#(to show her character growth and learning to care about the refugees)

[selunesfavouriteprincess]

I can’t even lie over time this pathetic little elf has grown on me and now I really like her as a character. she’s SUCH a loser. and someone said that she should’ve been recruitable instead of Halsin after uncovering the Shadow Druid plot and she could’ve had a redemption arc and now I can’t stop thinking about that alternate reality

[eliteseven]

What are your thoughts on Shadowheart in terms of her character? Her feelings towards Tav and her self-esteem?

Shadowheart: Self Esteem & Feelings towards Tav:

Short(er) version:

Shadowheart is complex and so interesting. She can be caustic, witty, dry and seemingly detached- or she can be the most loving person you've ever known. She's confident- we now know much of that was born of her Sharran upbringing, but she's willful because of her parents. She's defiant, playful around those she trusts, and has a great capacity for love. She's a healer at heart- though honed as a weapon, there is no greater joy for her than being able to mend wounds, to take away pain, even though it's all she's known for so long. She's broken, at times, but healing beautifully now.

Her relationship with Tav is founded upon trust (and a LOT of physical attraction, to boot). Tav is the only person who managed to breach her walls while she was still serving Shar. Tav has laid her own life on the line for Shadowheart (and her parents) countless times. Shadowheart plays coy and flirtatious, but there is a deep internal voice that tells her she's lucky Tav considers her worthy of her love. Romantically, Shadowheart is absolutely enamored with Tav. The more she learns about Tav's upbringing, the more protective she becomes. I think she's keenly aware of the fact that she and her parents are Tav's only true family, aside from her mother all the way in Cormyr.

Long (writer's) version lol:

I think Shadowheart is a layered, complex character! We have “Jenevelle”, if you will, at her core. Traits she picked up from her parents, even if she doesn’t inherently remember everything: her kindness, her proclivity to caring for animals and the weak, even her sense of humor (finger guns after the night orchid joke lol). I feel like life in the cloister had her suppressing these traits to an almost painful extent. Her memory may have been wiped, but her instincts do not change so easily. She’s witty, she’s even fun-loving, she’s outspoken. She’s willful, stubborn, and often sees the best in people.

And then we have “Shadowheart”- or the traits she developed as a result of life in the cloister. Some are actually beneficial, some not so much. Life in the cloister makes her cynical, sly, defensive, secretive, even if also incredibly adept at defending herself. It gives her “bite” to her personality, as well as a sense of arrogance.

In the first Acts, we see more of Shadowheart, but Jenevelle bleeds through. It’s clear by Act 2 that she’s developed enough of a rapport/trust with Tav that her true nature begins to show.

I think when she was a practicing Sharran, she lived under the guise of false self-esteem. She ascribed worth to herself based on how well she could heed the Dark Lady’s orders. Now that she’s free, she struggles with reconciling deeds she’s committed in the past. Though it isn’t her fault explicitly, I think she carries much guilt for what she became. Now, living her life in service to her parents, to all their animals, and to her beloved Tav- I think she sees her life as simple, bucolic, but worth so much more. She can be proud of this life, without shame. She can reconcile Jenevelle and Shadowheart, and be the best of both of them.

Her Feelings towards Tav:

Tav is a vital piece to Shadowheart’s overall growth. Initially, she’s attracted to Tav and thinks little of her or that fact- beyond staring when she thinks Tav isn’t looking. Just another pretty girl who's surprisingly good with a blade, in her eyes. In the early weeks, they argue. A lot. Shadowheart is particularly vicious when she gets wind that Tav came from nobility. And then something strange happens- Shadowheart finds herself looking forward to arguing with Tav, just to spend more time with her. She watches Tav give her own food and water to Tiefling refugees- She rolls her eyes at the “weakness” displayed and then goes to hide her smile in her tent and repent in prayer.

Tav is the most selfless person Shadowheart knows. Tav cares more about Emmeline and Arnell than Shadowheart can fathom. She’s constantly looking for ways to make up for lost time, constantly looking for ways to help Shadowheart’s memory. She doesn’t sleep if Shar’s mark is causing Shadowheart pain. Shadowheart has never been the love of anyone’s life-until now.

Shadowheart is madly in love. Tav’s her best friend, her partner. Tav helped speak sense into her, helped her see reason, light, love in the midst of Shar’s scheme for her. Tav saw through her, saw Jenevelle and Shadowheart, and gave herself completely to both of them.

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

person i got the image from did a great takedown but i’d like to hear your thoughts. apologies for the long link.

https://64.media.tumblr.com/311f7b4b715f10b0348b193a4052d2d7/d15b73343c42378a-bb/s1280x1920/0275e731e2a174150f41ca47438558bf3dad1684.jpg

"Violent tantrums" what an odd way of saying "emotional breakdown due to intense grief, and that Katara is upset by not because she feelts threatened but because SEEING HER BEST FRIEND IN SUCH RAGE AND PAIN HURTS HER"

And yeah, Katara never reached out to comfort/soothe Zuko when he was in battle mode - because he was an enemy. One that was constantly attacking her, and not because of a fit of rage (even though he was prone to such behavior) but because he was supporting the systematic oppression and murder of anyone that wasn't on his side because that's how he was raised.

Of course Katara didn't try to calm him down, because Zuko was not acting out of anger but out of RACISM and INDOCTRINATION. She didn't try to reason with him because Zuko simply could not be reasoned with, at least not by a conversation with someone he saw as inherently inferior. There's a reason his arc had him being banished, then becoming a wanted fugitive, and finally a refugee in Ba Sing Se - if he had never been forced to truly experience the damage his nation was causing he would have never realized it was wrong.

It doesn't matter how much zutarians try to lie about it, only one of those two characters ever knowingly, deliberately put Katara in harms way, only of them was TRYING to be a threat, to intimidate her into obeying him, and it wasn't Aang.

If they want to ship Zutara, they need to either deal with the fact that it started out as two people being enemies because one of them literally couldn't understand that other races are not lesser people, or they make a modern AU in which there was no war so that element can be dropped. Trying to pretend Zutara was not rooted in violence and intimidation (at least at the start) but freaking Kataang was is ridiculous, pathetic, and proves that for all their talk about "liking a more complext dynamic" is nonsense because they're TERRIFIED of engaging with the one narrative element that would actually make their ship complex.

