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reviewinghiccup · 1 year

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RIDERS OF BERK | HTTYD SERIES | BREAKING DOWN HICCUP

Blog Post Series : Breaking Down Hiccup

Title : In Dragons we Trust | Alvin and the Outcasts

Ep/Season : Episode 5 & 6, Season 1 (Riders of Berk)

Premise(s) :

Mildew sets out get rid of the dragons. As usual. Alvin the Treacherous, a long term enemy of Berk has now ceased the opportunity to appear and kidnap the dragon conqueror for himself, much to his surprise.

THE OPENING SCENE

The opening sequence of Episode 5 is cathartic. When Hiccup free falls, there is such freedom and release. He glides in the air with such ease. The artistic direction of the show is refined. Hiccup is the bravest in the sky, and ironically, somewhat uncomfortable on land. He is himself with Toothless, or in a better way put - more himself. But without Toothless, he is always placed in a position of finding himself.

Episode 5 and 6 is exactly that. We know that Mildew’s scheme to get rid of the dragons succeeds at the end of Episode 5. And Hiccup is now looking for an opportunity to get Toothless back and bring him home. The struggle now begins as Hiccup has to find his strength in the absence of his best friend.

CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT

HICCUP HORRENDOUS HADDOCK III

At the start of Episode 5, we are made aware of the dynamic of Hiccup in the village. There is now no disputing that he is Stoic’s heir. I’d like to think that the village was worried having Hiccup as chief initially. He’s scrawny, tiny, couldn’t/wouldn’t kill a dragon. He didn’t fit the Viking mould. Even Stoic was concerned. But after the battle with the Red Death, no one can fault Hiccup’s stubbornness and bravery. His courage was unmatched. His compassion greater than the scale of his measure and his understanding even larger.

So, when we go into Riders of Berk, Hiccup is undisputedly next in line. This is reflected in what Stoic tells Hiccup in Episode 5 “all eyes are upon you son, whatever those beast do reflects on you AND whatever you do reflects on ME.”

RELATIONSHIP DYNAMIC

FATHER-SON & CHIEF

Hiccup is trying to prove himself. And while Stoic has done better after the events of the 1st movie, in terms of parenting, he still struggles to divide his position as chief and his role as father. This context is often a topic when we follow a storyline involving royalties and their heirs.

Stoic doesn’t want to disappoint his son, but he must also protect his village, which is allegedly being ruined by something his son loves the most and believes are innocent.

The question of trust is still a running theme between father and son.

And the notion of whether Hiccup is a worthy leader hangs lightly in the air.

The living situation between dragons and Vikings is still precarious.

HICCUP X ASTRID

I can’t not talk about them. When Hiccup was contemplating the series of unfortunate events, he starts to believe that Mildew set everything up. After they leave the dragons on Dragon Island, Astrid, sad and upset looks for him. I notice that the two of them, in the earlier days of friendship, often sought each other for support (as they will continue to do into their relationship).

At the same time, Hiccup confides in Astrid the possibility of Mildew’s treason. She has always been his voice of reason. A great listener. She doesn’t nudge him towards the impulsive but is wise in her counsel, letting him make his own decisions, but reminding him to calculate them. We know they grew up together, but the grew together as well, if you get what I’m saying.

This reminds of the final movie, when Gobber pesters Astrid to marry him. It is because he knows that Astrid makes Hiccup better. Even Valka acknowledges that he listens to her. There will always be a Hiccup and Astrid.

HICCUP V ALVIN THE TREACHEROUS

Alvin the Treacherous (voiced by Mark Hamill might I add 🙌🏼) is Hiccup’s first enemy. I get that Mildew might be considered the first, but he wasn’t a real threat to Berk (yet).

Something Hiccup proves very well, is that he is brave. He isn’t stupidly audacious, like Snotlout, who when push comes to shove might run away from the challenge (though arguably Snotlout gets better towards the end).

He is also very clever. He chooses his battles and uses psychology to outwit his enemies, instead of brute strength, which most of them would have more than him anyways.

