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#so a similarity struck me

markantonys · 11 days

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i have spilled so much ink about gawyn but really i only need 2 passages to explain why he is Like That

1. My blood shed before hers; my life given before hers...That was the oath he had taken when barely tall enough to peer into Elayne's cradle. ... Gareth Bryne had had to explain to him what it meant, but even then he had known he had to keep that oath if he failed at everything else in his life. (LOC prologue)

2. From Morgase, Queen of Andor, to her beloved son, Gawyn. May he be a living sword for his sister and Andor. (ACOS prologue)

like yeah, no wonder he does what he does in AMOL. people will be like "gawyn is so stupid for not thinking about the fact that his death would hurt egwene" as if he's being maliciously stupid and careless, when in fact, he has such little self-worth that he genuinely does not consider himself a valuable human being whose loss would impact anyone or anything. his life given before hers. a living sword. this has been his mindset since toddlerhood and nobody ever noticed it enough to try and counteract it. gawyn is exactly what rand would have been like at the last battle if he hadn't had a mental health intervention.

#SAD ABOUT GAWYN HOURS #god i would die if the show portrayed the oath-swearing onscreen as a flashback cold open. it is THE formative event for his character!!#gawyn trakand #wot #wot book spoilers #gawynposting #gawyn and rand really are foils in so many ways #the way they are objectified and viewed as weapons (by themselves as well as by others)#but gawyn has been raised that way since birth whereas it's a new thing for rand #so rand has childhood friends & family & memories to remind him that he IS a person. gawyn doesn't.#his own mother taught him to view himself as a sword for others' use (but she wasn't being malicious that's just what being a royal is)#and then if you look at some of gawyn's behavior it's SO similar to how rand behaves #what really struck me is during the coup when gawyn shuts down and becomes very cold and emotionless #and min and readers are like 'oh my god he's a sociopath'#but he's actually deeply traumatized and shutting off emotions as a coping mechanism as we've seen rand do COUNTLESS times #but we're in rand's head and we're not in gawyn's so we have more sympathy and understanding for rand #'how can the other characters who don't have the benefit of seeing inside rand's head misinterpret his trauma behavior as assholery?'#well

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theheightofdishonor · 1 year

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it cracks me up that asanoya, one of furudate's most intentional pairs, complete with inverse birthdays and names specifically chosen to be complimentary are so, idk, unfated? compared to most hq pairs. Like, they're a fated pair but they're not mystical* the way most of furudate's intentionally created pairings are. They weren't incurably lonely before meeting each other, they're not a 45 volume romance saga about discovering your soulmate, they can't read each other's minds on court, they don't have that "you're the only person to really understand me" sentiment so common in hq

even as they have their own share of dramatics, there's something about them that feels normal amidst a sea of grand, epic tales of connection and i think that lack of dogged soulmateism plays into why they're very rarely focused on despite the level of deliberateness that furudate shows in making them irremovable from each other's stories

*and to be clear, i eat that dramatic shit up with a spoon, there's a reason that my tastes in ships are so aligned with huge fanon hq ships and it's because of those dramatic thematic threads

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imminent-danger-came · 10 months

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Hi there! Anon sent reeling by S1E6 again! And I would just like to say that your response to my ask made me So Normal. Especially you bringing up S2E6, which is why I’m currently setting up a lawn chair here on the brink of insanity, because apparently I’m not going anywhere anytime soon.

Because yes, you’re completely right about S2E6 demonstrating this cycle of pushing others away while pushing themselves towards greatness and accidentally leaving pain in their wake that MK and SWK have managed to stick themselves in, but ALSO now I can’t stop thinking about how we get Shadow Play IMMEDIATELY afterwards.

Like… how much do you think Macaque had seen? Obviously he could see MK getting too caught up in his own head (*cough* and trauma *cough*) and shutting out his friends, but… how much had he seen seen, you know?

And now I also can’t stop thinking about how immediately after Shadow Play, we get To Catch a Leaf. Which is obviously an incredible episode in its own right, but it’s also the first episode since Minor Scale where MK is surrounded by his friends and he lets them help him. Because in S2E6, Mei and Sandy are with him, but he’s not really with them. He’s focused on getting stronger, to the point where he ignores them telling him exactly how to do so. And in the beginning of Shadow Play, we learn that he’s been further isolating himself off screen and blowing off activities with them so that he could focus on ‘[being] ready’.

But then To Catch a Leaf happens. And it starts off with MK surrounded by the others, having recently done something fun (curses aside) with Mei, and it’s not a big deal. He’s not stressing about getting stronger or being ready, he’s just… there with them. Present and in the moment, at least as much as he can be, and it’s fine. He’s fine, and more importantly he seems to be letting them in and being a bit more open with them.

And this carries on into 72 Transformations! Because obviously he still hasn’t told them The Thing, but he does go from ignoring/avoiding them while trying to get more powerful to calling them all up so that he can involve them. Figure at least some things out, together. And it drives me insane because he was getting better! He may very well have worked his way up to telling the others about LBD! But then she came a-knocking with more trauma, and it blasts him two steps back and it’s just… AHHH! He was SO CLOSE!!!

