

(Also I like how the cuckoo clock sound effect trails off despondently as the cake cover rolls on it’s axis.)

CIVILIAN FIGHTS!!! Sougo and Woz are actually doing pretty decently, too. Still not great, but again. Civilian fight against a monster, so it’s in no way a fight on equal grounds.

Geiz is right, that we’d need Zi-O II to beat Another Hibiki without the watch. However, as Sougo points out, Another Hibiki came after them, not the other way around, so they can’t defeat him quite yet. Geiz lands on the same page right after.

I’m so glad these boys are working together. They’re so much better off as a team. And even more so with team transformations!

Ooo, Another Hibiki had only been using hand-to-hand techniques while they were civilians, but once the armor goes on, the drumsticks come out, and Fire Powers are fair game.

“Alright, old power for old techniques!”

“What?! No! You’ve got to use magic against an oni!”

:GASP: SOUGO PULLED OUT THE KUUGA WATCH!

WE’RE GETTING TO SEE THE KUUGA ARMOR!

FINALLY!

ARMOR TIME! KUUGA~!

I like the touch of how Kuuga Armor doesn’t have a ‘catch phrase’ when it finishes going on – the newer riders do, like with Wizard’s “Please”. But Riders didn’t have belt and weapon sound effects until Ryuki, so Kuuga and Agito wouldn’t have anything to work with for their Ride Armors.

Yoooo Another Hibiki has more fire powers than just from his drumsticks! He can breath fire, too!

And here comes one of the Oni, keeping the peace from other Oni. With the kanji for thunder and a SWORD GUITAR.

… OH FOR FUCKS SAKE. IT’S AN ELECTRIC GUITAR.

After some blows are exchanged, Oni-who’s-name-I-don’t-know gets a fire blast tossed at him from yet another direction, knocking both him and Another Hibiki down, and after yelling at whoever just attacked them, he goes off in pursuit of the fleeing Another Hibiki.

Sougo and Geiz have absolutely no idea what’s going on at this point. This is even more confusing for them than how the Quiz Arc started off, isn’t it?

Haha, Tsukuyomi finally makes it down to the (now former) battle field, and all three of them assume that the Oni was Hibiki. Heure, clearly knowing that he wasn’t Hibiki, is about to sulk off...

But then here comes Kyosuke, being all “Nope, that’s Todoroki. I’m Hibiki.” (How dare he cop the salute!)

Ahaha, Sougo’s grin is about to split his face. That is the face of someone who knows that that coincidence and fate have shone upon him once again, and will continue to do so.

(I was talking with @miyukomatsuda recently, and we’ve agreed that if he were a DnD character, Sougo’s player would consistently get great rolls on Insight and Charisma… except where said checks relate to the character himself.)

Cut back to Woz, who is… keeping the main door to the dining room shut, holding the dish cover and cover cloth. Although, it’s nice to see that there IS, in fact, a second door to the area – I can see that the one Sougo usually comes through is shuttered.

...Actually, why does that dining room even have two entries, anyway? There’s only the small wall dividing the storefront from the stairs to the bedrooms, and literally nothing else separating the two, so why is the side door even necessary?

Correction, Woz is hiding in the dining room, attempting to hide the tart, while the Rider Debrief is going on at that small table in the shop.

Ah. Right. Even if we aren’t showing the ‘give a blank watch to the Rider when they’re active’ task anymore, that doesn’t necessarily mean they aren’t doing it. (I still need to watch Rider Time Ryuki.) But Kyosuke wasn’t Hibiki in 2005 – he was Hibiki’s pupil. The Zi-O team hasn’t had mentorships and titles being passed down before. It’s not usually a thing with Kamen Rider.