HEROIC STORY LINES

UNDERRATED ROMANTIC | CHIVALRY AIN’T DEAD

Hiccup heroically shows up just when Astrid needs him. I love these little touches. Hiccup continues to prove himself to be nothing like “Stoic’s little embarrassment.”

Hiccup tries to trick Alvin. Astrid catches on quickly (proving their inward connection) and plays along w his plan. We know that this rouse may not fly if it was put against the twins or Snotlout, who may not get the idea immediately and Fishlegs would be too nervous to act it out well.

HICCUP’S BRAVERY

Was it stupid to let Alvin take him hostage? Yes, but Hiccup was unafraid. And didn’t even flinch while captive. He grows a lot in these two episodes. I love that his size holds no comparison to his courage.

BATTLE STRATEGY IMPROVES

While Alvin will prove to be a lesser evil than the demons that will soon chase him in later seasons, Hiccup and the way he manoeuvres Toothless on the battle field will improve and match up w the evil at hand. The turns he makes when battling Alvin is a little clumsy and out of touch, but this will change as he practices and progresses in the story. I like that they made it look that way, as opposed to Hiccup just naturally knowing how to fight w Toothless by his side. I appreciate the growth they’re trying to lay out here.

Likewise, the way the riders work as a team will also progress. The other’s seemingly irrelevant rattlings will prove useful, and Hiccup will learn to be a leader, team player and friend to them and they to him.

CONCLUSION

I loved how Stoic faced off Alvin. Punishing him for taking Hiccup. Which shows off his tenacity, strength and love for his son.

I like how though Mildew wasn’t outed, he didn’t need to be. It’s like a lesson in “things don��t always work out the way you want it to and justice isn’t always served independent of evidence". But when you do the right thing, things will workout, and that’s exactly what happened.

I love that at the end of the episodes, the village cheered on the dragon riders sparking on a desire to let them stay and tolerate a free roaming dragon city.

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chamoemileclown · 5 months

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Since Sunny is the only egg out of the new batch with four parents that means they probably would’ve been Maximus’ kid if he survived. They would’ve had matching sunglasses and he’d have another chance as a parent if he had just made if back to to island. If he lived another two days he would’ve had another chance.

#q!maximus’ storyline is so tragic man i miss him sm #qsmp #qsmp discussion #qsmp lore #qsmp spoilers #maximus #qsmp maxo #qsmp maximus #qsmp sunny

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wenellyb · 6 days

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Buck and Tommy just got together and there are already hundreds and hundreds of posts in the 911 tags talking about how Buck and Tommy's "break up" will happen.

And it's fine, people are allowed to share their theories, I share mine as well, but I can't help but wonder what's the angle here?

From what I've seen, most people are sure Buck and Tommy are temporary because they're sure "Buddie is Endgame"? But how would they know?

As far as we know Buck and Eddie are best friends and there hasn't been any indication that the writers are planning for them to have à romantic relation in season 7. Reading interviews with shipping goggles on isn't canon, it's fan theory.

If they had planned it, they would have put some "seeds", some small hints here and there when Buck and Tommy got together, showing that Buck and Eddie's relationship is not meant to be seen platonic, like Buck being unsure about Tommy or Eddie being supportive but a little jealous.

But they haven't, all we've seen right now is Buck being head over heels for Tommy, telling his sister what he likes about him and telling Eddie how he can't stop thinking about Tommy. Buck has such a massive crush on Tommy he invited him to his sister's wedding.

Buck's coming out scene to Eddie was so beautiful and emotional, but there was no hint of Eddie being jealous or him having romantic feelings for Buck. We even got the sweetest and most platonic hug ever.

Where exactly are we supposed to get the message that Buck is harboring a secret crush for his best friend? Or are we supposed to imagine that he'll magically develop romantic feelings in the middle of the season?

I don't understand where the "Tommy is a placeholder for Eddie" theories are coming from???

Buck hurt Eddie to get Tommy's attention, his words not mine. How are the writers going to go from that and make us believe that he was in reality in love with Eddie? How would that go?

I have nothing against Buddie, I even like the idea of them, but at the end of the day, I believe what I see on screen. Fan theories are just theories.

