#(I have a thing for themes of the soldier's post-war identity...)

[cavernsandcod]

a little continuation to this post of mine. | 0.8k

cw; dirty dog simon and husband!price, nsfw themes

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Price knows Simon by the sound of his footsteps.

An ego-driven, menacing gait that makes all the soldiers disunite like the red sea when he travels the corridor. All the small talk and banter comes to a halt when the big man is around, as if he's some sort of bad omen. It's not true, at least John doesn't think so, but that might be a Captain's privilege. He's in charge of the brute, not the other way around.

A dark shadow passes by the stained glass, a masked head held up high. He passes the crack of John's office door, likely intent on avoiding any unnecessary interaction—

—always yes sir, no sir, like a good boy.

"Riley. In here. Close the door." Price calls out, taking off the reading glasses hanging low on his nose, tossing them onto a stack of intel. The soldier stops in his tracks. Doesn't flinch at the serious tone of his superior. It's not the first time he's heard it, won't be the last.

Simon crosses the threshold, shutting the door. Crosses the room in two quick strides like a floating apparition. "Intel?"

"Thankfully, no." Price slowly rises and rounds the oak desk, which feels uncanny. His lips curve into some sort of uneasy smile, crow's feet and lines of age deepening. Makes the air feel calmer, more personable. The Lieutenant stiffens and crosses his arms, his face in a permanent scowl under the black balaclava. Nothing about this is normal.

"I need a favor, Simon." Simon. Not Ghost. "It's about the wife."

Simon turns his head to the shelf beside him, studying the row of framed photos, the majority encapsulating you. The dating stages, youthful and bright-eyed in pubs and restaurants with a thick, hairy arm wrapped around your waist. Then, months after he popped the question—the idyllic wedding in Madrid where you faced each other, hand in hand.

All he remembers of it is the itchy suit and open bar. If he weren't the shell of a man, he might feel bad.

And now, the photos are few and far between. No life to them, just fake smiles with friends and their kids. A hand around your shoulder and a nose in your hair, all while you fight an inner battle. No vacations, no fun. Just the pretty missus to an esteemed Captain.

He was certain you two wouldn't last.

The first time you visited him on base and tried to hide how out of element you felt. Didn't notice the man spectating from the corner, his identity concealed. Or pretended not to. Too sweet for your own good. Ignored for months on end. Mere roommates with the man you married on the off chance he is home. Probably doesn't have time to lay you down proper—

"Well? Simon?"

He shrugs, feigning indifference. "What about 'er?"

"I need you to keep an eye on her for me. Laswell has something for me in Istanbul, and it might be a few weeks." Price responds, fiddling with the band on his left hand.

"Been gone weeks before, Cap. Months, too. She knows how it is by now." Simon retorts, curtly. Their problems aren't his. He's not keen on becoming private security for a boring housewife, either. You live a boring life. Nobody knows where or who you are, except the circle.

"This is different." The captain's tone sours. "She's pulling away from me. Doesn't see things... clearly anymore. If I leave us where we are now, she might not come back. You're the only one I trust." His voice almost splits into something weak. Almost.

Trusting him took years of work and near-death experiences that had them make it home by the skin of their teeth. Some sort of war-bred trauma bond, his shrink said once. John only goes to his appointments out of necessity, not so much his own volition.

They see horrors the paper-pushers don't, and will never, truly digest.

He could talk about personal things, too. The questionable childhood, his marriage, the prospect of children—but doesn't. He's too guarded to hash any of that out.

"So," Ghost begins, head dipping low in thought. "You're asking me to shadow your bird. Follow her... Keep her sound?"

It's not really a question, but the polite thing to do is ask. Simon knows what he should do and what he actually will; always ten steps ahead.

Price nods, letting out a small hum. He pats the hard shoulder standing beside him, a firm pat of approval. "Do whatever you have to."

All it takes is five words. Five words and another lingering stare at the photos of you make his chest pound, fingers twitching in search of action.

In truth, Simon always thought you were captivating—an anthesis to everything he is.

He spent the years of your relationship on the outskirts, curled up on the front porch like a stray that isn't allowed inside, chained and confined to his place. Never broke the rules because he's a patient, headstrong bloke with a few fantasies.

All he needed was an invitation inside.

His cock twitches in the confines of his trousers, the forbidden switch finally flipped.

"Yes, Sir."

[chatdae]

[id/ screenshot of an interview transcription. It reads as follows_ "Hamilton: What's Nick like? I haven't brushed up on Gatsby in years. Ross: Nick is a character that's been interpreted in a few different ways over the years. Something that really excited me about our production, is that from the beginning the creative team wanted to portray Nick as a gay man who is at a turning point in his life-- leaving the war, leaving his twenties, searching for purpose, safety, love, and excitement. I'm just at the tip of my exploration now, and it's already been really thrilling." /end id]

I’m so excited for the new Gatsby musical but seeing this makes me so happy. After seeing how the papermill Gatsby straightwashed Nick this is so refreshing to see. ❤️

[gossippool]

every day i wake up and think about the fact that wade was special forces. and no there is not going to be any singular coherent point to this post this is just every thought and headcanon i have ever had about it

but like he will never not be a soldier in every single way. there are things he's learned that he's had to do like how to shoot and clean guns and how to survive torture and how to stake out a place and address medical emergencies, but there are also the other things like focus and discipline and communication, right. and this absolutely has an effect on many things that he does

in the case of an emergency, he can lock in and focus on the task he needs to do no matter what. wade as a person is very in touch with his emotions, but he can switch that off when necessary. we saw this when he was protecting vanessa in deadpool 2, and that was before vanessa was even physically injured—if he has to deal with a severe injury of a loved one, his special forces training would override any personal emotions he feels. and wade is intrinsically selfless, but his training has definitely helped hone that mindset: leaving no man behind, service before self. he was literally trained to put his life on the line for others and this is a theme we have seen in every single movie. doing the experiment for vanessa over actually caring about his own life, literally dying for russell, sacrificing himself so logan can live.

and even in daily life he is very attuned to his surroundings and body language. he knows how to carry himself, can change the tone of a conversation through the subtlest shift in body language. if he's angry or displeased, his tone could remain as lighthearted or nonchalant as before, but the air will shift ever so slightly to let you know that he's serious. and that is Scary. he can be so intimidating when he wants to be

also ! his identity as a soldier itself was protection for him. this is more symbolic than anything but Look at this:

this is by no means the special forces uniform or even a military uniform in general but this outfit choice was definitely meant to mimic it (vanessa is also wearing the same army green). it's literally armor for him in preparation for receiving bad news. like a soldier going to war

all this to say that he is an incredibly capable man and a soldier at his core and did not need protecting even before he became deadpool. not only that, but he is often the most qualified and skilled person around, which necessitates him doing the protecting most of the time. but just because he doesn't need protecting, it does not mean he doesn't need protecting on a mental and emotional-connection level. this is why logan is so good for him, because he's one of the only people in the world who understands this and can actually do something about it and will take a bullet or two for wade just because he can

[rafayelsbelovedbride]

Dragons and scapegoats

I made a post a while ago comparing Philos/Earth/Lemuria to Omelas here. And now that Sylus has his myths too, let me continue.

Special thanks to @ourlittleuluru for giving me more reason to talk about him. I was just going to reblog it with your tags but it got too long. So here it is~

While my expectations about the myths were way off for Sylus, I think, he still fits this theme really well. Because, yes, he was the child in the basement, and he was the scapegoat, along with all the dragons.

When humans first arrived in the past days of Philos, they probably came to this place to escape the wanderer-infested Earth and find a place where they could live a peaceful life. Maybe the public was told Philos would be a nice little utopic place where people could live without fearing for their lives. But they were sold a lie. What they found when they arrived at Philos was a dying planet where dragons ruled, with a hollow core that was falling apart into pieces. It was just fragmented landmasses slowly drifting apart as described in Xavier's anecdotes.