(Usually. I still haven’t seen Kiva or Den-O, either, and I think there was something similar in those? And also there’s how Ghost and Specter have several people using variants of the name, with Daigo having gone by “Zero Specter”, and Ayumu apparently taking up Takeru’s mantle as Ghost in the future. Please note that I’m still flat out ignoring the majority of the Ghost Novel, because of all the uncomfortable implications of several things in there. The STAGE SHOWS, however, are fair game so far.)

Okay, that digression aside.

Kyosuke isn’t wrong in asking them to prove themselves worthy of the Hibiki watch, even if he’s being a dick about it. That is a thing for Oni – they train to get where they are, and have to earn the powers and name.

Of course, his “we provide a blessing to the earth” line draws the attention of a very frazzled Woz, who is trying to figure out the best way to bless his overlords 19th birthday. He’s so desperate to make this the most extra birthday ever, that now he’s trying to call himself the “oni of blessings”. Kysouke is confused by this. Sougo and Geiz think it’s hilarious – Geiz is only making a token effort to hide his laughter, and Sougo isn’t even trying. (Is this what the harness is for? Hiding his emotions?) Tsukuyomi is so done with everything right now. She’s just gonna head out and look for Todoroki. Maybe she’ll find some sane people there. She’d like that, that’d be nice.

By the time they reach the Taiko drums, Woz has snapped, even knocking the other two boys out of the way to get to the center drum, because ‘this is perfect!’

Woz has lost visitation rights for the trinity’s brain cell this week.

Sougo’s worried about him. Geiz is just resigned. “He’ll stay out of our hair this way.”

!! Oh!! Kyosuke and Tsutomu trained together? Or… Hm, Hibiki took place in 2005, with the epilogue in 2006… so Kyosuke could have taken over as Hibiki by 2009/2010, and trained Tsutomu. But again, Tsutomu was, at most, 10.

… Trying to work out this particular timeline is confusing.

Meanwhile, with the one rational person on this team, Tsukuyomi only has to follow the sound of the Electric Guitar.

Oh! Todoroki knows full well that that’s Tsutomu under the Another Hibiki transformation! … I suppose, since Oni are technically alternate appearances… somehow… since they’re both using the Oni abilities, he could see right through it.

Also. Turns out? Kyosuke’s not Hibiki. Todoroki actually seems a bit insulted that he called himself that. (VALID)

So, Sougo might be made of iron defense-wise, but less so weight-lifting wise. Also of note: Geiz has taken off both his harness AND his jacket, leaving him bench pressing… a good amount of weight.

Heeeey, Sougo, did someone convince you to wear pants that fit? Who was it? Where can I find them to give them my gratitude? Your overshirt is still super baggy, but your regular shirt fits pretty normally.

And can whoever got you the fitting outfit go talk to Geiz about his pants?

Ohhh, Kyosuke, telling Sougo to ditch his dream has never once worked.

Wait, okay, it did work. ONCE. Literally one time. And it was technically him telling him that, but as a taunt/dare, so I don’t think it really counts.

Hmm.. But Kyosuke’s saying to stop going after an unobtainable dream, and that you’ll only be met with despair when you can’t achieve it.

He studied under Hibiki.

Todoroki, during their shows run, turned down his masters name – Zanki – instead preferring to use a name of his own choosing as an Oni.

Oni discard their human names upon becoming Oni.

Kyosuke introduced himself with his human name.

Sounds like somebody else flunked out, too.

Tsukuyomi tells the boys to head after Another Hibiki… and is going to have to drag Woz with her. He’s still drumming.

After Heure redirects Todoroki’s attack right back to him, Sougo and Geiz show up. Heure thinks that Hibiki ought to be with them. Pity Hibiki’s not here today, regardless.

GEIZ. Either tell us if using Revive is still dangerous, or stop using Revive. I have to wonder about Sougo’s choice of Ex-Aid, though. Hammers versus drumming, maybe?