They want the "hate turns to love" aspect without going into WHY that hatred existed, because it wouldn't be the typical "both sides had something to learn", but rather "one side was actively racist and thus hostile, and the other was just reacting to it." They want to praise Zuko for learning from his mistakes, but they insist on sweeping said mistakes under the rug. They want to put him in the role of Katara's hero and hope for a better life, when he actually spent 5/6 of the show being the bad guy ruining her life, putting her and her loved ones in danger.

This is why the fanon dynamic of Zutara is racist and even misogynistic, while the canon one isn't, even though both involve Katara forgiving Zuko and growing to care for him: the show was interested in using Zuko's warped world-view to deconstruct it and make him change for the better, but the zutara fandom at large only seems interested in making up excuses for him, and thus robbing both Zuko and Katara of their complexities, as Zuko's growth is negated and Katara's righteous anger is not allowed to exist.

Zuko and Katara's canon friendship is about a bad person being forgiven when they realized they made a mistake and genuinely changing into someone worth admiring. Zutara's fanon romance is about a bunch of enablers pretending Zuko wasn't ever racist, hostile, and violent towards Katara.

[misrepresentedmorallygrey]

PROPAGANDA

Rose Propaganda

"We saw her character arc in reverse!! We first saw all the good she did and then learned of her terrible actions in the past. If her story was told the other way around, it would have been a great redemption arc. Yes, she did some terrible things, but she had no choice. She did everything she could to stop the colonization of earth peacefully buy nothing worked. Blue and yellow diamond just didn't listen to her and when they did, THEY were the ones who made the zoo and shit. Rose wanted to free them but couldn't get to them after the war! And with the corruption, there's no way she could have known that'd happen. There's so many things she wanted to do but just couldn't. And with spinel, yes it was shitty to leave her alone for so long, but again, between running her court, running the rebellion, dealing with earth, she likely wasn't a very high priority and like with the zoo, there was no way to get to her after the war since the galaxy warp was destroyed. And don't forget, she was practically a child around this time. You're saying you didn't do any stupid, selfish, or harmful things as a kid? She learned from her experiences and grew, we just saw that growth in reverse, leaving us as viewers with a poor perception of her."

"Rose Quartz is Steven Universe’s dead mom. Initially, she’s set up as sort of an ethereal perfect figure who everyone misses and compares him to. Later we get to see more of her backstory and discover that she’s actually like, a person, with flaws, who has done some bad things, but she did those bad things largely in the course of trying to escape an abusive home life and save the people and planet that she fell in love with. It’s very clear that despite her flaws she was trying to do the right thing and that she deeply cared about others. Unfortunately, a woman who was not a Perfect Martyr was way too much for the Steven Universe fandom to handle. She pretty much set off the wave of SU crit blogs because these people were furious either that she had taken violent measures to solve her problems, that she hadn’t taken violent enough measures to solve her problems, or both somehow. Lots of “Why didn’t she just murder her abusive parental figures?” Lots of “She was evil for having a baby even though she knew she’d die in childbirth!” Lots of “She should’ve been able to protect everyone from a magic nuclear weapon with the power of love somehow.” Lots of “She shouldn’t have rebelled (even though not rebelling would’ve meant the destruction of Earth) because her abusers retaliated and that’s her fault.” LOTS of people drawing her as stick thin even though she was fat in the show. People treated her like she was on the same level or even worse than her abusive parental figures who were also the main villains of the show. It was unbearable to witness."

Kairi Propaganda

"The Kingdom Hearts game series is about Mickey Mouse battling the forces of Darkness with an alliance of fashionable anime boys. Kairi is a major character, and one of the few female characters. She is part of a trio of childhood best friends, with the protagonist Sora and their other friend Riku (who had a villain arc and then a redemption arc). Though Kairi is constantly and clumsily sidelined by the canon narrative, she arguably has more backstory going on than any other major characters. She is a refugee from another planet. She implicitly lost her beloved grandma at five years old in the traumatic destruction of their hometown. She was kidnapped and experimented on by an evil wizard-scientist—she escaped thanks to having a magic charm that basically teleported her to her soulmate(s). Then she had to adjust to living on a new planet and being adopted by a new family. In the very first game, when she's 14, she turns out her pure heart is one of 7 in the entire universe to be free of Darkness—she shows a full emotional spectrum of fear, sadness, frustration, defeat, but she isn't vulnerable to corruption. In KH2, she becomes one of the Chosen Ones who wield a magical weapon called a Keyblade. She loves her friends very much, and she has the unique talent to instantly recognize them even when they've been transformed into monsters. She has saved them several times with nothing but the Power Of Love in her heart randomly manifesting in, like, telepathy and teleportation and resurrection—she doesn't even consciously know that she has powers, her love is just so great that it's accepted as a tangible force of nature. She is frustrated and ashamed by her role as a damsel in distress, and she wishes to be stronger and combat-capable so that she join her male friends on their adventures instead of waiting around where it's safe. Also she was kidnapped by an evil assassin clown who's ten years older than her, and then they became friends. NOT ONLY does the fandom plug its ears and claim there is nothing interesting about this character and no potential in her story—Kairi has been demonized by the fandom for about 20 years. Somehow Kairi is useless and boring while also being a Mary Sue at the same time. She was called a bitch and a slut and a whore. She was hated for wearing too much pink and wielding a girly weapon with a floral design. She was criticized as a slut for wearing a short skirt, and for THE PLAYER being able to manipulate the camera into a contrived angle to look up her skirt to see her panties in the first edition of KH2. You can find nearly 20-year-old fanfiction and fanart of her being twisted into an evil schemer driving her friends apart, and of her being gleefully brutalized and insulted. Haters STILL comb for every crumb to make elaborate anti-canon theories about why she's an agent of evil, even though canon has FIRMLY ESTABLISHED for TWENTY YEARS since the very beginning that she's THE ONE CHARACTER incapable of growing Darkness in her heart. The theory is that she exists only as a puppet sent by the main villain to sabotage her friends (the plot for two out of the four main female characters) for all ten years of their friendship. The theory is that she's been using her powers to force her friends to love her—and their Power Of Friendship that is the EMOTIONAL BACKBONE OF THE STORY, and THE MAJOR FORCE OF GOOD IN THEIR UNIVERSE, and THE MOST CONSISTENT MOTIVATION FOR THE HEROES is all Just Misdirection LOL building up to a shitty Plot Twist. The theory is that she's secretly a custom-manufactured Chirithy (a cute talking animal companion that serves and guides humans)—and not a human girl with her own natural feelings and aspirations. AND THEN after stripping her of every important trait and role, these fans claim they're making Kairi more important and interesting than she is in canon. I don't know what causes the fandom to so desperately hate a sweet 14-year-old girl who literally canonically never did anything wrong."