So, wouldn't the public be outraged? Defeated. Betrayed. Drained. Drained, because they still have to fight for their lives. Betrayed, because they were scammed out of a better future. Defeated, because there is no such thing as heaven, only a different hell.

So, of course, to prevent the public from turning against them, the people who brought humanity to Philos had to find someone to blame.

A perfect scapegoat. A scapegoat that can hold a mirror to all of humanity's twisted desires and yet still be blamed for it.

Dragons, the harbinger of war and conflict. Dragons, that could bring the darkest parts of one's soul to light. Of course, they're to blame. After all, anyone would prefer to say, it was not me who had these evil, heinous thoughts, my soul was corrupted by a dragon. No need to take responsibility for my wicked nature, the dragon made me do it.

So, they declared war on dragons, promising a better future once again. They killed every single one of the dragon-kind until there was only one of them left. Now, the last dragon cannot be killed. If all dragons were dead, then there would be no scapegoat. One of them must be kept locked in the basement to remind us all he's responsible for every evil in this world. We are not just locking a little child into the basement, we are locking the evil away.

So they made a spectacle out of the last dragon's demise and sealed him into the abyss with a claymore in his chest. A violent end for a vicious dragon. A constant reminder to all humanity to keep their souls untainted by desire. Of course, a puppet without a want is the easiest to control after all.

But, now, enough time has passed. Maybe the public is growing restless and no one really cares about the child in the basement anymore. So, the moment they find a puppet with a single desire, they frame her too. And burn her dragon. Burn her sympathy for the locked child.

And that's how it begins. For MC's and Sylus's story, they're both the scapegoats. And for their story, MC is the one who broke the child free out of the basement and brought doomsday to Philos. With Sylus, we take a closer look at the story from the child's perspective rather than the savior's, who set the child free.

And, we see that even freeing the child and destroying the people responsible for his imprisonment does not guarantee a happy ending. He is still a dragon who is destined to ruin anything he loves and everything he desires.

And, maybe that was the reason why he let himself be trapped by the sacred judicator in the first place. Sylus never accepted his identity as a dragon. He hated it. He fooled himself into thinking he was just like other humans, and cut up his horns every time they grow until he was a bloody mess. Maybe, that young dragon, while soldiers were chasing him with their swords, thought that this was what he deserved. Happiness and being satisfied with what he has is just not in his nature. That day, he was defeated not by an army of humans, but by his own hatred against himself.

So, loving her, with his own soul etched in hers, meant accepting his own nature. And maybe, that was how he actually broke free out of his chains. That's when he saw himself not as a scapegoat for humanity's sins, but as a lonely dragon who deserved this love he received.

At the beginning of the story, he did not try to break free from his chains until MC found him, he did not seek revenge unless MC asked for it. But by the end, he broke free when was imprisoned and burned down every city to the ground. By the end, he seeked MC when she was about to be executed and willingly fell into their trap. Only this time he did not accept his end because he hated himself, but he accepted it to save his beloved who owns half his soul. That was a sacrifice he made in the name of love, all with selflessness, while accepting his flawed nature. And that's how he broke free of the dragon's curse at the same time he escaped his fate to become a scapegoat for the people of Philos.

And I really love the current Sylus. He still longs for human connection just like his younger self. But his desire to connect does not bring self-hatred anymore. Instead, he rides the subway, takes the twins under his wings, and goes to karaoke with MC's coworkers.

Maybe, he feels at peace now. I hope he does.

He's reunited with the owner of his soul. And even if everyone blames him for what's wrong in this world, he has no desire to let them have their way. He will escape the space-time prison and chase MC to the ends of the worlds.

So, he will get the ending he actually deserves this time with his beloved by his side.

[ananke-xiii]

The Identity of the Man in Yellow

These are just my speculations but you still have to have watched S3E10 of FROM to get all the references. So it's not exactly spoiler-y because S3 ended weeks ago, but if you haven't caught up with all the episodes it is, lol.

The first thing I want to say is that I havent't found anybody talking about the significance of the color yellow and it's a bit weird because it's such a glaring thing! I'd like to write about it because the use of colors in general but in American media is always very precise. I mean, yes, color studies and film studies go hand in hand but also I've always been fascinated by how American writers are very intentional with their choice of colors in their works (Poe and Melville with white, Hawthorne and red, Morrison and blue, Perkins Gilman and yellow but also Fitzgerald and yellow/gold etc).

If it wasn't clear enough before, it is now: one of FROM's undercurrent themes is race. This is why I'm baffled by people being confused as to who the monsters are. I mean, guys, please. An eerie town stuck in the fifties, isolated, in the middle of nowhere. Where there's a sign for a motel but no motel (which I take as an unwillingness to welcome foreigners but an interest in luring them in). Where all monsters are white (I have things to say about the Kimono Girl but I won't now) and blood is represented as being infectious and carrier of weird things&death.

I think it's safe to say that one of the meanings of the monsters is to represent the cultural anxities of white people around racial purity. Throw in the Civil War soldiers, the never spoken-about-but-it's-there Vietnam War and the fact that Boyd is black and his wife Abby is white and their son Ellis marries Fatima and that from their union SYMBOLICALLY (I have to highlight this word everytime) a monster is reborn... That the monsters want to BREAK Boyd... There's no escape, the monsters are all about race.

So what does this have to do with the Man in Yellow? (It's a long post)

Well, ladies and gentlemen, I believe that the Man in Yellow is Jim's father.

No, not his actual father, rather the reincarnation of Jim's father. I don't know how to technically fit this into the reincarnation aspect, but, I believe, just like Tabitha and Jade are destined to go back to the town to save the children (and fail), the Man in Yellow is destined to go back to the town to continue the abuse (and succeed). Because the thing about the cycle of abuse is not only about victims who keep being sacrificed but also about abusers who keep doing the sacrifice. And since the sacrifice is all about parents and children... the Man in Yellow must be someone's father and my money's on Jim.

If you really think about it, it makes sense because monsters are connected with immortality but they were CLEARLY scammed by someone because, surprise!, they can very much die. Sure, they can be reborn the same as before (not reincarnated) but they need actual people there for them to come back. Which means that someone must send/attract/lure these people to the town.

It's not a coincidence that a lot of screen-time is given to Jasper, the ventriloquist dummy. To me the monsters are like the dummy so there must be a ventriloquist as well.

The facts are these:

in the pilot the little girl opens the window because the monster tells her that she's her grandma. It's established from day 1 that we need to watch out for grandparents or people claiming to be them;

the father of said child MUST die because he failed to protect his child (and wife). In hindsight THAT was a HUGE clue;

right before the Matthews met the tree (lol), Jim says how he wishes things were like they were before and recalls the day he and Tabitha met her parents. Tabitha says that she was terrified that they wouldn't like him. So the theme of fear is very much connected to that of the parents' parents since the very first scenes of the show;

for the love of all that is holy I cannot find this scene but I am SURE that, at one ONE point in season 2, Ethan asks Jim if they will ever see Thomas and his (Ethan's) grandfather again. By linking Thomas with his grandpa I think it's safe to assume that grandpa is dead just like Thomas is. Now it could be Tabitha's father but I think Ethan's talking about Jim's here;

in season 3 when Jim talks with Henry in the bar he mentions that his father was/is (I don't remember but, see above, I think grandpa is dead) an alcoholic. He says this because he recounts the night Julie was born because that night he went to a bar and decided to quit drinking because he didn't want to be like his father;

the link between the Stevens and the Matthews is Julie. Future!Julie saves Boyd by giving him the rope (even if she doesn't know that there's Boyd in that shaft) and Boyd saves Julie in return from whatever happened to her, Randall and Marielle in S2. In a similar fashion, future!Julie will try to save Jim, although she seems to be unsuccessful;

music: Boyd had to destroy the music-box to save Julie and the others and, in so doing, he destroyed his chance to uncover his past (well, this is my hypothesis tbh). On the other hand, music allows Tabitha and Jade to remember and, potentially, to save the children;

Boyd's father, thus Ellis's grandfather had Parkison's and Boyd thinks he has it too;

and now for the meatier part: Jim and the Man in Yellow scene in "Revelations" and Boyd and Smiley scene in "Pas de deux".