Heure’s all but pouting that Hibiki’s not here as he takes his leave. Oh, kid, if you weren’t a bad guy, I’d be able to like you so much better. (get away from swartz)

I thought for a moment that was the original HIT! effect, but nope. It’s still Sougo’s version. To be fair to Sougo, though, I don’t think I’m quite as worried about what it might mean if he gets things right, anymore.

But only not quite as worried. I’m still a little worried.

Cut to Woz, still furiously drumming. Tsukuyomi has to throw a rock at him to get his attention… and he still won’t leave. “He’s got Geiz with him, right? They’re good at working together, they’ll be fine.”

I like that both Woz and Geiz have finally come around to this whole ‘working as a team’ thing. (insert growth.gif here)

Woz: “Anyway! I have to make this celebration perfect!”

Tsukuyomi: “You are literally the only person who likes your speeches. You have no idea how to celebrate people.”

This kills the Woz.

… Woz no. It’s definitely not that you’re not ‘rejoicing’ enough. It’s literally the opposite of that.

A nice Ex-aid armor / Revive Fury team fight… and to finish it, they swap into Zi-O II and Revive Typhoon. Well, Revive Gale, right now, since I’m using the Rider Time subs.

I love that the Zi-O II fight music is the instrumental version of King of Time, because it makes for such a dramatic backing track.

The drama is only intensified by Another Hibiki’s drumsticks growing spikes, lengthening to ABSURD lengths, and catching COMPLETELY on fire.

Ohhh that’s a NICE group finish!

Sougo, even 9 years later, can still recognize one of the only people who he was close to as a kid. (This lonely little dweeb keeps breaking my heart.) He wants to listen to Tsutomu, to see how he can help, to see what led to him becoming Another Hibiki.

Heure is having none of that, still wants actual Hibiki to show up, and re-monsterizes Tsutomu.

… You know, he might have gone after Sougo for a reason. He still recognizes him too, after all. The only problem with that is, Another Hibiki is more monstrous than most Another Riders are. He’s more on the ‘Another Build’ level of losing sight of himself. Worse, possibly, because at least Another Build still had language. But neither of them ever turn back on their own, and even the other… ‘feral’ Another Riders could still do that, like Another Ryuga.

So, Another Hibiki goes after Geiz, Sougo’s down on the ground.

And Kyosuke comes up to stop them from attacking Tsutomu.

He pulls out a tuning fork, and transforms.

Into a white Oni.

One who’s decidedly not Hibiki, and Sougo can tell. See again, Tsukasa used Hibiki against him back during Ghost.

Here comes Todoroki, confirming for us.

Kysouke wasn’t able to become Hibiki, or an Oni of his own. He doesn’t even have a proper Oni name. He’s just an Oni.

Hibiki is a name to be earned.

And Kyosuke didn’t earn it.

Makes it all the harsher that he tried to get the boys to prove themselves to him, when he couldn’t prove himself.

Oh, what’s this? Heure thought that he was Hibiki, too? Interesting.

Even more interesting… Another Hibiki just attacked Oni!Kyosuke, with one of his more powerful attacks.

Preview time:

“I couldn’t be like my master Hibiki.” – That’s Kyosuke.

There’s a shot of Kyosuke and someone who is presumably a 10-year-old Tsutomu.

… Woz, I’m pretty sure even Kougami would think that cake is a bit… much. And he’s KOUGAMI.

Just who… who is Sougo talking to in that last line?

“You were Hibiki.”

Who? WHO was Hibiki?

So, I jumped back to the very beginning, after seeing that shot of Kyosuke and babby!Tsutomu. Heure says that he was “Hibiki’s pupil.”

But Tsutomu doesn’t use the name ‘Hibiki’ when he says that he’s ‘not his pupil anymore.’

Kyosuke. Did you tell Tsutomu you were Hibiki? That’s a dirty lie, bucko.

#kamen rider zi o #sailorcressy says

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psychpunk45 · 6 years

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So I wanna talk about why I have a problem with people absolutely HATING Jaune’s character.

