#(did anybody notice the symbolism in the last scene with shadow?)

[semi-sketchy]

For an update (mostly) meant to flesh out the Ancients/The End, they still seem not all that memorable or compelling from what little I've seen. They're just as much as plot devices masquerading as (bland) characters as Sage still is. The plot EXPECTS me to care, but I just cannot because the lore/exposition in this game is soooo dull when it's not wholly confusing. And I gotta ask, is any of it gonna matter in future games? Does anyone really approve of this shite whilst still bemoaning how unnecessarily convoluted Shadow's backstory was? That for a supposed big threat, it all still took place on some small-scale remote islands? This stuff should begging for a retcon. Guess that'll be up to me. Hint: Fairy dust made it all seem real to both the heroes and Eggman. And the Kocos are Accidental Antagonists to have put them through all of it because they don't remember their true history on the islands...

The question of which ending is canon is up for debate, but personally I think this one is going to cause more problems long-term. I literally started yelling at the side story when Sage said the Ancients had satellites that are still functional.

Tens of thousands of years old, still orbiting, functional, and NO ONE HAS NOTICED THEM? This is the world that had a SPACE COLONY 50 YEARS AGO and they NEVER asked what these old satellites were?? Like man, if we discovered ancient satellites circling our planet, there would be some paranormal podcasts talking about this "unknown" and obscure fact, but here no one has noticed?

Also extremely disappointed they did nothing to expand on The End. If anything, this is regression from base game because it's missing that pretentious speech. I wanted to know WHY this consumer of worlds was specifically chasing the Ancients. If it's just supposed to be symbolic, then that was completely lost on me.

I'm with you on the not being able to care part. I'm not bonded to these characters and the short cutscenes around the trials doesn't change anything about the pilots. It's just "WE DIED TO CONTAIN THIS THING AND YOU SET IT FREE-- oh you passed my brute strength trial. K guess you're a good guy." Sonic gets some sass with the King Koco, but it also feels...off. It's not his normal disrespect towards authority.

To go on another tangent, the opening cutscene bothers me.

Sonic isn't the person to give a "rally the troops" speech. Although, how this scene was written made that direction the ONLY way it could've gone.

I think of the Last Story cutscene from Heroes. Sonic just listens.

When he says he'll fight Metal Overlord, it's Tails and Knuckles that pop up to say "we're going to help you!" and Shadow that says they'll buy them time.

Sonic doesn't ask anything from anybody, he just graciously accepts their help. Compare how this was written to sticking Sonic in a place where he's the one who has to explain what's going on and tell others what he needs.

It's a case where the plot moves the characters and not the characters moving the plot, which is the perfect storm for OOC moments. That is exactly what happened with Eggman when they decided Sage was a good idea.

Sage just regurgitates random info about rocks and other stuff no one asked about, like there was ONE LINE where she sounded kinda different which made me think it would've been so good if Sage was more like GLaDOS. I want her to have more sick burns. But no, innocent child because Eggman "needs" a daughter and Sonic has to have a reason to help the girl that's been trying to kill him the whole game.

I don't understand how anyone can call this "peak" because it's just so self-important and straight-faced serious, it's at the point of monotony. It breaks what I like about these characters to wrap them up in a "serious story" blanket whilst failing to properly build up the threat.

I hope they reevaluate their choices and this isn't really the standard moving forward because it's so stupid it hurts. And that's just the story/lore.

[solalunar-eclipse]

Sonic Boom - S3E5

Episode title: Pay-to-Lose Games

Word count: about 4100 words

Author’s Note: Thank you to everyone who left comments of any kind on the previous episode! Feedback from others really helps me continue writing and putting my ideas out here for everyone to see :)

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...

[Scene opens up on Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Amy all hanging out at Meh Burger.]

Sonic lounged at the table, his head resting idly on a hand while he halfheartedly ate the (equally halfheartedly prepared) food. Tails and Knuckles were busy talking at speeds to rival the blue hero himself about the latest meme making the rounds on MeTube, while Amy scribbled in a notepad, marking down all the potential health and safety violations she could find.

“Rule number 120, lack of condiment maintenance…rule number 45, inadequate floor cleanliness measures…” she muttered to herself, ignoring the dirty looks and conspicuously loud sighs coming from Dave at the counter.

Sonic, meanwhile, was bored out of his mind.

But then, just as the hero resigned himself to his fate (but would never admit that it was because he had been secretly hoping for Shadow to barge in and stir up some trouble—hence his lack of interest in memes), Sonic saw something that made him just about choke on his fries.

Sticks.

Was wearing.

Shorts.

The hedgehog struggled to clear his windpipe as they walked up to the table, dropping their food on the semi-clean wood before sitting down. Sticks frowned at the group, who were all now staring blatantly at them. “What’s up with you guys? You look like you’ve seen a—”

They froze. “Did the paranormal invasion start without me?!”

“No no no, it’s not that!” Tails said quickly. “It’s just that…we’ve never seen anyone wearing pants before. Like, ever.”

“Well, now you have.” Sticks rolled their eyes. “Shorts are better for fighting than that old miniskirt, anyway. If I’m gonna wear clothes, they’d better be ones that work!”

“Uh…okay??” Knuckles said, still looking somewhat distressed.

“Why didn’t you get some earlier, then?” Amy asked.

“Well, obviously I couldn’t just buy them, store-bought clothing falls apart in a matter of months. And that’s for people who aren’t trying to uncover secret government conspiracies!” Sticks grumbled. “I made these myself, just like everything else I wear.”

Sonic leaned forward insistently, having finally recovered from his coughing fit. “Listen, I heard all that, I understand where you’re coming from, all those other things.” he said rapidly, glancing nervously at Amy, whose eyes were narrowed. The hero smacked his hands on the table decisively. “But here’s the real reason why you should never, ever wear pants…” 

But nobody would find out what he was about to say, because at that exact moment, a voice called, “Guess who’s back in town!”

[Camera cuts to T.W. Barker, grinning smugly with a hand on his hip, alongside his two circus bears.]

[Camera cuts back to the team, in varying states of frustration and despair.]

“Oh, no……” they collectively groaned.

[cue theme song]

[Team Sonic performs the intro sequence, complete with their usual team poses. 

This time, a new sequence appears: all of the more minor villains lined up in a row, still with their silhouettes backlit in red…until the camera malfunctions and it turns out that they’re filming in Dave’s mom’s house’s basement. Shadow appears and starts wrecking the equipment, apparently angry that he wasn’t invited (even though he wouldn’t have gone anyway). Knuckles shows up in the background briefly, having apparently ransacked the place’s snack cupboard, before vanishing again.

The same sequence of lines and camera movement then takes place, followed by the words ‘Sonic Boom: Ancient Secrets.]

[Then the music ends, at which point the episode title appears for a moment before the show returns.]

“Alright, Barker, what’re you up to this time?” Knuckles shouted, his eyes narrowed. 

“Nothing at all…unless you mean up to something fun!” the wolf replied smoothly. “That’s right, everyone!” he cried, turning towards the gathering crowd of people. “Come one, come all for some good old family fun at T.W. Barker’s Carnival of Delights! Right this way, people, right this way!”

A general ‘oooh’ of interest came from the villagers. 

“Wait!” Tails cried. “Can’t you see that this is obviously—”

“Will you be the one to win a prize at one of my state-of-the-art games today? Play now and find out!” Barker shouted over the rest of the fox’s protests, effectively capturing the town’s attention.

The team then collectively facepalmed upon seeing the townspeople rush off in the direction that Barker had pointed them. 

Amy sighed. “We should probably go see what he’s up to, I guess.” she muttered.

The other four made mumbling noises of reluctant assent, and together, they trudged off to the carnival.

It was set up in the middle of a nearby field, with a single carousel set in the center and surrounded by six different games. By the time the team arrived, most of the children in the village had swarmed the carousel, while others tried their luck at the various games Barker had set up.

Within minutes, it became obvious to all five—even Knuckles—that the games were rigged. After watching children struggle to maneuver stuffed animals and earbuds with a claw that auto-released after ten seconds, the tallest of townspeople fail to make basketball shots that were far more difficult than they would be on a court (Tails had measured it), and a test-your-strength meter that had all sorts of mechanisms in place to keep the slider from ringing the bell, they’d had enough.

“Hey, guys!” Sonic shouted, despite his creeping suspicions that this attempt to win the people over wouldn’t go well either. “Can’t you tell that these games are obviously rigged? Don’t waste your money here, go waste it on, uh…a vending machine? Or something?”

Barker scoffed. “Sounds like someone’s being awfully judgmental about games he hasn’t tried! Or are you just scared you’ll fail?” he asked, smirking.

The villagers had clearly been ready (as they always were) to crowd around Sonic and his friends at the drop of a hat, shooting the blue hedgehog accusatory glances. A few had already begun to agree with the ringleader, claiming that Sonic just wasn’t brave enough to give the games a go or that he didn’t know what he was talking about.

But then…

“Hey!” Tails barked, which was rather brave considering that he was now on the wrong end of a large group of adults. “Don’t talk about my brother that way unless you want a wrench to the face!”

“Yeah! One more dirty look out of any of you and I’m breaking out my hammer!” Amy cried, standing defensively in front of her friend.

“You leave him alone!” Knuckles yelled, doing his very best to sound aggressive. “He’s just trying to help!”

Sticks hissed menacingly, making a large part of the crowd shuffle backwards rapidly.

The villagers soon realized that they maybe didn’t want to get on the bad side of their town’s main (and only) defense force and dispersed. Most of them went back to their games, only grumbling a little bit. “Hmph.” Amy grumbled. “At least they’re learning when to give up.”

Sonic kicked one foot against the ground sheepishly, purposefully not looking at any of his friends. “Aw, guys, you really didn’t have to do that, y’know?”

[Camera cuts to face Sonic, with all of his friends’ faces suddenly obscured in darkness (except for their identical evil grins) behind him.]

The hero suddenly froze, somehow sensing the fact that behind his back, all of his friends were closing in for Group Hug Number Two of the season. 

[Screen cuts to black right as said friends grab him, with a generic spooky sound and a scream from Sonic.]

Later on, Sonic (now with a new boost of friendship-inspired confidence) stepped up to the claw machine, cracking his knuckles and rolling his shoulders. Tails, Sticks, Amy and Knuckles were all cheering from the sidelines as he smirked. “You think I’m just gonna sit back and let you think I’ve failed, Barker?” he asked smugly. “Well then…watch this!”

A zooming sound filled the air as Sonic’s arms turned into nothing more than a blur before the machine. Its mechanics struggled to keep up with his rapid movements, and within moments, the claw had released.

But this time, it wasn’t because of any preset timer.

Within seconds, Sonic had managed to snatch up one of the latest pairs of earbuds with the metal claw and moved them too fast even for the auto-release. They tumbled through the slot, and in the next moment he was already tossing them up and down in his hand. “Now then, which one should I beat next?” he said proudly, scanning the other carnival games.

Barker yelped and scurried over to his circus bears, one of which obligingly held up a whiteboard. “Nope! Can’t do that! You see…” he began, hurriedly scribbling on the board, “…nobody can play any more of the games after they’ve won a prize! Otherwise it wouldn’t be fair, after all. Everyone deserves a chance to win!” the ringmaster said quickly, gesturing to the board, which was now titled ‘RULES’ with ‘1: No repeat prizes’ listed underneath.

“Now then, would anyone like to try this state-of-the-art water pistol competition over here?” he said, his voice a bit higher than it had been previously.

Tails stepped up. “I’ve got this one, Sonic.” he said with a smirk, sending chills down the spines of several townspeople. The brothers did an overly complex high-five routine that lasted just long enough to become absurdly over the top, before the fox stepped up to the game.

Barker leaned on the counter, still unfazed. “And what’s a young fox kit like you doing with those kinds of weapons?”