The scenes:

In "Pas de Deux" Boyd is faced with a dilemma: his son, Ellis, needs a blood transfusion because he's been wounded by Dale. However, Boyd had been "infected" by Martin ("infected" is such an ugly word but this is the general vibe that I get from the show and I think it's intentional albeit uncomfortable. Sometimes discomfort is important) and doesn't want to "pass it on" to his son. Kenny, Boyd's putative son, steps in and accepts to get whatever Boyd has in his blood "passed on to him" so that Boyd can be free and Ellis can be saved.

Boyd solves the dilemma by going out into the night, slit one of the monsters' throat and pass his blood on to the monster. In a surprising turn of events, the same monster, so-called Smiley, will turn out to be Boyd's SYMBOLICAL nephew. Smiley is what comes out from Fatima's pregnancy and Fatima is Ellis' wife. It's stated in the show multiple times that, before it was revelead that the pregnancy was real/unreal, Boyd would become a grandfather (I mean, of course, but like, mentioning it was meant to focus our attention to Boyd becoming a grandpa, not just an obvious, throwaway line like "oh you'll become a grandpa, you're old haha").

Therefore, when Boyd says to the monster "My blood is your blood now" he wasn't... wrong.

In "Revelations: Part Two" the Man in Yellow appears in the woods, by the RV where Jim and Julie are. He also slits Jim's throat and tells him that "knowledge comes with a cost". Since the previous scene had established that the "monsters" sacrificed their children (the "cost") to gain immortality, I think there's room to see the Man in Yellow as sacrificing his child (the "cost") making Jim the Man in Yellow's son.

My hypothesis is reinforced by all of the above facts but specifically about the scene with Boyd and Smiley in S2 because these two scenes are visually very, very similar. This would be good news because it could mean that Jim can "resurrect" just like Smiley did (hopefully in a different, less gory way).

There's also the element of Future!Julie linking both Boyd and Jim as father-figures to be saved.

Would this make Ethan closer to Ellis/Kenny in terms of narrative function? I don't know, Ethan baffles me because we know from day one that he's a super-key element to "solve" the story but the writers are rightfully doing their best to cover the answers they've disseminated throughout three seasons. So it's not easy to fully understand him but one thing is sure: he's connected to the Man in Yellow by the color yellow.

To sum up: Boyd and Man in Yellow are grandfathers of monsters. They represent the ancestors, if you will. This is the reason why the monsters are so obsessed with Boyd and want to break him. Boyd is the antagonist in the Man in Yellow's immutable, immortal story while he is the protagonist in our story.

Their sons are Ellis/Kenny (whom Boyd didn't want to sacrifice) and Jim (whom the Man in Yellow definitely wants to sacrifice). This also makes Jim and Smiley stand very closely to each other. Julie is Boyd's symbolical daughter and Jim's actual daughter. She managed to save the first at a cost (what happened to her in S2 started because of Boyd) but couldn't save Jim who, in turn, had to bear the weight of the cost of having helped Jade and Tabitha unearth their past.

The show is about reincarnation, generational trauma and children sacrifice. There's an element of "what goes around comes around" that must be stopped or this "cost" will keep be "passed on" from character to character and from parents to children. In other words, the story must be changed,

Mothers are shown to be the ones who are bent on breaking the cycle while fathers seem to keep repeating it because they haven't shared light on their trauma, yet. In this respect, Jim, if he ever makes it out alive, is/was actually closer to Boyd in breaking the cycle. For example, Jim clealry states that he doesn't want to be like his father, while Boyd is shown to believe that he also has Parkison's just like his father had (I insist on the "believe" part because Boyd refuses to be examined by Kristi and says that he "knows he has it" but I think he's being an unreliable narrator here). This makes me think that Boyd is convinced that he will end up just like his father, even if he says that the town won't break him. Perhaps he already feels broken inside. In "spirit" he's much more like the Man in Yellow than Jim is.

In all season finales Boyd is undergound which is a symbol of the unconscious and repressed trauma. A good indicator of whether he's gonna make it to the end alive or not will be to check S4 finale: if Boyd is still shown in an underground, dark place I don't think a happy ending is in for him. Ultra Sad Face.

You might have noticed that my first point (and the show's first introduction of the monsters) is about a grandmother. So how do grandmothers fit in all this?

There are also several grandmothers in the show: Tabitha's mother who we only hear on the phone (just like the Man in Yellow before his appearance); Elgin's grandmother who, I believe, was the person he was supposed to go see when he took that fateful bus; Tillie and her seven grandchildren (just like the number of the angkoohey kids) and, finally, Jim's mother, the piano teacher whose teachings proved to be THE key to solve the numbers' enigma. This brings me to my final point:

Jim's mentioning his mother in "Revelations" reveals that the Man in Yellow is his father (or, rather, his father's reincarnation). Why?

The facts are these II:

the last three scenes of "Revelations" are about remembrance, birth and death. Two parents remember their child, one "child" is born and the grandfather watches his "birth", Jim dies and his child watches him "dying";

the two parents were able to recognize their child because of Jim's mother's teachings;

Boyd watches the birth of his "nephew";

the Man in Yellow kills Jim while Julie watches.

There's a signifier vacuum around Jim in all these scenes: he's a father-figure for sure but right now he's a son, a child. His mother's child. And as one "child" is born... one "child" dies. And this child is Jim. Jim is a sacrificed child. This makes the Man in Yellow his father, because the sacrifice of the town is not about random kids: parents must kill their children. And so the Man in Yellow kills Jim. And so the father sacrifices his child.

In S3 of FROM we got a "I am your child" moment.

In S4 of FROM we'll get a "I am your father" moment.

[jackattack20writes]

I think I’ll probably have more to say about it when I’ve spent even longer thinking about it but this weeks ep of Gquuuuuux is fascinating. Like there’s a lot of interesting things set up with the blatantly obvious laser beam project, the ripples of Machu’s identity reveal and Shuji’s I’m sure to be short term zeknova trip. But I think the most interesting is how Machu and Nyaan are at least on a surface level being set up as rival pilots heading into the last four episodes. But with all the themes the show’s been tackling I sincerely doubt there’d be more of a conflict than Heero and Trowa when Trowa was acting as a spy in Wing and first ran into Heero and they “fought”

Like from what we see of Nyaan in this episode to set up her willingness to leave, the investigation of the smuggling ring she’s part of, the “I’ll need to go to earth with them” line, the running away from the Gquuuuuuux to avoid having to confess what happened to Machu, the ‘failure’ to keep Shuji alive (I’m pretty confident the run away with me line was as much to save Shuji and avoid failing what she promised Machu as it was her jealousy showing) all is to set up why she both was willing to leave with Zeon and say she has nothing left on Izuma.

This paired with Machu’s… well everything in this episode, almost shooting Annqi, finding the Gundam abandoned with no sign of Shuji or Nyaan, getting shot at by the police outside of the Gquuuuuuux and then shot by Challia, the yet to be seen consequences of her identity being found out, getting arrested by zeon. Neither of them have the connection to either side that would keep them fighting for their opposing side without being threatened. And as was seen with Shiiko in ep 4 opposing new types are just as likely as teammates to enter the Kira Kira together. So I sincerely doubt that the fight will go on longer than it takes for them to… interface I guess? I don’t have a better word for it.

