#✧ ╱ meta. — ❛ don’t need you to tell me: i’m so cynical.

[fallenangelontheceiling]

Leverage, 1x02 The Homecoming Job

Oh we’re starting with a hurt vet instead. Wow, vets in the reserves don’t get medical treatment? I’m going to learn about 5 different social injustices every episode, aren’t I?

“Can’t people just be here to help?” *doctor kicks him out*

Sophie’s bad acting gives me life. “Peggy killed her first husband” see THAT I believed. And she’s still the only one trying to go legit/non grift career…

Yeah, muscle guy is right. Stop telling each other what you did with your money. I'm annoyed by the lack of mistrust.

Parker’s black beret is hot

Hardison is down for Nate’s plan! He’s so excited it’s so cute.

They have pension plans and dental ❤️ how are they gonna fund this though?

Oh wow they’re down for it just because they can help the little guy. Maybe I should be less cynical.

Love Nate swiping the dip on this asshole’s jacket just to mess with him - oh no there was a read for that. Love how in synch they already are.

What’s Sophie gonna do if one day she can’t pull the Seductive card?

Okay, muscle guy beating up the Castleman guys in the hallway was hot. I’m starting to understand.

“A man only looks a woman in the eye when he’s lying to her.” No one disagrees with her. Maybe this show is a bit cynical. About certain people.

Comparing past jobs: “I actually hurt people, so…” lol

Sticking it to corrupt congressmen is the ultimate wish fulfillment.

Parker/Money is my Bad Romance for this show.

Love the whiteboard for exposition purposes. Sometimes I need a picture, ya know?

For someone who (allegedly) hasn't done full cons before Nate is pretty good at characters. He and Sophie must've worked together before, they're too good as a team.

They're all in gray at the end <3

"Is this stolen?" "Not anymore."

"One more..." Please tell me that becomes a running gag. (Also meta for binging shows. But I think this show came out before that phenomena?)

The Dad energy they're all starting to have with Nate is so lovely.

I'm smiling so much.

[seraphias]

HEADCANON: SORANO & ARIES. ( PT. I )

being someone who experienced slavery makes it incredibly difficult for me to believe sorano would ever want to treat others in such a ways. ( at least — toward those she personally identified with or respected )

so while many would expect it to be gemini, sorano related to aries more than any of her other spirits. she saw a part of herself within her. someone who was strong emotionally, but fell victim to a cruel oppressor. yes — most might’ve pitied her, but sorano respected her so much. she was tougher than she appeared, and she was a survivor.

after they entered in contract with one another, not only did sorano see herself, but she began to see her sister in aries — who was someone she felt immense protectiveness over. someone who deserved so much better. while sorano will almost always come off as cold and calculative, and while aries may have valid reason to fear her, after witnessing the murder of her former master by her hand — sorano would not do anything to abuse her or her power over her.

side note: erik is portrayed as someone in canon who actively fights against abuse and oppression, so why would it be so far fetched to assume sorano would be the same ?

[lesbianmarrow]

watched legends of tomorrow 4.07 and 4.08. oh constantine youve really done it this time! i can see how some fans may have been irritated by the way constantine overwhelms these two episodes but i didn’t mind. who doesn’t love a tragic gay love story? as much as legends likes to portray constantine’s bisexuality in a humorous way, it’s also capable of taking his romances with men seriously and i appreciate that. also sidenote i am a whole lesbian but even i noticed that desmond was really handsome....good job constantine. i like how the episode sort of fakes you out at the beginning by implying (through meta jokes, of course) that constantine’s stuff will be the b plot when it actually turns out to be the a plot. not that i minded the b plot of everyone being attacked by a possessed doll and then puppet. so fun how sara gets to put her horror movie knowledge to the test. 

from what i know of constantine in the comics, his character is fundamentally not an optimistic one, and the stories he is used to tell are not optimistic. but it feels like legends is putting a more hopeful spin on the character. i definitely don’t mind that, i think it works for the show and for this iteration of constantine. i am such a sucker for characters who are filled with regret and self-loathing but with the help of their friends find that they are not doomed to misery after all. i’m sure constantine will be put through the wringer more times this season but i get the sense that things will turn out okay for him in the end and i love that for him. 

seems like this season’s big bad is demon desmond which rules. i love how personal it is for constantine. these 2 episodes do a great job of making it personal, so that when the two characters clash later on it will feel that much more heartbreaking. i wonder how the other legends will deal with having to fight constantine’s doomed ex-boyfriend.....ohhhh man i hope ava tries to take the pragmatic cynical approach and send him to hell and it sows conflict between her and sara. i need constantine and ava on opposite sides of an ideological conflict so bad. 

speaking of ava i like her :) but you know that already. i liked the part where she said she liked sleeping next to sara, i was like wtf that’s adorable ;-; i thought it was sweet how sara really wanted ava and mick to get along. i think that subplot could have been handled better though. not a huge fan of ava as the uptight lesbian feminist who eventually learns that sexism can be fun actually. i know i would have written it differently. i think it was a mistake to have ava criticize mick’s misogyny, because that’s a quality of his that is really hard to excuse! would have been more fun (imo) to have her just be disgusted with his coarse habits and bad manners. the part at the end of 4.08 where ava said mick’s female characters were written in a sexist way but were so fun to read bugged me so much. sexist writing isn’t fun to read, which is something i’m sure the legends writers are aware of. i don’t like how this pushes the idea that not being offensive makes things less fun. 

4.08 was a great showcase for charlie, and a very necessary one too. i like that the episode deals with the personal ramifications of charlie having her shapeshifting taken away. i was a bit annoyed initially how constantine took away her shapeshifting and nobody really treated it like a big deal, even though that’s incredibly invasive and life-changing for charlie. so i liked how this episode emphasized that shapeshifting was a big part of charlie’s identity and showed how she would do anything to get it back. though by the end of the episode charlie is once again unable to shapeshift, i’m much more comfortable with that now that the issue has been properly explored. i really like how she is fitting on the team now, although something about her whole deal feels tragic and i’m afraid she’ll eventually die by sacrificing herself to save the legends a la snart. but putting that aside i was so so happy to see her trying to mend bridges with zari and then even perhaps flirting with her......i want charlie to be gay so bad you have no idea. 

the various timeline resets were so so funny. my favorite was of course the fake charlie’s angels one. lezploitation to the max! the puppets were pretty amazing too. and zari cat! the scene where constantine is miserably telling zari cat of his woes and she is just being a little kitty cat. perfect cinema. reminded me of that bombshells comic where zatanna came across constantine who had been tranformed into a little bunny. legends always does great with the silly stuff and this episode was no exception. 

oh i forgot about mona....the stuff with her and the hairy monster guy was genuinely sweet and i am excited to see where it goes :) i feel bad for poor gary though. it’s ok gary someday you will find a girl or boy who cares for you

[south-park-meta]

I must say, you must be one of my favorite South Park meta bloggers! I also think Stan is best boy, and I relate to him so much. I just can’t get enough of your analysis. I’m curious though, why do you ship Style, and what are your thoughts on how the fandom portrays the ship? Style is a ship that means dearly to me. I’ve always found the evolution of their friendship in-canon so fascinating, and I remember how back in the day, Style was literally booming with so much content, but there are definitely some portrayals of the pairing in fan-content that has me feeling “weird”.

Aw thanks!

I do disagree with a lot of Stan (and Style) portrayals. I think the big thing is that Stan or Kyle are probably going to be the two most people relate to, especially if they ship Style. So when they relate to one or the other it comes with inherent biases. Like I relate to Stan much more than I relate to Kyle, so it's easier for me to see his perspective, so it's easier for me to be biased in his direction. I think writing them neutrally is pretty hard for a lot of people, especially when Stan and Kyle have caused each other pain. Because of that I think it's pretty common to veer into one or the other just constantly being a huge dick no one should ever put up with. Instead of what they both are which is just, dicks the way most normal people are dicks. Good people, but fallible.

Stan and Kyle have the potential to be genuinely good for each other. With them fighting/not relying on each other as much, it's easier to forget that they make a good team. And with South Park being as it is, it's also easy to forget they probably haven't been fighting for that long, even if it feels like forever.

I think a lot of their problems come down to the fact that they actually love each other so much that they have a hard time communicating. Stan's been more closed off and telling Kyle less than other friends post-Ass Burgers. Kyle's been more critical of Stan's behavior post-Ass Burgers. And it'd be easy to chalk that up to them just not liking each other anymore, but that's not it. When it comes to Stan being depressed:

Stan's not bringing it up because he's scared if he does, it will make Kyle hate him again, the way he thinks Kyle started to when he said everything was shit. Kyle's not bringing it up because he's scared that if Stan's still cynical, it means Stan (still) hates him the way he seemed to the whole time he was saying everything was shit, because he was one of the things Stan saw as shit. There's a lot of hurt that they haven't brought up with each other. They're kids and they love each other, and they hope that not-talking about it will make it go away like the little rifts they had before did. The problem is that those smaller fights are things that, maybe, they actually could get over on their own without needing to have a whole conversation about it. This isn't. They're pushing each other away, involving each other less, trusting each other less, because they actually don't want to lose each other.

This is the kind of thing I think can get healthier with age, with experience, and even with time apart-- I don't necessarily think that taking a break after the Vaccination Special is bad for them. They're both too close and have too much invested to keep digging at the issue while it's fresh. It's a way for them to grow while apart, but HOPEFULLY come back together in a way that's healthier, after they've really worked out who they are alone.

I like a lot about Stan and Kyle's relationship. When they're operating at their absolute peak, they love each other but still call each other on their bullshit. Or they even don't call it out, and instead let the other figure out that they disapprove without even saying one word about it, and that's enough to set them back on the right moral path. They aren't the same person, they have different goals, different motivations, different flaws and strengths. But they get each other. They love each other. When one's trying to do something and it makes sense, they'll support it even if they wouldn't do it on their own. Because it matters to their best friend.

When one's struggling, they'll try their best to fix the problem, even if it's a problem they wouldn't have, either. They've supported each other through good times and terrible times. They've even in a marriage cliche been there through sickness and health-- Stan's depression has thrown a curve ball due to the toll it took on both of them, but when Kyle needed a kidney, Stan was there. When Stan was struggling with his freemium game addiction, Kyle was there (even AFTER them not being as close as they were before). They can and have helped each other through terrible times that could have put a strain on relationships before.

They want the other person to be the best person he can be, and they in turn want to be a better person for him. They have plenty of things both together and apart that they need to overcome, but they honestly have a very strong foundation. I think as they get older, more aware of their feelings and how to discuss them, and more secure in their individuality as they prepare to leave South Park, their relationship has the potential to be very low drama and very happy.

[writernotwaiting]

Unsolicited Loki Meta, Part 2  (with a side order of narrative theory)

I’ve been reading a lot of meta about the Loki series over the past few days, and the reactions on both ends of the spectrum are pretty strong. And let’s fact it, as fans of gender-fluid or queer characters—which includes Loki, but also several other franchises (*cough cough* looking squint-eyed at you, Sherlock)--we have been mightily abused over the past few years. Many of us are all viewing the series through the cynical lens of narrative betrayal, and are either desperate to see any Loki content as a blessing from above, or cynically waiting to be sucker punched by the evil Marvel overlords.

I admit, I cannot watch this show without both of those impulses in the back of my head. I really *want* the show to redeem itself, and so I may just be looking for ways to excuse their sloppy story telling, true.