I'm sorry but to me, Buck is all about Tommy.

As someone who has seen my fair share of TV shows, I'm wondering why anyone would think that that's the direction the screenwriters are going.

#it is possible that the writers are trying to set up a Buddie storyline but they wouldn't have done it like this #bucktommy #evan buckley #tommy kinard #eddie diaz #911 spoilers #also actors don't write the shows so people thinking anything said in these interviews will give us information about future plotq.#...I don't know what to tell you #I'm open to discussion as always... I love analyzing shows and characters and hearing other people's opinion

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definitionofacritter · 6 months

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I just know that this is going to be a situation where Matthew has to post about boundaries/trust/etc because the fandom is going to be so at war over Taliesin's actions. Oh boy.

#cr spoilers #critical role #taliesin jaffe #ashton greymoore #matthew mercer #cr discourse #for the record i respect taliesin's decision #ashley said she/fearne did not want and even FEARED the shard. she and taliesin discussed it. this was a decision they made together.#it was incredibly in-character for ashton. it was also a situation where taliesin was expected to kinda shift his character away from it.#but he didn't and that was his choice and in the end resulted in what will be an INCREDIBLY interesting storyline for ashton.#i have never respected a decision so much while also wanting to put someone in time-out

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alaynestone · 1 year

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SLIPPERY SLOPE, BROTHER. JUST WAIT AND SEE.

#spnedit #samedit #samrubyedit #sam x ruby #debunking the myth that sam was mainly concerned with saving victims of possession in s4 #i really hate how often this storyline gets flattened in either direction because it's one of my favorites #and this is mainly a fandom thing though the show does skirt around some issues #like how sam's obsession with killing lilith necessarily implies also killing the child she is possessing #there's a general unwillingness to discuss a lot of the implications here #the goal was killing demons not the exorcisms. instead of reciting it when he fails to do it with his mind he lets ruby kill the guy #even ruby is impressed with how much this boy can lie to himself #supernatural #the boy with the demon blood #you had it in you the whole time dumbo #s4 #*

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lovecolibri · 7 days

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I feel like oliver is doing this to lead us on bc they won't do buddie anymore bc they replaced it with a cheap version and Ryan doesn't want to be gay on TV and what the fuck am I supposed to do with this info???? How do we take revenge on fox

Okay. Here's the thing. I don't have ANY room for negatively because I'm too busy celebrating being fucking RIGHT. And so normally I would ignore this or try to placate but the thing we are NOT going to do, is put words in Ryan's, namer of the Buddie ship, mouth. I believe he's already played a gay character before in a movie or something? And with Oliver out here flat out saying FOX shut down a storyline "a couple years ago" which is around the shooting that was filmed in Lovers Framing and so romantically coded?? Yeah, I refuse to let people spread misinformation and try and lay this at Ryan's feet when we all Been Knew it was a FOX call.

Also, they literally set Tommy up just like every other LI Buck has had! He falls into something unexpectedly, he makes a mistake off the bat, ye doubles down because his childhood trauma kicks in and he panics about being left. 🤷🏻‍♀️ Tommy is sweet, and might be here for a few more episodes, and might even stick around in some capacity if the audience likes him (Josh as a character eternally looking for love would be an easy way for the show to keep Lou on and accessible if needed), but there is NO WAY Oliver "I'm always careful what I say because I know people will read into it and I don't want to be accused of baiting" is just stringing people along.

I'm absolutely not saying you need to fully board the clown car, I totally get needing to manage your expectations for your own mental health and wellbeing. But in managing your expectations, don't go so far that you suck ALL the joy out of the information out there by catastrophizing worst-case scenarios in order to feel miserable instead of excited. You gotta find some middle ground in there.

#my sweet nonnie friends #911 #buddie #oliver stark #WHY ARE YOU ALL BEING SO WEIRD ABOUT RYAN?!?!#all lou said was the storyline needed to shift and they had to ask oliver if HE was willing to do something not previously discussed #and he was! because he was gonna fucking do it anyway #please please please learn SOME reading comprehension #NO WHERE did lou say ryan WASN'T willing he simply said oliver had to be asked first and was on board #i'm trying so hard not to have this be one of the toxic positivity condescension posts #because anything can always happen nothing is set in stone and managing expectations is important #especially if you have emotional regulation issues (i would know)#but good god leave ryan alone for real #and take the win that we have been right all along and FOX was the problem

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stick-ball · 6 months

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Hi! I'm about to end my whole career!