Tails grinned at him with all the innocence of a predator about to strike, weighing the water pistol in his hands. “Oh, I have some…experience.”

Several miles away, Eggman felt his fight-or-flight instincts kick in and ran to cower under his desk for a minute or two.

Back at the carnival, the fox lined up with the targets, aimed...and fired. Five loud clanging sounds came from the stall within seconds of each other as Tails moved down the line with the skill of an expert, hitting a target each and every time.

Everyone except for the rest of the team took several steps away, suddenly very interested in not bothering Tails. Or doing anything else that might make him angry.

“Eheh…” Barker stammered, “T-take any prize you like, then!” He promptly got as far out of Tails’s way as it was possible to get, scampering to hide behind his circus bears.

The fox grinned and snatched up a twelve-sided Rubik’s cube (or a Rubik’s dodecahedron, as it were), running back over to the rest of Team Sonic to whoops and chants of his name.

“Well,” Barker began, regaining his confidence as he moved near the strength-test machine, “would anyone like to try their hand at—”

“I would!” Amy called cheerfully, now the one interrupting him. She made her way over to the machine and pulled out her signature hammer with pride.

Right as she was winding up to swing, however, the ringmaster held up a hand. “Oh, no you don’t!” he insisted, shaking a finger at her. “No personal hammers allowed here—that would be cheating, you know.” he said smugly. He handed her an old, badly weighted hammer instead, and she growled in disgust. 

After a moment, Amy rolled her shoulders, shook off her anger, and lined up, hauling it back with all of her strength. Barker chuckled, fully prepared to see her lose—so he was more than a little shocked when her hit not only rang the bell at the very top of the scale, but downright shattered it, sending pieces of metal falling everywhere. 

[Amy’s prize-winning hit is then shown about five more times in rapid succession, each time from a different angle.]

Every single safeguard Barker had put in place was completely broken, as was the sensor—there was even  a giant crack down its center! Amy then simply tossed the hammer over her shoulder, letting it soar a good twenty feet away into the forest, before calmly holding out her hand for her own prize. Ironically enough, she received nothing other than an inflatable toy hammer.

(It was honestly surprising that the ringmaster hadn’t just given up on winning already.)

Not long after that, Sticks took her turn at the guess-the-shell game. Barker chuckled as he mixed up the shells…and, of course, used a trick or two to shift the marble underneath them from place to place. The entire crowd seemed to agree that it had to be under the left shell—they’d all watched it carefully!

The badger didn’t even pause before choosing the one on the right. (And she was right.)

As they continued to play, the wolf grew so desperate that he flicked the marble right out onto the floor as a further distraction, but Sticks simply leaned down and picked it up before handing it back to him with a completely straight face.

In the end, she guessed correctly so many times that Barker decided that asking for ‘best out of twenty-three’ would not end well. So once again, he was forced to hand over a prize, gritting his teeth into something barely approximating a smile as he watched Sticks shout in elation upon receiving a cheap necklace with fake gems.

…which just happened to be the last thing she needed to build a space-laser-deflector. She didn’t actually care about jewelry that much.

[An over-the-top preparation sequence in the style of a sports movie then takes place, with Knuckles stretching and doing push-ups to train for his competition. It is then revealed that he has been doing all of this just in the past twenty minutes. He had somehow managed to do all of these exercises in varying locations over such a short time while still cheering his friends on. Because comedy.]

And then, it was the echidna’s turn. He chose to take a shot at the rigged basketball hoops, trying to act cool as he stepped up to the line…but he didn’t quite succeed. His attempt to spin the ball on a single finger looked more silly than awesome, really.

The crew cheered loudly for him, waving their respective prizes in the air as he took his first shot—

And missed.

The echidna winced as the crowd ‘oooooh’ed in excitement. He hesitated, his face losing a bit of its excitement. After a moment, he threw the next one…and missed again.

“Oh, so close!” Barker called smugly. “You’ve got one chance left. Be careful not to mess it up!”

“I’ll try my best!” Knuckles replied cheerfully, completely missing the double meaning behind Barker’s words. 

With far less focus or care than the other two attempts, he jumped up and threw the ball. It arced up in an impressive shot, sailing towards the net.

And of course, in accordance with the laws of Every TV Show And Movie Ever, he succeeded. 

Sticks chuckled briefly under her breath. “Of course he forgot the rule of threes! Classic amateur mistake.”

Barker, however, seemed relatively unfazed. “Here you go!” he said, handing Knuckles a knockoff glow-in-the-dark toy. 

“Oh, cool!” the echidna exclaimed…but everyone else on the team wasn’t quite as happy. 

“What’s the trick now, Barker?” Amy snapped.

“Oh, no tricks!” he said. “It’s just that I have one game left, and, well—” here he turned around— “would anyone else like to see if they can beat the games that only heroes have won thus far?”

People were practically throwing money at him before they even saw the game, and the team sighed tiredly. They looked over at the rows and rows of glass bottles with plastic rings already skimming over their tops, and were honestly just about ready to give up on the villagers for today.

But then…

“What do you think you’re doing?!” a familiar voice barked. “Nobody defeats those ‘heroes’ except for me!”

Shadow had appeared in the center of the carnival, stalking over to Barker and shoving his face mere inches from the other’s. “Have I not made myself clear to you second-rate villains yet?”

“Ugh, haven’t you ever heard of personal space?” he huffed.

Shadow merely growled in reply.

“Well, fine then! If you want to be the one to defeat them, go ahead…you’ll just have to land a ring on one of those bottles to earn that right.” the ringmaster replied proudly. 

Shadow folded his arms. “Then I will do exactly that.”

He shoved two or three rings (the currency ones, not the plastic ones) at Barker and grabbed a bucket of rings (the plastic ones, not the currency ones). Standing in front of the bottles, he sized them up.

Shadow briefly glanced at the rules listed on the side of the attraction, noticing one in particular that seemed especially useful. 

[Camera zooms in on the one that says ‘GOLDEN BOTTLE = X-LARGE PRIZE’, before panning over to the single golden bottle in the middle of all the other ordinary ones.]

The hedgehog got into a throwing stance, holding his first ring. Narrowing his eyes, he began to focus in on his target…

In the middle of the silence, Knuckles began to cheer excitedly. “Yeah, Shadow! You got this!”

Shadow jolted out of his furious focus, before turning around briefly, confused. He frowned at Knuckles for a moment (without any malice, oddly), before shifting his attention back to the game.

He lined up the ring.

Tossed it into the air.

And it landed right on the single golden bottle.

Team Sonic exploded in cheers, and Shadow lurched backwards in surprise, grabbing onto the wooden stand for support. “Wh-wha—” he wheezed, his eyes darting around in obvious confusion. 

Even as the rest of the crowd began to vanish, irritated at the loss of a chance to prove themselves equal to Sonic and his friends (which they would’ve failed to do anyway), Shadow remained shocked.

Five people cheering for him was five people more than he was used to all by itself. The fact that these particular five were doing this in spite of the reality that he’d done this to ensure that he could defeat them himself was more than his mind could handle. 

Instead of fulfilling his promise, Shadow found himself edging around the stand almost instinctively until he was out of sight, before teleporting away.

Most of the team were disappointed to notice that he was gone, but only for a moment—because then Barker had recovered from his momentary shock at seeing Shadow win and was more than ready to fight. He smirked. “A good gamemaster always has one last ace in the hole.” he said, pressing a button on a remote control…

…and then suddenly each of the carnival games sprouted metallic legs and began to look a lot more like they had eyes. Even some of the horses from the carousel had leapt off their poles and were now pawing at the ground ominously.

“Surprise twist! I’ve decided that I like having a robot army after all!” Barker cried.

“Alright, guys, let’s do this!” Sonic shouted, and they all sprang into their battle positions. Within moments, the team had launched into the fight.

All it took was a couple of good strikes from each of them, and within moments (or one mini-montage, as it were), the robots fell to pieces.

“Uh…that was anticlimactic.” Amy said irritably.

Tails frowned, picking up a piece of one of the stands-turned-robots. “It doesn’t look like they were made very well.”

Sonic opened his mouth to say something, but then shut it again, his eyes widening as he thought of something new. He held up a finger, his lips twitching.

“Hey. Hey Tails. You know, that shoddy craftsmanship might just bring shame on all wolf-kind,” was all he managed to get out before bursting into a fit of laughter.

(He wasn’t making fun of Shadow…mostly. More than anything, he’d just been dying to use that joke for over a season now.)

The team stared at him for a moment as the joke sank in. Then, they all promptly devolved into various states of hilarity, cackling at Sonic’s callback. 

Barker at first seemed indignant, but paused after he noticed that one of his circus bears was pulling at his sleeve while the other pointed frantically at the forest. “What—oh.” was all he needed to say. After all, this was the perfect time to leave before Team Sonic remembered that they were supposed to beat him up.

The three then sprinted off into the forest as quickly as possible, leaving the team to their antics. But soon enough, they left as well, off to the beach for a post-victory celebration.

However, most of them would have been incredibly disappointed had they been told that if they’d stayed just a minute longer, they would’ve seen someone else reappear…

A flash of blue light signaled Shadow’s return to the scene of his greatest victory yet. (Which didn’t say much about his winning streak so far.)

Despite the fact that all of the stands had fallen apart, most of the prizes were still intact, and Shadow walked over to the ring toss stand, looking down at the wreckage. “I’d better at least get something out of all this.” he grumbled to himself.

Most of the prizes for that particular game consisted of small stuffed sheep, either black or white, each with smiles on their faces. They were pretty cheaply made—the stitching was off on most of them, and each one bore a tag declaring that it was made of ‘100% pure cotton!!!’.

Shadow glowered down at the pile of sheep. “Is this seriously the only reward I get? After losing the chance to defeat Sonic and his friends yet again?!” the hedgehog sneered.

Suddenly, however, his face softened marginally, and he considered the pile once more. Then, after looking around to make sure nobody was watching, he knelt down to retrieve one particular stuffed animal from the ruins. 

This sheep showed more than anything that Barker had bought the prizes for cheap, honestly, as it wasn’t even from the same brand of toy as any of the others. Its wool was grey, not black or white, and it had no smile stitched on at all. The tag on this animal stated that it was made from ‘100% polyester’ and nothing more.

Shadow looked at it for a long moment, checking each and every square inch of material. Eventually, though, he seemed satisfied with what he had found, and almost (not quite, but almost) smiled. He would’ve said it was a smirk, really…but it was a little too thoughtful and relaxed for that to be true. 

Upon realizing that anyone could possibly walk in and see him like this, however, he vanished in a hurry.

Once he was back in his cave, he walked a little deeper into the cavern, to an area that had some natural shelves carved into the walls. 

[Most of the space is filled with oddly shaped crystals and items that look almost like…machinery?]

Quietly, he placed the sheep on one of these outcroppings, and spent a minute longer looking at it before turning to walk away.

[Fade out and cut to Team Sonic.]

Back on the beach, Tails was sitting cross-legged on the sand and staring at some readings on his Miles Electric as the other four lounged on deck chairs nearby. He frowned.

“Uh, Sonic? I’ve been analyzing the statistics from our latest battle, and it turns out that, well…Sticks’s fighting is at least twenty percent more effective now that she’s wearing shorts.” the fox said.

Sonic leapt out of his chair. “What? No. Nope. There’s no way.”

“There’s absolutely a way, actually!” Amy called from her chair. “Now that I think about it, that makes perfect sense—”

“Pants? Making sense?” Knuckles said, shaking his head in disappointment. “I thought you were the rational one here!”

Amy growled, summoning her piko hammer. “Why don’t you come over here and say that again.”

Sonic yelped and hurried in between them. “Hey hey guys, hold up a sec! We’re still technically a kids show, remember?”

“Violence! Violence! Violence!” Sticks chanted, smirking.

“You,” Sonic began, pointing at them, “are not helping! You’re the one who started this whole argument!”