The MCU, as a whole, sacrificed character development altogether in the second half of their movie series in favor of unnecessary battle scenes and plot twists. I would argue, in fact, that the last of the MCU movies to privilege character over spectacle were The Winter Soldier and The Black Panther. The sacrifice of character development came largely because the franchise made a deliberate decision to follow a specific narrative structure that depends heavily on the ideological foundation of traditional masculinity—physical strength, personal agency, an unwillingness to compromise, skill in combat, willingness to initiate aggression to solve problems, a world view that equates vengeance with justice and privileges open confrontation over “back-door dealing”--a formula that the franchise employs regardless of whether its hero is male or female. In service of this ideological foundation, the narrative subordinates all other social roles to support the development of the dominant masculine ideal.

{more under the cut}

The MCU (and the movie industry as a whole, really) has no idea what to do with a character that doesn’t fit the standard narrative pattern: “strong person who fits masculine ideal (even if the person is female—Natasha Romanov, Carol Danvers, Pepper Potts when she comes raging out of the fire to smash Kilian) is flawed and will reach his/her great potential when someone s/he loves dies a horrible death.”

If you look at the franchise, a sympathetic character dies (is fridged) in nearly every single one of the movies—Yinsen, Loki (functionally), Coulson (functionally), Pietro, Frigga, T’chaka, Odin and Heimdall, Loki (again), Everyone Who Gets Snapped, etc, etc, etc. And the deaths of those characters catalyze the epiphanies that enable the “heroes” to fully accept their proper place as Ideal Masculine Defender (again whether the character is male or female). 

This is not new. It’s a narrative device which, in fact, is true for a lot of Disney’s animated films (you might have noticed that there are a lot of dead mothers in Disney movies).

Gender-ambiguous and traditional female social roles do not fit this narrative pattern. You cannot squash negotiation and compromise into this structure. Neither will a character fit if s/he prefers subterfuge over explosions. It goes without saying that nurturance, healing, and support are right out. The MCU wants Achilles, not Odysseus, and Penelope is only useful if she dies, rather than outsmarts a banquet hall of suitors for ten years.

So what hope is there for Loki, whose characterization rests on his ambiguity? I really hope that the show doesn’t flatten him out in order to squash him into the current MCU narrative structure.

Some things signal hope for this.

Although it gets dressed up in a 1950s, cartoon vibe (which very much softens its threat), the TVA looks very much to me like the embodiment of the insidious kind of evil that comes from a fascist bureaucracy. Many of the people caught up in it (like the guy who wants a signature and has a cute cat, like the guy who asks whether Loki is a robot, and like Casey) are “just doing their jobs” and don’t think about the horribleness of what the end result of their jobs is. The is the “benign face of evil” that permits any fascist organization to thrive.

The not-so-benign face shows up with the hunter who, from the very start, delights in the ability to inflict pain--slowing down time so Loki feels the pain of the blow even longer than he would in real time, and snickering in his helplessness when he tries to use magic and fails. These are the dark underside of fascism--the SS enforcers that rough up the undesirables (in this case, the variants), and enjoys the power over those whom they see as less than fully human.

I hope that the show means to use this 1984-vibe to highlight Loki’s non-stereotypically-masculine strengths--his intellect, his love of mischief, his loyalty to those who are loyal to him, his ability to solve problems through the back channels rather than by Thor-like confrontation.

And yeah, some folks have complained that Loki’s breakdown in episode 1 comes pretty quickly, and through some fairly reprehensible gaslighting (and careful omission of details on Mobius’s part). I agree that his methods are cruel and manipulative. As for their effectiveness, well, I think it’s fair to point out that Loki has had a pretty shitty day--a pretty shitty couple of years, in fact, which makes him particularly susceptible to this sort of manipulation.

Again, I am hoping that this set up will lead to a more genuine self-awareness and acceptance as Loki re-learns his own strengths without Odin’s A+ parenting to undermine it. Loki needs to learn to live with himself. I’m hoping the series gives him the time and space (pun intended) to do this.

[whatthefuckisasweep]

Grif

For the character ask! Sorry this took me a while, I can't copy and paste on mobile, so I waited till I got on desktop tumblr! Thank you so much for asking about him, I could go on forever lol so this is gonna be fucking LONG. Please, anyone, feel free to ask about any other character, too. These are fun.

Why I like them: Grif is, for lack of a better word, complex. On one hand, it's like, okay he's just a funny comedy character. But on the other hand, he's like every all of my favorite archetypes of a character. He's crafty but stupid, selfish but selfless, antisocial but friendly, the straight man but the dramatic guy, he's snarky but oddly caring: the reluctant hero. It's kind of paradoxical, and I feel like not only do I relate to him, but I just really enjoy him overall. Whether it's because he's a good brother, being a complete dickbag because he doesn't know how to handle emotions, being a complete cynic on the battlefield, or being hyperactive and snappy, it's just... ah. He. Everything in his life just happens, and he has to deal with it, and yeah he'll kick and pout and probably eat everything but in the end, he's gonna choose his family and he cares deeply... even when he can't really show it.

Why I don’t: I see this a lot in myself too - the fact that he's impulsive and inherently negative when he speaks specifically. his words don't match his actions. He often doesn't hesitate when it comes to making negative comments because they are easier than saying something nice, but what his intentions are are completely different. in other words, he's a jerk, lol. Especially in season 15. I know people felt bad for him because he was partially right and went insane on Iris, but he lowkey deserved it. He said he hated his friends, and even his closest friend. He didn't want to admit that he was a good person just because he didn't want to help. yeah, it was valid, but he needs to learn how to make a case without fucking everyone emotionally and being so clammed up. >:/ sometimes it feels like he regresses in character, as much as he's matured. i guess that's realistic and just the writers making comedy, but also the way he handles Doc specifically irks me. so mean spirited for no reason, as funny as it is.

Favorite episode (scene if movie): OH MY GOD, okay, literally, every single episode with Grif starring as a main is fucking gold. I think for this I'm going to say, uh, This One Goes to Eleven. Even though it's not Grif-centric, it's the episode that's my favorite overall because it introduced me to RvB and made me like Grif right away, simply because he was attacked so much and I felt so bad for him. Another great one that sticks out right now in my sleep deprived state, is Grif does a Rescue. Augh. And the episode where Grif and Simmons get stuck underground in the caves.

Favorite season/movie: Season 8 (shotgun!!!, hyperactive ai grif), Season 11 (hanging in the canyon with simmons), Season 4 (the tank and blue simmons w/ grif), Season 5/6 (kai and rat's nest), Season 12/13 (the recruits, grif building the snowmen), Season 14 (backstory with simmons, Room Zero), Season 15 (you know why)

Favorite line: OK, don't make me choose. There are SO many that are good!!! I think one of my most favorite things that Grif says is "yoink!" It's so adorable! I also really enjoy "BLUEEE TEAAAAM SUCKKKKKS" with his epsilon double, the whole "invisible nap" scene, "what are we, on a date?"/"I can tell you what we weren't doing", "no one made me, I made me", "WERE GONNA FUCKING DIE" when charging at the meta, "that's a figure of speech?" [when carolina says im so hungry i could eat a horse is a figure of speech], "dexta grif he who shall not be messed with!"... I'm sure I'm missing a lot, he has SO many snarky funny lines, but these are some off the top of my head.

Favorite outfit: LOL THIS IS SUCH A FUNNY QUESTION BECAUSE THIS IS RVB. HAHAHA. Uh. Season 6 probably. I just like Halo 3 Graphics. Also s14 Room Zero because THEY DREW HIM FAT CANONICALLY. THANK YOU.

OTP: I'm with the majority of people in the fandom who like Grimmons! I think Grimmons is the only ship that I really vocally ship with my whole heart besides OC ships. I just very much enjoy their dynamic -- it's very angsty, dialogue full, intimate yet so unspoken. It's just a really good pair to write about and see the development of through canon. And, not to mention... season 15... hrk...

Brotp: I really REALLY want grif/tucker, grif/church, grif/locus BROTP. SO SO SO BAD. I've always seen grif and tucker as bros, grif and church are HILARIOUS together and we were ROBBED of more time together, and grif and locus are fucking adorable.

Head Canon: I have a lot of headcanons about Grif, but one of my favorite ones is that he has half-lidded eyes, like he's always sleepy. I also headcanon him as bisexual, though I think that is a popular headcanon!

Unpopular opinion: I dunno if I have super unpopular opinions about Grif... maybe that I think that his labryinth wasn't as bad as it seems at first? A lot of people seemed to think that though, yknow. Like if you look deeply into it, it's actually kinda fucked. But I feel like we should have gotten the Hawaii scene anyways. Hm. I also didn't like how they altered the canon so that Grif wasn't drafted. I think it does add something to his char that he chose to go, but I always really liked the aspect that Grif didn't control that, and yet he still did this on purpose. He was good on purpose.

A wish: A badass Grif carchase scene for the love of FUCK. We need to have him drive more stuff !!!!!!!!

An oh-god-please-dont-ever-happen: Have him betray the reds -- i think every other red has betrayed the team at some point. please god for the love of god dont do this to grif. it really adds and says something about his character that he doesn't ever betray his team.

5 words to best describe them: (eye roll) eh. fuck it.

My nickname for them: this isn't really my nickname, since I mostly just call him grif -- but 'gif'. It's cute, and my QPP came up with it! I also really like dex. augh

[chibivesicle]

Golden Kamuy - Kikuta really deserved better [part 2] 277-279.

Can you tell by my title that I’m a fan of Kikuta and I have some choice words for Noda?  Chapter 277 starts out with an introduction to the regional politics of Meiji era Japan.  The entire political shift occurred with the marriage of convenience between Choushuu and Satsuma (the Sat-Chou alliance) and how that is playing out in government and the military. With Hanazawa on the Satsuma side a commanding officer is having Tsurumi deal with the damage control.  That being Lt. General Okuda (and Kikuta’s boss)

He discloses how he’s the person who helped to cover up the scandal for Hanazawa and more of the regional politics comes into play as he pulls Tsurumi into this.

Recall that Tsurumi is from Niigata and we know he is from a family that lost power and wealth due to political changes.  He assumes that of course Tsurumi would hold a grudge towards those from the Sat-Chou alliance.  Usami is also from a fallen samurai family in Niigata and we know that Ogata is from Ibaraki and also from a samurai family on the losing side.  Tsukishima is from the island of Sado where unwanted people were dumped in Niigata so he is also an outsider.  We learn of his ‘true’ feelings as the tells his core group his opinion on things.

I love how we get unhinged Tsurumi calling it all a farce and he’s over Central.  But most importantly Okuda confirmed his own intel about the gold he learned while in Russia at some point in time.  His gold plan can slowly move along.  So Tsurumi becomes in the Hanazawa scandal cover up looking for the young 2nd Lt. and Kikuta, working under Okuda’s direct orders.

Despite his best efforts, Kikuta’s plan is revealed by a secretary at the Military Academy, while we know that Sugimoto and Kikuta are en route to the engagement dinner.

Hanazawa panics and sprints out to determine what is happening. Right on his tail is Tsurumi and his key team of Ogata, Tsukishima and Usami.  Clearly this is going to become a huge mess.  The next few pages are amusing, but really don’t add value to the plot.  I am impressed that Kaeko has an excellent plot to get Sugimoto naked and I commend her efforts!  GK is never short of strong female characters.  Who enjoy sex.

This sets up a hilarious moment where he’s naked and trapped in a bedroom while she leverages the potential scandal to her advantage.  By that point Tsurumi has caught up to them.  What is most interesting is when Usami addresses Ogata as Hyakunnosuke and asks him what he thinks about meeting his brother.  It is clear this isn’t out of concern from Usami’s part, we know he hates Ogata to his very core.