This is especially because both sides of Zeon are being framed as taking advantage of these girls at their lowests for their own purposes and considering the lateness this is happening with only four more eps of the mainline timeline (and assuming they don’t do a fucking time jump in which case anything I’ve ever said about this show is moot because time jumps are the fucking worst.) there isn’t really the time to build up a devotion that would make either Machu or Nyaan willing to kill for them, especially not each other. And considering the whole thesis of this show so heavily focusing on the idea of finding your place combined with gundam’s long held idea that child soldiers and war are bad as well as the admittedly pure vibes feeling that we aren’t going to get a downer ending, like I feel it’ll be in line with either og or wfm rather than ibo, I don’t think either character is going to end up dead or with the military as their place.

Also like I do think it’s be intended to be a t least a level of commentary about how militaries take advantage of the youth who don’t know where they belong or what to do with their lives in order to use them as soldiers.

Like I can’t say I know what exactly the last four eps’ll be (I’m not counting ep 8 because it seems to just be the rest of the char content from the film) but I feel like it’s both out of character and going against the story that has been told for Shuji, Nyaan and Machu to at the very least end it together platonically or romantically. Also I haven’t really talked about Shuji in this do in this post cause he’s the main thing I wanna think more about, like I think it’s important how he acted different to how he normally talked about the Gundam when it zeknova’d so I think that’ll be important soon.

[historia-vitae-magistras]

When you said Jack never came back from World War One, what did you mean? Do different countries have different ability to revive?

I mean it in a poetic way. A running theme in my writing is the facets of humanity lost and found across a life span. I think most people can put flowers on the grave of someone they used to be. Jack's is just somewhat literal.

The usual story is of Gallipoli as a birth of a country the beginning of a national identity. The baptism of blood and fire. There's this construction of a mythos around it for both Australians and New Zealanders. I... Kind of accidentally put that arse over the kettle because it's the place I killed him. There's a quote from Game of Thrones of all places "kill the boy and let the man be born." Anzac Cove, Lone Pine, Quin's Post. These are the places I took him and to a lesser extent Zee, apart.

There's something very sad in the enthusiasm with which the Australians in particular went to war. The western world went to war in 1914 in a storm of hysterical nationalist joy but it always read a bit— more earnest from the Australians. Maybe they were just less subdued than Canadians or Brits or New Zealanders, I don't know. It's a good part imperial delusion but it's not like all of these men were entranced with the imperial project. Men like William Sing and Caleb Shang were a part of the Australian expeditionary forces too.

Jack, as an individual, isn't raised on heroism. He knows what his father is, he knows what soldiers did in his own territory. But there was this glamour to it. This sense of bravery and decency have to exist somewhere and maybe it is on the battlefield. Certainly there are countless stories. They give out medals. In the American part of the anglosphere, courage and bravery are the terms most used but for the Commonwealth, it is gallantry we think of as deserving medals. In effect it means Bravery but also has this connotation of chivalry and decency. He has women in his life who have shaped him as much as the men and rough hewn but honest decency is something he thinks the world needs more of. He thinks war will make more of it. He thinks a kind and spirited boy will become a gallant but fair man.

Instead, his sister buries that boy on a spare bit of the cliff face.

The man who comes back isn't depraved, he's still funny and friendly. But his anger is darker and his optimism is tainted by fatalism. He stops trying on a lot of things. He protests constantly, refuses to play as a team or fight at all sometimes and becomes a bit hedonistic. And misanthropic. So misanthropic. He's always liked animals a bit more than people but oh it got so much worse after WW1.

[niriaveil]

okay yeah. i know i've reblogged a lot of points but like. here are my own. negativity abt the show below. sorry.

things that bothered me immensely besides the obvious militarization of everything.

lady's characterization + kalina ann + arkham's whole purpose being nuked.

arkham and his lineage have the blood of a priestess who is tied to temen-ni-gru. he wants to become a god. he willingly sacrificed his own wife and used his own daughter in his endeavors to reach godhood. he's a cunning manipulator and an intellectual scholar. that was not there in the show at all.

kalina ann being a basic ass military weapon is so fucking shallow and removes ALL of the fucking depth it had to lady's character (not that there was much respect for her character anyway, the story being what the fuck it is).

vergil's characterization

i'm sorry but vergil would never work willingly under mundus, are you fucking kidding me. even when he was trapped in the demon realm, he fought mundus and had to be stuck as nelo angelo until dante freed him in dmc1.

vergil literally lost his soul and became enslaved to mundus because he pushed away his only family and tried to separate his humanity from himself. he thought embracing his demon side would give him the strength he coveted so badly. that's why dante and nero always win, because they have the capacity for love.

vergil's whole thing is that he wants demonic strength because human frailty failed him. honestly this whole post talks about my issues with vergil's character arc in the show.

also what they did to bury the light was criminal. how dare you.

(also on the topic of music, how fucking dare you use devil trigger fro dante's transformation - THAT IS NERO'S SONG. dante HAS his own theme, it's SUBHUMAN. WHY ARE YOU USING NERO'S THEME!!!!!)

whatever the fuck they were trying to do with the demons

honestly i don't know if i can sum this up at all in my own words. they were very much trying to make real world connections of the bush era + iraq war with the demons and darkcom in this show.

the fact that fucking "american idiot" plays while the american military invade makai/hell while the demons are portrayed as hijab-wearing arabs being subjected to war crimes by jingoistic soldiers who wave the american flag and pose for selfies! wow!

what they did to dante.

for a show that was marketed for dante, to be about dante, in his titular series and him being reduced to just prop up lady (honestly if you wanted a lady anime spin-off, i'm so certain many dmc fans would've wanted that instead of whatever the fuck this is). they lean way too hard into his wahoo wacky pizza man persona and not the fact that dante tries to cover up everything with humor and jokes because he's so crippingly lonely and depressed after the loss of his whole family and his struggles with his demonic heritage, to the point where he doesn't want to be around humans because he hates his demonic blood! not that he doesn't love humans, because he LOVES humanity and wants to do right - but the fact that his very nature is so grotesque to him and his identity that he just shoves it down, down, down.

not to mention that they just. oh my god theres more but its 130 and i am just so. i LOVED the animation and the voice acting but holy shit that was. im just gonna go replay the games.

[azurestar]

With the Eras Tour movie coming out this weekend, I thought I'd post some of my Batman/Taylor Swift thoughts.

My Tears Ricochet reminds me so strongly of Bruce and Dick's relationship I'm not 100% convinced it wasn't actually written about them. I could probably do a full lyrical analysis to this song, but for now I'll point to a few selected quotes.

Even on my worst day, did I deserve, babe All the hell you gave me? 'Cause I loved you, I swear I loved you 'Til my dying day

You know I didn’t want to have to haunt you But what a ghostly scene You wear the same jewels that I gave you As you bury me

In Swift's discography, the "jewels" represent the albums she lost the rights to, which her former label continues to profit off of. In this context, the jewel is Robin's identity— which Bruce gives Jason weeks after firing Dick.

I didn't have it in myself to go with grace 'Cause when I'd fight, you used to tell me I was brave. And if I'm dead to you, why are you at the wake? Cursing my name, wishing I stayed ... And you're tossing out blame, drunk on this pain Crossing out the good years

When Bruce fires Dick, he tells him he wants Robin to stay dead. When Dick confronts him about taking on a new Robin, he at first refuses to acknowledge “the years we spent together as Batman and Robin”— before breaking down and angrily admitting that he missed him.

Mastermind reminds me of Barbara —specifically, her conversation with Helena in Birds of Prey #84, when she apologizes for psychologically manipulating her. Read the bridge of Mastermind…

No one wanted to play with me as a little kid So I've been scheming like a criminal ever since To make them love me and make it seem effortless This is the first time I've felt the need to confess And I swear I'm only cryptic and Machiavellian 'cause I care.