Typically, the reasons I see are things like “they make him more important than he should be” or “he’s too much like the usual male anime protagonist.” I wanna talk about why both of these arguments are incredibly misguided.

To address the first one: obviously, he shouldn’t be more important than any of team RWBY. But the show has never treated him like he is. However, when you look outside of team RWBY, it was established from Volume 1 that Jaune would be the most significant male character in the show, if not the most significant character outside of team RWBY.

How do we know this? Well, who would be considered the protagonist of the show? I think we all can agree that it’s Ruby Rose, with the rest of team RWBY close behind her. But this is clearly Ruby’s story, first and foremost. So when Ruby goes to Beacon, how are we introduced to everyone else? Well, Yang is on the ship with her and we learn that she’s her sister, but she ditches her as soon as she finds her other friends. Weiss chastises Ruby for accidentally knocking over (and wasting) her dust and insults her. Blake then somewhat takes up for Ruby, but abruptly walks away and doesn’t try to make friends. (Note: I’m not trying to say that ANY of these girls are bad people, at all, but this is exactly what happens right at the beginning.) Right after this first indcident, who is the first person to attempt to make friends with Ruby? It’s Jaune. Sure, he’s Vomit Boy and he has a LOT of issues with masculinity (which I’ll get to), but this moment establishes Jaune’s role in the series right from the get-go: he and Ruby are two somewhat goofy, somewhat misfit kids who others don’t get, kids who make mistakes but are ultimately well-meaning. Their other moment in Volume 1 of Ruby encouraging him as a leader and Jaune’s story arc in Volume 1 also establish him as an important character. This was part of Monty’s vision.

Side note: going off this, it’s a pet peeve of mine when people say Pyrrha died solely to advance Jaune’s plot. Believe me, she was my favorite and I was very upset when she died. And I HATE when women do nothing but serve male protagonists. But 1) this very clearly affected Ruby, Nora, Ren and the others as well and 2) this was well within believability for her character because of who she’s based on and who they established that she was. She was too good for Remnant. She was too self-sacrificing. While this changed a lot for Jaune, it affected everyone else the rest of the world around her as well. If you didn’t like what Jaune meant to her and everything leading up to her death, well, then I’m surprised you didn’t hate the show during Volume 3 and I’m surprised that you’re still watching. Some shows aren’t for everyone.

Going off the second argument (“he’s a typical anime protagonist”), the thing about RWBY is that it subverts a lot of tropes. We have ideas of who Jaune, Weiss, Blake, and Yang are in Volume 1, but even within this first volume, we learn that they are so much more than just a trope. RWBY as a show loves to make a character seem like they embody a stereotype and then flip it on its head. They’ve done this with all four of these characters as well as others. With Jaune specifically, we see them address the effects of expectations of manhood directly. He feels as though he must carry on his family name. He feels as though he needs a woman’s romantic attention and glory to be worth anything. He feels as though he can’t address the direct bullying he’s dealing with in a healthy manner because he needs to “be a man” and deal with it himself. Within Volume 1, we see him overcome this: remember how he straight-up said to Pyrrha that he had “all this macho stuff in his head”? Yeah, the show directly addresses this as a toxic masculinity issue. And he learns from his mistakes and becomes better for it. He learns to trust his teammates and learns to ask for help, which shows his growth right from the beginning.

But the thing is, Jaune doesn’t even act like a typical anime protagonist. Sure, he has some typical masculine traits at the beginning. But he very quickly becomes the “strategist,” the one who hangs back, the one who comes up with ideas but doesn’t physically execute them. This is NOT how a typical anime protagonist acts. Do you think for one second that Naruto or Eren Yaeger would accept being “the strategist” and waiting in the background while others did their fighting for them? Absolutely not. They would lose their tempers, feel as though they needed to take on the fighting themselves. This shows how expectations of masculinity still affect them, but Jaune has decided not to let all this get to him. He has decided to find a role more suitable for him and try to be the best he can be at the role.