But as usual, Ogata doesn’t respond and we just see only a part of his eyes, not even a glance of his lips to give us an idea of what he’s thinking.

Kaeko and Sugimoto continue to talk as she reveals what she knows from Hanazawa Hiro.  She had been a nurse during the first Sino-Japanese war so it has allowed her to reflect on the impact of war on individual soliders.

This tells us a few things;  Hiro’s patriotism is more nuanced.  If she were being selfish and just saying she doesn’t want her son to go off to war without experience it, that would be one thing.  Instead, she knows being a military spouse first hand what happens - no one could say she didn’t do her own duty and go likely above and beyond.  Ultimately, she wants to protect her son from her own experiences and observations and be a mother.

Sugimoto then realizes he needs to bail and leaves poor Kikuta confused.  And then bam! The 27th is there.

Of course this leads to the most Sugimoto situation of all time!  Tsurumi threatens Kaeko with his handgun and Ogata asks where Yuusaku is.  Of course Sugimoto flies out of the bathroom naked sans Kikuta’s hat and Ogata is just amused beyond belief.

This would be complete if he were relaxed eating a box of popcorn or something like that. 278 continues this absolute chaos and lots of fan service for Miss Kaeko!  I really don’t think the fight scene needs much meta.  Ogata just finds it amusing (and btw sucks at hand to hand combat) while Usami rumbles with Sugimoto.  Tsurumi realizes he’s not Yuusaku and Kikuta rushes in and gets shot in the shoulder by Tsukishima.

Somehow, Kikuta is able to get the rest of them to flee but not without running into the actual Hanazawa Yuusaku.  Awkward.  Tsurumi only then realizes that Kikuta was doing his job and they run out into the street.

Kaeko tries her best to convince Sugimoto to marry her.  Granted he is a very heroic figure and he fought to protect her.  However, reality wouldn’t allow that to happen and Sugimoto decides to join the army - thinking he won’t starve that way.

Kikuta looks so sad and disappointed when he hears this.

He’s definitely thinking of his younger brother who died b/c he told him to join the army with him.  I loved the fact that we learn that Kaeko got to be a successful woman who was also compassionate to others. 

There is a quick exchange that shows the first encounter between Ogata and Yuusaku.  Yuusaku notices Ogata and salutes him as a cadet.

Ogata doesn’t even return the salute and he look he gives him out of the corner of his eyes.  What is he thinking?  I’d say Yuusaku doesn’t know who Ogata even is.  But something has him very suspicious to be this leery of him.  This also makes me think of this previous encounter between Koito and Ogata in chapter 200.

This time Ogata is bolder when he walks by Koito who is also currently still in the Army Academy.  Except unlike Yuusaku who doesn’t seem to pick up on Ogata’s vibes, Koito does!  And the two of them stare each other down.  I think that this in part shows that Koito has more innate awareness of things and could be considered more of a ‘natural’ in the military.  Which Yuusaku isn’t.  We have no evidence Yuusaku has any sort of military talent or skills. 

The chapter ends with Kikuta asking Sugimoto if he’s serious about joining the military and how he’s already fated to go to hell based on what he’s done in his life.  279 continues the conversation between Kikuta and Sugimoto and he flat out tells Sugimoto about how his brother died of illness in the army during the Sino-Japanese war.

Sugimoto then becomes Kikuta’s younger brother telling him that it is time to move on.  This continues the trend in GK where a character that is speaking becomes someone else to the listener.

This is most evident with Asirpa when she becomes Yuusaku on more than one occasion to Ogata.

But this facial expression from Kikuta [sobs].

No wonder Kikuta worked so hard to save Ariko’s life!  He can’t just always be responsible for the deaths of others.

Sugimoto convinces Kikuta that he’ll be alright in the army and he relents and lets him keep the cap.  This shows that Kikuta has moved on from the death of his brother - a big deal!  In an unusual way, Sugimoto has helped Kikuta move on and take the next step in the healing process. Kikuta reports to his commander in the 1st.  Okuda wants him to keep an eye on Tsurumi.  Obviously, he knows now that Tsurumi interfered with Kikuta’s plans for Hanazawa rather heavy-handedly so he would need someone else to balance it out.

It then reveals that Ogata is also working for Okuda in the 1st.  This explains why when the two of them crossed paths in the brewery they did not engage but nor did they appear to exchange any information.

I can’t help but feel like something is still off with this.  Ogata does have skills from working in intelligence with Tsurumi.  He’s observant, makes himself invisible and can get others to talk easily.  But Ogata being a 100% willing spy - it seems like he wants something else out of this. Kikuta’s character screams secret agent - but Ogata, he’s something else.  I’m not sure if Ogata’s choice to be a spy on Tsurumi was a real choice.

When Ogata and Tsukishima had their shoot out in Yubari at Edogai’s, Tsukishima told him he was a pet cat for Central.  Ogata replied that they were part of a rebel element.  We know that Ogata was working with Tamai at the beginning of the manga.  I struggle to see how Ogata has loyalty to anyone honestly.  He seems to be moving throughout this game with again his own mysterious objective.  Ogata is cynical and has no belief in the nation state nor does he harbor any sort of deep patriotism towards Imperial Japan.

Since Okuda is friends with Hanazawa and is based in Tokyo, he may have known Ogata since his birth and has kept tabs on him after the Ogata grandparents took him back to Ibaraki with his mom.  Ogata’s existence might be a sort of trump card that Okuda is keeping . . . but others found out as well like Tsurumi.  Did Okuda have Ogata tell or leak information that Ogata is Hanazawa’s first son? The chapter jumps to the 203 meter hill in the war and we see Yuusaku fallen on the battlefield.  Ogata watches from distance, his face cut off while other members of the 27th run out to help Yuusaku.

This finally reveals Yuusaku’s eyes!  Not the anticipated reveal - I kept thinking this was something that Ogata was going to see but it shows us clear eyes.  Which look sort of similar to Asirpa’s eyes.

So many thoughts are jumping around in my brain about this reveal.

1.) These eyes are not the ‘trademark’ Hanazawa eyes.  Dark black orbs with those eyebrows!  This indicates his eyes aren’t from his father.

Seeing this, I can’t help but think that Yuusaku is not Hanazawa’s son.  Instead, Hiro had an affair with someone else.  A major theme in GK is that the children inherit the skills of their parents.  Asirpa is able to do many things as she inherited the intelligence of Wilk.  And that Ogata is the true inheritor of Hanazawa’s military skills.

Recall this from chapter 58.  Ogata leads the crappy local gang against Hijikata and acts like a commander.

We know that Tsurumi’s lie about Ogata wanting to avenge Hanazawa is to keep Nikaido in the dark.

This would also explain why everything we learn about Yuusaku is terrible at military things.  If he also isn’t Hanazawa’s son it would make it even more reason for Hiro to try to prevent him from entering the military since he’s not even genetically related to this great line of Hanazawas.  I wish we knew more about the Ogata side of things - I think we’ll also learn that the Ogata side had competent military men on it as well.  2.) Yuusaku’s eyes are the same as Asirpa’s and indicate their sort of innocence.  In this case, it would perfectly explain why Ogata sees Yuusaku instead of Asirpa when he has the fever and then the melt down on the ice floe.  Yuusaku kept himself naive and innocent to meet his father’s expectations.  A man who I don’t think is even his father at this moment.  Therefore, Ogata’s guilt on killing Yuusaku is tied to his sort of innocence in these situations and why he can’t seem to shake his mental confusion when it comes to Asirpa.  However, unlike Yuusaku, Asirpa has never forced herself on him to do things or guilt tripped him so it leaves things open for him to not link her to Yuusaku.

3.) Yuusaku was going to blow Ogata’s cover working for Okuda.  Now that we know that Ogata was working for Okuda while in the 27th it means he’d have to keep his role quiet.  If Yuusaku found out that Ogata was working for Okuda, I could see him going to Tsurumi and telling him this information.  Therefore, to protect his status, Ogata used this as his rationale to kill Yuusaku on the battle field.  I have never figured out if Ogata was nudged to kill Tsurumi by his ‘don’t kill him right now.’ comment as one of Tsurumi’s backwards motivations that lead Ogata to directly killing him. So many possibilities!  I want more Ogata backstory dammit!

Anyhoo, to not make this meta super long let’s get back to the action. Asirpa begins working out how to try to break the code.  Hijikata notes that Wilk could have used something other than kanji, since he’d know the Latin alphabet for Polish and Cyrillic for Russian.  Shiraishi makes a clear point that this could be a message from Wilk towards her, though it feels like he’s channeling Kiro.  Out of many of the Japanese characters Shiraishi time and time again comes out much more sympathetic to the minorities than others.

Asirpa begins to wonder how the coin is linked to the skins. She’s thinking things through and is on her way to solving the puzzle.

After saving Ariko, Kikuta is returning to Tsurumi’s group in the church.  Oh Roger, this is why I love you so much.

Look at that smirk with a slightly watery eye.  At the same time Tsurumi is also looking at the coin and realizes he’s figured it out.

Kikuta approaches the rest of the group and comments on if he’s found the location.  Tsurumi states that things are just getting started.  He casually pulls out his gun and fires two shots into Kikuta at point blank range.

And with this I am deeply saddened and shocked.  How dare you do that to Kikuta!!!  He was my Kiro replacement and now he’s also going to die.

First Boutarou died and now Kikuta.  [cries].  We know that Tsurumi is a shinigami but this is just brutal.  The bear death trio died early on in the manga.  Ogata escaped.  Kikuta now is the next link to Central that goes down.

[hekatekun]

The metanarrative’s grand narrative: Osomatsu-san’s characterization throughout the franchise

The growing cynicism throughout the entire Osomatsu-san franchise shows itself in season 3 with more prominence than anything prior. I think that’s pretty common amongst any “long-running” gag comedy - replacing a plot with spiteful commentary that’s admittedly pretty hit or miss at times. However, it invariably creates a negative but pretty funny character growth, and I love the way the show (I’m including the movie too as “canon” material considering season 3 has referenced it way too many times for me to disregard) has set up this metanarrative across seasons. Long post ahead.

Obviously, Osomatsu-san is self-aware and has a casual relationship with itself. No linear plot (though S3 seems to be trying it out and I’ve enjoyed it - I love that they’re willing to experiment), rather a collection of unrelated skits; and so it points out its own metanarrative because of this “lack of consequences.” With comedy comes impermancy and Ososan AND -kun will always bounce back from that week’s insanity. From the Oxford Dictionary, a metanarrative is “a narrative account that experiments with or explores the idea of storytelling, often by drawing attention to its own artificiality.” Basically: a story about stories.

On top of this, is what I’m calling the “grand narrative,” which is often used interchangeably with metanarrative, but here I’m making a distinction to make it less confusing. Of course, Ososan is a story about stories, but with that comes a story it’s not directly telling, which is where most of the (little) character development is taking place. This is what I’m going to call the grand narrative of a show whose premise is being a meta-aware comedy. I’ll admit I’m by no means an expert on these subjects, but storytelling methods are something I enjoy trying to analyze. As a media format, Ososan really utilizes the fact that it’s a tv show.

Right off the bat S1E1 makes it clear what to expect: Nothing. Not a damn thing. But, the show had already been cleared for this first season, so it has to be produced. This same episode’s preview is done by Osomatsu, which I’m just gonna quote instead screenshot because there’s too many.

“...we plan on properly starting the anime the next episode.” “...you ended up with an extra minute, so you need me to do something to fill it?! Actually, is this anime going to be okay with episode one being like this? I’m getting worried about how the rest of this is going to be...” “There, I used up a minute! [EPISODE ENDS]”

Episode one is not only batshit referential, but downright mocking the state of anime in 2015. Which, truthfully, I don’t have much to comment on in that regard, as I’m not an avid anime fan. However, it does this under the premise of being indecisive about what kind of anime they wanted the Osokun reboot to be. 