…and then the following panels.

Right Where You Left Me is more meta than the others on this list, but it reminds me of Tim— still Robin, still seventeen after all these years.

Everybody moved on I stayed there Dust collected on my pinned-up hair They expected me to find somewhere Some perspective, but I sat and stared Right where you left me … Did you ever hear about the girl who got frozen? Time went on for everybody else, she won't know it She's still 23 inside her fantasy How it was supposed to be…

In a hypothetical edit, I’d change the self-deprecating next line to “Did you hear about the girl who lives in delusion? / Heroes die every day / You don’t have to lose it." You know:

You’re Losing Me reminds me of Stephanie’s time as Robin + War Games.

I gave you all my best me's, my endless empathy And all I did was bleed as I tried to be the bravest soldier Fighting in only your army Frontlines, don't you ignore me I'm the best thing at this party (You're losin' me)

Despite Batman's discouragement, Stephanie gave being Robin everything she had, throwing herself in the line of fire to protect him. Instead of rewarding her efforts, Batman pushes her away, limits her information access, and eventually fires her.

And I wouldn't marry me either A pathological people pleaser Who only wanted you to see her

As War Games progresses, Stephanie's overwhelmed with guilt. All she ever wanted was Batman's support.

Finally, the heart failure theme. Swift incorporates a heartbeat into the track, and “you’re losing me” references a coding hospital patient. The final lyrics:

Stop, you're losin' me Stop, you're losin' me Stop, you're losin' me I can't find a pulse My heart won't start anymore

[lucky-draws]

bosselot ranting and raving which genuinely makes no sense and isn't worth reading ↓

something something big boss becoming a lone, paranoid figure who trusts no one because of his series of betrayals i.e. the boss' "defection", les enfants terribles, the boss' (perceived) abandonment of him in her desire for peace, kaz's involvement with cipher etc. something something when you trust no one but yourself maybe you Would have quite a fascination with someone who is your phantom/copy/double/clone/you. unlike les enfants terribles venom is the kind of "clone" that bb can forge a twisted affection for, due to his absolute loyalty and due to his being, well, him. am i about to start "shipping bbvenom" well not really i'm just pondering big boss and also, as usual, pondering my favourite phenomenon of People Who Are Identical But Not Quite. im big boss and so are you. im maria s/ilent hill and so are you. im solid and im liquid we're the stupid brothers. etc

also. sigh. basically im attempting to write a fic (who knows if it will ever see the light of day) where ocelot gives himself big boss' scar. just for fun/because he's insane. 1964: i wanted to eat the same food as him -> 1973ish: i wanted to permanently mark myself with the same scar he gave himself which also happens to be my mother's scar from birthing me etc. #justocelotthings. and big boss goes through 10000 shrimp colour stages of anger/grief/fascination/horny/acceptance in reaction to it.

and i was thinking about post pw incident where bb is beginning his shift into a much darker, closed off figure and he's full of bitterness in the wake of all his chucking-her-bandana-into-the-ocean The Boss Feelings and also his divorce with kaz. and how maybe his feelings towards ocelot (which are as insane as they've ever been due to the recent development of The Scar) are also shifting a little. up until now he's accepted ocelots promises of devotion and loyalty and he's reciprocated ocelot's affection because he does genuinely Like Him Despite Everything and they have had their weird little Thing going on for many years. but now it's like. concepts such as loyalty to the end and unconditional devotion are beginning to lose their credibility; bb questions whether even ocelot might not be his ally forever. and does BB even Want ocelot's loyalty? he's a useful person but BB never ASKED for ocelots loyalty. loyalty, devotion, subservience - these are hollow promises. he likes ocelot when he's a real human and not a soldier. he likes ocelot as his equal. one might even go as far as to say - he likes ocelot best as an extension of himself. he likes ocelot as his mirror. "you're not a snake and im not an ocelot?" wrong. we're both snakes. as you said yourself, ocelot, in a nice little scene in approximately chapter 2 (doesn't exist), now that you've given yourself that scar, "we match". we're nothing but a pair of snakes. we're red string of fate tied to each other more than ever. we're the sons of the boss; we're twin snakes. we're metal gear solid: the twin snakes 2004 developed by konami and silicon knights for the nintendo gamecube. but we're not just two snakes, we're an ourobouros. i don't just want you to pledge your loyalty to "big boss", i want you to be big boss. i want to you to live my dream, not just be an ally to it.

in actual fact maybe he is just in love with ocelot (squee!) but this is big boss we're talking about so. he is literally a weapon he is war itself he's the war machine he's a soulless dead fish of a man. and either destroying or assimilating everything in his path forever is kind of his whole theme. and ocelot as a literal child of the battlefield will never escape it either. so they both just blow up and go to hell forever.

OR DO THEY. maybe bb is actually like wow everyone is betraying me the boss has abandoned me and ive abandoned her except never entirely even if i did throw her bandana into the sea in a moment of rage ive still got this scar on my chest. and so does ocelot because he's insane about me hm to be honest maybe i should just Give Up War and we can both retire and live on a ranch together forever the end.maybe that's actually what happens. life could be dream.

also please god let me find a job soon ive been unemployed for 7 months this is what happens when i don't have a job it gives me the time to think about bosselot until my brain melts and oozes and i start writing very long incomprehensible posts on my art blog at 3pm which does nobody any good. sigh

[soulandink]

Hi, I’m @soulandink—a writer and artist exploring characters through a deep and honest lens. Pieces like this have lived in my head for a long time, and I figured it’s about time to let them out and share them with others. This is my first post, so I wanted to start with something that strongly captures the tone I hope to share here. And what better way to begin than with one of my all-time favorite characters: Bucky Barnes.

——

“Der Soldat”

This piece is called Der Soldat, the German word for soldier. The work itself is centered on the aftermath of Bucky Barnes’ time as the Winter Soldier. I wanted to capture one of those late-night moments when sleep won’t come, and the memories refuse to leave.

Bucky has been called many things: Steve’s best friend, a U.S. Soldier, a Hydra captive, and the Winter Soldier. His whole life has been spent fighting: first for his friend, then his country, his name, and eventually, his identity. I wanted to show that for Bucky, the external wars may be behind him, but the internal ones are not. This depiction is another version of “the soldier”—not the assassin, not the hero, but the man fighting a silent, impossible war with his past. This is the soldier after the mission ends—when the world is quiet, but the mind is not.

The colored elements—the Wakandan-designed arm and the blank dog tags—act as focal points because they are what he is focused on. His arm is a reminder of what Hydra stole from him and how hard he’s trying to reclaim his autonomy. The blank tags represent grief and longing. They could belong to Steve or Bucky himself. Either way, they symbolize a time long since gone— and the people and version of himself he can no longer return to.

Other small details include his loose grip on the chain, his head bowed, and his casual clothing. These choices were made to show he is a man trying to let go of his past, while trying to heal, move forward, and begin to establish a sense of normalcy again.

Ultimately, this piece is about identity. “Der Soldat” is a nod to his Hydra-controlled past, but also the ongoing battle within. Bucky is one of my favorite characters in the MCU, and I wanted to offer an honest glimpse into the trauma and complexity of his journey. This is my attempt at giving him a space reflective of the pain and resilience that have continued to shape who he is.

——

What do you see in him? Did any of these themes resonate with you? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

[snip3dkid]

Stray; He/it, ageslider (20-30) adult, deadkin soldier and more, I'm a part of a plural Alterhuman/holothere collective. An inspibased fictive, I suppose, idk (sourced from CoD and leeched from several characters + a self-intsert.). This is my corner and relates specifically to whatever I want to have here.

