Maybe it's a 'study finds water is wet' type of thought, but
considering it's an action movie whose overall plot is "immortal warriors Fuck Shit Up™️", I think it's significant that in The Old Guard the thing that makes Copley pull red strings through his Murder Conspiracy Board and say "[Merrick] doesn't care what [Andy]'s done with [her immortality]" is the people they save, not the ones they kill
Most of the Conspiracy Board is him circling random newspaper headlines and faces on old photographs to (more or less realistically) follow the immortals' treck through the world and big historical events. Which is, in-canon, not much different than putting portraits from different centuries next to a picture of Keanu Reeves and saying "they look the same, clearly Reeves is an immortal!"
But then there are the connections. A little girl holding Joe's hand in WW1 becoming the youngest (and first) woman to be awarded a Nobel Prize for Medicine (suck it, Kozak). Or the grandchild of a family that Andy saved from [something] helping people escape from the Khmer Rouge genocide in Cambodia.
They are warriors. They have fought and been in the midst of countless wars, major or minor, throughout history. They must have killed as many people as they saved... and yet.
It's not them taking out a random warlord or dictator or rabidly hateful politician that has tangible repercussions in history. It's the children and families they get out of war zones, save from accidents, protect from natural disasters. People to whom they give a second chance at life, and grow to change the world (or even just their own world), like a mysterious stranger once changed theirs just by holding out a hand or patching a wound.
I don't know I just think it's particularly neat
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Yukine's journey toward acceptance of the life that was robbed of him, this time with finality, exemplifies the emotional and beautifully rendered arc that has defined his character.
Yukine finally accepting the reality of his death. Yukine stepping out from the fridge that contained memories of what was once his life. Yukine freeing himself from the shackles of his trauma. Yukine running to protect the person who cherished him the most in the world. Yukine standing up to an abusive father. Yukine wholeheartedly apologizing. Yukine's growth, and Yato tearing up as he stretches his little arms to pull him for an embrace.
Yukine's gratitude for what Yato did for him is evident throughout the series. He was given a name more precious than any other. He was treated like a human--an ordinary teenage boy. And life after that was one exciting journey after another. Now, Yukine can no longer be entirely consumed by the horrors of his past because he knows that his reality with Yato is so much brighter. Far brighter.
Yukine could break out from that refrigerator because of the true, sincere, and nurturing love shown by the only father figure in his life. Yato has said multiple times throughout the series that Yukine was his priority above all else, and Yukine was the only person he swore to protect the most. Hell, he even went straight to hug him after Yukine apologized for turning into that form! Yato did not need to summon Yukine. Yukine came to protect Yato on his own decision. As he always did.
The journey to their healing will be painful, and this chapter shows that Yato and Yukine will face it together. No more secrets and no more miscommunications. They will help and be by each other's side as they always have, not only as god and shinki but, this time, as family.
"I will not let him die. Not Yato. No matter what happens... I swear I won't let anyone take him from me!" -Yukine, Noragami Vol. 17 Chapter 67.
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The thing about the final lore tab is that, besides the fact that I'm devastated in ways I can't put into words, the way Saint was affected by this whole thing is unique.
This is obviously primarily Osiris' trauma that we can't really properly comprehend, but Osiris wasn't fully conscious for most of it. It fell to Saint to wait, and hope, that Osiris would be brought back and that he would wake up. There was no certainty for him there. And even before that, he watched "Osiris" being strange and distant and acting weird but obviously nobody could even begin to speculate that the person he interacted with wasn't Osiris at all, so the trauma went from there, from learning that he lost Sagira, then to the shock of Osiris being kidnapped and then the quest to bring him back and then him being brought back in a coma and then the 9 long months of waiting until he woke up.
The state of constant anxiety he experienced for almost 2 years total is nervewracking and gutwrenching. I don't think we can fully understand the impact of that on someone. And the best, or worst, thing is that Saint is infinitely patient. He is infinitely emotional and merciful and opts to be the better person and to wait and wait and wait. And hope that it can be fixed.
Except it can't. It can't be fixed. And not only can it not be fixed, but there will never be justice for it. It's impossible. There isn't a way to truly punish Savathun for what she's done. There is no relief or catharsis for Saint. While Osiris can mostly move on, Osiris did not really have to go through what Saint had to go through. Their traumas are different and Saint's is the type that no one can really understand and there is nothing he can do about it.
A younger Saint would've killed Immaru and then Savathun, 100%. But now he can't, because he isn't that person anymore. And yet, the grief and trauma remain and he has no outlet for them and nothing that can be done to enact any sort of justice. So he settles for pure rage, letting himself essentially vent that anger out, but still leave everyone alive. And there's really no true release here. He got a brief satisfaction of killing Savathun over and over, but at the end of the day, she will walk away and nothing will change and there will be no fix.