They’ll do just about anything to stay popular and relevant considering that is, quite literally, all they have going for them as characters in the series and just being characters in general. They may be pieces of shit, but they’re likeable pieces of shit. The dynamics they’ve built upon to be entertaining is encouraged, and they’re basically just roleplaying different skits and fucking around.

All the AUs! All the skits! They’re just playing! They’re just fuckin’ around!! They couldn’t come up with any interesting plot nor could they “graduate” from being anime protagonists and join the real world, so they just fuck around and make a gag anime!

Even if we follow both as the audience, the show makes a difference between the what’s them in their “normal life” (crazy begets crazy, no?) and what’s their “show.” But, really, that’s just one way to look at it, as they don’t really follow any rules as a show. I could say the Joshimatsus are separate characters from the sextuplets, and it’d be a “correct” interpretation. It doesn’t really matter - I’m choosing to examine it all as being the six of them just running around and playing, because being entertaining and having fun is all they know as characters. Besides, having it blended together beyond recognition reinforces how it prioritizes entertaining us, the audience, above logic. Storytelling doesn’t need to make absolute spatial-temporal sense for it to be enjoyable to fans.

In any case, that mentality really seems to be what pushes their character development negative, as they look to reinforce habits and rituals despite them being really detrimental for them in the long run. They know they’re popular characters as is, and with really everyone from staff to fans encouraging this behavior further, so they see no point in fixing what isn’t really broken.

I found this 4 year old article from Manga.Tokyo discussing the Ososan phenomenon in Japan because while the craze died off pretty quickly in American anime circles (which deserves a whole other post), Japanese fans went fuckin’ nuts.

This portion caught my attention, as it makes sense that entitled and enabled asshole children would grow up to be entitled and enabled asshole adults. The article also goes on to compare them to idols (even beyond the F6 spoof) and that they are rooted in being comfort characters above all else. 

It’s worth a read, especially because Japanese fan response is what drives majority of the content post-S1, and, inevitably, ties into their character development. 

They know that they’re Characters, particularly Protagonists. You know what happens to protagonists? Everything works out. Just about every single story created has stuff working out for protagonists. In fact, we have a whole genre made that separates stories with bad tragic endings from our Normal Stories. Ososan is a comedy, not a tragedy, so surely there’s gonna be some payoff somewhere along the road, especially as the seasons and other content are still being pumped out. To a self-aware, entitled, enabled protagonist, assuming everything is just gonna work out for you isn’t that far off from your narrative truth.

However, Ososan is a gag anime, and a lot of gag content (like 4koma mangas) is dropped for other projects before any emotional cathartic ending is provided for characters and fans alike. So, three seasons and a movie later, nothing has happened. It’s a great idol cash cow with a Family Guy filter, and the characters (and writers) don’t even bother to hide it anymore. And I know I’m being hypocritical concerning my definition of “canon material” but I think this portion from one of the drama cds “Choroplex” basically summarizes my point:

CHOROMATSU: Wait, don’t make this into a gag! You don’t even care about becoming employed, right? KARAMATSU: There’s no way that could happen... CHOROMATSU: What kind of future are you imagining? Is it nothing but this? [HUGE PAUSE BEFORE THEY MOVE ONTO SOMETHING ELSE]

They’re parodies of themselves and are running out of ideas. Stagnation and decay is normal, if not unavoidable, at this point in time for them. They’re just 20 somethings who’ve hit a wall but they’re too scared and insecure to bring about permanent positive change. It’s easier for them to fall back into normal patterns and joke off the rest.

They have an antagonistic relationship with expectations. They can’t handle a single iota of expectations, or responsibilities. They’ve never needed to worry before, so why bother now? Once the biggest hits on the block, now they’re just guppies in the ocean, and there’s nothing they believe themselves to be able to accomplish to keep up with this big brave new world. This is epitomized in S3E15, where old man Osomatsu tells a bastardized version of the Tortoise and the Hare, blatantly projecting his feelings onto it. Again, too many screenshots so let me pull more quotes (bolding for my own reference):

“The place that the tortoise thought was the goal was not actually the goal. His journey down the road of life still continued on. The tortoise was quite tired, but he continued running anyway.” “No one actually knew who was in front anymore. There are too many people above you.” “After the tortoise found out how society worked, he thought, ‘So this is the difference in talent? No amount of hard work is going to fix this. All right. I’m done competing with others.’”

S3 has left more questionable endings than its counterparts. The last 2 skits I referenced don’t even a gag to them, and the marriage skit doesn’t play music for the entire second half of S3E5. There’s more involved too. I haven’t even brought up the rice ball twins becoming actual entertainers in their universe, or how they introduced this whole AI subplot only to reject it because All Six Of Them aren’t interested in expanding their little corner of the world. Here’s a transcript of the ending preview from S3E1:

“Hey, hey, Osomatsu here. I thought we were saved from being replaced, but I guess we get new characters next week. Man, we’re busy. New encounters, changing surroundings... We’re NEETs to begin with because all that is a pain. I guess a lot can happen after three seasons. [EPISODE ENDS]”

The sextuplets’ mindsets are extremely self-centered, which is also an environmental thing (the parents don’t even really care that they’re NEETs, for one) and an understanding of what they ought to be (epic successful protagonists). They also have a very black and white mentality, all or nothing. They’re extremely sheltered, and once they realized where they stood in society at large, they just gave up. To them the world is divided between winners and losers, and somehow, “inexplicably,” they found themselves to have fallen from grace. But they’re protagonists, that has to count for something! Everything’s gonna end up okay, right? Well... what this show has told them: No, not at all. They are consistently compared and warned of Iyami, and are perfectly aware of this fact, and have come to internalize it as a truth rather than a reversible self-fulfilling prophecy.

Too many screencaps, taken from the S3S5 marriage discussion:

JYUSHIMATSU: I wonder if we’re gonna get married someday, too. CHOROMATSU: Well, I mean... probably? I’m not exactly sure, but... TODOMATSU: What? You’re gonna get married, Choromatsu-niisan? CHOROMATSU: Huh? Well, yeah... someday.

Surprise! They have commitment issues! The same group that couldn’t commit to a fucking plot! Though their personality issues have several factors involved, I can’t overlook the theater motifs abound. Life’s a stage, and they’re performing entirely unscripted and it shows.

Do I think all of this is 100% intentional on the writers’ part? No, probably not. There’s also an extra layer here regarding contemporary Japanese commentary that I’m not familiar with, so I just ended up focusing on the characters. I can’t be in the writers’ heads, but whatever decisions are being made by executives regarding censorship and “compliance” are reflected in these character changes that result in being significantly more bitter and defeatist.

In the all or nothing, winner-take-all mentality, the only way to save face at this point, in their minds, is to own up to it - act like it’s what they wanted all along. And, hey, it’s funny to watch, right?

“Why is Osomatsu all my examples”, you might be asking. Well, he’s the damn blueprint for it all. The leader of the bunch, the first personality to grab your attention, has had all his issues projected and ricocheted in their echo chamber.

Ultimately, my point here is that you could think their “canon characterizations” (though canon means nothing in a show like this) as being intertwined with the nature of their self-aware existence. They’ve shown you all their tricks, the smoke and mirrors are getting boring, and they’re stalling long enough the story seems to be moving on without them - in spite of them. And when something genuinely threatens their way of life, they don’t know how to respond.

You can play it all straight, of course. Remove the meta jokes and all the same plot points can be hit, but, as a slapstick comedy, it’s able to easily add this additional layer in that I appreciate. I’ve said it in my last post and I’ll probably say it in more, but with comedy comes sincerity - the caveat of all the cartoon violence is that, on some level somewhere, this is how they really feel.

[procrastinatorproject]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Star Trek: Picard Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Agnes Jurati/Cristóbal Rios Characters: Agnes Jurati, Cristóbal Rios Additional Tags: Meta, Developing Relationship, my take on Agnes and Cris's relationship, and why i think it works, Minor Character Death (Mentioned), Psychological Trauma

Title Inspired by @regionalpancake‘s glorious Downtime Drabble “You’re Light On Me”

A while ago, a friend confessed to me that they didn’t really understand what Agnes Jurati and Cris Rios see in each other. They felt the relationship seemed unmotivated and forced, and they didn’t really see why other people thought it worked.

I’ve seen this sentiment a few times since the show came out, and I’m not here to tell anyone they have to agree with the show-writers’ choices or like a relationship if it doesn’t work for them. But I recently reread the little essay I sent that friend in reply (after making sure they’d want to read it ;9 ), and I really liked it, so I thought I’d share it here.

When people say that the kiss between Agnes Jurati and Cristobal Rios at the end of Star Trek: Picard season 1 blindsided them, I understand where they're coming from. I think the showrunners could have done more to make the developing relationship between these characters truly obvious, but for me, it didn't feel like the mutual attraction between Cris and Agnes came completely out of nowhere. Let me explain.

One of the big things about Rios’s character I find striking is that he wants to be stoic and cynical and misanthropic, but he just... can't do it. He tries! He's short, he hides behind his books, and he pretends he doesn't care about politeness. But the only people he ever swears at are Raffi, a very good friend, and the holos (which are a whole other matter, because there is all this self-loathing tied up in Cris's relationship with them). Over the course of season 1, it's pretty clear that Rios is rather good at reading people, and he wants to do right by them. He defers to Picard pretty much immediately and Soji looks at him pleadingly once and he decides to put his ship at risk for her.

Rios doesn't want to like people, he just can't help himself. He wants to be annoyed by Agnes interrupting his reading, but I think he finds her quirkiness disarming and charming. It's already visible in the way he looks at her on the bridge, when they talk about paper books. And then they go to the holodeck to discuss Picard's detour to Vashti. Since Agnes is the audience stand-in, she asks a bunch of questions, and instead of being annoyed or short, Cris patiently explains everything to her (after offering her a seat). Later, when Cris asks Agnes what she thinks about his outfit for the Stardust City caper and she says he's killing it, there's a beat there. He seems almost a little taken aback, either by her sincerity, or maybe by realizing he values her opinion. It's yet another thing they connect over it. (Also robot boxing. That scene is adorable)

With regards to Agnes… I think partially, she's leaning into her natural humour and quirkiness to appear non-threatening and not give herself away, but I also have another read on her behaviour. (This may partially be me projecting WAY TOO HARD, or, to put it more generously, applying some lived experience to what we see of Agnes's character, so your take on this might be very different. But this is what I see.)

When Agnes and Cris talk before they go off to have sex, Agnes is making jokes and smiling. To me, that doesn’t read as fake or a ploy to manipulate Rios, it seems real. And then when he asks, really asks, how she's feeling, suddenly there is this chasm of pain right under the surface. For me, the idea that Agnes has this intense psychological trauma and is dealing with it by finding joy in little things, like watering the plants, and reading papers, and flirting with the hot captain by completely wrong-footing him with a comment about her dad... it feels very authentic. And I can see how this guy, who pretends to be all uncaring and edgy but is actually a big softie not very far under the surface, and who smiles at her jokes and takes the time to explain stuff to her and listens to her babble, that's a nice distraction from the horrible things happening in her mind. Not in the sense that she's manipulatively using him, but in the sense that this kind of human connection gives her moments of light and gives her reasons to keep going, even through so much pain.