> Canid ([guard] dog) pet tidal with an affection towards dog/pup petre things <3 usually mixed with canid alterhumanity side thus cross tagging with sfw petre and canine kin tags.

> I do experience tween thoughts as well (around 12-16 in age. + Sometimes 9, I think.). So, not pet regression exclusive content from time to time.

> morbid bitch, really. (Media/fiction based, not irl) Gore, horror, concept of war and violence, etc, enjoyer.

> we experience violent intrusive thoughts so we may make & reblog things related to such themes.

!! this blog may be shared with two other in-collective kids & teens, sometimes with other adult parts. This was originally supposed to be an agere/petre focused blog, !thus the "Kid" in the name! But I'm too lazy to change it out now lol.

On this blog there will be swearing. No outright NSFW, but I do excuse suggestive content with a suggestive tag. We may reblog photos of weapons and such, writings regarding paraphilias and heavier themes, though, so beware?

Some tags I'd suggest you block if you want to look at our blog but don't want to see specific things;

#{para tag}

#{weapon tag}

#{whump tag}

I don't really poke around nsfw specific tags. I may reblog whump related prompts though for own amusement, so that's why the whump rb tag.

Take care of yourself and heed any warnings, really, don't subject yourself to things that make you uncomfortable or are distressing to you. :)

No DNI, collective is anti rq, transID critical, ship- & syscourse apathetic and pro good faith identities. We're pro para and anti contact + pro safe recovery.

I reblog who I want unless we get blocked. Reblog ≠ same views or endorsement of the creator's/OPs stances.

Body is white and perisex, and bodily we are an adult (18), thus we may interact with NSFT & MDNI tagged posts & blogs. Collectively trans and gay.

Okay, byyee.

Taglist here.

[steege-jpt3391]

Blog Post #11: "Cruel Story of Youth" by Oshima Nagisa

I was excited to watch Oshima Nagisa’s “Cruel Story of Youth” because after engaging in several different post-war films, this one I feel had the most unique execution. While Ichikawa Kon’s “The Burmese Harp” tells the story of an ex-Japanese soldier reflecting on the atrocities of his country and burying the graves of his dead comrades, this movie highlights more about the effects of post-war on common, everyday people who are just living their day-to-day lives, not getting caught up in the complexities of the war. The story follows Kiyoshi and Makoto, who are two lovers with quite a complicated story. The two get caught in a wave of post-war thought relating to the transformation to a Western identity, leaving the lovers to feel lost and unable to navigate an ever-changing world. In a film rooted deep in how the youth responds to changes in the world, Oshima depicts a story of angst where as the world constantly changes, younger individuals almost get swept behind.

One thing that sticks at the most to me about this movie is Oshima’s creative approach on how to target younger audiences and share a story that might be a little bit more under-represented. A lot of the popular post-war films of this era really only focus on what’s actually happening in the war, but not what’s going on outside of the battlefield. The characters almost carry about a figurative youth rebellion because it’s like they’re rebelling against Western thought. Oshima has even taken inspiration from several different American films dealing with the same idea of youth rebellion to highlight the difference between older and newer generations. While I believe the whole idea of showing how the transition from a premodern society to a modern one is a little bit overdone in the field of Japanese cinema, I still thought this film was quite interesting and did a good job of incorporating elements that would pertain to a different audience. The theme is not only adult-dominated, but male-dominated, so I appreciate Oshima’s creative outlook on trying to address an issue that might be more overlooked.

There are also many underlying themes when it comes to the actual romance between Makoto and Kiyoshi, as Oshima tries to depict a power dynamic revolving around sexuality and money. Personally, I wasn’t the biggest fan of the way Oshima tried to depict this idea because I thought the whole story to be a little bit vulgar and not make that much sense. For example, I thought the fact that when Kiyoshi raped Makoto, Makoto did not find it to be an act of hate so for her standards it was OK (Like what is this photo below)? Then, they begin to use each to make money? I did not enjoy this plot point of the film as I found it to just not make sense at all, and while Oshima may have done it for a specific reason to depict the sexist power dynamic, I didn’t really have me hooked. All in all, an interesting film that I look forward to discussing in class.

[goetzjpvis]

2/2/24 "Mobile Suit Gundam" JPT3702

Before I analyze this session's episodes on Gundam, I would like to take a look at the article "Contesting Traumatic War Narratives" by Ashbaugh.

Around the end of WW2, Japan has been dealt a devastating blow to not only its cities, but economy, morale, and family life too. This lead to the uprising of an internal pacifism movement, which is likely the reason that most Japanese media nowadays take a, sort of, anti-war approach (whereas at one point, stories that highlighted fighting for a cause during internal conflict were more popular). Nowadays, with anime spreading across the world for its unique entertainment and technologically-advanced qualities that awe audiences around the world, Japan has a reputation for being a pacifist country, despite their numerous war crimes and onslaught against the victors during WW2. But to what extent can we see these themes in Japanese media? How prevalent are they?

While watching Gundam, I saw many interesting narrative parallels to WW2 that paint war in a bad light. When Amuro stormed his house only to find it empty (sans for a group of rowdy, drunk soldiers) he was disappointed and shocked. The soldiers were breaking things, drinking, acting uncivilized, and being inconsiderate about the humans around them. This is clearly a nod to American soldiers who occupied Japan with their naval bases post WW2, relaxing in the country they defeated and harassing civilians. Even though this is a criticism on America's behalf, it is still an anti-war message that parallels Japanese history. The soldiers also harassed Amuro's friend's mother as well.

Many more anti-war sentiments were expressed throughout the episode. When conversing with the old lady whom Amuro had saved, she remarks that "Being left alive and alone is a cruel fate". Post-WW2 had so many disillusioned Japanese, women especially, who lived alone because their husbands and sons died at war. It gives a glimpse into the lives of common folk, who although didn't suffer directly from combat, lived lives full of tragedy as well. This shows that war affects everybody, not just the people who are fighting in it.

You can continue to take a more conservative approach to the show and question the heavy involvement of Fraw Bow and other females in the series. One may think "women shouldn't be fighting, they shouldn't be involved with soldiers." The show however, shows this as a necessity for everybody involved, increasing the seriousness of the situation, especially with Fraw volunteering her help as a result of seeing her family be killed in front of her.

Ashbaugh's article mentions a few shows, Gundam being one of them, and states that the shows generally do a good job of "refighting the war". The storytellers are conveying to the audience how things "should have been done", and promoting a more pacifist route to their own history. From a psychosocial perspective - perhaps as a sort of group healing?

Lastly, why is this a kids show!? While the anime was made, for the most part, to sell toys to children, the inclusion of this anti-war story does serve a generally important purpose. It can be considered propaganda, in a sense, in that children will grow up with these pacifist ideals, instilled by the narratives they consume and buy merchandise for, so when they are exposed to the real events of war, they will see it in a new light. It's also a soft way to introduce children to their own history. Children can learn about their country's past without being exposed to it directly, protecting them from mental disturbance early on. Within Ashbaugh's article, he quotes Napier's suggestion in that SF anime "provides important insights into historical memory and contemporary identity through its “distinctive narrative and visual aesthetic”.

[itsmaferart]

Twiyor parallelism #4 ··· Mutual trust

Warning: This post contains manga content

It's been a while since I continued with the Twiyor parallelism, and I feel it's a good time to pick it up again. Everything I say here is based on my point of view based on the manga content, so you are free to have a different opinion. That said, let's begin

I think a recurring theme in the fandom is the constant teasing we do from the beginning of why a spy and an assassin, the most lethal and dangerous people in their respective countries don't realize their identities? Yes, we've all laughed in Twilight's face for simply being one of the smartest men and not realizing that a normal wife shouldn't be able to knock over a cow -

oh come on, just look at the dumb face he makes.