Which is why he comes back and just cries. As he said, this wasn't for Osiris, it was for him. It was his outlet for anger and nothing else. After that, there's nothing else left to do but cry. No one can really help him carry the burden of what he's gone through and besides: he's a Titan. He's the one carrying other people's burdens. Which just added to the trauma because for so long he's only cared for others, mostly for Osiris, and never really let himself fully grieve or talk about it. Saint never really processed the horrifying ordeal of constant concern for his loved one, then the realisation that his loved one isn't even with him, then the desperate search and then waiting for months and months for the hope that his loved one might wake up. Then Osiris is awake and we're forced to play allies with the person who traumatised both of them in an incomprehensibly terrifying way. Saint had no other way of attempting to make his peace with the situation.
Year of processing grief. I'm in shambles.
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the mh comics open up such an interesting narrative for our few surviving characters. to them, what happened in the videos was real, but to everyone else its a cool creative web series. when all of that is viewed as fiction, fans have a freedom to speculate about and invade the lives and privacy of real people. and that would be so uncomfortable and terrifying. imagine someone irl having headcanons about YOU. writing fan fiction about you and your real friends. assuming things about you PUBLICLY ! IN MASS!
wouldnt it be so cool to see a character grapple with that in like a self-reflective way? fans asking questions the muse is too afraid to ask themselves. of course, theyre the only person the answer matters to.
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thinking about the possibility of belos ending up in the inbetween realm after being stomped and finally getting what he deserves...
[ ID: A digitally illustrated comic mainly featuring Philip Wittebane from The Owl House. The first panel on the first page is a birds eye view of the inbetween realm, with cubes floating everywhere and a slight disturbance in the water below. The second panel is a close up of that disturbance, which looks to be a whirlpool of some sorts. The third panel follows that, and Philip’s hand is shown forming on the water, with a ““splat” beside it. The fourth panel is a behind view of Philip kneeled over, head to the ground and face obscured. He is in his human form, like how he is seen in Elsewhere and Elsewhen, and is breathing heavily. The fifth panel is still of Philip kneeling, except he has popped up his head and is looking around. He asks, “What is this” but is then promptly cut off by the next panel, which shows a grimwalker hand rising out from the water with a splash. He looks at this with a confused look.
The first panel on the second page is a close up of Philip’s face, a concerned and fearful expression on his face. He blurts out the word “No”. The second panel is spliced into three pieces, and each shows more dead grimwalkers rising from the water. The first shows another hand, the second a fully formed grimwalker with a broken mask crawling towards and reaching out to Philip, and the third yet another hand. The third panel is of Philip trying to back away by crawling while more grimwalker hands shoot up around him. He shouts at them, “G-Get Away!” The fourth panel is a view of Philip crawling back from behind, and a head of a grimwalker can be seen behind him. He yells again, saying, “I said-” but is cut off by the fifth panel where the grimwalker behind him suddenly grabs his arm. The sixth panel is of him looking over his shoulder, surprised. The seventh panel is an above shot of Philip sitting on the water, grinwalkers surrounding him and grabbing each of his limbs. The water swirls below him in a whirlpool motion. He shouts, “Get off me!! Go!!” The eighth panel is a closeup shot of an arm grabbing his shoe and pulling him down, the ninth panel showing the fear in his eyes.
The first panel on the third page is a wide shot of Philip being dragged down under the water, his arm straight up desperately trying to grab something. The water cascades around him, pushing him down even more. The second panel is a closeup of Caleb’s eyes, which are glaring with anger. The third panel is a below view of Philip being dragged down, with Caleb’s hand still tightly grasped around his foot. The fourth panel is a closeup of Philip’s eyes, which are staring in fear. The fifth panel is from Philip’s POV, where Caleb is seen still pulling him down by his ankle, glaring at him. Other grimwalkers are beside him, hands reaching up towards Philip to also help drag him down.
The first panel on the fourth and last page is of Philip being dragged down, a fearful and almost angry expression on his face. He screams, “Caleb! Let-” but does not finish his sentence. The second panel is of Caleb still glaring at him, not saying a word. The third panel is Philip looking at his brother with an unreadable expression on his face, as though he just realized something. The fourth panel is an above shot of Philip finally being dragged down into the depths Dr. Falcilier style, arm out stretched and he sinks. Broken masks of grimwalkers can be seen below him, pulling him down too. The last panel shows the surface of the water in the inbetweens realm, the surface still and finally tranquil. The word “Fin” is written at the bottom of the page. End ID. ]
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