After Agnes kills Maddox, she is deeply, deeply conflicted over what she's done. To the point where when they’re leaving the Artefact, she basically says "I don't care if the world ends if I don't kill Soji. Let it all burn. I just can't do this anymore". And then here is this man, who's kind and caring and, yes, hot, and at first it's "I just want to feel something, anything, and he's here, he's half-naked, he's gorgeous". And Rios isn't necessarily opposed to a no-strings-attached fling. Because he keeps telling himself he doesn't get attached and he hates people and he's only ferrying them around because they're paying him. So it's a distraction with a woman who is quirky and witty and pretty, but it won't mean anything, and that's okay.

And then Agnes changes her mind, because she realizes having sex with Rios will make things more complicated. Or maybe because she thinks Rios deserves better. Or that she shouldn't have sex to distract herself from horrible emotional pain because that's kinda unhealthy.

So she pulls back.

And Rios, instead of being annoyed at missing out or feeling like she led him on, or any number of things, asks her how she's feeling. In a way that makes it clear (at least to me) that he really cares about the answer. And for a moment, Agnes lets him see the true darkness inside her. Because she can pretend it's about Maddox dying, she can pretend it's just about being a lonely nerd. She doesn't have to tell him how bad it really is, but she lets herself feel all of the bad emotions for just a moment.

And then she kisses him again, maybe to shut herself up or to distract herself, or because she needs the connection. And he doesn't have any illusion about what it is they're doing. He knows she's trying to feel better, he essentially tells her he knows it's a way for her to deal with her devastation, and he's okay with it. Maybe because he knows what it's like to feel hollow and terrified and need something, anything to cling to.

And at this point, I think they're both still telling themselves that they don't actually care about each other. Cris because he doesn't want to care about anyone ever again so he won't get hurt. (Which, again, he fails miserably at, but I think that's how he wants to see himself and why he treats his holos with so much disdain that Emil tells Picard "He doesn't get any nicer", even though we see Rios being kind to all the people on board.) And Agnes doesn't really have the brain space to allow herself to fall for anyone. She's just taking little moments of light and human connection where she can get them. And they both decide to have sex as a one-night-stand, just to make Agnes feel better for the night, just because they're both lonely and in pain. No deeper meaning behind it.

And then the whole tracker debacle happens. It takes three days to get to Nepenthe and by the time Agnes goes into a coma, they're still a couple days away at least. She doesn't wake up until Picard is back on board, which means she's out for a long time. Even though we don’t see much of the medical drama, we can assume she was very much at death's door. So, now Rios is faced with once again losing someone he feels somewhat responsible for. Someone he has actually gotten close to. And I think that moment and the fear it causes him might make him start to realize how much he actually cares about her.

And then when Picard and Soji are on board, they all sit down together and figure out the big mystery at the heart of season 1. And here is another thing Cris and Agnes find out they have in common: Both of their lives and minds got destroyed by Oh's machinations. Cris went against everything he believed in when he covered up what Vandermeer had done. He didn't actively kill anyone, but he feels like Vandermeer's death is his fault. His belief in the fundamental goodness of Starfleet was shattered when they threatened to blow up his ship. For Agnes, this kind of shattering of a truth she had clung to comes when she realizes she wasn't acting on the directive of the Head of Starfleet Security in a black-ops mission sanctioned by one of the most important institutions of the Federation. Instead, she was nothing but a pawn, used by Oh for nefarious purposes that had nothing to do with the greater good. The exact circumstances of their traumas are different, but they were both caught up in the same catastrophe and cover-up and it has marked them in similar ways.

I think this is one of the reasons Rios doesn't blame Agnes for killing Maddox. If anything, he gets more protective of her, e.g. by trying to stop Sutra from forcing another mind-meld on Agnes. You can see this in a more subtle scene, too: when Cris says goodbye to Agnes at Coppelius station, he reaches out to touch her face, but then he hesitates and proceeds with extreme gentleness and care. To me, that reads like someone very, very aware of the other person's trauma and possible triggers (forced mind-meld) and caring deeply about making sure she feels safe and has something good to counterbalance the horrible memories.

And finally, we clearly jump quite a bit in time at the very end of season 1. When our motley crew sets out from Coppelius, the Synth Ban has been lifted. Just imagine the bureaucracy that must have taken! That’s not something that can be overturned in a day. Also, Raffi and Seven have had time to connect, so I imagine in that time, Cris and Agnes, too, will have slowly figured out whether they're compatible and whether this relationship is something they might, very carefully and gently, endeavour together.

Because they have a compatible kind of humour, because they understand what it's like to feel deeply broken but to keep going regardless, because she's witty and quirky and he's caring and kind and they went through a very specific hell together, and they might be able to hold each other's hands as they slowly make their ways towards healing.

I’m going to do a metatextual thing here and quote an absolutely gorgeous drabble by @regionalpancake that, to me, encapsulates one very important aspect of the relationship between Cris and Agnes.

     Your Light On Me  

You’d forgotten just how it felt. To feel like you. A stranger, Last seen aboard the Ibn Majid. Proud, red trimmed shoulders, Bright pips, a polished combadge. You signed aboard, And found A different man signed off. You’re old enough to know, She cannot fix you. You wouldn’t want her to. That’s between Pops and you. That’s your work to do, Not hers. But Agnes? Preciosa. Something in her, Shines a light. Reminds you who you are. You have to find, Your own way home. But god, It’s nice, At last, To find, A gentle soul, To hold the lamp.

 Chapter 74 of Downtime

That. Right there. A gentle soul to hold the lamp. I think for me, that's what the relationship between Cris and Agnes boils down to.

They are broken people in a broken world, but by the end of season 1, they have found that they can hold each other while they try to put themselves back together. And what starts out as a fun, distracting flirtation, then turns into "meaningless" sex to stop feeling lonely and sad, finally becomes the beginning of a relationship built on shared trauma, but more importantly on kindness and charm.

I have no idea whether these two can make it work long-term, but I am very much on board for what we've seen so far, and I hope this can help a bit in explaining why.

NB: After I finished writing this a few weeks back, I remembered that there was a fic that came to very similar conclusions. Upon reread, I realized it essentially hits the exact same points I do here and does so absolutely beautifully. So if you want a truly touching in-universe perspective on this relationship, go and read Love Comes Softly by Be_Right_Back (@smhalltheurlsaretaken, or listen to the Podfic recorded by Thimblerig. I cannot recommend this fic highly enough!      

[alahmnat]

Some thoughts about the Rescue Rangers movie

Spoilers below the fold, you’ve been warned.

In preparation for the movie, I did the utterly-unnecessary thing of (re-)watching the entire TV show first. It was "only" 65 episodes, so I figured why not? Besides, I was looking for something else to idly binge anyway. But I think it did do a good job of helping to ground my expectations and put me in the right mindset for the film.

To briefly sum up my take on the show first: I grew up with this cartoon, and it was one of my favorite parts of the Disney Afternoon as a kid. The characters are all still so great, and they play off of each other really well. It’s still a lot of fun to watch as an adult, but it definitely has “90′s cartoon” problems. Most glaringly, of course, is the weird compulsion to use other cultures as the butt of pretty much every racist trope or stereotype you can come up with (Asian and Pacific Islander cultures got it especially bad, and I’m kiiiiiind of glad that the only Black character in the show is one of the patrol cops because yikes that could have been really oof-worthy). Y’all didn’t need to do that. It also goes a lot harder on calling Dale a lot of ableist terms than I ever noticed as a kid (”Dale is 'challenged’” is easily more than half of the show’s Dale-related humor). If I were to show this to my own theoretical someday-kids, I’d probably curate it to side-step about 15 episodes or so until they were old enough to learn the right things from them.

The show’s other faults are really just down to the use of bizarro-land kid logic, which has fallen more out of favor in contemporary shows (compare DuckTales to its reboot; the reboot is still madcap, but less... “out there” I guess?), and the animators not really putting their best effort into maintaining consistency of scale between scenes (or even throughout single shots). As a final aside, I also never really noticed how often Chip is given the "Dana Sculley” ball throughout the show. Ghosts, aliens (more than once), werewolves, fortune telling, and magic all make appearances despite Chip's declarations that they don't exist.

tl;dr: it’s still a good cartoon, but you’ve gotta engage with it critically sometimes, because... 😬

Anyway, on to the movie.

I liked it! A lot, even!

It wasn’t a cinematic masterpiece or anything, but we’re talking about a movie based on a combination of Who Framed Roger Rabbit and a 90′s afternoon cartoon show. It doesn’t need to be Everything Everywhere All At Once-tier incredible. What it was is a lot of fun. It pushed all the right buttons for me, especially having just come off of binging the TV show. The show itself had a lot of self-referential, meta, and self-deprecating humor to it in the first place, so making a “meta” movie about how bad and unwanted reboots of old properties tend to be sort of fits right into its narrative wheelhouse.

It’s also extremely obvious that the writers came at this with a huge amount of love for the show, and for Roger Rabbit before it. I was honestly impressed by the amount of show-related references and humor, most of which I would almost certainly not caught onto if I hadn’t just binged the show. It’s definitely a cameo-fest, and one can certainly take the cynical stance that the depth of the movie’s cameo catalogue is down to Disney owning about 3/4ths of Hollywood with enough money to push around the other 1/4th. However, the cameos never seem forced or out of place. There’s just a lot of them, and while none are perhaps as landmark as Mickey and Bugs on screen together in Roger Rabbit, some of them do punch pretty high. Keep an eye on the background, you’ll almost always find someone lurking there you weren’t expecting.

My biggest complaint is honestly that the decision to make Chip (and a number of other “traditional” toons) a cel-shaded 3D model holds his character back in terms of expressive range, and undercuts the one big gag of Dale having undergone “CGI surgery” (I feel like that’s not a spoiler, it’s literally on the poster). I can understand the reasoning behind the decision — it’s already complicated enough to make a movie where half the cast is invisible to the on-set camera and also 6 inches tall; needing to do two separate animation passes for the two main characters, plus all of the extra CG and edit work that would then need to be done on top of that to re-integrate Chip into the scene given all of the stuff he “physically” interacts with... it’s a lot. And considering that the resulting choices were probably “make Chip pseudo-2D” or “then don’t make the movie”, I can see why they went the way they did. It’s just an odd visual quirk that stands out even more against the background characters who are traditionally animated (but who also interact with the scene way less complexly).

If you’re just looking for a spoiler-free take, here it is: it’s a fun romp, punches you directly in the nostalgia bone for a solid 90 minutes, and preserves the best of what made Rescue Rangers great while divorcing it from its more problematic moments.

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD

To get into more of the nitty gritty, I think the decision to take a step back and reveal the world behind the camera was an important one, and why I think the film earns its tagline of “it’s not a reboot, it’s a comeback”. These aren’t fresh new versions of the characters we knew as kids. They’re still the same people, whose “real life” personalities are just well-aligned to their roles in the show, and they’re as far removed from the show as we are as adults. Characters like Chip and Dale also don’t really rise to the standard of requiring “strict adherence to canon”, so putting them in LA as kids and just making them a part of the Roger Rabbit universe worked fine for me. Giving the two a childhood connection really helped cement the brotherly relationship they always had in the show (side note: Chip’s mom is a sweetheart. More good animal moms, Disney).

(Oh, and speaking of the Roger Rabbit universe, this movie is definitely set in that world, because Sweet Pete has a bottle of DIP in his bootlegging kit. Yipe!)

The movie does a good job of projecting the characters out into the "real" world with their same personalities intact. Especially for the main duo: Chip, the no-nonsense take-charge leader who ends up as an insurance salesman, and Dale, the wackier goofball who acts without thinking things through and gets a perhaps ill-advised CGI makeover surgery to revitalize his image while slumming it on the fan convention circuit like a less douchebag-y Tim Allen from GalaxyQuest. I also got a particular kick out of the fact that despite basically every guy in the show having a go at her at one time or another, Gadget ended up with Zipper.