Here goes the Riko rant that dear @capcavan asked, demanded and begged for.

You know, I get it.

So here's the thing. I get it, Riko sucks. He is the bad guy we all got hung upon. Why? Because he is a rival for our protagonist. He is an angsty, young guy, born into wealth that came from money laundering and human trafficking. It's despicable, the Ravens are bullies and he himself makes lots of bad things happen. Yeah sure, I get that, whatever.

Being raised as a superstar must've been really, really difficult for you.

But I want to really dig deeper right now, this is a Riko rant after all, and you need to really know your fighters. So, to start: a huge trap in toxic families is that the children, even when grown up, will refuse to identify their parents and guardians as negative and toxic people. Not even outside influence can really sway them, usually. Kids that get away from a sinister situation can later tell they were abused, that it wasn't right, but still, they don't get the specifics of what and why, and they are doomed to repeat the same abuse and call it good. Call it right. And sometimes that's substance abuse, sometimes thats domestic abuse, sometimes that's racism and sexism and xenophobia they will grow into believing as the way the world works. Sometimes, thats nepotism and sadism. Only thing that can help is therapy and an environment removed from the control of the original abuse, lots of therapy, lots of space, years of it. A perfect case of a typical toxic family is Aaron.

A perfect case of that could also be Riko.

And here you can call bullshit because Neil had such a fucked up, abusive father and he *knew* it was wrong. Yes, he knew it was wrong for his father to hurt him to the measure he went. Why? Because his mother protected him, because his mother feared his father, not adored him. Because his mother took him away and kept running. A mother, a role model a child feels very strongly about, subconsciously.

Riko was taken from his mother. He was pushed aside by his father and left in the care of a family member, who was easy to glorify for an impressionable child. Because he was a legend. In fanon I often see Tetsuji's character taking a very background role in everything, and sure, he seems pretty background to Neil, because every bad guy seems background to Neil in comparison to his Father - besides Riko, who is the one dangling that threat in front of him. Tetsuji just wants his property back, Riko is playing with fire though. So yeah to us, reading the story, Tetsuji is a total asshole among many such men in the book.

But to Riko he must've meant almost everything for a long time. A crucial thing about Tetsuji is, he is a sadist. Oh sure, sorry, it's only called sadism when done against his team, right? Against Jean or Kevin or Neil? When it comes to Riko, who was in his care for all of his formative years, it was just strict childbearing right? He is a Moriyama after all, so he is evil from birth.

Yeah, I must've mixed something up about Riko being beaten to unconsciousness several times being mentioned in extra content. You think that was a one, two, third times the charm occurance?

Always a commodity, never a human being, not a single person in your family thinking you’re worth a damn off the court— yeah, sounds rough.

I always wondered how sarcastic Neil was saying this. I mean, he definitely meant to land a punch where it would hurt. And he actually knew Riko as a little kid, so he knew more than most.

Stockholm syndrome is very common among victims of childhood abuse. I would know, anyway. It's like the most logical option - the survivior is living in a dual reality. These people are my family, the care for me. They provide for me. They want me to be the best. They also abuse me. They hurt me, but it's for the best. Hurting me is a expression of love. I am grateful to them.

I often wonder how many people who read the books know what a commodity is. A commodity, in the most basic terms, is a basic good that can be used in ccommerce to interchange with goods of the same type. A commodity is not a king, or a queen, or a bishop or a knight, or even a rook. It's a fucking pawn. It's cannon fodder.

Riko is worthless to his family. Riko is just a tool to Tetsuji to generate profit. Riko wants to be worthy to his family. Riko most likely loves his uncle and is ready to do the most insane thing if only it gives him the one thing he desires, which is being seen as worthy by his family.

Kevin and I talk about your intricate and endless daddy issues all the time.