“But I’m not arguing.” the badger replied smugly.

“Well, now you are.” Sonic said, equally proud.

The badger shrieked in defeat, which left everyone staring at them for a solid five seconds in silence.

[Everyone looks around in confusion.]

[...!]

[Cue (extremely late) cricket chirps.]

Then, they all burst out laughing. “You know what?” Sonic conceded. “Wear whatever you want, Sticks. I can get used to it…so long as you never, ever try to make me wear anything even resembling pants.” he added, his tone darkening at the end.

“No promises!” Sticks cackled.

[Iris out ending, in which Sticks winks briefly at the camera.]

[verobatto]

Destiel Chronicles

Vol. CV

It was a love story from the very beginning

Gabe, the Sexologist Archangel

(13x20/13x21)

Hello my dears! I will talk today about a very interesting topic and how Gabriel's character was used as a reminder and also as a realization of angelic sexuality. Not just that, but a constant introspection to sexuality too for Dean.

Gabe as a reflection of Dean

First of all and before jumping to Gabriel sexy bones, let's talk about the way Dean was talking with his husband at the phone as he was scolding his little brother at the same time... I'm talking about episode 13x20, "Unfinished Business"...

[Dean’s on the phone with Cas]

DEAN: Yeah. No, we just got in. Mm-hmm.

DEAN, to SAM: What are you doing? Don't unpack.

SAM: Dude, we could be here for days.

DEAN: No. No. Hey, hell, no.

DEAN [again to Cas over the phone]: Hey -- No, not you. That's… Just call us when you get to Amarillo, all right?

[he disconnects his call]

Why am I pointing at this scene? Because when Dean realizes Castiel thought he was yelling to him, he immediately changed his body language and the tone of his voice became more sweet, almost intimate, as if he was saying: 'No, not you, babe." It looks like that and it sound like that. Just go rewatch that scene and die with me.

The encounter with Gabe

Gabriel will speak and behave as if he were showing future Dean, but also, will bring the sexual references.

Just a little thing over here to connect with my meta of hands and foreshadow, in the middle of the battle between the Nordic gods and the boys we had Sam touching his neck, as a foreshadow of they way he will die in episode 13x21.

Gif credit @myheartofmusic

DEAN: Whatever. What did they want with you?

GABRIEL: I killed their brother.

This is very meaningful because if we took the demigods as the angels and Gabriel talking about killing their brother, it's what Dean will do when he will kill Lucifer in 13x23.

While Gabriel was telling his story, Dean was the one imagining it. And how his mind went from porn stars to watch a man receiving a relaxing touching from a handsome black haired boy with a red ascot, related to Dean and his own bisexuality.

GABRIEL: Don't let anybody ever tell you you're just a pretty face.

[Dean frowns and shakes his head at that]

This is so cute, because Dean is listening to him as if Gabe was his teacher. He feels identify with Gabe story and words. Gabe is literally, a Destiel Sexologist.

GABRIEL: Oh. That top one? That is for the man with the plan, the architect of my torture, and my own personal public enemy numero uno. Their papa… Loki.

The big similitude between Gabriel's revenge on Loki for being his torture, and Dean's trying to find and kill AUMichael, for being his torture too, in 14x03, is noticeable.

Another important paralell is Gabe taking a new identity to hide, but, adopting Loki's shape by doing it. This is the same with AUMichael, who will take Dean and a woman's shape.

Another foreshadows...

Pay attention to Kevin's last words...

KEVIN: Michael doesn't want to kill you. He wants to break you. He said for me to tell you that, “Even if you win, you still lose.” I'm sorry.

This is what Michael will do with Dean. He will break him while releasing him at first, making him think he won, and then will possese him again in 14x09.

Dean going alone to kill Loki is Jack going alone to kill Michael.

But... Loki vs Gabe (played by the same actor, it means, the same two faces) as a foreshadow for AUCas vs Cas, but mostly, AUMichael vs Dean in Rocky's bar (14x10)

Now, it's time to see Angels can have active sexuality.

Jumping to episode 13x21...

Let's talk about Sammy's dream. And Castiel, the pizza man, giving Dean his pizza. Even when he ate 7 pieces.

Gif set credit @bennylafitte

7 is the number that will appear too on episode 15x10. And is symbolically talking about TRUTH. So, practically, Dean will have the truth from Castiel in 15x18!

But also the innuendo that comes with it... Because this episode will talk about angelic sexuality.

Grace and virility

A lot of points and scenes with sexual innuendo throughout the episode, because Gabe is here:

Gabe taking off his own grace could be related to masturbation, thanks to Castiel's hands gestures and Dean's reaction.

The little grace Gabe gives them to open the portal was related to Erection. Also Gabe following "the fall" of the rift with his own sword.

Gif set credit @sleepypanda27

His dialogue with Rowena as he read a book with a pipe on it, another sexual reference to erection.

The seduction after that between the red haired witch and the Archangel.

The "make out session or more" between Rowena and Gabe with it's consequences as they were caught: Dean is amazed, Sam is speechless and Castiel is ashamed (because the sacred oath).

The incident after they arrived to the AU, in which Gabe's face is on Castiel's crotch, a very gay scene for Dean's eyes. Which at first was staring at them with curiosity and suddenly in turned out into a gay panic mode.

Gif set credit @cath-avery

The triumph over the brother's pathological codependency (at least for now)

When Sam dies there was another scene writers tried to show how the pathologic codependency could be left behind. Castiel stops Dean who was heading to look after Sam. The angel said it was in vein because he was already dead and there was a mission: to find Mary and Jack.

The trust in Castiel won over the codependency between brothers. Even when it was a very controversial way to show it.

To Conclude:

Gabe's character introduction brought the idea of sexualization of grace and angels.

The idea of a sexual active Castiel blocked by the sacred oath and the introspection of Dean's bisexuality.

Hope you like this meta, see you in the next one!

Tagging @magnificent-winged-beast @emblue-sparks @weird-dorky-little-d @michyribeiro @whyjm @legendary-destiel @a-bit-of-influence @thatwitchydestielfan @misha-moose-dean-burger-lover @lykanyouko @evvvissticante @savannadarkbaby @dea-stiel @poorreputation @bre95611 @thewolfathedoor @charlottemanchmal @neii3n @deathswaywardson @followyourenergy @dean-is-bi-till-i-die @hekatelilith-blog @avidbkwrm @anarchiana @dickpuncher365 @vampyrosa @authorsararayne @mybonsai1976 @love-neve-dies @dustythewind @wayward-winchester67 @angelwithashotgunandtrenchcoat @trashblackrainbow @deeutdutdutdoh @destiel-shipper-11 @larrem88 @charmedbycastiel @ran-savant @little-crazy-misha-minion @samoosetheshipper

@shadows-and-padlocked-hearts @mishtho @dancingtuesdaymorning @nerditoutwithbooks @mikennacac73 @justmeand-myinsight @idontwantpeopletoknowmyname @teddybeardoctor @pepevons @helevetica @isthisdestiel @dizzypinwheel @jawnlockwinchester @horsez2 @qanelyytha

@destielle @spnsmile @shippsblog @robot-feels @superlock-in-the-tardis @superduckbatrebel @2musiclover2 @madronasky @anon-non2 @cea1996 @lisafu02 @asphodelesauvage @destiels-canonahhhhhhhhhh

If you wanna be added or removed from this list just let me know.

If you wanna read the previous metas from this season here you have the links:

VOL. XCIII, XCIV, XCV, XCVI, XCVII, XCVIII, XCIX, C, CI, CII, CIII, CIV.

Buenos Aires, March 28 2021 3:20 PM

[twdmusicboxmystery]

Water Symbols and Ties Between Grady and Terminus: “A” Rewatch by @wdway

This is another re-watch from @wdway. She totally saves my butt on busy weeks when I don’t have time to write new theories, lol.

Here are her observations:

Hi ladies! I hope you're both doing well. I did a rewatch of s4e16 A, series number 51. I think it's important to mention that this episode was co-written by Scott Gimple and Angela Kang.

It starts out with a flashback of the prison and then we have Rick, Carl's and Michonne talking about how hungry they are. Later, they catch a rabbit in a snare. I thought about how much rabbits were featured in this back half of s4. It emphasized the size when Rick says, "A small one." Later, Michonne mentions again it was a small rabbit. This made me think of Lennie talking about the little ones.

I'll skip over the Claimers, other than the car scene where Daryl and Rick were talking. Daryl brings Rick a bottle of water. There's no label. It's just clear. It's actually a good size bottle and he sets it down in front of them. He brought water = Beth into that scene. They brought Beth into the Terminus part of the episode with the use of symbols that we were totally unaware of at the time. We gradually realized them as the seasons went on, the water being a huge symbol.

This is right after they jumped the Terminus fence and found this door propped open. Notice it says that it's a fire door, a way to escape. I think this can be considered a water symbol, just as a fire pull or ceiling sprinkler would be. I cropped this shot so that you could read the sign on the door a little easier. I do want to mention that Daryl is next to Rick and they are the only two in the shot.

Rick and co come out into a common area or plaza and are about to get a plate full of meat when Rick notices objects from people from the prison. He takes a guy to use as a shield against the sharpshooters.

I just mentioned how the door was the symbol of water, even though it was a door. Well, this is similar. That red object against the wall is a fire hose holder. I know this because I noticed it at the end of Us when Maggie and her group first came into Terminus. I noticed how it said fire hose. You can also see the fire hydrant next to it and if you look closely at the base, it's just a prop. There's a bottom section that should be buried or would be connected to some type of piping if it was real, so these are not objects that were already at this location. That means they're symbols.

Notice how this little corner is visible during the majority of this scene. We see it to the side or behind Rick almost the entire time. So, we have a fire hose and a fire hydrant. Both Beth symbols because they = water.

Look straight above the fire hose stand. There are 2 diamonds at the top of the building. I don't think they’re original to the building because of the shadowing around them. They appear to simply be tacked up, serving no particular purpose other than being diamond shaped, which = Beth.

Now look at the corner next to the hose and hydrant. There is a sign on the brick wall that I believe refers to the hose or hydron. It reads, “emergency water key, replace when used.” Just in case we didn't know this was a water reference, they wanted to make sure that they let us know, but I really like the fact that it's a water key.

I just needed to point out Daryl's Poncho which, ironically, he didn't notice, but Rick did. 

The three small pictures underneath it are original sketches of the Native Americans’ Thunderbird.

Our little group starts to run for their lives. We follow them as they run past a boneyard, turn different corners, and then all of a sudden we see this shot.

Notice the fire hose stand, a tire, the yellow objects, the abandoned car with a shattered windshield and these stacked train cars. During this shot, we hear a female voice calling for help. Here's the funny thing: we never see our group running through or past this, so this is staged simply to show us symbols. In one of the five flashbacks was of Rick coming into the prison with Beth/Judith sitting on the steps, Patrick was sitting on the floor in front of Beth's cell, making something out of Legos. Carl is cleaning his gun. Rick stops to talk to Patrick and Patrick thanks Rick for picking up the Legos and he makes a comment about that they are for ages 4 through 12. I've always thought that was somewhat odd.

I just want to throw out an idea to you. This might actually be a comment about the story arc lasting from season 4 through season 12. I'm not talking about the series ending at 12, I'm simply thinking that this storyline, Rick, Beth, Daryl and Carol will continue through season 12.

@twdmusicboxmystery:

Love it all! I especially liked the fire and water stuff you pointed out at Terminus and how they brought Beth into it. The combination of water and key is especially interesting. You did spark one idea from me.

And I know I sound like a broken record on this point, but could Terminus have foreshadowed the helicopter group? (Yes, I know I’m saying this WAY too often, and all the things I point to and consider probably do NOT directly equate to the helicopter group, but think of it as a mindset shift on my part. I’m kind of considering all things in light of the helicopter group.)