But moving on from the jokes, I've seen so many people make their posts explaining why this happens, I feel it's a good time to give my own version:

Multiple answers:

I think for a lot of people the most obvious answer is that Spy x Family is a comedy, so a lot of the plot conflicts and resolutions don't really have to make sense. Basically any contradiction is valid, Twilight goes from being a genius to an idiot in a second to the next. In one aspect, such as espionage, deduction and plans, Twilight is intelligence, but in the face of incoherence such as his wife's monstrous strength or his daughter's manipulations, it simply seems that his brain stops working. As Sylvia herself would say: Is he a genius or an incompetent?

Another theory I've seen is that Twilight doesn't recognize a normal woman: Twilight is so used to strong women, be they spies like Sylvia or Nightfall that he doesn't distinguish the level of strength as something "strange". Twilight has not had a normal life, he lost his mother at a very young age. So he has had no interaction with everyday situations, which explains his occasional awkwardness in being a stay-at-home father and husband. So for him, Yor having colossal strength is the most normal thing.

The women he has been with during his missions surely had skills as well. Which, it is possible, given that Twilight has been everything from an agent of the armed forces, a mobster, a political figure, and so on. So it's not strange to assume he's been with women who come from dangerous backgrounds. And Yor would be the first couple with a "more everyday" life (being a city hall employee)

Personally, I think all of these answers and plots are correct, because they all work in and out of the story. Considering that the comedy of Spy x Family is so unpredictable, each plot fills in different implausible moments that occur. The characters are silly, smart, blind, deductive and have very abnormal views of what is everyday and what is not.

I support the idea that Twilight has a distorted view of the world, this is mainly due to the war, having been a soldier and then becoming a spy. He has not had a normal life, he is adapted to see the world as a spy: through intrigue, suspicion, and denial of his emotions. However, espionage has allowed him to develop exceptional social skills so that he can be liked by many people and know how to get the best out of them. Basically, Twilight's reflex is to "take advantage" of his relationships, this mental bias is so embedded in he does not hesitate for a second to take advantage of the slightest opportunity to seduce Yor —even though the strategy he applies is totally fallible. Twilight is used to the idea that relationships are "links to extract information and make his work more efficient". However, if it were so normal for Twilight for a woman to have such strength, I think she wouldn't be surprised by Yor's prowess or go to the trouble of saving ordinary people.

I think Twilight is aware that an ordinary civilian is vulnerable, and that Sylvia and Nightfall are trained combat agents. But he simply doesn't try to reason Yor's strength, since it doesn't have a solid connection to being an assassin (But I'll emphasize this in the next point). We add that Twilight is attracted to strong women: But this refers more to the emotional strength of a woman to overcome life's adversities and keep smiling. (Although I also think Yor's strength drives him crazy).

Even so

However, I think there is one reason, which seems to me to be the most important (and I think many people overlook). I am referring to the reason why Twilight personally does not suspect Yor, and her "peculiarities".

And that is…

Twilight trusts in Yor

Possibly many people feel that this is contradictory because of the times Twilight has distrusted Yor. But even knowing that, I think those moments of relapse only emphasize that Twilight trusts her, but his instincts as a spy prevent his from feeling safe with his family, so I'm going to review those moments:

Mission 2: From their first encounter, Yor showed signs that alerted Twilight to her peculiarity. For starters she could be among the first people to penetrate his guard completely, when he didn't even perceive that she entered the tent, and quickly caught Twilight's gaze. This made the spy reconsider his plans to "ask her to be his mate", worried in the face of a woman with such sharp instincts.

Paradoxically, however, Yor demonstrated a degree of naivety bordering on being "foolish" by being able to believe the most ridiculous lies Twilight could come up with. While, Twilight saw it profitable that their interest coincided as one needed a favor from the other, he seems unable to comprehend how such a naive woman could become insightful, causing a contradiction in the spy's logical mind.

Curiously, when Yor protects him with a kick, pushing the criminal away from Loid, far from reaffirming his suspicions, Twilight seemed delighted with this spontaneous act of hers. Her strength, far from being a threat to him, functioned as a defense mechanism.

.

Mission 14 - Being an SSS agent: Once they move forward with the marriage, and meet Yuri Briar, who turns out to be an obvious SSS agent to him, it makes perfect sense that Twilight is suspicious and feels that Yor may actually be an agent sent to set him up. It could be that the SSS was aware of his mission, (since they are spy hunters) and sent a woman to investigate him and play the role of wife. Which would coincide with Yor's very open attitude to accepting a fake marriage, despite the strangeness around Loid Forger.. It would not be unusual if Yuri at some point revealed his identity to his sister (although he has no desire to do so) and she just pretended not to know. All this detonated in Twilight setting up his wife, with Franky's help. Although all that theatrics ended in failure when Yor proved with actions and words his innocence.

The most important thing to note in this scene is that Yor was risking her identity as an assassin, exposing herself to the SSS for her brother and her husband. The reason for her being Loid's wife was to protect herself from the SSS, but she was willing to fight two officers or the entire organization if they laid a finger on her family. If they had been real police officers, the sight of a woman assaulting a police officer or covering up for suspected spies, Yoru would surely be questioned.

Even before disguising himself as a secret policeman, Twilight hesitates about wearing a wire or not, even though he is a spy. Still, Yor didn't mind if she was confronted by SSS members. She preferred to defend her fake husband, which makes Twilight dismiss his suspicions and feel enormous remorse. It's seeing someone, risking it to protect him.

.

Mission 67 Meeting Melinda Desmond: When Yor tells Loid the news that he has just met Damiand's mother, Melinda. Twilight has a few brief moments of distrust, raising the possibility that Yor is in cahoots with his target's wife. He dismisses this when he considers how illogical it would be for Yor to be telling him about their encounter, plus Anya quickly made a clarification.

Clearly, this suspicion has little basis in fact, as Yor has no idea who the Desmonds are, and has never shown any political interest. Her entire involvement with the Eden Academy has been at Loid's request, from the very beginning.

.

We also have briefer mentions like the nights Yor would come home very late with her hands full of cut and grim looks, and was reluctant to have dinner with them. Or that time after their date at the bar when Twilight thought Yor was setting him up in reverse to force him to do the skin trap. These times, though, were quickly dismissed

We can see, in each of these times, that there are patterns in Twilight's distrust: He has never had a conclusive clue that Yor is an enemy, much less a murderer. Twilight only clings to mere assumptions when Yor interacts with people dangerous to him: the Desmonds and the SSS. And leads him to believe that they are colluding with his wife to betray him (Something that surely could have happened to him in the past with his fake relationships).

Twilight's distrust of Yor stems from himself, and his greatest fear since starting the Forger family:

..."Getting attached and learning to trust other people"

Clearly, Twilight has been getting to know Yor and she has only shown him her most honest side: a sweet, maternal, tender, patient woman, with a positive, discreet vision, who puts love and family first. But she also shows him her most vulnerable side: she is shy, clumsy, unsociable, a lousy cook and very insecure.

That has caused Twilight to confide and show himself vulnerable to her on more than one occasion. For they, in part, share many insecurities, the same sense of responsibility and sacrifice. The truth is that feeling so much comfort with Yor has made him more sensitive, but it also makes him develop an unconscious fear that all that beauty is a lie, and he himself is falling. Feeling exposed to Yor, for the many times he has let his guard down with her.

Yor has been gaining Twilight's trust:

Yor and Twilight have had a strong emotional connection (whether romantic or not). It is the connection of two people who manage to fully understand each other even though their lives have been different. Twilight believes that Yor was a sex worker, in order to provide for her brother, and far from wanting to judge her, he understood that Yor has been a person who has sacrificed so many times to protect something she cares about. That Yor has the strength to overcome adversity and be able to keep smiling while thinking of another person's well-being. This sense of sacrifice makes Twilight empathize and be moved by his life, as he perfectly understands having to sacrifice yourself even if you don't get a direct thank you or reward. While Yor, she discovered someone who supports her, understands and far from playing her, praises all her actions.