Also, side note: Do you think MK believes he has a body count? And I don’t even mean the nebulous potential casualties from all the recent disasters that MK blames himself for, I’m talking about Spider Queen specifically. Because MK isn’t an idiot. If he didn’t know she was dead (or whatever getting sucked into the furnace counts as) immediately after the sewers, he would have put two and two together after Destiny Fulfilled. And considering this is the guy who blames himself for DBK getting out despite knowing that SWK was right next to him in bird form the entire time, I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that he probably thinks it’s his fault. So… do you think it’s possible he sees himself as a murderer? Or, like, murderer adjacent? And if he does, how much more layered and messed up do you think that’d make the potential ‘Wukong reveals he killed Macaque’ moment?

Sorry for the long ask, the monkey show has changed me for better and worse. I will never be the same. *reclines on my lawn chair, gazing out over the precipice of madness with a thousand yard stare*

One: never apologize for a long ask, especially when it has so much good stuff in it! Two: I KNOW RIGHT. The monkey show really does change you for the better or for the worst. I'm still reeling from s4 and it's been 4 months, and then the s4 special came in and permanently altered my brain chemistry once again. I have a house next to this abyss.

ANYWAYS.

The back and forth of MK's character is one of my favorite things about lmk (of which I have many)! He takes 2 steps forward and then 4 steps back, and I think that's a testament to what getting better can look like—it's not linear. Sometimes, it's not even moving forward, and that's hard.

I think a great example of this "2 steps forward and then 4 steps back" phenomenon is MK's growth in Revenge of the Spider Queen:

MK starts believing in himself, smiling at that face in the mirror. It's not a strong belief, not yet, but it's a start. You can even see him making this attempt to improve in 2x01:

(this got a little long so everything else under the cut!)

MK: "Ah! Ugh, come on MK you can do this! Self-confidence! That's Monkey King 101!"

"Wait! I am worthy! Definitely worthy!" I'm Monkie Kid! Basically the new Monkey King—might have heard of me? You know, the next chapter? I'm totally worthy!"

(2x01 Sleep Bug)

MK's even trying to mimic Monkey King here, the person he thinks he should be:

But then, as you've mentioned, LBD and 2x05 comes along.

And it's funny, because now we know MK did become more like Monkey King, just like he wanted, but it's in all the wrong ways.

((Kind of a side note: We also know that Monkey King couldn't have "picked the wrong successor", because there honestly wasn't another option for a successor to begin with. MK grappling with like, 3 levels of Wukong lies is what makes s2 so delicious to watch))

And then we have 2x06, and THEN 2x07, and I'm sure that's exactly why Macaque stepped in! He saw MK going down the same path Wukong did. The drive to become stronger, pushing his friends away—Macaque in Shadow Play knows exactly what he's talking about:

Macaque: "Well, with ol' Monkey King not around I thought someone should teach you a lesson! Ah MK, you really are dense, aren’t you. Haha, you saw a story about a hero who got handed everything, who didn’t have to work for anything, and you thought you were the other guy? The second the hero got real power, he couldn’t care less about his friends. That’s you bud." (2x07 Shadow Play)

("Everything I did was for us!" "You did it for yourself!" *head in my hands .png*)

Wukong leaves. That's what he does, and that's what he did to MK in both Revenge of the Spider Queen (leaving MK to fight Spider Queen and her mech alone) and 2x01.

And honestly, MK in s2 is simply doing his best to pick up the pieces, to be Monkie Kid alone, without SWK or even his friends. But it doesn't really work—hiding LBD's return from his friends didn't save them in 2x10, and it didn't stop the Lady Bone Demon, just like Wukong hiding LBD's return from MK didn't protect MK from any of it.

This pattern, of walking in Wukong's footsteps and making the same mistakes, keeps repeating itself.

MK's 2x08 parallel to Wukong in 3x10 is another good example of that.

MK's terrifying of hurting the people he cares about, so he leaves. He runs off, and this only hurts his friends further. ("Can't you see you're hurting the people who care about you the most?" and "I can’t risk hurting the people I care about—the one’s I have left.".)

And so, tying this all back to the s4 special, we're starting to see MK take 2 steps forward again:

MK: "You ever wish things will just stay like this, like they are right now?" Sun Wukong: "Pssshhkk, where's the fun in that?" Tang: "Uh um, Monkey King, we need to have a serious conversation about your idea of fun."

Mei: "At least we fixed something for a change, instead of destroying it!" MK: "Yeah! So long as we leave the world in better shape than we found it, then it's all good right?"

(4x14 Better Than We Found It)

And I'm waiting for the eventual 4 steps back.

Because well..."At least we fixed something for a change, instead of destroying it"...it's not that they didn't fix anything, but plenty was broken:

Flower fruit mountain was destroyed. Azure died. Whoever orchestrated all of this is still out there.