Then there's grooming. Grooming is more obvious when it's done by a stranger who sees the child randomly or in some intervals of time. It's much harder to resist when it's constant. To Riko, Tetsuji is a good person, he is a hero, he is his family, he cares for him, they have a common goal. Riko wants to be what Tetsuji wants him to be. There is a price to pay for it, of course. There is a price for everything. But the price doesn't matter. Riko wants to pay the price he has to pay, to be what Tetsuji wants him to be.

And the thing is, do you think Riko learned how to use his money and crime connections to control others? How to gain power through fear and pain? You think spending his whole life locked in a fucking stadium he taught it to himself how to break people in body and spirit? That torturing them was his special interest? Or maybe are you forgetting that amongst valid responces to trauma, besides fight, flight and freeze there is also fawn? Don't you think it's much more likely, being groomed and enamoured with his captor (bcs thats what Tetsuji is to me, their captor) he impersonated him to the best of his ability? That he learned every leaf in the book from him, because he was his only connection to the family, to his father, to his brother. He was a legend, the creator of exy. Wasn't he always trying to be worthy of him? To be good enough to be loved and wanted? To be great full enough?

I am not saying this absolves him of any of the things he did, but people do insane things under lesser influence, things they would never do otherwise. And I am not talking of people groomed from early childhood, I'm talking of sane adults, being dragged into dangerous and destructive ideologies.

I know it’s not entirely your fault that you are mentally unbalanced and infected with these delusions of grandeur, and I know you’re physically incapable of holding a decent conversation with anyone like every other normal human being can, but I don’t think any of us should have to put up with this much of your bullshit.

Because it isn't, is it? The things HE does ARE his fault, definately. But the reason why? That is not that easy to pinpoint. And Riko is so unstable it hurts. He is so far removed from real life he is completely incapable of conversation. He is a child brought up in a grave, but...

Pity only gets you so many concessions, and you used yours up about six insults ago.

To me Riko is besides all other things, wasted potential. All the things he dreamed of? He could have had them. He was talented, he was determined and had a lot of courage, but all of that was utterly wasted in the violence and malice he was soaked in. In all the violence and malice he created in return.

So please, please, just shut the fuck up and leave us alone.

The most interesting thing about All for the game though is, that in every other book Riko dying would've been the big bad wolf being defeated. But here, that's just a bleep on the radar. Because Riko was a product, not the producer. What I love about All for the game is it shows none of the madness and evil in life started or ended with me or you, with Riko or Neil. Not even with Keylight or Tetsuji. Fuck it did not even end with Nathan dying. It all ends how it begun. With a deal with the devil made in the back of a car, bought with blood money.

#i said what i said and you can cry about it #no vacuum storylines here thank you good-night l #this one is gonna make me so popular with enemies of the state i can feel it #riko moriyama #riko moriyama headcanon #aftg #all for the game #tfc #the foxhole court #aftg headcanon #aftg rant #trauma discussion

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kagrenacs · 6 months

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I don't have perfectly coherent thoughts about this at the moment, but I feel these panels really encapsulate that period of after transitioning where everything has changed and you have nowhere really to go, either through loss of relationships or that 'now what?' feeling of achieving the one goal you've put in a lot of effort to achieve.

#kill six billion demons #ksbd spoilers #ksbd is still a (presumably) cis person writing a trans storyline and it shows in some parts #But overall it's pretty decent and I'm glad this aspect of being trans is discussed #Not just an instant transition where everyone accepts you despite earlier beliefs #**MOSTLY. she did kinda instantly transition

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the-thirteenth-prime · 1 year

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A slightly unhinged ramble-rant on Chairman Rose and how people are missing the entire point of SWSH.

Like, I keep seeing it pop up--like a fucking rank smell you only detect if you’re in a certain place when the wind is blowing in the certain direction--but man does it not bewilder me. Like, these guys who post tags like ‘Chairman Rose is a bad guy but is not a BAD guy’ or ‘I kind of agreed with Chairman Rose’ are just. Are you high?? Did you entirely miss the point of his character?? Did you completely miss the main plot of SWSH?