This trust has grown more when they support each other in their roles as parents, or when they try to be a good partner for each other, appreciating every kind and sincere gesture they have for each other; and when they do their best not to make each other uncomfortable at any time.

Yor has really used the force to protect her family, never to abuse it (except for everything that has to do with her role as an assassin). Despite having the ability to kill those who mess with her, Yor represses her instinct and remembers not to abuse her power; and only allows herself to do so when she feels that her daughter (and most likely her husband) are in danger.

In conclusion:

I think Twilight's perception of Yor could be divided into two parts, one is influenced by his rational facet as a spy, as Agent Twilight; and the other, by the real man, (Redacted) Representing the conflict he has in learning to trust other people, and with that, learning to expose his emotions. Each of these facets coexist within the same individual and one often overshadows the other at certain times.

On the one hand, his spy side is always in conflict with Yor, looking for any crumb of suspicion. Despite having no reason to distrust Yor he always clings to excuses to prove to himself that he "should trust no one". Yor has so far proven to be the person Twilight can trust, but surely his doubts as a spy make him believe that letting his guard down in front of her puts him in danger. As that old saying goes.

"… Nothing so good, can be so true…"

And Twilight, in his facet strives to believe that that personality: sweet, kind and unconditional could turn out to be a trap. The spy seems to be afraid that Yoru might one day betray him, because he knows that deep down he is exposing himself to her. When Twilight thinks like a spy with Yor he usually fails, sabotaging himself and backing away from advancing their relationship.

However:

The real man, the boy who once existed, is learning to "trust Yor blindly" to the extent of talking about himself and his past with her. He knows that Yor and his strength are not a threat, and more than once they have managed to overshadow the spy in his head. Demonstrating his most genuine and sincere side to her. Twilight has shown that most of the time he is genuine with Yor, except for the lies about his work, but more than once he has shown that what he thinks about her is something that comes from his heart.

Twilight will be able to understand his real feelings for Yor when he can learn to trust her and perhaps some plot event will make him understand how important it is for him to have her by his side.

I think the most interesting thing is to know what Twilight's reaction will be when he gets to know Yor, in her assassin role, Thorn Princess and the importance that his feelings will have at that moment. And the reaction he may have when he gets to know the darker side of Yor's personality, who is much more confident, determined and really is a threat to her enemies.

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What is your opinion?

Here is the previous part

[twicetolivetwicetodie]

Rand al'Thor and Anakin Skywalker Parallels

Okay, I said I was gonna do this so let's go. Warning: this is full series spoilers for Wheel of Time so if you do watch the show and don't want Rand's arc spoiled, look away!

First thing's first, they're both the Chosen Ones of their perspective stories. Anakin being called the Chosen One, Rand with the titles the Dragon Reborn, He Who Comes With the Dawn, Car'a'carn, and Coramoor (all Chosen One in all those cultures)

Prophecies foretell that Anakin will bring balance to the Force (though afaik they're pretty vague on how he's supposed to accomplish this). The prophecies regarding Rand are complicated and unending and too much for this one post but the gist of it is that he will both save and destroy the world.

Anakin was born of Shmi Skywalker but has no father (the Force made him possible). Rand was born to Tigraine Mantear former Daughter-Heir to Andor and Janduin, clan chief of the Taardad Aiel. Tigraine was a Maiden of the Spear sworn to take no husband so that's where the Maiden birth fits in here.

Trauma is an ongoing theme here as neither of them can seem to catch a break. Anakin was enslaved as a child, loses his mother, is tortured a numerous amount of times (I've lost count the amount of times he's electrocuted in Clone Wars), and loses many soldiers under his command as well as the enormous pressure of being the Chosen One. He is constantly being told to suppress his emotions as anger will only lead to the Dark Side however he is never given the space or even any idea how to process his trauma. He loses Ahsoka due to her being kicked out of the Jedi Order due to the Jedi's own mistakes. Even after she is exonerated and very rightly leaves the Order, he's expected to keep his emotions under control and pretend everything is fine with this entire situation. Sidious groomed him for the Dark Side from a young age and ultimately ended up weaponizing his trauma.

Rand had a relatively normal childhood until Winternight when everything went to hell. Trollocs attack his village and he finds out he's adopted leading to the first of many identity crises. He's forced to leave the only home he's ever known and leave his adopted father behind who means everything to him. He and his friends are pursued across the world by Shadowspawn and Darkfriends who mean to turn him over to the Dark One, he's repeatedly tortured in his dreams every night by Ba'alzamon, and by the end of EoTW he discovers he can channel, which in this world means he's doomed to go insane the more he uses this magic.

He finds out he's the Dragon Reborn and the pressure of that adds onto his ongoing trauma of being pursued by Forsaken, being used and abused over and over and over again by people who are supposed to help and protect him, having the voice of his previous life in his head, losing people under his command and he blames himself for every last one. Everyone around him gaslights him into believing his trauma isn't real and that his very real PTSD symptoms are a result of him using the corrupted side of the magic system.

Rand suppresses his emotions as a coping mechanism and outwardly presents a mask that he feels nothing. These emotions he is not allowing himself to feel otherwise he would not be able to function he is funneling over to the voice of his previous life as Lews Therin. We as the reader experience his true emotions via Lews Therin. And I can't end this without mentioning when a group of Aes Sedai kidnap him and force him in a box to take him to the Tower, only to take him out to beat him with the Power, an extended torture that takes place for two weeks.

Both have lost a hand. Anakin lost a hand when Count Dooku cut if off with his lightsaber in Attack of the Clones. Rand lost a hand when Semirhage burned it off by channeling a fireball at him in Knife of Dreams.

Both of their falls I think are incredibly similar. Anakin kneels to Sidious begging him that he'll do anything just help him save Padme. In the Gathering Storm, Rand kneels to Semirhage and begs her that he'll do anything, just stop hurting Min. These end differently as Anakin ends up swearing to Sidious and becoming Darth Vader. Semirhage refuses to stop hurting Min, so Rand breaks the one line he won't cross and kills her with Balefire, but not without briefly channeling the True Power to escape his bonds; a Power only those sworn to the Shadow can wield.

After his fall, Anakin kills the younglings. For Rand an equivalent would be Natrin's Barrow, where he balefires an entire city out of existence just to get at the Forsaken Graendal.

As far as their return to the light goes, both is accomplished by a family member. Anakin is brought back by his son Luke. In Rand's case, it's his father Tam.

The Jedi and the Aes Sedai both have significant roles in both their arcs which includes losing trust in them after a certain point. They're both orders of magic users that did good in the world at one point in time but at some point lost their way or became corrupted.

The Jedi become majorly involved in the Clone Wars despite their vow of being peace keepers. They're aware of the origin of their clone army by the end of season 6, yet they decide to do nothing. Ahsoka being kicked out of the Jedi Order is Anakin's last straw. She's invited back in, and yet the Jedi refuse to change despite recognizing that they did Ahsoka wrong.

The Aes Sedai get involved in things that further their own ends or "Control the world with puppet strings" as some put it rather than their purpose of being "Servants of All". They deny the existence of the Black Ajah and pretend they haven't infiltrated their ranks. A faction of Aes Sedai kidnapped and tortured Rand for two weeks and the rest of the Aes Sedai refused to hold them accountable.

Both Anakin and Rand are Chosen Ones who cracked under the pressure and experienced persistent trauma.

I'm gonna end with a quote by Rand that seems pertinent to both of them.

"My life isn't my own. I'm a puppet for the Pattern and the prophecies, made to dance for the world before having my strings cut." -Rand al'Thor, The Gathering Storm