I was thinking that Terminus was where all the train tracks met, right? And we’ve seen more than one representation of the train tracks representing character paths. So, it would have made more sense if all the characters had met up at Terminus. And most of them did. Beth was the exception. But if this was a foreshadow of all character paths converging at some future point, then that would make sense. Because Beth is the one that’s been gone for a long time, but since then, others, such as Heath and Rick, have also disappeared.

So, all paths need to converge at some point, and we believe that will happen in some way via the helicopter group. See why I’m thinking this? I think what you’ve found here backs this up.

Another insight? Remember in 5x09, we see some train tracks with the camera moving forward along them, and the tracks disappear into the woods up ahead. Maybe those tracks represent Beth’s path, and the fact that it’s going to disappear for a while. But it will reappear and meet up with other character paths at some future point.

Which also reminds me of a kind of famous passage in the book of Revelation about a woman who gives birth to a child but then goes into hiding in the woods. Most scholars interpret it (a total analogy) as that the true gospel Christ taught would go into hiding for a while (Dark Ages) but re-emerge later. I don’t know if this is what they were going for or even considering, but it’s what I thought of. Might be a similar template. Anyway, great rewatch. You always have eagle eyes.

@wdway:

I cannot tell you how much I agree with you. I definitely think Terminus was tied to the helicopter people or, more precisely, that Terminus is connected to Grady and it is Grady who had a connection with the helicopter or what the helicopter group was at the beginning of the turn. I believe it's around a year-and-a-half into the turn when Beth was brought there, and I believe they have evolved over the 10 years.

Dawn pretty well confirmed that there was a group coming soon, so it makes total sense that it could be a military-type organization. I'm going to show you some shots that will totally bring back what I've been obsessing about all the seasons.

Top one is Hansen, Dawn's Superior until he went crazy. I know the second shot is really dark. This is the best I can do with trying to lighten it. Do you remember this at the end of No Sanctuary, where they give a bit of a backstory of Terminus being taken over by this big guy who terrorized them? I believe this guy is Hanson.

Isn't it strange that they tell a backstory about a group that TF has taken down and that they go to a lot of effort to make this person hard to see?

That's right. I think the crazy guy from the train box car is none other than Hanson. If you look at Slabtown and Coda, this person is discussed several times. An awful lot of screen time is taken up with a story of how Hanson went rogue. What's the need of that when Grady is about to be left behind and, more importantly, why do we repeatedly see a picture of him?

The first picture I showed above has his badge next to it. Another question of why do we need to see that? I'm going to throw out a crazy idea. Why not, haha. In the very dark picture below, the guy seems to be wearing some kind of large belt buckle. I think it might be a gun or something stuck in the front of his pants, but I think there's a badge there.

I guess there's a definite yes to me, believing that all of this relates to the helicopter people. More importantly, the new series The World Beyond apparently did not want to start until after we see episode 16. I've said this before. I think at some point, not necessarily the first episode, but I think somewhere within it we will see Grady, pre-Beth.

@frangipanilove

I love you take on Hanson. I totally agree that they alluded to something that we haven’t quite seen yet, and I would love to see Grady tied to the helicopter ppl somehow. I have wondered a lot about the tattoo guy from Terminus and what the deal was with him, and your pics show a remarkable resemblance between Hanson and the crazy terminus dude.

@twdmusicboxmystery:

It would explain the defunct cop cars at Terminus, if Hansen left Grady and arrived in them. And as you’ve said, the weirdness of some of this that hasn’t yet been explained.

That’s it for today. Anybody have any thoughts on these insights?

[isabearies]

Instability -- D:BH [07]

Pairing: Connor x Reader

Word Count: 2k

Warnings: violence, mega angst, some cursing, please read at own risk

Author’s Note: this one is way long, I got a little carried away lol. Super action packed, I hope you enjoy!

Summary: Connor has just been assigned to the deviant case with you and Hank. You have a history with androids, but he just wants a partner. You want androids to be heard, but you’re still terrified of them.

Chapter Seven: Machine

The ride to the scene was awkward, no one had the confidence to break the looming silence. Not Connor, certainly not you. You hadn’t even thought about Hank or if he knew what was going on. You didn’t even know what was going on.

Again, there was nothing said even as you exited the car and got into the elevator. However, Connor looked preoccupied. As the elevator lifted you several floors, his eyes flickered closed and he appeared distant. It was an odd sight, but it was also weird to see his features in this way. The lighting was bare and it casted shadows onto his bone structure. His expression was calm, yet determined. You wondered what he was thinking about. The elevator halted and opened, to which both you and Hank naturally strutted out of the contraption.

Connor, however, stayed.

“Hey Connor!” Hank tried to get his attention. This was the first anyone had spoken in a while. It felt unnatural.

His eyes opened to look across at Hank.

“You run outta batteries or what?”

“I’m sorry,” he spoke, robotic and distant, “I was making a report to CyberLife.” 

You were not sure how, but his voice was…satisfying. When he spoke, it was as if it completed a sentence in the constructs of your mind with no words. Something about it implied human texture, but it was elastic and smooth like silicone.

“Do you plan on staying in the elevator?” The thought of that made you chuckle, and Connor’s reaction didn’t help.

“No, I’m coming!” He sounded offended and it made you giggle more. Things were feeling normal again. Whatever normal was, that is.

Hank and you walked into the hallway with Connor just behind you.

“So, what do we know about this guy?”

“Not much, just that a neighbor reported that he heard strange noises coming from this floor.” Connor filled you in a little more.

“That doesn’t immediately say deviant though, right?” you questioned this report just subtly, since you had heard plenty of empty complaints from neighbors before.

“Nobody’s supposed to be living here, but the neighbor said he saw a man hiding a LED under his cap.” The details started to come together.

Connor had started walking a little faster to catch up to you, walking in tandem with you and Hank.

“Oh Christ, if we have to investigate every time someone hears a strange noise, we’re gonna need more cops.” Hank was distraught with annoyance, rightfully so. Connor bent down parallel to the apartment door accessing some junk on the floor. You got curious.

“Connor, were you actually writing a report in the elevator? Just…by closing your eyes?”

Connor turned back to look at you, his eyes reflecting into yours.

“Correct.”

“Wish I could do that…” Hank mumbled ruggedly as he knocked on the door.

Silence, followed by Hank shrugging as Connor turned to him. Connor knocked harder, “Anybody home?” More silence.

You got tired of this. “Open up! Detroit Police!” Finally, there was movement.

Hank drew his weapon, as did you.

“Stay behind me.” 

“Got it.”

Hank kicked down the door as the two of you entered, Connor still behind the door frame.

The hallway was decrepit, with light showing through the ceiling and paint peeling from the ghoulishly grey walls. It might have been bland in color, but definitely not in texture. The walls were also decorated with hexagonal shapes and weird pictures. Connor ducked into a room and as you cased the other.

Hank broke open a door, to which a shit ton of pigeons flew out.

“What the fuck is this!” Hank’s call beckoned you to follow him to the main room. In it, the floor was crammed with pigeons and there were more hexagonal shapes. Your hand moved to cover your nose.

“Holy shit it stinks in here!” you blurted out, noticing Connor looking around, never minding the pigeons nor the smell.

“Looks like we came for nothing, our man’s gone.” Hank’s hoarse voice echoed in the abandoned room. 

“Just look around and see if we can find where he might have went.” Hank was in a mood, probably because he was sick of the deviant business in general.

Connor turned to his right to see a UFO poster, and promptly removed its place from the wall. This action was unjust at first, but behind the wall lay a book. You could not see its contents, but seeing his face riddled with confusion made you curious as to how his brain worked. Or however androids brains worked.

His brow drawn and mouth downturned, his perplexity perplexed you in a way. How could someone sound and look so pristine, so human, and yet still reflect such robotic qualities? That was just it, really; he was a robot. An android.

A machine.

He could not feel, he could not exude the same emotions as a human. It was quite bothersome, really. It was as if talking to a wall with a face. Yes, the wall can talk and make faces and such, but all it was just a wall. Nothing more, nothing less. It was not human, and it could never act like a human. You knew this far too well.

“Found something?” You already knew the answer but the curiosity was itching.

“I don’t know, it looks like a notebook but it’s…indecipherable.”

You turned to your direct right and opened up a closet. A couple pigeons flew towards you. Nothing.

The windows were boarded up, the cabinets in disarray, which made you think. There was nothing in the cabinets to begin with, except for rat food. You opened the refrigerator.

Empty.

Connor was to your left and looked at what seemed to be a military jacket.

“R.T…probably initials.”

“He put his initials in his jacket? That’s something your mom does when you’re in the first grade…” Hank was a smart ass as always.

“That’s assuming he went to first grade.”

You walked into the bathroom, where something was smeared on the side of the sink. Connor touched it and placed his fingers to his lips.

“Connor! Don’t lick the evidence!”

“I can analyze blue blood in real time–”

You thought a moment.

“Okay, that’s really cool, but it’s still evidence. Please don’t put anything else in your mouth.”

“Got it.”

You took a look at the sink itself, to find an LED sitting on the ledge.

“So it was a deviant. Mystery solved.” You were getting sick of smelling bird feces. Finally looking around the bathroom, there were symbols everywhere. The most prevalent was “RA9,” which had no meaning to you. However, as Connor looked at the patterns, something clicked. He reached out to the paint to find it was still wet. 

You decided to speak. “Any idea what it means?”

“RA9...written 2471 times...it’s the same sign Ortiz’s android wrote on the shower wall. Why are they obsessed with this sign?” Connor’s tone was of pure confusion.

“It looks like a bunch of mazes...maybe like a map?” Connor bent down to find a wooden stool turned over on the floor. His eyes paced the scene rapidly, placing everything together it looked like. He got up and quickly walked to the cage on the floor. Again, getting up and looking towards the door. Finally, he moved towards the chair in the corner of the room to the hole in the ceiling. The room almost stood still…

You paced towards the ceiling, with some pigeons scattering about when a large black figure fell out of the hole and into you. You fell hard into the ground, feeling every splintering piece of wood stab your backside.

“Oh shit!” 

Connor helped you up, a hand on your forearm and shoulder. You stood, and Connor was gone, chasing the deviant. A crash, a boom, and a door opening. That was all you heard before silence as Connor probably left the building from the emergency exit. 

“Let’s go around!”

O

There was nothing on his mind. Complete calm in his systems. His body, however, was dashing in utter and absolute control. He jumped over a generator, never failing to make the cut. He focused on one thing and one thing only.

Catch the deviant.

The task was better read than done. A jump down the wall to a field of wheat. Again, completely calm as he did what might’ve been painful to humans. Something that would have injured your ankles in three different places.

Catch the deviant.

He crossed the field and climbed the wall parallel to the last into another field, and onto another higher building. Androids all about, growing plants. A swift right turn and a fall onto a glass ceiling. The deviant broke the glass in front of him and Connor hinged his legs to jump into the damage.

A perfect landing. However, not good enough. The deviant was making headway up the stairs, approximately 10 meters ahead of him. The door closed in front of him, to which Connor made a quick right into a lavender field. Taking a shortcut to his right, he climbed onto another generator onto a building. Two meters ahead.

Catch the deviant. 

The jump led the another glass ceiling to slide down. The deviant was already on the train as Connor jumped and landed into a perfect stance. A ladder, deviant is approximately 1.6 meters ahead. However, Connor skidded on the ladder, the deviant was already running. He was now 8 meters away. Damnit.

Catch the deviant.

Another jump onto a higher building into a greenhouse. A swift couple of jumps later and he was in a cornfield. This chase was taking too long, he needed the deviant secured as soon as possible. Connor dashed out, to find (y/n) having a fistfight with the deviant. The suspect threw you over the ledge. Analyzing the situation, he found that if not helped, you would be heavily injured. Chance of survival: 89%

CatcH the deviAnt.