Round 3 Propaganda:

"'m sorry that so many KH fans have missed the theme of "trio" always being the heart of the series for over twenty years since the very beginning. Yes, the girl character is friends with the two boy characters, and they all cherish each other deeply. I know, this is completely outrageous and shocking. People are like: "Sora cares about Kairi, but he never said it was romantic. Kairi is the one forcing her romantic intentions on Sora." Yet Kairi never explicitly said that her feelings for Sora are romantic! So by this logic, Sora and Kairi express the same amount of romantic feelings: none! They could both have friendly feelings for each other, without any romance! But some anti-Kairi people just go out of their way to believe that Sora is a pure angelic being without yucky mushy love-dovey feelings for Kairi, whereas Kairi is the pushy incel harlot forcing her squishy womanly marriage scheme on poor innocent Sora. Even though neither of them shows more or less romantic interest than the other! Don't even get me started on how many Sora/not-Kairi shippers will claim that Sora's canonically reality-warping love for Kairi could be friendly love without romantic love! BUT THEN they'll turn around and claim that Sora doesn't have romantic feelings for Kairi therefore Sora must have stronger and more important love for His One True Romantic Partner. So which is it?? Friendly love is lesser than romantic love? You want to break stereotypes about love, while also following the stereotype that glorifies one true romantic partner above all other love? No force of love exceeds Sora and Kairi's love in the entire series—friends or romance, it's just facts that their connection is equally strong or stronger compared to all bonds between other characters. You can say that Sora and Kairi don't have confirmed romantic feelings—but any claim that someone else is above Kairi in Sora's heart is a lie. (Riku could be on the same tier, but not above.) The girl character is important, and her feelings are powerful and beautiful—DEAL WITH IT, FANDOM!"

[oddlyhale]

(I posted this on r/rwbycritics but I wanted to share this here, too.)

This is just my personal opinion, subjective at best. But I can't help but say Team JNR are always in the way of Team RWBY's character growth.

For a long time, Team JNR were just friends and a side-team that functioned as the comic reliefs or the sometimes emotional support. They were Ruby's substitute team during V4, gradually forming Team RWBY again in V5.

Once Team RWBY were back together, it should of been the perfect cut-off time to separate both teams and set them on their own paths. But no. Team JNR stayed and bloated the cast that didn't need to be there. Not to mention, it seems the writing has started to put more of the physical and emotional labor on Team JNR than on our titled team.

- Jaune needs to mourn and accept Pyrrha's death.

- Nora has to start learning to let go of Ren and better herself.

- Ren needs to be more opened and thoughtful of others than hiding himself.

- Nora challenges Ironwood's morality for Mantle.

- Ren is ballsy enough to call everybody out for not being ready to be Huntsmen.

- Jaune is the last to fall, but not before fighting the mini-boss Cinder. Not the first time he went 1v1 with the Cinder, either.

Even when Jaune and Ren were teamed up with Yang during V8, she was a nothing accessory to the team. Jaune and Ren really shined more when Nora wasn't there, which does show a flaw within Team JNR's team that they need to function together, not against each other. A flaw in their machine that is nice. The team has character now.

Not to mention... the writing staff said they "didn't have time to put Team RWBY in the whale to fight Salem," yet they sure had time to let Jaune, Ren and Yang go in. What applehead bullshit is that? You're telling me that they couldn't be bothered to animate all of Team RWBY infiltrating Monstro and confronting Salem, but they were all OK with animating the two boys from B-team and Yang to do just that? Literally no excuse for it.

For some reason the writing has decided to make Team JNR the mules that carry the emotional baggage, while Team RWBY don't do anything. Sure they have their little moments, but those tend to mean nothing minutes later. They solve themselves or the writing doesn't care about it anymore.

If the show wanted to make Team JNR the main characters, then I don't see what's stopping them. The titled team aren't much of importance, other than one of them is burdened with Silver Eyes, but that just means both the audience and writers have no choice BUT to find her important because of her eyes. That's all.

If we want to make Team RWBY important to their own show, then my take would be:

Should've ditched Jaune and the rest of his team on Argus. Don't need them any further into the story. Team RWBY need time to shine and explore their flaws as a team, and Jaune and his team prove to be a wrench in that growth.

Ditching them doesn't mean they're not important, but this is the step into letting Team RWBY work together finally and not rely on B-characters to pave a path for their success. They can show up later in the story, perhaps appearing in Vacuo to help out the refugees after hearing Ruby's broadcast, but in no way is Jaune or his team needed during Vol6, 7 and 8.

That's just me though.

[ellasadventuresinfandoms]

Okay, back in May @isolatedphenomenon asked me if I had an les mis fic recs and I went "oh boy do I !" and then promptly fucked off and disappeared from tumblr for like 6 months...

Anyway on the off chance people are interested, here is my vastly too long list of  my favourite les mis fanfic (that I'm almost 100% sure I'll have accidentally missed some of my favourites off of...)

The vast majority of these are main pairing Enjolras/Grantaire, so I've put those first, divided into multi-chaptered and then one-shots. Below that will be other pairings!