You know who acts more like an anime protagonist? Ruby Rose. Because that’s who she is. She heads right into danger without a second thought and kicks ass (this is not a put-down or criticism, this is just who she is). Jaune does not. In fact, Jaune discourages rushing into danger with Pyrrha. Jaune is not the bravest character and that’s okay.

Ironically, another issue with trying to put Jaune into this mold of being “a typical male anime protagonist” is that it ignores where he comes from. Jaune is based on Joan of Arc. The main male characters (other than Sun) are both based on women, as Ren is based on Mulan. They both embody more “feminine” traits as well: Ren cooks and is typically quiet and passive while Jaune doesn’t go straight to the front lines in battle and has no problem wearing a dress in order to fulfill a promise (even though everyone laughs at him for this). In fact, someone could probably argue that Jaune and Ren have more “feminine” traits than the women on the show, especially when compared to Ruby, Yang, and Nora, who are all loud, tough, and heavy hitters in battle. This show subverts a lot of tropes, but by ignoring this issue, another problem arises: we are still valuing masculine traits more than feminine ones. We praise Ruby, Yang, and Nora for being the way that they are, and I personally love them for who they are. But by hating on Jaune and by basically ignoring that Ren exists (which is a whole other can of worms that I’m not opening right now), even though they are men and the others are women, we are acting as though masculine traits still have more value. We are de-valuing them and who they are based on.

(WARNING: from this point, I’m going to address the newest RWBY episode, 5.11, so don’t read this if you don’t want it spoiled.)

So why am I bringing this up now? Why is this relevant to recent events? As I imagine some of you have already thought, Jaune does lose his temper in the latest episode. He does jump headfirst into danger without considering the consequences. But this is out of character for him. He has finally reached his breaking point after losing the woman he loves, the person who believed in him when nobody else would, who helped him grow and become a better person. The person who meant the most in the world to him. It is understandable that he reacts the way he does. While I still don’t believe Pyrrha’s death was just for Jaune, it certainly affected him at least slightly more than everyone else, and we are reminded of that again here.

I terms of saving Weiss, I have no idea if he will or not. I have no idea where they’re taking his character romantically (although I would be surprised if they set him up with Weiss or Ruby at this point). But this episode was building up to something with him. Not to mention that this show is FULL of women saving men, each other, and themselves. Is it really the end of the world if a man saves a woman one time, especially in a universe that empowers women much more than a lot of other action shows? Do we want Jaune to be a useless character forever? He has to do something. He has to become something. He’s not a static character and never has been. He is a main focus in the show, more so than Ren and Nora have been established to be, more so than Qrow or Ozpin or Sun. And focusing on him isn’t sexist at all. Making him grow as a character isn’t sexist at all. Allowing him to prove himself isn’t sexist at all. He has been the weakest member of the team for this entire show, and he clearly has to become stronger if he wants to survive. And let’s not forget the woman he’s based on. Let’s not forget what he comes from and how he’s grown so far and appreciate what he becomes from here.

Disclaimer: before people come for me, I consider myself a feminist and Jaune has never been my favorite (my fave was Pyrrha and now it’s probably between Yang, Weiss and Nora). I don’t think that he deserves more importance than any of team RWBY. But I think to say that the show is “making him more important than he really is” ignores how they’ve always treated him and how important they established him to be from the beginning. If you want him to die (which, again, based on his character inspiration, I wouldn’t be shocked if he does eventually) or want him to not exist at all as a character, read or write fan fiction without him in it. But he’s been a significant part of the show and I really don’t think is deserving of the hate he’s gotten from many parts of the FNDM. He doesn’t have to be your favorite, but he certainly deserves the space they’ve given him in the show thus far. He’s been an important friend for Ruby and has become a good role model for young boys trying to navigate the world, especially in terms of bullying and expectations of manhood.

#rwby #jaune arc #rwby analysis

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