The decision was not conscious. He ran toward you and pulled you up, a hand on yours and another on your forearm. This was the third time he pulled you up today. If it was a habit, it was one he didn’t mind.

^^ sOftwarE inStaBility ^^

O

Hanging over the ledge, you anticipated Connor to run after the deviant. You left Hank in a mad dash to cut him off. However, when you felt a warm, strong hand pull you up, you were left surprised and somewhat disappointed. You realized Connor did not go after him, but instead saved you. He disobeyed his orders.

“Shit! I--We had it!” The cursing was real, but you were not just cursing at the deviant getting away. Connor disobeyed his orders. That meant something, and you knew from experience. This was only the beginning.

“It’s my fault,” Connor broke your thoughts, “I should have been faster.”

You looked up at him. He was still in an action stance looking towards the deviant. The realization only became more prevalent.

“You didn’t chase after him…” Your voice was soft, but audible. It wasn’t a statement, more so a moment of disbelief. Connor looked down to you, his soft brown eyes not fully comprehending what this meant. Not disobeying orders in this moment, but the big picture. What was to come. Oh god.

His face was sad, and you felt bad that you had to be a burden to carry. You were the reason the deviant was not in custody right now.

A distant sound of footsteps were heard, a bang of a door opening, and Hank was now on the roof.

“Where the fuck did it go?” he yelled.

“I fell, Connor helped me.” It was a frustrated response.

Hank was also disappointed, but his face changed. You thought you saw the same realization hit him for a split second. He was good at hiding his emotions.

“It’s alright, we know what it looks like. We’ll get it next time.”

Hank was already down the steps. You wanted to thank him for saving you, but the words didn’t feel right. It was your fault. You let him get away.

“Connor--” He turned to look at you, his sad brown eyes looking down at yours. This was getting all too real all too quick. And you had nothing to contribute.

“Nothing...let’s just go.” You could feel his gaze on your back once again, it was a cold stab on your warm, heart-pounding, nervous body. 

Connor stood there a moment. Just a moment. He saw the sun. It looked...different.

—

Let me know what you guys think! If you want to be tagged, just ask. And if you have any suggestions, don’t be shy!

Taglist:

@veaaaaa @lisylla @shit-post-things @hookedinto-fictionalworlds @toadbones @princessleiass @dolce-clout @sm0kingcrack

[writingamongtheroses-archive]

(Kate gets dragged to a ball and runs into Sendura. @radioactivepeasant, @toomanywebcomics.)

When Clara had asked her to attend a party with her, Kate had not planned on this.

Serkis was a planet that was not part of the Empire or the Resistance. Both sides were vying for the shipyard planet to join them. Traditions and laws had been pulled, leading to this.

An Empire-Resistance mixed gala.

Lara had said no the moment Clara had brought it up. That left Kate, who was an apparently better plus one. She was a symbol of the Ventura’s return. That was much better than ‘some nobody smuggler.’ (Clara’s words, which left Lara fuming.)

The gala was...actually okay. Clara looked lovely in Serkis’s national colors of lavender and dark red. The princess was talking to people like the skilled politician she was. Kate was allowed to wear what she wore normally. Then she saw black and paled.

Dark Sendura was here.

He appeared to be talking to some people, but the sight of him still made her sink in her spot. The memory of their disastrous duel on Yzami 1 was humiliating enough. But then there was the other instance at the old Ventura temple, the one where she had been blinded by the sun crystals…

He was staring at her.

Kate paled and whirled on her heel.

It reminded her of how after she surrendered, surrounded by Sendura and his troops. She hadn’t been able to see him, due to her state, but the Quinn had rippled around him and the darkness. Kate took a chance and peeked over her shoulder.

He was still staring.

Kate turned her head, swallowing back the urge to be sick. “I see Sendura’s spotted you,” Clara said, appearing at her side. She let out a sigh and nodded. The princess rubbed her shoulder in a clear comfort attempt. “Don’t worry. He’s not going to hurt you here. That’ll push Serkis farther from the Empire.”

“He’s been staring at me for the past five minutes. Is he still…”

Clara snuck a look back, making a face. “Yep. Don’t worry,” Kate relaxed into the shoulder rub- she hadn’t even noticed how much she had tensed up. “Not even Sendura’s above the rules.”

“Yeah…”

Someone called Clara’s name. “I gotta go.” The princess whispered. “Lara’s outside waiting with Jax and the Zion.” Kate’s surprise must’ve shown itself, earning a graceful shrug. “Just in case.” With one last squeeze, the brunette slipped away.

Kate glanced around. Sendura was no longer staring. Instead, he was talking to an Imperial officer- an admiral, if she was correct. Her eyes landed on a balcony. She could slip out for a moment of air, wait until he was further distracted, and then slip back in. Good plan.

It was easy to get to the balcony. People moved easily with a quiet “Excuse me” and her small height made it easy to slip past unnoticed. She let out an exhale she didn’t know she had been holding before taking in the night.

Serkis was beautiful. Dark red, orange, and yellow rock made up the landscape, glowing silver in the moonlight. It was too hot during the day for delicate flowers to grow, so the Serkians had made the tough weeds their own garden. It was a far cry from Khoine.

“You are a difficult person to get alone, Lowe.”

Kate bit down on her tongue to resist the startled shriek that wanted to erupt at the voice. She whirled around. The dark form of Death Sendura stood in the doorway. It took a moment, but she realized what was off. “You know my name?” (Of course, he does, there’s a bounty higher than anybody else’s for Kate Lowe.)

There was a moment of silence. “I...ran into a particularly loose-lipped informant.” Kate paled. Damien. She took a step forward to demand what Sendura had done- “He is fine. I released him. Calm down.”

“You just-”

“I did not come to harm you.” He held up his hands in the universal sign of peace. “This is no place to fight.”

He was right. Kate swallowed back any demands of what exactly Damien had gone through. “Good. My friends are all inside. Besides, I can take care of myself.” She pushed back her vest to show her saber.

“I believe you about yourself. But, no offense to your “friends”, there would be little they could do to stop me.” He took a step forward. Despite her mind screaming to get away, Kate stood her ground.

“Well, I stopped you and the Starkiller, didn’t I!?”

“Indeed, you did.”

There was a moment of awkward silence. Kate glanced behind her, gauging that if she had to, she could survive jumping off the balcony. It felt she was being studied- she knew how it felt from people obsessed with the Order of the Ventura. And she had come out here to get away from the lord’s stare.

“You feel it again, don’t you?” It wasn’t a question.

“Excuse me?”

“What you felt at the Sun Temple, on Olsom,” Sendura said. “You feel it again, don’t you?”

Shock rang through her. “I- Are you doing that?!”

“No, child. It’s the Quinn.”

Kate took a breath and closed her eyes, reaching out. She didn’t notice the dark tentacles reaching for her in the Quinn. “It feels...a little different. A lot less vibrant.” There was an emotion there. She reached for it. A sudden tide of grief made tears spring to her eyes. “I feel...sad.” She whispered, opening her eyes and wiping the tears away.

“It is the same for me.” She resisted a scream of shock because he was much closer now. More than decent. “A tragedy happened here eons ago. The emotion was potent enough to scar this place.” His hand reached for her and the Quinn screamed at her about the tentacles of dark power that wrapped around her ankles. Her back ached when she smacked herself against the railing

“You can’t-! It’s neutral here!” Kate closed her eyes. She was ready to scream…

Instead, a hand rested on her cheek. 

She opened her eyes in confusion. Sendura seemed to be examining her. “Remarkable,” he said, seemingly to himself. Kate reached out again in an attempt to sate her confusion.

There was him, a dark shadow. But he felt...possessive, yes. A dragonlike desire to covet and lock away valuable things. But...

“All this time...how did I not know that you-”

Protective?

“SENDURA!” The two froze. Clara stood in the doorway, a clear whirlwind of protective fury in the beautiful lavender and red gown. “Unhand her! This is neutral territory!” She was clearly ready to make a scene.

Thankfully, Sendura took a step back. “Trust me, Princess,” he said, the title holding a tone of mockery, “She is safer in my presence than in yours.”

“Oh, really. The last living member of the Ventura, safer in the presence in the man who’s known for killing any of those?” Clara crossed her arms. Kate started wondering about the railing again.

“She is the last of the Order of the Ventura and yet you have been sending her on all these dangerous and foolish rebel attacks!”

She could probably survive.

“We aren’t the Empire! Kate goes on those missions because it’s her choice! Why do you care anyway?” There was a moment of silence. She took the chance to swing her legs over the railing. “That’s right! So back off!”

He made some sort of sound, like an attempt at a tsk. “Temper, temper princess. Lowe,” He said, turning to her and ignoring Clara’s growl. Both of them stared at Kate, halfway over the railing. She sheepishly pulled herself back up. “We will be speaking again soon, child.” He turned and walked back into the party. Kate watched him with growing confusion.

What was that about?

A warm body tackled her. 

“Kate! I’m so sorry, did he hurt you?!”

It took a bit of convincing to calm Clara down and assure her that she was fine. The princess decided it was time to return to the Zion after that. (It was hard to believe that Sendura wouldn’t corner Kate somewhere else to stick a saber through her.) As they walked away from the party, a firm hand grabbed Kate’s arm and stopped her.

“Until later, ume.”

Sendura released her arm and disappeared into the crowd.

[linkspooky]

Fear of Loss Leads to the Dark Side

Touken? I don’t know her, let’s talk about Ui Koori more. 

What I noticed right away from this chapter was Ui’s outfit change, he’s gone from wearing white primarily in the middle of missions to all black. It could be simply to match Furuta’s change, he is after all on the chessboard a black king where previously Ui fought as an ally of the white king Arima.

My mind however, jumped immediately to a different conclusion. Ui’s decision to dress in all black, and stand at Furuta’s side means he has decided to join the dark side of the force.

Yes, let’s talk star wars. 

There’s a star wars parallel that can easily explain the connection between all events in this chapter. For a little background, in the prequel trilogy the jedi are established as an order of specially trained warriors (most of them since they were children) that maintains peace throughout the galaxy. They also fight entirely with weapons unique mainly to them (lightsabers) made out of a unique material (the crystals that power them). 

The parallels to the CCG are obvious, but one more is that Jedi are taught not to get too attached to one individual, their philosophy leans towards suppressing emotions, so the main relationships in their lives are superior, comrade, or inferior relationships with other jedi. It’s forbidden for them to take one specific person as a lover for instance.

While not as extreme, Ui definitely viewed his every relationship in the CCG through the framework of ‘coworker/superior/inferior’ rather than simply admitting what they were to him. It’s quite obvious at this point that Hairu to him was more than ‘a colleague’ after all, would he really sell out all of his moral values and stand on a pile of corpses for just a colleague?

In the prequel trilogy Anakin Skywalker is set up as a husband and expectant father, afraid to lose Padme the same way he lost his mother, but unable to go to anybody within the Jedi order for help because the kind of connection he made with her was forbidden. 

When Anakin does ask another Jedi about the fear he feels, he receives this response. 

“The Fear of Loss, is a path to the dark side.” [x]  “Attachment leads to jealousy, which is the shadow of greed... Train yourself to let go of everything you may fear you lose.”

Unwilling to let go though, his fears unheard by the order are instead preyed upon by a manipulator wishing to destroy the jedi order, one who poses as a simple bureaucrat within the same order he’s currently trying to climb to the top of. 

Supreme Chancellor: Did you ever hear the tragedy of Darth Plagueis "the wise"? Anakin Skywalker: No. Supreme Chancellor: I thought not. It's not a story the Jedi would tell you. It's a Sith legend. Darth Plagueis was a Dark Lord of the Sith, so powerful and so wise he could use the Force to influence the midichlorians to create life... He had such a knowledge of the dark side that he could even keep the ones he cared about from dying. Anakin Skywalker: He could actually save people from death? Supreme Chancellor: The dark side of the Force is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be unnatural. Anakin Skywalker: What happened to him? Supreme Chancellor: He became so powerful... the only thing he was afraid of was losing his power, which eventually, of course, he did. Unfortunately, he taught his apprentice everything he knew, then his apprentice killed him in his sleep. It's ironic he could save others from death, but not himself. 