Multi-chaptered

• Witch Boy Series : magic AU, starting with Grantaire solving Enjolras' curse - this is just Incredible world building which gets better as it goes on - my favourite is the Babet interlude

• World Ain't Ready : you know how fandoms tend to have a fic that is just associated with it ? in my experience, for les mis this is it - and well deserved ! High school, fake dating AU with some of the most engaging writing

• BE : Enjolras is dragged back into theatre production, helping Eponine put on a production of Hamlet - really love the characterisation in this, and this is really one of those modern AUs that actually feels like real life - really good writing

• After the End : the definitive apocalypse AU in my eyes - les amis are an underground resistance to the dystopian government - really wonderful characterisation of Grantaire and the amis

• You never have to wonder; you never have to ask. : I tend to find fic by scrolling through bookmarks of a pairing, which means I often see repeats; this is a fic that if I see I just re-read cause I know I'll enjoy it - the amis sparked a failed rebellion, and now 18 months later Grantaire ends up staying at Enjolras' after returning to Paris for Marius and Cosette's wedding

• Your Heart on Your Skin : Soulmate AU with flower tattoos marking important emotions and events - wonderful concept and world building 

• Impatient to Be Free : Daughters of Bilitis AU - if that doesn't make you excited I don't know what else to say to convince you (aside from saying the author is a simply wonderful writer)

• You Dance Dreams : Okay. Not to be over dramatic, but this fic did genuinely qualitatively change my life, in that it was the first thing that got me looking up contemporary ballet and now that's like one of my favourite things and big hobby So. Also its really great writing; music/creative arts school les amis with Grantaire choreohraphing the ballet for Combeferre's opera, with a heavy emphasis on Grantaire realising he really never actually got over Enjolras

• philia : this one is an absolute classic to me, but not given nearly enough recognition - one of the more realistic college AUs ever written, and the writing of Grantaire is so good because it hits the perfect balance of sympathy and annoyance about his behaviour (that's a genuine compliment) 

• Coffee Hooligans : fucking tragedy this never got properly finished, Enjolras leads the amis as social justice vigilantes and tries to hide the criminal bits of his life from R

• Fighting the Hurricane : Pacific Rim AU that's less an AU and more just placing the les mis characters in the Pacific Rim universe. Really good and riveting read, also super interesting depiction of Grantaire

• Weaving Olden Dances : Fairy AU - Grantaire "claims" Enjolras to prevent his execution - really good writing, love Grantaires characterisation 

• Paris Burning : canon era (sort of) where cities have a physical being - Grantaire is Paris and becomes entangled in Enjolras' revolution - oh the world building is truly *chefs kiss*

• Euphoria is You For Me : Enjolras and Grantaire keep meet cuting in a wonderfully written Brooklyn - feels like a love letter to Brooklyn at times, and I really like the characterisation of Grantaire 

• so please just fall in love with me this christmas : Enjolras works for the environmental company Grantaire volunteers at, and keeps getting secret gifts at Christmas - I sound a little like a broken record but the Grantaire characterisation is very good

• You Are the Moon : Wild West esque Space AU - Grantaire has to call on the amis to help rescue Valjean and Cosette, despite Grantaire leaving the amis 6 months before. On re-reading the Enjolras characterisation feels a little rushed, but overall fantastic story telling and the Grantaire arc is a Delight 

• Pandemos : Enjolras is aphrodite, and seeks peace from all his suitors in R/Hephestus' cave

• Pining for You : Hallmark christmas romance - Grantaire returns home to work on his father's tree farm, and Enjolras is the lawyer helping prevent the farm being sold - cute as shit imo

• Once We're Kings : Fantasy AU - a country hosts a ball to marry Prince Enjolras and the rival country sends Grantaire as a fuck you - one of the best ways of doing Enjolras as a prince in a fantasy and just really nicely written

• Never Bitter and All Delicious : Fairy Godmother AU - yes really, yes its genuinely a very good read

• On One Condition : Fantasy AU - Enjolras is a bored knight who finally goes to check out the local dragon, which turns out to be Grantaire - I really like how they capture Enjolras' stubborn nature and it's such a well written soft growth of love between them

• That's How Easy Love Can Be : Les Amis work at a primary school; and its secret santa time! very fun portrayal of Enjolras

• The Lark and Her Lieutenants : re write of canon where Cosette is the leader of the revolution - just *chefs kiss*

• If You Tickle Us, Do We Not Laugh : Grantaire is Enjolras' secret android - really good at writing a relationship that's incredibly loving but just keeps being antagonistic and coming off wrong 

One Shots

• True Colours : AU where you leave colours on the people important to you - Enjolras and Grantaire falling for each other is so soft and gently written its lovely, this is genuinely one of my favourites

• Keep It Kind, Keep It Good, Keep It Right : this one is so good to me, because it builds off my pet hatred of everyone assuming Enjolras doesn't care about (or at least actively show he cares about) his friends

• blooming : very soft post-dystopian utopia that has just a really wonderful sense of hope and light to me

• and the wall leaned away (or: The Pros and Cons of Tilling) : perfectly realised characterizations of the amis, Grantaire needs a date to her final year art exhibition - deals with anxiety over protest in a way that actually hits for me

• not just one of the crowd : R helps run a leftist bakery and bike repair shop - very cute characterisation, and I think more les mis fanfic should link to anarchist essays

• Lovesickness : Enjolras is an idiot and thinks he's sick rather than having a crush - the writing of Joly and Combeferre in this is some of my favourite depictions of these two

• If there's a rocket, tie me to it : absolutely heartbreaking sci-fi AU about the amis as doomed mecha pilots

• Where I Fall is Where I Land : Enjolras is a Roman commander as Rome's power is leaving England, and then meets the pict Grantaire (+ fun soulmark stuff !)