I also think using the character of Double-0-Dale as the inciting incident that broke up the team and got the Rescue Rangers canceled was a great choice. It was one of the few times Dale got a chance to really outshine the rest of the gang in the show, so it seems only reasonable that he’d want to pursue that over getting hit in the head every week. It’s also such a deeply nerdy choice that illustrates the writers’ knowledge of the show.

Monterey Jack being the thing that brings them back together, over his unending cheese addiction no less, gives the characters the push they need to pick up their roles from the show in a new context: doing what the LAPD is clearly incapable of accomplishing by finding their friend. Now that the meta-textual "we're doing the thing we're making fun of" stuff is out of the way, Chip and Dale could easily get the band back together and start the Rangers for real this time. I think there's plenty of space to make that work, honestly. The world of the movie is perhaps even more conducive to the Rangers being able to solve crimes and tackle goofball cartoon-tier villains than the show was, since they don't have to deal with the constraint that the Rangers are constantly having to concoct ways of getting humans involved without being seen or understood. Ellie can even come along too (but please, don’t make it a police procedural. Just... don’t). Heck, despite the theme song's proclamations, people rarely ever called the Rescue Rangers, the Rangers just kept stumbling across nefarious schemes by the show's main bad guys, or occasionally bumbling into a one-off scheme by some random incidental baddie. I could probably count on one hand the number of times the Rangers were actually sought out for their help. Maybe doing it “for real” could change that.

At this point I do want to talk about what might be the elephant in the room: Sweet Pete. It’s becoming more common knowledge that the Disney Corporation treated Bobby Driscoll, the kid who voiced Peter Pan, like absolute garbage after the movie came out, which contributed to his early death from drug addiction as a young adult. As a result, making Peter Pan the movie’s Big Bad has struck a bunch of folks as being in extremely poor taste. However, the movie does go out of its way to actually make something of the same point. Pete ultimately turned to a life of crime because Disney dumped him for the exact same reason they dumped Driscoll: he grew up. I’m not sure to what degree a big-budget production from a massive multimedia conglomerate openly pointing out the shitty behavior of said multimedia conglomerate counts for anything when it’s ultimately all still just money in said multimedia conglomerate’s pocket, but it feels like this is maybe the first time Disney has done literally anything to acknowledge that what it did was kind of really shitty? I dunno, It’s Complicated. The movie certainly paints a slightly more sympathetic picture of Pete than the trailer suggests.

I do want to circle back to the whole “cel-shaded 3D” thing again now that we’re down here in the spoiler zone, because Pete and Gadget feel like they definitely could have used another few (dozen) hours in the shader oven. Chip functions well for most of the film despite what I mentioned earlier, but Pete and Gadget definitely cross the line into “weird” and “awkwardly stiff” a bit too often. Pete just gets a bunch of angles where a 3D model just doesn’t flatten as cleanly as an animator could illustrate it in actual 2D. Gadget has “weird wobble-head syndrome”, and for as much as they poke fun at “Polar Express eyes”, Gadget's got more than a little bit of it going on herself.

Ugly Sonic, while hilarious in the current cultural context, is probably going to end up being the gag that ages the worst, just because it'll require a huge amount of pre-explanation for people who didn't live through it on Twitter at the time. I'm also a little sad that they didn't just have Jim Cummings reprise his role as Monterey, since they already had him in the booth doing basically every other role he had in the Disney Afternoon. I was happy that Tress MacNeille got to reprise her role as Gadget, though. She has such a distinctive voice it would have been especially rough hearing anyone else try and fill her shoes.

As far as the general review consensus, it seems like you either loved this movie or hated it with a burning passion. I'm not going to try and yum anyone's yuck, but for me, this fell right in the sweet spot of "goofy cartoon Hollywood", "Leonardo DiCaprio pointing at the screen.gif", and "weapons-grade nostalgia". It fit with the tone of the show itself, which was also self-deprecating at times, and certainly full of (frequently off-the-wall and groan-inducing) inside-Hollywood gags, like the two cats in one episode named "Jack" and "Nichols" who talked in an extremely mid-tier Jack Nicholson impersonation. This movie felt like it took what worked from the TV show (specifically, the character dynamics), dumped the distressingly-frequent and extremely cringe-y "other cultures are punchlines" humor, and built a universe where these characters could live and even reclaim their former glory. It may not be able to bear the weight of a full-on cartoon supervillain mad scientist like Nimnul, but a Fat Cat analogue could easily slip into Sweet Pete's shoes (I say analogue 'cause it'd be nice not to have a character who's just called "Fat Cat" even if it is slang for “rich asshole”, and also they sort of already blew the Fat Cat load with the post-meltdown Sweet Pete amalgam). 

[desidarling123]

FATWS Episode 4: A Definitive* Rank Ordering of Most Interesting Character Arcs, from Yours Truly

(*And by definitive I mean completely subjective, but yanno.)

IF YOU HAVEN'T FIGURED IT OUT BY NOW: MAJOR SPOILERS FOR FATWS. SCROLL AWAY NOW IF YOU DON'T WANT EM.

Now let's get into it:

1. John Walker

Let me start by saying -- the near-universal John Walker hate from fandom has always been largely undeserved, and that's a hill I'll die on. It comes out of, I think, a visceral sort of need to slot him into an easily understood black-or-white binary when, truthfully, he is neither, and I think this episode was the BEST example of that. The sheer range he exhibits in such a short time -- a handful of character moments and action sequences in the larger fifty minute episode -- serve to humanize him in a way that's messy and intense and very, very real.

Because MAN. Whether you were already sympathetic to John's plight or not, the death of his partner, Lemar Hoskins, is viscerally disturbing. There's no other way to put it. FATWS has not shied away from some pretty crazy onscreen kills, but this one was arguably the worst in how brutally mundane it was. Lemar was in the wrong place at the wrong time -- a man fighting amongst a whole room of super soldiers. He never stood a chance -- and yet, he still jumped in harm's way to save his best friend, a man in whom he saw indisputable goodness, even when the man could not see it himself. There's an obvious Steve/Bucky parallel here, but with a much darker and more realistic twist -- not all of us, after all, can be lucky enough to receive super strength that could save our lives. Lemar was always a regular mortal -- and for that transgression, he pays the ultimate price.

And then. What happens after. Oh. My. God. I felt Walker's rage and hopelessness through the screen. The death of that Flag Smasher -- at the hands of Captain America, no less, a man he'd admitted to admiring as a child not ten minutes earlier -- was brilliantly executed.

With the final shot of the townspeople recording the brutal murder it becomes overwhelmingly clear -- we are witnessing the tragic fall of a man who was, for all his previous missteps, trying to be a hero. But John's moral compass just died a meaningless, horrible death -- and without him by his side, Walker has become a man unhinged.

2. Bucky Barnes and Ayo

I debated putting this one at number two because I'd argue there were some weird elements to the writing choices made (more on that in a sec), but, nevertheless. Bucky and Ayo get slot #2.

That flashback to Wakanda got me excited, but I didn't expect my heart to get shattered almost right away. Oh. My. God. His interactions with Ayo BROKE ME. There's so much nuance in a scene that’s incredibly well-acted by both Sebastian and Florence — you see both of them in a moment that is incredibly pivotal for the former’s character, and we see the latter reacting with sympathy, strength, and enormous grace. I had expected a scene like this to be with Shuri (given that we last saw her with Bucky in the post credits of Black Panther) but, given the context of what was being performed (a final test of the trigger words) having Ayo there made a lot of sense. She could take him down if need be — but as the scene so wonderfully shows, thankfully, she doesn’t have to. Instead, she’s there to let him know that for the first time in almost a century, he’s free again.

Now, let’s get into some of the unevenness. I had hoped, at the end of the last episode, that Bucky had at least informed the Dora Milaje of his liaison with Zemo — that, perhaps, it had been Bucky’s intent to hand him over all along. Alas, that was not the case — Bucky, it seems, had broken Zemo out with little thought to — or perhaps simply silent acceptance of — the consequences that would come with it.

This is the part, again, where the writing felt a bit weak. We know from the opening shots of the episode that Bucky cares enormously for Ayo — they’re not simply soldiers in arms, but they’ve shared a moment of immense vulnerability together. We ALSO know that he cares enormously for T’Challa, for Shuri, and for Wakanda as a country (see Infinity War, where he says “I love this place” in reference to his new home).

So that begs the question — why? Why did he betray them in that way, besides sheer desperation for a lead? And it’s not one, I’d argue, that we are given a satisfying answer to. Bucky has been reckless to an alarming degree in the last few episodes, but not informing Wakanda of his intention to liaise with the man who killed their king feels like a MAJOR tactical oversight. Is he willing to burn everything down to win this battle against the Flag Smashers? Are these his self destructive tendencies kicking in? OR, is he just truly so blinded by his emotions surrounding his past that he’s willing to throw away what could very well be his future? Only time will tell. But I hope he’ll do right by Ayo and Wakanda, as he clearly has a LOT to make up for.

3. Baron Helmut Zemo

God. I love Zemo’s psychotic, problematic ass. Say what you want, but the man is the most efficient of them all and he isn't a super soldier or an Avenger. Over and over, he shows that he's truly smarter than them and always has been.

He doesn't get personal. He doesn’t get distracted. He knows exactly what his goal is, and he executes on it. Mans didn’t hesitate to unload several bullets into Karli, and as soon as he figured out what the vials were, he destroyed all except one. Like I said, the most efficient person on the team. Has arguably done more to forward the cause against the Flag Smashers/continued existence of super soldiers than anyone else and it’s only been a few days. Between that, his god-awful dancing skills and him shooting the eugenicist scientist without so much as a blink of an eye, I think he's a man after my own heart. I’m almost sad to see him get what’s coming for him come next episode. (Because y’all, he did still kill King T’Chaka, and there’s no way the Dora leave here without taking him out on a silver platter and an apple stuffed in his mouth). But again, let’s see how that pans out.

4. Sam Wilson

WHAT are the writers doing to Sam, I swear to God? We didn't get too much introspection into where his head's at during this episode, and when we did the treatment felt uneven at best. I think, in trying to have him create a rapport with Karli, the writers have created some areas of commonality that didn’t always translate as they’d like. It was also weird to see Sam swinging from the well-earned cynicism of the previous two episodes to the sort of wide-eyed optimism Steve used to portray. Perhaps that was simply to try and show Karli an alternative, but as the episode showed, she clearly wasn't buying (though, in Sam’s defense, he came pretty close).

Something about Sam’s characterization in this episode didn’t really do it for me — I would argue episode one and two were both stronger in that regard. Nevertheless, I’m hopeful that they’ll correct it in the next one.

5. Karli Morgenthau

Her treatment is arguably the worst of them all. She is young, yeah, but she oscillates at an alarming rate between spouting class discourse that, by this episode, feels largely derivative (like someone scrolled on Twitter and put a bunch of keywords together in hopes of evoking an emotional audience response) and homicidal tendencies that show a brutal yet fundamentally messy underpinning. Unlike Zemo, she is still too easily confounded, and that will come to bite her in the ass sooner rather than later. (See: The Power Broker)

Perhaps I'm meant to be rooting for her on some degree but I really can't -- she's cruel and sloppy, which I cannot forgive.

Oh, and she killed Lemar Hoskins and threatened Sarah Wilson. Yikes.