So, MK's current answer to "doing what you think is right" leading "to pain" might just not hold up. Because well, MK can try, that's for sure, but all that effort might still not make it a net positive, you know?

I think MK will blame himself for Azure's death, for SURE tough. He might have residual guilt about Spider Queen and everyone else harmed along the way, but Azure is the one I'm certain on. MK feeling like he's a "murder adjacent" and that compounding with the "Wukong Murdered Macaque" reveal and being "just like Wukong"...OH BABY. IT'S ALL COMING TOGETHER.

Like,

MK: "I just- I just want to be me. To be MK!" Curse MK: "Yeah well...we all know exactly where that leads." LBD Voice Over: "To pain."

(4x07 Pitiful Creatures)

Identity and destiny are very much intertwined in this show, and MK doing what he thinks is right and being himself leads to pain. That's exactly what happened to Azure—he took the Jade Emperor's throne to try and make the world a better place, but all he managed to do was barely fix what he himself had broken.

MK: "Yeah well...I'm kinda always the one getting the world in trouble to begin with so..."

(4x01 Familiar Tales)

All it's going to take is one antagonist speech towards MK that hits a little too close to home, and everything else is going to come crashing down.

I am very much getting geared up for my s5 lego tragedy, thank you very much!

#legitimately SO ill over it #Like MK is going to go full harbinger of chaos. I don't see any other way this will shake down #*sobbing* IT'S ALWAYS TO PAIN #MK tries SO hard to have positive character development but he always gets struck down #this is probably my favorite ask ever thank you anon #it seems like you enjoyed the monkey show. I'm glad we're all enjoyin' it #brb I am gonna go and rewatch 2x08 because I can #one of my favorite episodes #Like. Sandy accidentally destroying the bear mountain DRIVES ME INSANE. INSANE. HOW COULD THEY DO THAT TO ME.#Like Sandy's answer to ''to pain'' was very similar to MK's. He was choosing not to fight so he couldn't hurt anyone #But that didn't work out!#And this is imp's continuing adventures of going insane over Sandy and MK parallels #''I AM a monster! That's what the world wants me to be—so that's what I'm gonna give 'em!''#Okay jan #Thanks #This will have no implications down the line #lmk meta #lmk #lego monkie kid #monkie kid #asks #lmk MK

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molsno · 9 months

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speaking of on earth we're briefly gorgeous, I think one of the moments that stuck out to me the most was the scene where little dog is with his mom at the nail salon, and she's working on a customer who's in hysterics about the death of her little girl, and his mom keeps offering her condolences until she realizes the customer is talking about a horse. and then after the customer leaves, she shouts "a fucking horse! I was ready to go to her daughter's grave with flowers!" it's a very funny moment, a moment of joy and laughter amidst all of the trauma this family has had to endure. the thought of having enough money to own a horse and mourn its death like it was one of their children is such a ridiculous and unthinkable concept to this impoverished family that they can't help but laugh together.

#txt #on earth we're briefly gorgeous #I've had plenty of similar moments with my family as well so it really struck a chord with me

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heartvisor · 2 months

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the first boonboom was nice. i liked it a lot! (overly longwinded discussion and spoilers below)

it's only the first episode, so this may be a bit much, but i think this episode was more thought out about women's genuine regard for and autonomy in marriage than like, any other season i've seen so far (not that that's an especially high bar, considering genre convention).

my positive impression on this is significantly informed by my personal sentimentality for similar subjects so maybe take my commentary with a grain of salt, but it really did speak to me! the episode and the characters operate alongside the energy generally expected for women (not that i think the archetype of the "cheerful bright pink" is bad in and of itself--but the expectation feels like a constraint at times) and it is a simple narrative, but that there is such a deliberate, forefronted space made for mira's discomfort and personal feelings was a very pleasant surprise!

it isn't that she didn't like her boyfriend exactly, nor that she hates the idea of marriage (not to say that disliking marriage or her boyfriend would be bad, to be clear)--she in fact treasures her grandmother's gown, but that these important matters are as of a course decided separately by the men in her life is terrible.

becoming a bride is often set forth by shows like these as an obvious aspiration for young girls, almost in the same breath to the idea that a becoming a super hero is such an obvious aspiration for young boys. these are a part of the presumptions of gender that the genre often takes as a given, but they are thoroughly false. marriage is a life choice, and a very personal matter--it should be a culmination of your own will to get married and conduct your life as you like.

you would definitely be upset to be pushed into a loveless marriage without a choice, but similarly, it would also be really upsetting to be suddenly carted off to the airport by your partner without being consulted before at all. contrary to any expectation from the world that says otherwise, you should be allowed to feel that way! and furthermore, to be able to act against it!

i like marriage episodes as a concept (i like pretty dresses and flowers and explorations of love), but their deployment often dips into some very disheartening reinforcements of misogyny and heteronormativity. that it was executed here very knowingly to articulate a reckoning with those things, it feels very clever! as well as a comfort.