• You Started Foreign to Me : Enjolras moves to america and R is the overnight grocery clerk who helps her learn Spanish - cute fluffy lesbians with a wonderfully written driven Enjolras

• Love Is Touching Souls : very cute soulmate AU - and one I really love for really truly considering the implications of soul marks and creating historical lore around it

• Ten Years : R is a musician, and it non-linearly charts his relationship to Enj from high school to 10 years later

• put up with me then I'll make you see : Grantaire lives above Enjolras, and its christmas - I find it to have a very fun interpretation of pining Enjolras

• A Cat Called Trash Can : this was one of the first les mis fics I ever read (yes I know it says it was published in 2020, but I think it has to be a re-upload or something?) and it does still have a special place in my heart - Grantaire rescues a cat, but Enjolras is the only one with an apartment free to look after it 

• Still I'm Begging to Be Free : inception AU where les amis have to rescue a sleeping R from his own brain

•I'm in it for You : cw: illness, cancer - R has cancer and is being a martyr about telling his friends so Enjolras drives him back from chemo

• walls come tumbling down : sky high au - a very good high school AU with the perfect level of campy superhero powers

• This brave new world's not like yesterday : Enjolras needs a job, so ends up working in a bowling alley with Grantaire and bonding

Enjolras/Grantaire/Combeferre

• In Defiance of All Geometry : les amis are a student co-op house, Enjolras and Combeferre are pining friends and Grantaire is the newbie

• Still the Same : this is very good writing and very compelling - if you can get over the (imo) plot hole of Enjolras working for the FBI. R was an art thief Enj put away and is briefly helping the FBI out, and Combeferre is Enjolras' husband

• To Kingdom Come : cw: war and PTSD from that, Enjolras and Combeferre are part of a group of refugees that have crossed into a more fantasy land, and Grantaire is a lone traveller from that land that attempts to help - that was a shit summary of this very emotional, wonderfully written fic about war and love in all forms

• Gonna need (a spark to ignite) : I always love a twist on a classic trope, and this is a very fun take on the soulmate AU - Enjolras loses feeling in his soul mark as a child, falls in love with Grantaire and then his soulmate, Combeferre, turns up

Eponine/Cosette

• Pretty Girls Don't Know the Things That I Know : simply stunning writing - perfect example of soft writing about a harsh world

• she knows her way around : Eponine and Cosette bond, ostensibly so Eponine can find out about her for Marius, and their interactions are so playful and realistic, its wonderful

• always find me floating on oceans : Cosette stows away on Eponine's pirate ship - I do always have a soft spot for eposette fics (not just cause I ship it) because they truly characterise Cosette in a really considered and interesting way

• There's No Making Love : I'm putting this under eposette even though there is some significant enjolras/grantaire content, because the Cosette characterisation is so fun and cute

• round and round again : this fic really beautifully translates Cosette's bad childhood and then isolated teenage years, and the impact that would have on her as an adult into a modern AU

• Underwater Thunderheards : this is based off the book The Scorpio Races, and is just a really nice short fic  about longing

• How To Change The World Without Taking Power : Marius has a crush on Cosette and she's tried being polite and subtle in turning him down, so just ends up fake dating Eponine instead

• blood red fruit and poison's kiss : Snow White AU - Cosette as Snow White

• The Winters Cannot Fade Her : Snow White Au 2.0 - Eponine as Snow White - this was written as a pair to the one above which is just so cute to me

• marriage à la mode : Cosette and Eponine run a bridal shop together and it's very cute !

• Temporary Hold : I personally find this a really fun and very unique take on Cosette - with exams coming up she decides she needs to get laid on the reg and so hits up Eponine to act as if they're already long term girlfriends

Combeferre/Courfeyrac

• better than you had it : fake dating but kick it up an emotional notch - Courf and Ferre pretend to still be together after breaking up for a family event

• take flight, come near : nice and cute low fantasy, where Combeferre runs a dragon sanctuary and Courf finds an injured dragon

Rare Pairs

• The Future's Owned by You and Me : cute Enjolras/Feuilly with actual radical politics and real life organising difficulties and wins

• First Dates and Other Dangers : Combeferre and Grantaire agree to go on a blind date and it's awkward until it isn't - just cute !

• after midnight : Combeferre has insomnia and meets Grantaire in various all night fast food chains

• as you are : Bahorel and Jehan getting ready together

• Almost Romantic : Jehan works at a museum, and takes Combeferre on a little tour

• Understudy : Jehan/Combeferre, with Combeferre's insecurities regarding being seen as second best to Enjolras

• Here There Be Dragons : Courf/Enj/Ferre - Courf and Enj are superheroes and Ferre is the doctor that patches them up

• To Let it Occur (Laisser Faire la Nature) : Feuilly has a stupidly long stopover in Paris and meets Enjolras

• rule of three : Courf/Enj/Ferre as spies and loving boyfriends

• Good Rhetoric : snapshots of cute cuddly courf/enj/ferre

• subluxate, dislocate, replace : found family and chronic illness with Joly/Bossuet/Musichetta

• Strike stone, strike home (like lightning) : so this fic took one minor piece of lore about Tolkien's dwarves and made a beautiful j/b/m fic from it

• Almost Inevitable : Bahorel/Feuilly friends-with-benefits

• god only knows (what I'd be without you) : Bahorel/Feuilly with a closeted Feuilly and a beautiful Feuilly and Eponine friendship

[ellestra]

The lives not lived

I’ve seen so many calling this a filler episode. Of course, everyone can see their own thing in any work of art but thinking this show is about solving any case or winning a fight is setting oneself for disappointment. Looking for Mephisto behind the curtain where there is none.

Just like WandaVision was really about Wanda’s grief and not battles with villains (both Agatha and Hayward were just triggers) Loki is really about the title character’s growth. All the plots about the TVA (clearly built on lies) and finding Variant Loki (already found) are just side-quest pretext for Loki’s lessons about himself.

In main MCU timeline he learnt it through achieving his goal of being King of Asgard and realising it’s not really anything special but most of all by bonding again with his brother through shared trauma of their parents’ deaths and because he finally realised that he was loved all along.

In Loki he gets a redo through bonding with people who give him insight to himself. Just like in previous episodes Loki’s talks with Mobius were the real point of episode so in this one was his conversations with Sylvie. It’s always about what he can learn from other people.

In the first two episodes Mobius was the one teaching him the first lessons. Loki was basically put in detention and found there a social worker who actually cared enough to ask him all the important questions like “why?” and “what for” and even “and then?”

Loki is being forced to confront some truths about himself - about who he is and why he is doing what he does. It forced him reevaluate his belief system (how his belief in being “god” is any better or more valid than Mobius belief in the Time Keepers) and the superiority complex (there’s a smarter Loki). It showed his “glorious purpose” was but a lie he told himself to feel more special and less afraid but he is not that really special. Lokis are dime a dozen like Infinity Stones. And he isn’t even the best of them. It was all lies he told himself to feel more in control.