[x]

This simple fable of course, has a lot in common with the story that Furuta started out telling Ui before he directly brought up Hairu. That the life force is so strong within ghouls, that they could even use it to create life itself.

In both cases, emotionally repressing themselves and attempting to do things as they see the “right, ethical, or just” way has not gotten them what they wanted. Despite fighting hard, gaining power, and becoming the hope of the CCG Ui Koori has lost all the important people in his life. Anakin Skywalker despite being strongest of the jedi and fighting to preserve the republic in civil war, has lost his mother and now his only family is threatened. 

Both men cannot deal with loss in the slightest. The right thing to do is to train themselves healthily to let go, but they’ve never experienced a full relationship in their lives, let alone one they can watch end in a healthy manner and then learn to move past. Every loss for them is sudden and cut off. That is why they get possessive. Ui’s face last chapter was marked with the “3″ of the Empress. In tarot, the empress is a card of fertility, birth, new life, but specifically the kind that comes with a female. Now the empress is being called up in a discussion between two males, deliberating whether or not they should bring a female back to life without her consent. From a truly gendered reading it’s two men deciding to make life, and therefore take possession of a domain that is not theirs.

Life is more complicated than medieval definitions of gendered tarot for the major arcana though, so let’s go back to the star wars reading. Palpatine tempts Anakin by revealing to him what he really wanted, the power those close to him. In his failure to do so he starts to see them as possessions to lose rather than people, which pushes him further into the dark side’s way of thinking. Furuta does the same for Ui, he tempts him with what he really wanted, close relationships with others, people to fight for, but in that same regard he waves Hairu’s head in front of him as if she were an object. 

The simplified version of the light and dark side of the force is that the jedis are trained to restrain emotions, while the sith are told to use those emotions and gain power from them. That could be seen as an old guard vs new guard CCG, the old Washuu taught emotional restraint when dealing with ghouls, the new Furuta vanguard is out in the open. 

It could also be a little more complicated, the jedi are taught to act with respect, restraint and regards towards others, to achieve not with might but with discipline. Furuta however, encourages others to take what they want with strength, peace is only brought with the massacre of the ghouls. He encourages Ui to fight not for the idea of justice, but for what his deepest desire is. 

By doing that though, Ui has become beholden to those desires. His newfound freedom from ethics is only another kind of restraint, because now the only actions he can take are those that will bring Hairu back, or rather Furuta can justify any action to him and Ui will be forced to follow along because that action may eventually bring Hairu back. Ui is even able to justify using childrens as mass murder weapon and props in this grandstanding, the same way that Anakin could justify the murder of innocent children apprentices of the jedi order in his attempts to protect Padme.

In the same vein, Anakin’s liberation from the emotional repression of the jedi did not bring him the security for his family, nor the free will that he wanted. Rather he was chained to Palpatine’s side and exchanging one master for another, rather than being controlled by ethics and restraint he was controlled entirely by his rage and want for power. 

In more thematic language, what Furuta, and also what the sith offer is a chance to embrace your shadow, your deepest desires, while implying that achieving those desires is what will grant you freedom. However, the shadow =/= the true self (persona lied to you), those who fall for Furuta’s temptation and completely become their shadows only find themselves similiarly restrained the way they were before.

There exists the element of irony too, because what exactly is Ui so disatisfied with in this scene, that Furuta would really stand on a pile of corpses for all to see? That people would cheer it?

However, what Furuta is doing right now is no different from what his former master did. One of Arima’s greatest reoccurring symbols was standing atop a pile of corpses, so much so he’d even count how many would pile up before he began his missions. 

Ui however, was a great fan of Arima while calling what Furuta does unethical. It begs the question what the difference is, or at what point does the mass slaughter of ghouls become ethical in Ui’s mind? 

That’s a bit of a tangent though, returning to the chapter proper, Touka and Kaneki have a similiar conversation. What exactly was it that led Kaneki to pursue strength alone, Kaneki answers it was his own fear of being left behind. 

His inability to cope with actually having to let go of others also leads Kaneki to treat people like objects, to turn Touka from somebody who could charge ahead decisively, to what she is now, somebody who waits for him patiently back at the cafe. Even though it was her charging ahead that made Kaneki admire her in the first place. 

I don’t think it’s a mistake that when Touka asks Kaneki why it’s Nishiki and Tsukiyama who are always allowed to participate in the action and not himself, that Kaneki mentions the weakness and inferiority he used to feel to her. It’s not just that though, Kaneki can’t conceive that others might miss him. The words Touka says here, come completely as a surprise to him and one he has no response to. 

He sees neither the care others have for him, nor the pain he inflicts on them for leaving. In his mind it’s always better for him to be the one charging ahead, and risking dying in some alleyway because no one will miss him, but he will miss the person if they are ahead in his place. He also doesn’t comprehend it when others try to correct him on this notion, which is basically why Kaneki responds with the emotional range of a wet towel in this chapter, except when he was asked about his own abandonment issues. 

For that is the only way Kaneki can see his relationships at this moment. Always in terms of “I don’t want them to leave me.” He can’t even appreciate the return of others because he is already mourning their future loss. 

That’s the connection between Ui and Kaneki, and why they are sharing the same chapter. They’re both driven by the same dark desire, the fear of losing others. That is what causes them to throw themselves further into the conflict, and ironically, make objects of the people that they wanted to enjoy mutual relationships with. 

Which is why at the end of the chapter, Kaneki is greeted not with a mutual relationship with Touka, but with this. 

Mutsuki, the shadow of his actions, or otherwise just another person who is motivated solely by the fear of loss. Mutsuki has also made the decision, just as Kaneki and Ui did, to ignore all outside circumstances and simply fight for their shadow of a desire, the fear of losing others. To the point where they become controlled by it, though with Mutsuki it’s more literal as they experience dissociation, and fugue states. Mutsuki’s sudden appearance is the embodiment of these feelings, and also how Kaneki’s failure to move past them will sabotage  his future relationships. 

That’s why the narration at the end, though seemingly foreshadowing horror in this context has also been repeated by Kaneki in the past. Here, and here.

As I’ve said in the past fighting with feeling with inevitably make you stronger, but there’s a catch as well. Acknowledging those feelings, what has been shown in the past few chapters with Goat is not enough. An inability to cope properly with those feelings is what leads to the dark side.

[lordofpinecrest-blog]

SEASON 8 EPISODE 5 BELLS

In my opinion, Episode 5 was a great one and one of the best ever. Drogon was all WOW! Some of the best televisions cinematography ever. How fitting was it that on Mother’s Day, that we saw the Mother of Dragons get her revenge for the death of her two children? And then we saw the other mother die as she wept in her lover’s arms? Happy Mother’s Day to them!!

We began with what the Game of Thrones always gets back to: treachery. The Spider talking to Jon Snow, saying “every time a Targaryen is born, the Gods flip a coin.” Do you remember Cersei saying that to Tyrion back in Season 2? The reference is to children born from adultery. But Varys is talking treason and Jon will have nothing to do with it. Was Jon being just loyal or just being naive again? And I guess I was wrong about Sansa as she clearly broke her oath to Jon as it does appear that Sansa told the Imp who Jon really was. But could he have been lying to Daenerys? Still not sure. Our Queen uses the word “TRUST” with Tyrian, and we know that never works out.

Did anyone see Tyrion turning on Lord Varys” I didn’t. As it turns out, Tyrion is the clever one. Good bye old friend” are the Master of Whispers last words before Drogon toasts him. How cool did Drogon look when we first saw him behind his mother? And so the madness begins. Or perhaps, it already had. I thought Daenerys started to lose control when she found out Sansa broke her oath to Jon and told Tyrion who Jon really was. The Mother of Dragons feeling alone with fear as her only weapon. This despite Jon saying he loved her and wanted no part of the Iron Throne.  One thing is for sure, Danny looks like she has aged 10 years over the last few weeks. Hey Jon,  a little TLC might have saved the day! But Jon never seems to get it right.

In Dragonstone, Daenerys looks as if she is already sitting on the Iron Throne as she rejects Tyrion’s plea for mercy. She points out quite correctly, that Cersei equates mercy with weakness. I agree with that 100%. Tyrion begs the Queen to hold off the attack if the bells are rung in King’s Landing, and we see Daenerys nod a “yes” to Greyworm. Did you think when she nodded, it was a yes to call off the attack or a “yes” to go full Dracarys? Love the way the show does the double meanings,

More news. Danny tells the Imp that Jamie was captured trying to get to Cersei. And then a threat that may come back to haunt us “The next time you fail me, will be the last time you fail me.” And we know that Tyrion helped Jamie escape. Will that come back to haunt him? How can it not.

People are pouring into King’s Landing. Troops assembling for the attack. The Hound and Arya riding to King’s Landing.  And to know one’s surprise, family wins out again as Tyrion saves his brother. And for those who thought Jamie still had some good in him, what did you think when he echoed his sisters’ feelings, that he didn’t’ care for the millions who were going to die, whether innocents or not? Tyrion tells Jamie how he can escape with Cersei to Pintos and begs him to do sp. Tyrion, despite all that Cersei has done to him, Tyrion still loves her as she is family. A tear jerker goodbye but a genuine one for these brothers. And when Tyrion tells Jamie to ring the bells, we know that he took Daenerys’s nod as a good sign. OOPS!

Next-BATTLE STATIONS! RED ALERT! Euron readying the Iron Fleet with his men loading the dragon catapults. Thousands of innocents running for “safety” behind the walls of King’s Landing, and two not so innocent, the Hound and Arya. And wasn’t the commander of the Golden Company an IDIOT for having his troops line up outside the gates? What was he thinking? That the better dressed army would win!

And then we have our first look at Cersei. This time dressed in red-cold as ice as she stares out as thousands are trapped when the gates are ordered closed. One of the soldiers feels a breeze as dust blows by and Euron feels it to. He shields his eyes and looks high into the sky. At first he smiles when he spots Drogon. But not for long uUnlike his siblings, Drogon has a TRUSTED pilot flying him as The Mother of Dragons skillfully dodges the incoming bolts. And then Drogon is launched in a full DRACARYS attack mode. First Daenerys burns the Iron Fleet and then she toast the Scorpions dragon killing machines outside the walls of King’s Landing. The Golden Army knows something smells afoot and the next thing we see are the gates of King’s Landing exploding in fire as Drogon continues with his carnage. The commander runs but cannot escape the galloping Dothraki army. How fitting was it that Grey Worm was the one who put him down? The Lannister army is no match against them and Drogon as the Mother of Dragons shows no mercy.

Cersei watches on, same cold face as her city burns. Doesn’t seem to care. But her brother does as we walks through the death. Cersei cannot accept defeat, even when Qyburn tells her the Iron Fleet is burning and that all the Scorpions have been destroyed. And despite Her Grace’s claim that her troops will die for her, they see what they are up against and they drop their swords and surrender. As Jamie runs to join his sister, Tyrion is looking and hoping for the bells to be rung. A brief standoff and the bells rings. Battle over-right? Nope.

Next we see the shadow of Drogon’s wings flying over King’s Landing. Do you remember back in Season 2 when Daenerys saw that vision when she was in the House of the Undying? She also saw King’s Landing reduced to ashes. Prophecy coming true. Despite the bells, our Mother of Dragons goes full Mad Queen and literally burns them all. Innocents and armies alike. And then Grey Worm does the same. And  now we know what the “nod” really meant. Not mercy, just killing. Grey Worm is getting his revenge as he is just as unhinged as Danny. Meanwhile, Tyrion can only look on in shock. Even Jon is shaken as he kills on his own soldiers to save an innocent woman.