Overall Episode Takeaway: A lot of shocking moments and great acting beats for everyone involved (arguably some of the best of the series thus far), but the weakness of the writing does crop up in parts. Whether they'll be corrected for going forward is to be determined...

UP NEXT: Meta pieces for Sam, Bucky, John, and Zemo all in the works!

[seraphias]

not me having high thoughts abt my favorite complicated guild ....

okay, but ... if the oracion seis children were meant to 'seal' zero away & prevent him from taking over master brain, i can't imagine this being a permanent solution. WHAT IF brain would be cruel & crazy enough to eventually sacrifice them in the future ( as they carry said link ) in hopes of ridding himself from zero. what if the tethers were more deep than that. eventually zero's essence passed into them. which would explain why he required exceptionally strong mages to harbor him. not just strong, but mentally vulnerable ones. ones who lacked true purpose. ( for anime watchers, another reason he might not have wanted ultear is because she was too focused on her turmoil with her mother. she had her own agenda. she wouldn't provide the kind of loyalty he sought easily & maybe he knew that. )

also, i can't imagine being linked to that psychopath had many positive effects on their psyche. i'm so sure their link with him may have weakened them even more mentally — making them more susceptible for manipulation. like — c'mon ?! why would someone wish to fade into the sky, run from everything, or sleep forever if they didn't have a deep rooted death wish or a need to escape their existence. now i imagine master brain's goal was to inspire them to basically die & abandon what gave them reason to live ( ie: a brother, a sister, a mother, a friend )

& !! cobra / erik was possibly the most difficult to manipulate because his wish involved a friend — a connection to his humanity. an actual reason to live. he was definitely a problem for brain. this could also explain who brain was so quick to strike him down & betray him.

anyway, tldr; master brain is a terrible human being & i hope everyone knows that.

[wisteria-lodge]

Character Analysis: Sorting Castiel

courtesy of the @sortinghatchats​ system.

LION PRIMARY - Sense of morality and ethics comes from inside. Things just feel right or they feel wrong.

First things first. I completely get why people are saying that Cas has to be a Snake primary with his morality and motivations bound up in the well-being of Dean Winchester. His whole love confession was very Snake-flavored - “I cared about the whole world because of you” - such a Snake thing to say. And we know (from a couple alternate-universe Castiels) that Dean is the reason he tore up his entire life and rebelled against Heaven. So far so Snake.

But I want to talk about one of those other Castiels for a second. Apocalypse!Cas (with the Slavic accent) is loyal to Heaven, sure. But he’s also... not doing great. This Cas is twitchy, stuttering, he’s got about 15 facial tics. He looks like he’s gone half mad. He is not the cold, detached, selfish and hyper-capable Burnt Snake I would expect in that situation (*cough* Soulless!Sam). That’s a Cas who on some deep level knows he’s doing wrong, and cares.

The way I see it, sure Dean may have pushed him over the edge, but Cas was already doubting. Even back in Season 4 he’s telling us, “I’m not a hammer. I have doubts,” and making cynical little asides like, “they don’t tell me much.” Heaven has a very strict Badger primary culture, and “crack in his chassis” Cas knows he doesn’t really fit.

Dean quickly becomes the most important thing Cas’ life because he represents a way out: another group to join, another set of values. Dean is a Badger (like the angels) but a softer Badger, one Cas has an easier time agreeing with. Dean’s even the prophesied “Righteous Man” which means his morality comes pre-approved by God. He becomes Cas’ replacement Heaven, his commanding officer. Dean’s coping mechanisms and mission statements become Cas’ coping mechanisms and mission statements. Castiel tries to be part of the world though him.

But it doesn’t work. Because Cas is not a Badger, no matter how hard he tries to be. The first time we see him truly angry is also the first time he sees Dean as morally flawed. Cas beats him up, yelling, “I rebelled for this?! So that you could surrender to them? I gave everything for you. And this this what you give to me?”  

He’s doing what a lot of Burned Lions do, looking for an external conscience that gels perfectly with their own felt morals. And then getting angry when that person turns out to be fallible. Cas goes on a quest to find God (ie morality/goodness/meaning) using Dean’s necklace as a guide. Then when he fails to find God, he acts like it’s Dean who has betrayed him.

So Castiel starts down the Path of the Unhealthy Lion Primary. He declares himself the new God (the most extreme version of Exploded Lion possible.) And when that doesn’t work, goes insane for a while. He gets amnesia, hears Leviathan voices in his head, actually spends time in a mental hospital. It’s a dramatic way of talking about a Lion primary who has no idea what their internal voice is saying anymore. The whole Naomi arc just underlines this one more time: Cas doesn’t know what he’s doing, because he is controlled by Heaven. So he needs to to break though his brainwashing and find his internal sense of rightness.

I’m also thinking Lion primary because in order to heal, Cas has to go off by himself, get internal, and just sit with his thoughts. That’s what he does alone in Purgatory and through a lot of his “becoming human” and “hiding the tablets” arcs. The most dramatic example is when he dies for the fifth time and is stuck talking to the Empty’s Personification (who happens to sound a whole lot like Apocalypse!Cas...) 

"I'm already saved. You can prance and you can preen and you can scream and yell and remind me of my failings but somehow, I'm awake. And I will stay awake and I will keep you awake until we both go insane. I will fight you. And fight you and fight you forever. For eternity."

This is the moment when he plants his feet, stares down impossible odds and goes No. You move. Cas has gone deep, found his meaning, found that inner voice that will keep him going - and keep him stable - and he will never let it be taken from him again. He’s become the heroic Lion primary.

And that’s the context a lot of metas are missing when they talk about Cas ending up in the Empty during Season 15. The Empty is a place of great strength for Cas. So during his confession when he says, “happiness isn't in the having. It's in just being. It's in just saying it,” what he’s saying that he’s complete in himself, without Dean. In that moment, Cas becomes somebody who doesn’t need to follow anyone anymore. And if Cas wanted to have a relationship with Dean after that, well, he’d be in a good enough headspace to do it.

BADGER SECONDARY - fair, hardworking, shows up. Good at getting people to trust them, good at getting people to help them. If they see a locked door, they knock. 

This is definitely how Cas problem-solves. He makes himself part of groups, and once he’s there he takes on support roles and caretakes. Sometimes he lays on the tough love a little harsh, and can seem kind of direct-Lion-secondary flavored. But I don’t think Cas even has a Lion secondary model. It’s just his loud primary shining through. There is a cleanness and straightforwardness to Cas’ methods that is important to him as a character, and makes him a nice contrast to the Winchesters, who model everything.

In the later seasons, after he gets a little healthier, Cas starts to build his own family (Kelly and Jack to start.) But even when he goes dark, he goes dark like a Badger – Cas the blackmailer, Cas the interrogator.

He builds things a little bit at a time. That’s how we saw him learn to be human. He’s inspirational and effortlessly attracts allies. Dean responds well to those Badger secondary you’re safe with me vibes. And even Cas’ idea of how to deal with Empty on his his dark night of the soul is so, so Badger: I will sit here, and keep at it, and argue with you forever.

tl;dr

LION PRIMARY that is first burnt, then exploded, then burnt again, then healed / BADGER SECONDARY

[pirepoumon]

The question of my life, besides asking people to consider if we have a language problem which is, itself, a language problem, is a question of love. If I knew the exact question maybe I'd be better at answering it, but I'm not so sure. The shape of it fills the container it's in, as large or small as my field of view, like a specter that obscures whatever my camera is pointed at.

Using Freire as the foundation for a model, I have written - I have transcribed - that trust is produced by faith, love, and humility. Love is at once the requirement for dialogue and the dialogue itself, a near enough paraphrase. Love, here, is that which compels social workers to dedicate themselves to the task of improving child welfare, to pick an example at random, if the sample size is poor. It is the whole question; it is only the first component. Then, humility, to know that we do not know better than the other person; faith, because dialogue without believing people are capable of change and enacting change is empty and no true dialogue at all. If both parties have all three, then: trust. With trust, then, we move to hope - faith extrapolated, that the world might change though I may not live to see it though this fight may not be what realizes it. (This is KB's snowball. We are all of us pushing and waiting for the rock to roll, an inverted collective Sisyphus. Essential, I think, that we are in the cold in her version, hoping for a downhill slide.) And critical thinking, that we may create the change we believe in and hope for.

So that's the training, and then educational psychology, and the rest. I think I need to read bell hooks, principally because she is Kentuckian. Or not principally, but equal in importance to the other most important reasons, but when I read Freire off-hours it was driving me even more insane than I'm sure I sound right now.

The other day I wrote that I think all people are marvels, which is true but was coming from how I resent - a really unkind word, resent, but a true one - how my coworkers are so shocked about my hot air balloon landing experience of 20 years. "If I am it's only that all people are marvels, all of us. [...] these are just things that a person can do. I firmly believe that. My constellation of experiences is uniquely mine, but my grace is mostly in threading them together in a coherent narrative. This is a skill that can be learned - or a service we can provide to each other."

I'm interrupting myself now, but is that love? I don't think that's the answer, if it is. Telling ourselves stories to make it mean something. One angle, one image, still obscured. "Freire calls dialogue in which we weave new connections, new images, new meanings, and so in the naming and the praxis answer each others' calls to become more fully human. The tapestry grows, is made whole, becomes other than that which it was, now a blanket or a set of clothes, a shield, a banner, a song, house, road, basket full of fruit, a garden... If I can show this image to others, teach them that they can grasp those strings, weave the story... This, this is the crux of it all. What else could there be?"

Jesus, what else?

"When the task is to reclaim our humanity, how could any one of us be innately incapable, when the task is only possible hand-in-hand - in community? There will be those who choose willfully to not participate, or even sabotage others' efforts; those whom others' oppression benefits and those oppressed who harbor their oppressors within. Those who do not engage in true dialogue for attachment to pride or condescension or cynicism. But not a one of those things is innate; they are all choices one can make, or not; they are obstacles that can be overcome if one commits to doing better by each other. It may take more time than life I have left, but as long as I am moved by hope... [I can fight. And if I fight with hope, I can wait.] It's for, by, with each other we answer our vocation to become more fully human, and still yet it's only done through the transformation of the world it's achieved. So take up your loom and gather your threads so that those who take them up after you are more whole, more human."

We talk about families first, which is the name of a particular piece of legislation, but I keep thinking this week: if families first, then what? The obvious answer is communities, systems of care. Systems of care! There are five unique systems of care staff I work with. Adult, child, crisis, trauma, justice. And justice is mostly law enforcement, although the SOC in question is as lovely and good as they come; all of them are, mostly. But honestly we are not even at families first, even if we allow that families are the permanent natural connections forged by an individual through which they are made resilient (more fully human). We are struggling to articulate what we mean when we inch people toward dreaming bigger - pushing that enormous snowball. We are here to build a bigger house! We are here to stand shoulder to shoulder! We are here, trying to see the meta-conflict because we have fucking language problems. There are not enough italics in the world for my feelings about language problems. You could revolve each letter there around any axis a full 360 degrees and never arrive at the right angle of disdain.

If to speak is to transform the world, it's necessary to fucking speak the true word. You have to know the word to speak it. Or in the articulation of it you can learn it, maybe, but you have to form the words somehow. I get angry and mix up several things: forgive me, that was in another country, another language; last year's language. The Republican calendar was pointless, undivorceable from the war on patois and the people's language, but I understand why the revolutionaries wanted to rename the world.

All of this and I've barely myself talked about love. Love, maybe, is only the answer; without precision, it's empty faithless boisterous uncritical nonsense. What is love made manifest? What's love, in a broken system among disenfranchised, isolated (siloed!) people? How could I let love live in intent? Can love transcend - or, I can't finish the thought, can love infuse beyond the action? What does that fucking mean? I have a language problem. The question of my life is about love.