In this episode he is shown what he did have. It’s one thing to be shown his future because he didn’t live through his parents’ deaths and reconciliation with Thor. It’s another to remember his own experiences. Talking to Sylvie made him realise all he had with Frigga. You can see how much Sylvie envies these memories. It’s the childhood and love she could only wish for and it makes Loki appreciate what he had. It’s not an accident that the next time we see him he is singing Asgardian song and throwing glasses and showing fireworks. All that reminds him of home.

It’s matters that that the biggest lie he says is the one about his greatest insecurity behind all the Thor 1 and Avengers - being adopted. It’s clear that the fact she knew has shaken him. He tells Sylvie his parents eventually told him but they didn’t. He learnt on his own and this version of him never even got to confront them about it (because he let it fester into homicidal rage instead of talking to anyone about it but still). The other him at least had time to talk to them when he was imprisoned but this one never came back to Asgard. But he also gets to see that that wouldn’t get him a better life. Mostly because a crazy time police finds it unacceptable but also because he already had the love. He just was too angry to remember it.

Loki’s growth here just like the first time in MCU is all about human connection. First with Mobius as a mentor and now with another refugee form a dead timeline who mirrors his need for that connection and the fear of being hurt by it (it also matters that in the end he helps her and saves her even after the device is gone). And the whole talk about love wasn’t a waste of time either. It’s important that neither of the Variants know the answer but they get so close. Because it’s really about the reward of that connection being greater than the hurt it may cause.

The advantage this Loki has by doing this through TVA is that he can look at all the lives he didn’t live and see what could’ve been and understand himself better and become better version of himself.

[sokkastyles]

Hi! It’s probably been said a million times by now lol but your post about Zuko and the symbolism of tea being used to illustrate his character growth really highlights why it never made sense that he ended up with Mai... like by the final episode it was extremely clear that they had very different values and were no longer suited to each other (if they ever were)... honestly it just seemed like a disservice to his character because it was completely incongruent with the rest of the narrative and his arc... his relationship with Mai (at least to me) always seemed to be another aspect of his “old life” in the FN that he had come to learn was not actually what he wanted anymore, nor what was best for him...

Hi and thank you!

I've seen some accusations that people who point this out are saying that Mai is shallow, and that's not what I'm saying at all. I'm saying that this is part of the narrative function of Zuko's relationship with her, because it's a story and everything that is in a story is there for a reason (or should be). And it's not even necessarily Mai's fault because that's what Zuko thought he wanted, to be happy in his old life. And he does initially enjoy it, because he's a teenage boy, and he's gone from being an exile and refugee to being a prince and being waited on and having fangirls and a girlfriend who is all over him. Zuko went through a period of starvation in the Earth Kingdom and then he had to work a thankless job (working in food service SUCKS guys, and I think some people forget that for the majority of the time Zuko wasn't working in Iroh's swanky upper ring shop, he was working in the lower ring and probably being paid very little), and goes from eating jook to having platters of fancy fruit tarts offered to him at his beck and call.

That scene where several servants offer him a series of unnecessary stuff and he keeps turning it down until he finally accepts the hot towel hesitantly and then he's treated as if there's something wrong because he doesn't take the palanquin is directly showing this. Zuko doesn't think to take the palanquin because as he says, it's only a short walk, because he's no longer used to this kind of pampering and find it unnecessary. But then he's told that it's not a prince's place to walk, so he does eventually accept it, because he's trying to fulfill this role and be this person that he thinks he is supposed to be. And he even gets a little smile on his face, because this IS what he wanted, he wanted to be treated like a prince, he wanted that affirmation and respect, so of course he's going to enjoy the pampering that comes with it, but what it comes down to is wants vs needs. That's also shown in Mai suggesting that riding around on the palanquin double time would make him happy. He wants to please and impress Mai but he knows that palanquin rides when he's perfectly capable of walking are excessive, especially since this comes at the expense of others. I think some people don't think about the logistics of a palanquin and what it is meant to represent, and how much work it takes to carry one, especially double time. It's meant to represent not only the excess of the Fire Nation royalty, but their complete disregard for other people. That's also explicitly shown in Azula's cruelty towards her palanquin bearers. I don't think Mai means to be cruel like Azula, it just never occurred to her to treat her servants like human beings because she's never been on the other side of it like Zuko has, and this fits with her character's general apathy towards the world. This is also shown in Mai assuming that Zuko knew about the war meeting because for her it's something casual and unimportant, and then not understanding why it is important to Zuko and then being happy for him when he is invited and happy for him when he is able to sit at his father's right hand, because she doesn't know the real reason why it's important and what he wanted to get from it.

And ultimately it doesn't make him satisfied because it doesn't give him what he needs to be emotionally fulfilled. When he was in the tea shop with Iroh he complained about the work and about not being treated like a prince, but he learned to appreciate it for the things he did have that mean so much more, having a safe home and Iroh's love and not having to live in fear of the people who are supposed to love you. Zuko knew after the war meeting that being treated like a prince was not enough, especially if it came at the cost of 1) his own agency (he is literally silenced at the meeting) and 2) other people, as he realizes how horrifying what his father wants to do is.

And so Zuko chooses to leave it behind. And part of that is sacrificing his relationship with Mai. This is why it will never make sense that Mai comes back in the finale to tell him that she's his girlfriend again and to tell him to never break up with her again after being completely dismissive of the reason he broke up with her in the first place. Despite being written from the get go as dysfunctional, the show could have salvaged their relationship if they really wanted to, but that is absolutely not the way to do it. Aside from the fact that it's not an appropriate thing to say to someone you are dating ever, even if it's a joke, and aside from the very ugly context with Zuko being an abuse survivor with rejection issues who, because of his trauma, has a higher risk than others of being abused by a partner who doesn't care about his consent.

[calliecat93]

So… been a while since I did one of these. Yeah, long story short 2020 just ruined my anxiety and a bunch of other things and I just couldn’t handle doing the reviews after I feel so behind during the first half of V8. Even the six-week break didn’t do anything to reignite the motivation or help the anxiety, so I decided it was best to quit and just wait for the volume to be over. Which with how emotionally draining the volume was which may have very well impaired my judgment at the time, was probably the best decision. But V8 has been over for months now and we’re awaiting V9. So it’s time to finally finish this.