I’m going to be talking about some heavy shit (including non-sexual child grooming and non-sexual child predation), so I’m gonna put the rest under a read more, let me just say that the theme of SWSH is the relationship between adults and children on their Pokemon journeys, the responsibilities adults have towards children, and what happens when that relationship is abused.

First off, before I get some know-it-all coming at me about how there’s no evidence that Rose is a child predator or a groomer, let me just say there is. Is he a Chris Hansen ‘take a seat for me’ groomer?? No, he’s not, because child grooming is not purely a sexual thing.

Per a very informative article:

“Grooming can be sexual, romantic, financial or for criminal or terrorism purposes, and can target both children and adults. The common aspect is that a perpetrator manipulates a victim by building trust and rapport. The key to grooming is a power dynamic within the relationship: age, gender, physical strength, economic status or another factor.”

Now, with that out of the way, I’m not going to go into shit that’s super obvious to anyone with eyes, but Rose is a serial child groomer. Like, his most obvious victim is Leon, and it’s really wild that people can’t see it?? Like, Leon obviously comes from a fucked-up home situation with a mother who’s absent and neglectful at best (and the people who don’t seem to realize this REALLY confuse me). Like, he has canonically raised his little brother in a house with three adults that could have done the job for him, and the anime literally stated that he was so busy raising Hop and taking care of household chores that he could barely interact with other kids. He was endorsed by Chairman Rose at an age that is implied to be at least two years younger than the average Gym Challenger, and--per the sub of the PokeAni--Rose literally raised him from the moment he became Champion.

(Where was Leon and Hop’s mother during this, you ask? Obviously being terrible at home, since despite Leon being run ragged for all of his life and rarely being home, he still somehow raised his little brother. Let that sink in.)

So Leon has spent his entire life being moulded into Rose’s delusion of the Hero of Galar for the sole purpose of sacrificing himself to defeat Eternatus to stave off an energy crisis that will happen in a millennium and probably would be averted with solar power. THE SUB IN THE POKEANI LITEARLLY HAS ROSE TELLING LEON THAT HE HAS GROOMED HIM FOR THE EXACT PURPOSE OF TAMING ETERNATUS. I’M NOT MAKING THIS UP. I WILL PROVIDE SCREENSHOTS IF ASKED.

Does he know Leon may likely fucking die in the attempt? He sure does, because he’s already started to work on grooming Leon’s replacements! In the game, Bede is a trainer who came from a neglectful home situation who was noticed by the Chairman and given his endorsement for the Gym Challenge wait hold on that sounds really familiar.

Really, REALLY familiar.

Rose’s ploy with taking away Bede’s gym challenger endorsement after Bede literally did what he asked him to was a clear manipulation tactic, and if it hadn’t been for Opal intervening (and she ABSOLUTELY has Rose’s number and you can’t convince me otherwise), the tactic likely would have worked, because Bede would have done anything to get his endorsement back.

(Also Oleana is absolutely the fall girl set up to look like an obstructive villain while Rose can maintain his veneer of innocence. That’s a topic for another day tho.)

AND THEN. in the anime, he flat out tries to do this with Ash. AND IN THE GAME, HE TRIES TO DO THIS WITH THE MC, LIKE BEDE IS HIS PLAN B AND THE PC IS HIS PLAN C. However, the only child Rose has regular chances to interact with who DOES NOT get the manipulation treatment is Hop. Correct me if I’m wrong, but the Chairman always tries to pull shit with you when Hop isn’t around, and the two times he DOES interact with Hop are at the very end of the game where Leon’s been forced into trying to stop the apocalypse and after the Opening Ceremony.

What’s different about the Opening Ceremony, though? LEON IS STANDING RIGHT OVER ROSE’S SHOULDER SMILING STEPFORDLY. Which brings me to my next point: why Rose pulls his end game bullshit.

Leon is now in his early 20s, so he has obviously started to ask for his own agency and say no to things. He has also obviously realized that he does NOT want Rose around his brother, which is why he is fucking looming over Rose’s shoulder when he meets Hop and why Rose almost seems to deliberately avoid Hop for the rest of the game. Rose knows that if he so much as messes with Hop, Leon is going to absolutely turn on him, and he’s already become obstinate enough to be a problem. Rose is losing control of Leon, which is why he’s grooming his potential replacements.