[waynedunlaptheorgandonor]

That anon with that fucked up ask about Mmb, i hate to say it, but a lot of your posts as of late are feeding the C@ryl haters, dismissing those who aren’t as chill about the spoilers as you are as dramatic and telling people any negative theories about a female character is misogyny. You’re so smart and great at analysis and i love your writing and i usually love your meta, but, as of late, there’s an edge of mean and smug i’ve been surprised by. I get you’re frustrated w fandom, but jeez.

i 110% encourage anyone who finds my posts upsetting to unfollow or block me. i mean that genuinely. even if we're friends, i don't mind. my whole thing is that i want ppl to make fandom a place they want to be a part of, and if i'm spoiling the experience then exclude me from your narrative, that is totally fine, and i will never hold it against you.

and to be clear, i am totally understanding of people who are upset about the spoilers, and who don't wanna be positive bc they're feeling tired with everything, or they don't like the direction the characters are going, and there isn't a thing wrong with their pov. but i /do/ think there's something wrong with specifically targeting female characters and actors, however, especially when we've literally not seen anything they've done yet. there is a VAST difference between "i don't like this female character bc of X reasons that she's done in the show," vs "this woman interferes with my ship, ergo she's a bitch and she should die and i cannot believe the audacity of the actress to play such a horrible character." if you're not doing the latter then i'm not targeting you and you shouldn't be concerned.

you're never gonna see me go on a ten million words long discourse rant about this. i got all my obnoxious, militant activism out in college and am sort of at the point where i'm cynical and bitter lol. like i'll go to the protests but me and the rest of the old, cynical crew sort of just hang in the background sighing the whole time cuz we been here so long, and i'm the same way about internet discourse, which is probably why i come off as snarky. i'm too tired to teach intersectional feminism on a tumblr blog about a zombie apocalypse show, but i also have absolutely no qualms about pointing out privileged behavior when i see it. y'all are lucky i haven't bothered to touch the racism aspect, lmfao. you wanna see bitter, just try me on that one.

the point is, i'm going to be very understanding about how different people are affected by the way the story is progressing, and i am very self-aware that positivity is not what everyone wants right now, which is why i've said more than once that you definitely do not need to be up in this blog if it's upsetting you, i genuinely do not mind.

BUT!

when it comes to misogyny i am not going to be as nice. i'm not here to make you comfortable, and if me pointing out the rampant internalized misogyny not just in the caryl fandom, but p much every twd fandom (or like, any fandom that exists anywhere) makes you uncomfortable you may want to examine why that is. again, there is a clear difference between disliking a character bc you simply don't like their story and development, and disliking a character bc she's a woman and she makes you mad, and the latter don't fly on this blog, and never will

(i was telling my partner about all the spoilers, and you know what the first thing he said was? "god, i'd fucking hate to be that actress." this is not something i've made up, this is a very prominent problem, my dudes)

so i'm sorry if i seem mean, and in most circumstances i will be understanding and patient, and if you want to talk to me about a specific issue or have a specific question i will try and meet you where you're at with no judgement, but when it comes to the situation at large, i've been through this bullshit long enough (re: my entire gd life) to not have to be gentle about stuff like this anymore. especially not on my own blog. shit makes me mad, and i'm entitled to my anger, just as other people are entitled to theirs. i contain multitudes, bro, let me be a complex character, it's only fair

-diz

[sillyfudgemonkeys]

i havent been here in a hot second is there a reason for the makoto hate specifically? like the rants go back to p5's writing issues but the spite for makoto seems very specific did she kill someones dog in one of the spinoffs or what?

You're all good. So here's the thing, she did kill my dog-I'm joking.

When I say “I’m the residential #1 Makoto Hater” it’s a joke, partially cause it probs looks that way (and probs cause it might be true, who knows if you could quantify hate then maybe I’m at the top of the leaderboards 8U but you can’t so we’ll never know). But I’m saying it at as a joke, to own myself and everyone here that knows what I think of her, rather than wear it as a badge of honor or some silliness. It’s just a “oh haha yeah there goes Silly, dunking on Makoto again! She’s basically Makoto’s #1 hater haha oh she’s so silly.” (so please don’t look too deep into it, I just want to have fun).

Anyway, me hating Makoto isn’t new, but I do hold a similar ire towards Futaba, Goro (tho I have camaraderie with his fans, I relate to their struggle in terms of my own brown hair and red eye fav and Atlus screwing them over u_u I may hate your fave but I respect you and will be in your corner), and Yukari (as well as Chloe from LiS if you want a non-Persona example). Makoto might be talked about more because 1) She hits my buttons that much faster (Futaba/Goro are more like a festering wound, and when I talk about them it’s hard to pick a starting point), 2) Her fans tendency (early on in the fandom) bringing her up frequently.....was a bad combo with #1 (overexposure+pushing all my buttons really fast=disaster). Obvie not blaming her fans, but it was hard to curate how I was able to curate my content online (esp with gaming news websites calling her “best girl” when showing off a figure announcement or some BS when I just want to know what new games have been announced >.> I can do without you trying to start a waifu war in the comments Siliconera -_-)

Anyway, I think I’ve made my reasons for hating her very clear (you just have to search her name on my blog and you’ll get a ton of essays I’m sure, too many to count). And a lot of it is the failure of P5′s writing. “So it’s just the writing you hate, not the character.” No. Because that doesn’t make sense. Except under certain circumstances (which I’ll provide examples of below with Luke Skywalker), you can’t separate the writing from the character. The character IS the writing, the writing IS the character. If you can’t hate/dislike the char because “of the writing” then you also can’t love/like them either. The character and the writing/writing choices for that character are connected. The writing embodies that character. They are the same.

Now I said there was an exception, and that’s....”different writer/director,” tho it’s not ALWAYS the case (sometimes the new writer really gets the original writing, like Saito for MM.....they are very good at emulating the clusterfuck of P5′s writing). P5′s writing is the original basis for Makoto’s character, that’s her. You can’t separate it from her. Same thing with say....Luke Skywalker from the OG trilogy, that’s him. But then we get to the sequel/Disney trilogy, new writer/director....and yeah that’s a mess (from what I understand OG trilogy=Hopeful and tries to see the best in people, 2nd Disney=Cynic and tried to kill a child, 3rd Disney=Hopeful again for some reason). There’s character development, then there’s just straight up changing the character just cause you need them to be this now. 

*writes how this can apply to Persona spinoffs but deletes because I was getting too off track* Look at me exercising control. It’s probs best I save that for a meta after I’ve replayed all the spinoffs again.

But....if you want me to boil down my issues with Makoto, I hate the message we get from her. I hate the lesson we learn from her. What is supposed to happen vs what happens.  It’s supposed to be about a girl who is blindly following authority and becomes disillusioned with it after being burned by it, on top of “immense pressure” she has as well, and then comes to our side (we know this because Atlus told us). We don’t get that (we know this because we saw the execution). We get two adults, yes TWO ADULTS, one of which is her sister and wants her to do well in school (but isn’t like.....a tiger mom about it, because Sae can’t be TOO horrible because we need to like her later), who in retrospect seems very busy with her job (which gives Makoto freedom), but also feels burdened by her younger sister (in which she has one shitty slip with her and then NEVER again). And the other is a dumbass principal who asks a really strange and stupid task for Makoto that snowballs into bullshit. That’s IT! THAT’S IT! That’s all we get from Makoto and “authority.” Strawmen. We don’t really get much of her personality either (I’m not saying that cause “she’s cardboard” I legit just.....don’t get her? Like I don’t get enough of her to get a solid foundation, you get me?) Like as the player, what we see of her is she’s just studying in the library (Kamo arc), then the principal calls her in, she mentions the rumors about Kamo, he asks her to look into the PT in exchange for a recommendation (to which she’s surprised and says thanks, not no, she looks like she’ll accept JUST BASED ON THAT) but before she can even say Yes (OR NO) he threatens Makoto with her sister, to which Makoto hardens and then agrees. Then she acts like an asshole and yadda yadda stuff happens.

But if she’s supposed to blindly follow authority, she’d say yes, but then they don’t let the character breathe so she can make the “wrong” choice because the Principal goes STRAIGHT to threatening her.......so now the message is muddled, or really it’s non existent. The whole Sae thing is a nothing bag too, it’s just family drama. Her sister is, no HAS to be absent a lot for her work, just so Makoto can have the freedom to be a PT....which means....it hurts her lack of freedom and other stuff associated with Sae being a big pressure on Makoto’s life. You know, I’ve said before they’ve squandered Sae, and that Makoto’s presence really harmed Sae (iirc it was this post). But at the same time, how they handled Sae really screws up Makoto’s character. Neither are allowed to breathe. Neither are allowed to make a true, horrible choice...and then learn from it. They aren’t allowed to have an actual arc. Altus played it safe, took choice away from them, didn’t want to take risks with either character and have meaning. Instead we just have this nothing contradiction thing dicking around until they join our team. 

What really sucks about that....is we got that with the Kamo arc. With Anne, Ryuji, even Yuki and Shiho. Kamo was manipulative, and his manipulation caused people to make....not the best choices, all out of a means to survive. Ryuji physically acted against Kamo, and he got his leg broken, team disbanded, and outcasted. Anne was trying to protect Shiho’s position on the team, which lead to her almost getting harmed by Kamo, Shiho getting harmed, her not seeing the truth about what was going on around her, and she didn’t tell Shiho (because she didn’t want Shiho to think she didn’t get on the team for her own merits), and so on. Shiho didn’t tell Anne what was going on because she wanted to protect Anne from Kamo (and was afraid Anne would, very much blame herself), and her and Yuki and the rest of the teams helped keep quiet about Kamo so they wouldn’t be next on the physical chopping block. This isn’t me blaming them, this is me showing their choices, their attempts to fix their (hopeless) situation, to help themselves or others, and the dramatic irony being it just made everything worse. BUT, even tho Kamo was the real one to blame, each character is aware of the actions that were made, and the consequences of each action (esp Anne/Ryuji/Shiho). And in their CoOps, they identify this, and take strides to learn from it so it doesn’t happen again. That’s an arc. That’s character development. They were allowed to make errors, mistakes, decisions that negatively impacted themselves/other’s. We see a solid foundation of their character from the get go, and how it changes over that small time. We don’t get that with Makoto. The group is like solid concrete to Makoto who is like shifting sand. 

Sorry got a bit off topic, anyway, I hate her message of boasting about her fighting ability but she only harms her friends (outside of shadows, but that’s not special) WHILE ALSO being a damsel that needs someone else to rescue her! I hate how when she gets called out, she wants to drop it, and gives gaslighty apologies, even tho she really ROYALLY screwed lot of people very badly. I hate how she demands us to help, only to literally be a detriment to our investigation. I hate how she gets to fly off the handle without repercussions (despite needing to be cool calm and collected for her job, especially since she miraculously can do that when needed so what the hell????). I hate how the text has her be shitty, say shitty things, be bad at her job, but will turn around and reward her time and time again. 

Sure she doesn’t break the lore like Futaba, or unravel P5′s plot like Goro. But as a character with a message attached to her, even ones that the creators surely overlooked (I’m sure they didn’t intend for her to only hit her friends), it’s simple but very annoying. Fast and easy to see, doesn’t require me to think of P5′s lore as well as the grander Persona lore. Doesn’t require me to dig through text for Goro bread crumbs and then unravel the entire basis of the P5 plot thanks to him. Makoto is easier to get into, it’s smaller scale and more personal I guess.