I normally do one chapter per review, but since I now know all that’s coming, I’m going to do two chapters per review. That means four total reviews, then a mass V8 review, and then hopefully things go better when V9 starts. So last I left off, we got Cinder backstory, the Ace-Ops running into YJR, and Salem breaking Atlas’ shields to finally go forward with her invasion. The dark times are upon Atlas and our heroes are running out of time. So… what happens now? Well, let's find out.

Overview

I normally break down everything moment by moment, but we’re gonna keep it brief since there’s a lot to cover.

In War as Salem’s attack marches forward, all of our heroes are in a bind. RWB wants to help Atlas while May wants to return to Mantle and points out that they can’t have both. Nora is still in need of a doctor, which causes Whitley, who overheard, to call in a character that we haven’t seen in quite a while. With JYR, they were captured by the Ace-Ops, who has now been tasked to use a bomb to blow up the whale. Our heroes negotiate with Winter to allow them time to go in and rescue Oscar and causes Ren to make an unexpected discovery. Meanwhile, in the whale, Emerald overhears Oscar/Oz again pleading to Hazel to see reason, even going as far as to give him the password to the Lamp. Not for Salem, for Hazel. This causes Emerald’s doubts to become even more concerning and with Mercury leaving with Tyrian for Vacuo and Cinder focused solely on her quest for power, she is left alone to decide what she wishes to do.

In RWBY’s 100th chapter Dark, we are at the Schnee Manor where the power blows out. But when they recall that they have an emergency generator, Whitley realizes that they can use the SDC to get supplies to the Mantle refugees. Ruby and Blake go to restore the power as Ruby is still struggling to maintain her usual optimism, but they encounter a Grimm in the process. Specifically, The Hound. Meanwhile, Penny, who crash-landed in front of the Manor last episode, tries to maintain control as Watts’ virus goes into effect. During the battle, it ends with Ruby discovering The Hound. One that utterly horrifies her…

Review

Okay, there is a LOT to go over with these two chapters, So let’s break this down event by event.

Monstra

Let’s discuss our villains first since we have some pretty major developments. First, we have Hazel. We had just about everything that I had assumed before confirmed. The reason that Hazel works for Salem isn’t merely just because she claims to want a new world order. Honestly, I think that Hazel just fooled himself to justify his decision to himself. No, as he talks to Ozcar, the truth becomes crystal clear. Hazel has given up. He confronted her once, and all that happened was she kept coming back until he was too exhausted to fight anymore. She broke him. Fighting her was futile and by taking advantage of this, Salem set him on the only path that he had left: getting revenge on Ozpin. Even though he’ll reincarnate, he can still be hurt. He can still be killed. He can still suffer. It was all that Hazel had left, and it consumed him.

As much as I know that some had issues with Hazel’s backstory, losing your sibling to circumstances that weren’t really anyone’s fault but you still feel so angry that you just need to blame something is very understandable. I’ve been in that place. I think that many of us have. And to learn that he did try to fight Salem at first but in the end, gave up due to her immortality… can you imagine how many others likely went down that route? Wanting to fight Salem but when the horrible truth came out were left empty? RWBY went through it in V6 and barely recovered, so it’s easy to see where Hazel is coming from. It’s easy to see why he won’t believe Oz when he tells him what Salem’s true goal, the release of death via summoning the Gods judgment, is. Oscar takes over and reveals the password, trusting Hazel to decide for himself what to do. Not Salem, Hazel. Will it pay off? Only time will tell.

But Hazel isn’t the only one privy to this new information. Emerald overheard all of it. Whatever fears that she had were all confirmed. Mercury is dismissive, both not believing it (until Tyrian confirms it) and even if he did, points out that Hazel failed and fell into line. It’s going to take time for the assassin to change his mind. As far as he’s concerned, he’s on top of the world, or at least in the best place that he can be in. Better than when he was with Marcus at least. Emerald though? She’s been doubtful and scared since at least the end of V3, even earlier if we count the flashbacks in Beginning of the End. The only thing that has kept her around along with the fear of Salem has been her devotion to Cinder. But with how Cinder has been coldly dismissive of her thus far this volume and now knowing that she’s part of something far worse than she imagined, it looks like Emerald may be deciding that it’s not worth it anymore. The question is, will she act before it’s too late? With Mercury off to Vacuo, she’s on her own to make that choice.

The villains’ stuff is mainly setup for Chapter 9 but it’s good stuff. We’re getting everything in place for the many payoffs that we’ve been waiting a long time for. Many of us have been hoping for Emerald to defect. While IDT as many have wanted the same for Hazel, he’s certainly the nobler of his buddies and has shown signs of possible redemption, so I’ve been hoping for it. Oz and Oscar’s efforts seem to be paying off and Oscar taking over and playing a huge gamble is pure excellence. It’s both Oz trusting the boy and working in tandem with him showing how he is genuinely trying to be better and showing Oscar’s growth with his more diplomatic skills here. It failed to work on Ironwood, but perhaps this time he’ll have better luck.

JYR and the Ace-Ops

Like with the villains, their stuff is contained all within War. But boy do we have plenty to go over. With Atlas in utter chaos, to the point of all the citizens having to hide in a subway, Ironwood has decided to have Winter and her team bomb Monstra. Which makes sense… except that Oscar’s in there. Needless to say, JYR isn’t happy about that. But Harriet, Elm, and Vine remain committed to their ‘we have no feelings’ routine. Even though it’s so obvious that they’re lying through their teeth. Ren’s Semblance confirmed it, but it’s not hard to tell. Elm and especially Harriet are hiding their feelings through their anger and doubling down on following orders. Vine does try to remain reasonable, but otherwise retains his emotionless demeanor. Marrow… he just clearly doesn't want to be there anymore. He’s still trying to remain comitted to what he’s doing, but this and Chapter 9 are going to be changing that big time

And WInter? Oh Lord Winter. She wants to do the right thing but is bound to her loyalty and duty to Ironwood and Atlas, and she doesn’t know which one to follow. Her orders? Or her heart? The choice may seem like a no-brainer to us, but to Winter it’s more complicated. She feels that she owes Ironwood so much. Because of him and the military, she escaped her father and his control. I think that she does realize that this point that she’s just exchanged one puppetmaster for another, but she doesn't know how to cut the strings. We see some signs of hope, both in the last volume when she allowed Weiss and the others to escape, and here when she grants JYR’s request to go into the whale to find Oscar before the bomb arrives. She knows that if Ironwood finds out she’ll be in trouble. She remains conflicted, but it’s still a signt hat it’s not too late. It allows her (and Marrow forthat mater) to remain sympathetic while others like Harriet… well, they’re not making it easy, let’s leave it at that.