It’s also why Rose LITERALLY HOLDS LEON HOSTAGE IN A TOWER. Like, I am amazed that people haven’t seemed to realize that Hop and the MC were ABSOLUTELY rescuing Leon from a hostage situation. Leon had been on top of the tower with Rose for HOURS at that point, and given Oleana’s personal fucking army and how much Leon clearly did not want to be up there, it’s obvious that there wasn’t a way he could easily extricate himself from the situation. What you do hear from his meeting with Rose sounds a lot like a guy trying to say no while also trying to de-escalate a volatile situation: almost like a victim to their abuser oh wait.

(Oleana also says that the reason she wants to defeat you and Hop is to break Leon’s spirit so he won’t have the strength to say no to the Chairman anymore. Like, that’s literally in game. It’s dialogue.)

So yeah. You’re rescuing a prince from a tower who’s being held hostage by an evil king trying to use the prince’s special power for nefarious purposes. This game is full of fairy tale metaphors. Like, a ton.

When you and Hop show up, you basically force Rose to let Leon go so as to not look like a complete fucking monster or cause a scandal, and Leon basically very politely tells Rose to ‘fuck off’ when he leaves.

So Rose--this narcissistic, megalomaniacal child groomer, who’s basically been shut down by the lynch pin of his plan--does the absolute most rational thing and RELEASES THE APOCALYPSE DEMON OUT OF SPITE. He literally says on a screen in front of Galar that oh no, his releasing Eternatus and causing the Second Darkest Day is actually all LEON’S fault for being so unreasonable and unrealistic. It’s manipulation. It’s emotional abuse. It’s Rose punishing his victim for saying no. It’s Rose throwing a tantrum because Leon told him to wait another week before doing something about something that would happen in a millennium.

Bede made a fool of Rose doing exactly what Rose and Oleana wanted him to do, so he punished him. Leon said no, so he punished him, and punished all of Galar while he was at it. He’s not doing shit for the good of Galar. He’s doing it for himself.

See, the game’s story exists to debate the relationship between adults and children in the Pokemon world. For generation after generation of games, children as young as ten have gone out in the big wide world with nothing but their starter and a Pokedex, and the adults they have met have never had any poor intentions towards them specifically. Yes, there’s all the evil teams and blah blah blah, but they weren’t targeting you, the child MC. You were just caught up in their messes. SWSH is the first game to show that no, there are adults who will try to take advantage of you because you are a child, and there are good adults who will try to protect you.

Opal protects Bede. Leon protects you and Hop. Leon has obviously gotten old enough to realize that what Rose did to him was wrong, and he tries so fucking hard through the whole game to protect you and his little brother from his boss’s machinations and all the bad shit happening in the world. I know people bitch about being ‘railroaded’ and not allowed to participate in the ‘plot’ until the end, but that’s the point. The good adults are trying to protect the children from the bad adults trying to harm them, and the children intervene only when the adults die trying to save them. Children should be allowed to adventures and have fun, but they should also be protected and shielded from shit that can harm them and shit they’re not old enough to understand, and this game--for better or for worse--is trying to strike that balance.

One last, very important thing. Leon’s life had been micromanaged and controlled from the moment he became Champion by Chairman Rose. He had to become all things to Galar--its fucking policeman, it’s regional hero, it’s unbeatable symbol of perfection, it’s hero, and--almost--its messiah--and when the MC becomes a Champion? He doesn’t hesitate to become Chairman, and he tells you--the new Champion--that your job is to explore and have fun. He doesn’t ask you to do sponsorship deals. He lets you do matches and tournaments at your own leisure. He calls you politely to ask if you want to do the Galarian Star Tournament. He doesn’t even know your PHONE NUMBER and I think about that a lot.