And what looks like the same spot where Tyrion sailed away from King’s Landing, Euron washes up and fights Jamie. I didn’t think much of the fight between Euron and Jamie, but I guess it was fitting for the Kingslayer to kill another “king.” And while dying, Euron smiles as he thinks he killed Jamie Lannister. But Euron should have known,  what is dead can never die.

All the while, The Mother of Dragons turns her attention to the Red Keep as she has Drogon slowly torch it. I think she wanted to keep Her Grace alive to see all her people die. And as Qyburn finally convinces a crying Cersei to retreat for safety, did you notice that Drogon’s fire was setting off wild fire in King’s Landing? So who is to say that Cersei wasn’t planning the same thing for her people? After all, I don’t think she was crying for her dead people; she was crying only because she lost. Next we have the Hound with Arya standing on the Lannister map. The Red Keep is all but gone, but the Hound has some wisdom left in him when he convinces Arya to leave and to save her life. He has known revenge all his life and tells her to “Look at me. Do want to be like me?” And what a reply “Sandor, thank you.” as they go their separate ways. Touching end to their relationship. The Hound is off to face his brother. I did like that in the end, the Mountain refused to obey his Queen and killed Qyburn, swatting him away like the mosquito that he was. As for the Glegane Bowl itself, it was just okay.  As the Hound said, the Mountain just wouldn’t die. We see the Mountain start to gauge out the Hound’s eyes in the same way he did to the Red Viper. But the Mountain gets a second life;  he stabs his brother in the head, but still can’t kill him. So what does he do? He lock a hold of him as he pushes himself and the Mountain off the ledge as they plunged to their deaths in fire. The way they dies, in fire, was a very symbolic way for them to die and it fit perfectly.

And while this was going on, what was going through Arya’s mind as she ties to leave the city? She knows what a monster the Dragon Queen become.

Did anybody besides me think that when Jamie showed up by Cersei’s side that he was dead and that it was Arya ready to kill Cersei? I really thought that. But no, this brother and sister also die in each others’ arms. Cersei crying she doesn’t want their baby to die, that she doesn’t want to die. And Jamie, with his last breath, repeating what Cersei said to Jaime seasons ago “Nothing matters but us.” A fitting last line as the rest of the Red Keep crushes down on them. Some don’t think they died, but I do.

We end with Arya covered in blood and ash.  Silence as nobody around her is alive. She stares a burned mother and child Only to spot a white horse-could it have been Tywin Lannister’s horse? She touches the horse  gently and then rides out of a completely destroyed King’s Landing. No words. But where is she going?

Again, I thought it was a terrific episode. The dragon scenes were amazing. And while I was in full dragon mode, could anybody have been in a dinosaur mode and watched a Raptor? NO WAY! And just like earlier in the Season, a lot of it came down to relationships. This time, many really ended. But what of the living? What will be Jon’s relationship with Daenerys?  What about Tyrion, who in the words of Bruce Springsteen, looked out over his city in ruins. Does the Imp realize he backed the wrong person to sit on the Iron Throne? Could he become a Queen Slayer as his brother was a King Slayer? Or will it be another kill for Arya? Have we seen the last of Sansa? Hope not. Some say Daenerys was right to do what she did, that she was driven to it by her foes? Do you agree?

Well only one episode left and we still do not know who will sit on the Iron Throne. Most think the Jon as Aegon Targaryen will become the King. But to do so, he will need help from others as Danny seems to be in full control. And she still has Drogon. Or will somebody kill Drogon? Doesn’t that have to happen to end the reign of Daenerys? I think so. Lot’s to think about as we are around the stretch and headed for the finish line.

Let me know what you think.

The Lord of Pinecrest

[zenosanalytic]

A Murder of Gods Redux

Ok, so I’ve watched Ep 6 a few times now and I want to write more in-depth about my reactions to it.

Somewhere in America

The Somewhere in America intro was good, I thought. The US and Jesus/Christianity/God/the Divine mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people, and this intro does a good job of both exploring that fact in the specific context of southern USian immigration, and establishing this difference, sometimes conflict sometimes synthesis, as a central theme of the episode.

To the Immigrants, the US is an aspiration, an opportunity, a place of salvation; to the Murderers, it is something they already have and need to protect from other people getting. To the Immigrants, Jesus is a guardian sharing in their suffering and giving aid at their worst extremity; to the Murderers Jesus is also a guardian of sorts, but as a patron and justifier of righteous violence. The Murderer with a rifle has a crucifix in his trigger-hand and another crucifix as the crosshair of his sight: symbolically, Jesus guides his killing-hand, and his murderous world-view is seen through Christ and the Crucifixion.

The view of the Murderers finds continuity in the citizens of Vulcan, Virginia; and I wonder if putting it in Virginia was, itself, symbolic. As a symbol of USian racism and white supremacy via its role in slavery, the confederacy, and Jim Crow, obviously, but also the name, Virginia, “Virgin”, and the way in which white concepts of virginity play into white USian racial, and sexualized national, anxieties. The people of Vulcan, as Wednesday says, want to keep for themselves “their America” and “their Town”, viewing the outside world(including the rest of America) as hostile and dangerous. That connection shows how easily the Murderers’  xenophobic desire to make the Nation inviolate(and therefore “virginal” in a misogynistic, property-relations conception of the term) morphs into egotistical sectionalism within the Nation(hint hint, the Southern revolt in defense of slavery). It shows how the mindset which vilifies and verminizes the outsider and immigrant quickly and easily turns to do the same to one’s neighbor, a connection strengthened by the visual callback to the Rifleman in Vulcan; right before Vulcan gives his benediction to the congregation, we see a close up of one of its members holstering his gun, a crucifix beside it on his belt.

While I can’t really articulate why at the moment, there seems something very Apt in this being the “home” and power-base for an Old God who has sold out to the New Ones. Maybe it is that the multiculturalism and racial “sensitivity” displayed by the New Gods in Ep 5 was so obviously the shallow insincerity of corporate image-control, that an Old God unabashedly promoting white supremacy and white Christian gun-culture seems philosophically aligned with them already. Or maybe it is that there are few ideas which have, historically, garnered more devotion in, and been more central to the Eurocolonial States of the American continents, than white supremacy making it, while unmentioned by the series, the oldest of America’s New Gods.

I don’t like how the Somewhere in America sequence fits, structurally, with the rest of the episode, though. I feel like it’d have been better, that it would make the argument more firmly and clearly, to cut directly from this SiA to introducing Vulcan, and either returning to the characters afterwards, or putting the two character sequences before, and having the SiA be an inter-ep interlude which blends back into the ep via the Vulcan intro. For instance: you do the intro scene, but take the bit where the camera lingers on a Vulcan bullet and put it at the end of it, after the crucifixion bit. The camera tracks the shell as it tumbles into darkness and then it lands on the factory floor in Vulcan, to be found by the “Boss”, who takes it from there. Maybe throw in a “wouldn’t want anybody to slip on this” line when he picks it up, so that his later death-by-factory-mishap is more ironic.

A Plot

I think the musical cues in S1E6 could have been seriously tuned back, which is weird because this series(and these show-staffers) typically do such a great job on sound and music. The cues used in L&Sw’s parking lot scene, and when Wednesday pulls the tree-homunculus out of Shadow, were distracting and dissonant with the action on the screen; I’d have preferred either leaving them out, or using something not so loud and jangly. Same thing for the music during Vulcan’s speech about faith in the study; it just didn’t FIT. Silence, punctuated at the moment of recognition of his betrayal by Vulcan’s pistol-shot, would have been a better accompaniment to the scene. The sort of sarcastically dirgey jazz march in Vulcan for the funeral didn’t work for me either. The shift to it from the more understated music before was too stark, the guitar distortions didn’t fit, and it sounded kinda... circusy is the only way I can describe it. I don’t think going that Metal with it worked well, though I understand the impulse given the industrial/volcanic subject matter and god it is meant to be themeing. I didn’t like how Wednesday’s monologue was woven into the march, either, and I felt it was kind of heavy-handed and obvious for the character. Maybe if it’d been done as a dialogue, with Shadow opening the discussion by commenting on the weirdness of  the uniforms and guns, or on how everyone, from the moment he entered the town, was watching him with such obvious hostility?

Which gets to another thing I didn’t like about this ep, which was the writing for Shadow. He’s been written as more talkative and emotive than he was in the book throughout the series, and necessarily as rather passive and reactive here at the beginning as he’s been introduced to the world it takes place in, but this ep just really seemed to sideline him into sidekick territory; into setting up and reacting to the speeches and actions of others rather than being a full character, equally as involved in the story as everyone else.

And at the same time he was being sidelined, the action the ep chose to focus on wasn’t really given the time or treatment it needed to sell it. There are, of course, signs that Vulcan has chosen the other side(his industrialization for one thing, the unreality of the manufacturing sequence for another, his comfort and wealth for still another), and that Wednesday wants that friendship to have held firm but is wary(the thundering at the end of their first meeting, his notice of and slightly offended tone at Vulcan not drinking the Soma[which btw, they really need to have introduced and explained before it played a plot-point in an ep, adding to the feeling the Vulcan sequence was pushed forward from where it was originally meant to be in the series]), but that interpersonal stuff wasn’t built up enough to justify the pay off. On further viewing, the Study scene works better than it did initially for me, and I picked up on smaller touches in Whittle’s acting which I missed the first time around which made the whole sequence at his House better to me, but it as a whole(and the performances of McShane and Bernsen) still felt too heavy-handed and rushed to me for the feeling of paranoia it’s meant to evince. I mean: Shadow’s discomfort and its sources are more than clear from the moment they arrive, as is Vulcan’s role in escalating them through his unstated aggression towards Shadow(though I wonder if this is not only racism, but also a reaction to Shadow’s demigod nature? Vulcan’s “so it’s true” statement to Wednesday on seeing Shadow, and his look to Shadow at the end before saying “oh Yes” suggests to me that Odin’s fathering a child and bringing him into play might be seen as an act of aggression by the New Gods, raising tensions), but Wednesday’s concern, and the things Vulcan did to set it off, were too in-your-face and fast-developed to be satisfying.

Also, while the noose-vision at the tree itself was not a bad idea, having it be a bone-noose was cheesy, and belabored Odin’s connection to bonfires and skeletal remains through the symbol of the noose, for no reason I could see. I mean, thinking about it now, maybe the point was to suggest and foreshadow Odin’s own destructive manipulation of Shadow and his emotions, or Wednesday(and the concepts/states of mind he represents)’s own involvement in the USian history of lynching, more directly than a rope-noose would have? To tie Wednesday, who in the scene is Shadow’s ally and sympathetic confidante(sharing a knowing look with him in response to Vulcan’s behavior), to the very history of racist “sacrifice” to white purity and supremacy which puts Shadow on edge about the town in the first place? But, if so, it’s such a small, esoteric, difficult to parse part of the scene, and so overwhelmed by the more immediate and visceral reaction to the noose and lynching itself, that I don’t think it really conveys that effectively, even if that was the idea behind it(which it might not have been. Maybe they just thought it would look “Cool”). And, honestly, lynching symbolism is kind of a tasteless place to hide what could only be an easter-egg for book-fans already in-the-know |:T

Also, and this is obvsl less important than that last bit, I felt like the God-Talk in the house scenes was really obvious, but that the show wanted us to react to it like it wasn’t? Which is just... Incomprehensible, quite frankly. Honestly, the show’s kinda done a bad job of managing Shadow’s entree to this world in a way that keeps pace with that of the audience. Though I come at it from having read the book, so maybe someone who hasn’t would feel like the syncing of the pacing isn’t so bad.