The game is about the responsibilities adults have towards children. It’s about how you don’t have to be the main character to be the hero. It’s about how you can’t and shouldn’t do everything alone. It’s about how child predation and abuse don’t have to be obvious or ‘traditional’ to be real and a threat. Finally, as Leon demonstrates so poignantly, it’s about breaking the cycle of abuse.

And THAT’S why SWSH is one of the best stories--if not THE best--that the Pokegames have ever told, regardless of its faults and the National Dex and a berry tree looking a little weird.

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heartbreakprincewille · 8 months

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Okay, I was just thinking about a legal justice plotline in S3(meaning Wilhelm and Simon essentially having legal proceedings against August) and I don't think that we will get this in S3 at all but it's really really interesting to think about nevertheless.

Because usually in queer stories, coming out solves all the problems like a magical, fix-it-all solution and the mains live happily ever after. But YR heavily leans on realism and even if the S2 ending is an ambiguous but fitting ending for a queer show (sort of a coming out montage), it does not work for this show.

It has been repeatedly said by the cast and crew that Wilhelm's problem is not being queer, it's being a prince. The systemic traditions weighing on a person who can't even grieve his own brother without being shoved into empty traditions and a PR machiavelli. A person who cannot even fall in love with another person without a thousand worries crossing his mind in every move. A person who tried to confide in his own cousin but his privacy got shattered in front of the whole world instead. It's not that Wilhelm being queer itself is a problem. Instead the domino effect it would bring to people around him is the problem. And that's why it was such a task for Wilhelm to get his mother on board for the idea of a relationship with Simon- because everyone (and it includes Kristina) will try to enforce the heteronormative narrative again and again on him, pretending like his feelings don't matter because in the end, it's easier for them. It's easier for them to live in their centuries-old metaphorical gilded cages and try to enforce the traditions on the royal family itself because the monarchists and the rich (old AND new) thrive under the "stability" the monarchy provides to their social stature and their bulging pockets. Even August's motivations towards the crown are two-fold: he's not only in a constant want of power, but he is also a firm believer in continuing traditions and he directly benefits from the monarchy running as it is. And having the power in his hands will let him ensure that his own estates and rich-people solidarity is never threatened again.

But Wilhelm emerges as an anomaly in the system- he will not tie himself down to hollow traditions. And it threatens everyone's stability, which leads to the denial- and the swirling wave of change calms down. But then Wilhelm starts refusing all the traditions and eventually retracts the denial- and the wave hits all of them like a storm.

And Wilhelm trying to seek justice through the legal machinery is not only very poetic (a prince trying to seek fairness in a democratic system because the monarchy inevitably fails him), but it will also rock the boats of so many people. They will finally get to understand that rich and powerful people also have consequences for their actions and their safety nets can blow away no matter how much money they throw away to keep themselves afloat.

I can understand one argument that August is also young and maybe legal consequences will be a bit extreme for him. But, like, any other common person will be blown apart by the system despite being innocent, why is he any exception? If human lives have equal value, why their actions should be treated differently? I would still like August to have a chance at a realization of the severity of his actions rather than facing legal consequences, but I also do want him to face the legal mechanism or atleast face the fear of having legal consequences for his actions. These two things can co-exist. Simon can easily be torn apart because of the whole dealing thing, and no one would come and save his ass for it. It's the biasness for me.

Overthrowing the monarchy or letting August have a redemption arc is just not possible in a single 6-episode season. It will simply be unnatural to the progression of the story. However, atleast in my head, Wilhelm and Simon seeking justice through a legal system can bring the consequences into action without the added labour of scrapping away a deeply rooted institution or changing the way a person's psyche works.

#young royals #prince wilhelm #simon eriksson #august of årnäs #i don't even know if it's logistically possible and i am not putting it out as a prediction or something at all #it was just swirling in my head and you should just let your mind wander sometimes methinks #they both are minors and Wilhelm being a prince is also a big problem with this #but August's stepdad being a lawyer #Sweden's one of the best lawyers apparently #and Sara filing a police report at the end of s2 #the way Wilhelm raking back the denial will lead to a public reaction and can lead to people discussing about the perpetrator #i just can't stop thinking about a legal storyline ngl #but again this is also very difficult to fit in a 6-episode season tho so yeah

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