Also Also: the Laura segue from the House didn’t fit. Like: why? What was it in those scenes connecting them? Shadow and his relationship to Laura and Wednesday and his relationship with Vulcan? Trust and Betrayal? Faith and Doubt in one’s relationships? The nature of Gods and Shadow’s growing divinity? Houses and Homes? It didn’t feel well-established and it did feel like just a lazy reason and way to transfer back to the ep’s B story.

I have to say I liked the conclusion of the A plot a lot better on a second viewing, though, and the look on McShane’s face after beheading Vulcan, while watching him burn in his own fire, was Delicious >:] The pissing into said fire to “lay a curse”, and Shadow’s overreaction to it, was Excessively “edgy” >:T There’s certainly something primally human in pissing as a sign of disrespect and desecration, more so when it is done onto the thing, but it just didn’t work for me in that context here(I’m curious to know if it worked and felt justified in the scene for others, though. Maybe the move away from such casual vulgarity, and the increased social sanctioning of sanitary functions, in the US over the last 100 years or so makes it too difficult to connect to? Maybe I’m just too prudish on this subject to appreciate its intent here?? idk)

B Plot

On further viewing, my opinion on the first leg of Laura, Sweeney, and Salim’s journey hasn’t changed much. I liked it, I thought their performances were good, the dialogue writing was mostly good though too on-the-nose philosophically and too wrought(sounding like something someone would write and not like something they’d say is what I mean) here and there. Laura’s long-suffering reaction to Sweeney’s constant “Cunt” was satisfying, as was her distaste for his mockery and meanness to Salim, even if it is probably partially instrumental to her and meant more to build a rapport with her driver than sincere. It was fine, but nothing in it really grabbed me or blew me away.

I’m a bit more conflicted on the her wanting to visit home again, though. On the one hand it didn’t feel natural, on the other part of Depression can be not feeling you feelings most of the time, and then being overly sentimental when you finally, for once, do get to feel your feelings for awhile. That ambivalence of both wanting a connection and resenting it, appreciating people while also harboring very negative opinions about them sometimes(or most of the time) is part of being depressed so including that bit, and including it in a way that seemed out of the blue, certainly furthers that characterization of her.

I also like the bar scene a bit more, as I think there’s definitely a connection being drawn there between Laura’s “love” of Shadow, and Wednesday’s needs/plans for and befriending of Shadow. Sweeney’s obviously speaking more for Odin there of course, furthering Wednesday’s desire to keep Laura away from Shadow out of a concern that a variable like her could really throw a spanner in his plans for him, by sowing doubt in her mind about his continued devotion/love for her. But he’s right, in certain ways, about Laura’s feelings for Shadow, and more right than he could possibly know he is; that she doesn’t particularly care about how her love impacts Shadow, or their relationship and how he feels/felt about it, and only really considers their relationship, and Shadow, from the perspective of what it can do for her and make her feel. Basically that her relationship with him is Instrumental and fundamentally manipulative. This scene cuts directly to Shadow looking up at Vulcan’s hanging tree and seeing that bone-noose flop down. Which, now that I think about it, probably undermines my complaints about it a bit >:| That connection, and Laura’s parting rejection of examining her relationship to Shadow, casts Wednesday’s sympathy with Shadow in that scene, over Vulcan’s behavior and comments and the Neighborhood Watchman eyeballing him, in a more insidious and manipulative light. This suggests that that sympathy, and Wednesday’s later use of the common social justice refrain that neutrality in the face of oppression is siding with oppression, are performances for Shadow; attempts to manipulate and use him just like Laura did and still wants to.

Seeing that now, though, I’m still ambivalent about the scenes; they just don’t feel like, when watching them, they are handled as well as they could be, or that they make this as obvious as it needs to be given the subject matter and the importance of getting these racial politics immediately across to everyone in the audience.

The Ending of the B Plot returns to the central theme of this episode; Faith and Perspective, and how Big Ideas mean different things to different people. Salim prays and says God is Great. Laura, in typical Jerk-Atheist fashion, condescendingly corrects him with “Life is Great, Salim not Salim”. But he doesn’t take offense because he hears that as an addition, rather than the correction she meant. “Life is Great” he adds, to him nothing more than a recognition that God’s Greatness comes to people through the Life it gives them. With the Sunrise in the background, the examination of his prayer as a physical act, and the appropriate music, it’s an ending that manages to be thematically appropriate and beautiful without ignoring or editing away Laura’s egocentric misanthropy(her focus on Life, when that’s the objective she’s currently pursuing, is Telling), or Sweeney’s twitchy, dissatisfied sense of abandonment as he side-eyes and spits and kicks the dirt at a sun whose meaning for him has yet to be entirely revealed. And again, I just have to say Schreiber’s performance is amazing, because with those simple gestures he manages to convey that his constant aggression is somehow tied to his relationship to the Sun, beyond his need for the Coin and the ill-luck giving it away has brought him.

So I still feel pretty dissatisfied with A Murder of Gods, but with more looks I think there’s definitely Meat to dig into in it. The ideas and themes in it are interesting, but I didn’t find the execution of all of them satisfying.

[writingamongtheroses-archive]

(Set before either Kate or Clara know. Khoine’s language is called Kho, a language based on Basque. Ume means child. @radioactivepeasant)

When Clara had asked her to attend a party with her, Kate had not planned on this.

Serkis was a planet that was not part of the Empire or the Resistance. Both sides were vying for the shipyard planet to join them. Traditions and laws had been pulled, leading to this.

An Empire-Resistance mixed gala.

Lara had said no the moment Clara had brought it up. That left Kate, who was an apparently better plus one. She was a symbol of the Order of the Ventura’s return. That was much better than ‘some nobody smuggler.’ (Clara’s words, which left Lara fuming.)

The gala was...actually okay. Clara looked lovely in Serkis’s national color of lavender and dark red. The princess was talking to people like the skilled politician she was. Kate was allowed to wear what she wore normally. Then she saw black and paled.

Dark Sendura was here.

He appeared to be talking to some people, but the sight of him still made her sink in her spot. The memory of their disastrous duel on Yzami 1 was humiliating enough. But then there was the other instance at the old Ventura temple, the one where she had been blinded by the sun crystals…

He was staring at her.

Kate paled and whirled on her heel.

It reminded her of how after she surrendered, surrounded by Sendura and his troops. She hadn’t been able to see him, due to her state, but the Quinn had rippled around him and the darkness. Kate took a chance and peeked over her shoulder.

He was still staring.

Kate turned her head, swallowing back the urge to be sick. “I see Sendura’s spotted you,” Clara said, appearing at her side. She let out a sigh and nodded. “Don’t worry. He’s not going to hurt you here. That’ll push Serkis farther from the Empire.”

“He’s been staring at me for the past five minutes. Is he still…”

Clara snuck a look back, making a face. “Yep. Don’t worry,” She started rubbing her shoulder. Kate relaxed into the touch- she hadn’t even noticed how much she had tensed up. “Not even Sendura’s above the rules.”

“Yeah…”

Someone called Clara’s name. “I gotta go.” The princess whispered. “Lara’s outside waiting with Jax and the Zion.” Kate’s surprise must’ve shown itself, earning a graceful shrug. “Just in case.” With one last squeeze, the brunette slipped away.

Kate glanced around. Sendura was no longer staring. Instead, he was talking to an Imperial officer- an admiral, if she was correct. Her eyes landed on a balcony. She could slip out for a moment of air, wait until he was further distracted, and then slip back in. Good plan.

It was easy to get to the balcony. People moved easily with a quiet “Excuse me” and her small height made it easy to slip past unnoticed. She let out an exhale she didn’t know she had been holding before taking in the night.

Serkis was beautiful. Dark red, orange, and yellow rock made up the landscape, glowing silver in the moonlight. It was too hot during the day for delicate flowers to grow, so the Serkians had made the tough weeds their own garden. It was a far cry from Khoine.

“You are a difficult person to get alone, Lowe.”

Kate bit down on her tongue to resist the startled shriek that wanted to erupt at the voice. She whirled around. The dark form of Death Sendura stood in the doorway. It took a moment, but she realized what was off. “You know my name?” (Of course he does, there’s a bounty higher than anybody else’s for Kate Lowe.)

There was a moment of silence. “I...ran into a particularly loose-lipped informant.” Kate paled. Damien. She took a step forward to demand what Sendura had done- “He is fine. I released him. Calm down.”

“You just-”

“I did not come to harm you.” He held up his hands in the universal sign of peace. “This is no place to fight.”

He was right. Kate swallowed back any demands of what exactly Damien had gone through. “Good. My friends are all inside. Besides, I can take care of myself.” She pushed back her vest to show her saber.

“I believe you about yourself. But, no offense to your “friends”, there would be little they could do to stop me.” He took a step forward. Despite her mind screaming to get away, Kate stood her ground.

“Well, I stopped you and the Starkiller, didn’t I!?”

“Indeed, you did.”

There was a moment of awkward silence. Kate glanced behind her, gauging that if she had to, she could survive jumping off the balcony. It felt she was being studied- she knew how it felt from people obsessed with the Order of the Ventura. And she had come out here to get away from the lord.

“You feel it again, don’t you?” It wasn’t a question.

“Excuse me?”

“What you felt at the Sun Temple, on Olsom 4,” Sendura said. “You feel it again, don’t you?”

Shock rang through her. “I- Are you doing that?!”

“No, child. It’s the Quinn.”

Kate took a breath and closed her eyes, reaching out. She didn’t notice the dark tentacles reaching for her in the Quinn. “It feels...a little different. A lot less vibrant.” There was an emotion there. She reached for it. Grief suddenly made tears spring to her eyes. “I feel...sad.” She whispered, opening her eyes and wiping the tears away.

“It is the same for me.” She resisted a scream of shock because he was much closer now. More than decent. “A tragedy happened here eons ago. The emotion was potent enough to scar this place.” His hand reached for her and the Quinn screamed at her about the tentacles of dark power that wrapped around her ankles. Her back ached when she smacked herself against the railing

“You can’t-! It’s neutral here!” Kate closed her eyes. She was ready to scream…

Instead, a hand rested on her cheek. 

She opened her eyes in confusion. Sendura seemed to be examining her. “Remarkable,” he said, seemingly to himself. Kate reached out again in an attempt to sate her confusion.

There was him, a dark shadow. But he felt...possessive, yes. A dragonlike desire to covet and lock away valuable things. But...

“All this time...how did I not know that you-”

Protective?

“SENDURA!” The two froze. Clara stood in the doorway, a clear whirlwind of protective fury in the beautiful lavender and red gown. “Unhand her! This is neutral territory!” She was clearly ready to make a scene.

Thankfully, Sendura took a step back. “Trust me, Princess,” he said, the title holding a tone of mockery, “She is safer in my presence than in yours.”

“Oh, really. The last living member of the Ventura, safer in the presence in the man who’s known for killing any of those?” Clara crossed her arms. Kate started wondering about the railing again.

“She is the last of the Order of the Ventura and yet you have been sending her on all these dangerous and foolish rebel attacks!”

She could probably survive.

“We aren’t the Empire! Kate goes on those missions because it’s her choice! Why do you care anyway?” There was a moment of silence. She took the chance to swing her legs over the railing. “That’s right! So back off!”

He made some sort of sound, like an attempt at a tsk. “Temper, temper princess. Lowe,” He said, turning to her and ignoring Clara’s growl. Both of them stared at Kate, halfway over the railing. She sheepishly pulled herself back up. “We will be speaking again soon child.” He turned and walked back into the party. Kate watched him with growing confusion.

What was that about?

A warm body tackled her. 

“Kate! I’m so sorry, did he hurt you?!”

It took a bit of convincing to calm Clara down and assure her that she was fine. The princess decided it was time to return to the Zion after that. (It was hard to believe that Sendura wouldn’t corner Kate somewhere else to stick a saber through her.) As they walked away from the party, a firm hand grabbed Kate’s arm and stopped her.

“Until later, ume.”

Sendura released her arm and disappeared into the crowd.