That brings us to Ren. He’s had it hard thus far, his emotional control slipping, his split-off from Nora, and everything that built up the last volume coming crashing down. He’s been pushing everyone away, but now? He can’t afford to do so. Not with Oscar in danger. When Harriet says that teammates are replaceable, he strongly disagrees. He and Jaune would absolutely know how wrong this is. They’ve never replaced Pyrrha after all. Even if one considers Oscar part of JNR, he’s never been considered the new Pyrrha. He’s just Oscar, their friend. When he finally admitted that to himself, it allowed Ren’s Semblance to evolve. Instead of simply masking emotions, he can now see them via colored flower petals. Yes dear readers, Ren is an empath.

This development is perfect/. It happened at the right time, Ren finally admitting his feelings for those that he cares about instead of internalizing them and pushing those people away as he has been with Nora. It’s a natural evolution of his powers. He can mask emotions to protect others from the Grimm, and now that he can take it off he can see beneatht he masks of others. Harriet and Elm’s rage. Vine’s uncertainty (I’m assuming anyways based on what happens later). Marrow’s sadness. Winter’s collection of so many different colored petals, reflecting the war that she is having with herself. Now that Ren is beginning to open up, he can now help others do the same. Semblances reflect the on using them, and I think this says a lot about what Ren is truly meant to be and will be in the future.

Schnee Manor

Now we get to the meat of this post. Let’s go over the events in War first. While our heroes are safe at Schnee Manor, they’re conflicted on what to do. May wants to, and by Dark does, go back to Mantle since things are just as bad there and they don’t have the military to save them. Weiss however? She wants to help Atlas. Despite everything, Atlas is still Weiss’ home and there are still family and innocent people that she wishes to save. She’s a Huntress, that’s her job. May however? Her family dismissed her when she was their son, and she made it very clear that she is in no way their daughter. Which first, that was a brilliant way to add that representation. Kdin confirmed that May was Transgender last volume, but now we have undeniable proof in the show itself and it was perfectly delivered. She also makes a good point, Mantle has no protection. The whole reason that RWBY went against Ironwood was that he chose to leave Mantle to die. At this point, it does seem like the heroes can have it both ways. It worked in the past, but not here. Not anymore. But even May admits as she leaves that at this point, there might not be anythign left to do for either city. It’s just… bleak. Even moreso than in V3.

This of course hits Ruby. Normally, her optimism and hope carry her through. It was practically what got the heroes through V6 alive and well. But now? No. Even she can’t deny how bad things have gotten. When she and Blake go to turn on the backup generator, it’s clear how conflicted she is. She wants to help everyone. She chose to send the message because it seemed like the best chance to save everyone. But the longer that she waits, the more unlikely it all seems. She’s becoming utterly overwhelmed. Honestly, with how 2020 went, I find this very relatable. You w\see all the suffering caused by COVID and the horror of the police brutality against Black people and so many other awful things we’re still in the midst of. You want to do something. You want to help everyone and want things to just be okay. But when you do, all of it weighs down on you because you simply can’t help everyone. As Klein said, you can only focus on what’s in front of you first. You feel helpless, scared, maybe even angry. But we’re only human. We can only do what we can a step at a time in whatever way we can, even if it’s just being a shoulder to lean on. It’s at least something.

This leads to something that I have practically been begging CRWBY to do for years now, have Blake comfort her. We’ve had very scarce Ruby and Blake interactions, but it’s always been pretty clear that Blake trusts Ruby and has followed her lead faithfully more or less since the team formed. I think it was very fitting for Blake to be the one who reached out to her as it calls back to when they first talked in Volume 1. Back when Ruby expressed her love of books and wanting to make the world better like the heroes that she would read about. How Blake admired her goal but also viewed it as rather childish. Considering everything with the Faunus oppression, the White Fang, and of course Adam, who could blame her? But Ruby gave her hope. Ruby got her to see that they can make the world better. That despite everything, it’s their job to protect everyone and to move forward. Ruby’s been able to push them ahead so much, and they all still need her. It’s what Ruby needed to hear and it shows how far that both girls have come since those early days at Beacon. Which since this happened in the 100th episode, was very fitting.

Now I’m not gonna say too much about The Hound here. The entire fight scene was awesome and the thing stalking through the Schnee Manor? It somehow felt more horrifying than The Apathy did in Volume 6. How do you manage that?! Whitley and Willow ultimately killing it via the armor was also pretty cool and it’s nice to see the civilian characters getting involved, showing that they don’t have to be helpless like with the ship captain and crew back in Volume 4. Then the final revelation, that The Hound was not only human but had Silver Eyes… yeah Ruby’s reaction could not be more justified. I’m gonna go into my thoughts more in the 11-12 review since Ruby goes more into her feelings there. But the revelations that this one scene caused… yeah, it’s added a whole new level of horror to not just Salem, but the Grimm as a whole. It’s kind of a bummer that The Hound was killed off and it just feels so soon, but with how so much is going on at this point… yeah I’m gonna forgive it especially since the death still leaves a lot to think about in the future.

So let’s talk Schnee family! First, Willow. I like how they handled her here. She’s an anxious mess, which makes complete sense. She has to keep forcing herself to not drink, but without that coping mechanism, she’s so anxious that she ends up running out of Weiss’ room in utter panic. Fortunately, she’s still able to get her act together enough to be of help. She uses the security cameras to warn Weiss and keep an eye on The Hound. Which also allows her to see it heading for Whitley. But instead of waiting on Weiss and since Whitley understandably doesn’t want to listen to her, she does the right thing: act like a mother and save her child. Including actually using her Glyphs to summon a Boarbutusk. Yes, Willow. In a jam-packed volume like this, it’s nice to see these bits of character development for even the minor characters and it was done well here.

Then we have Whitley. I’m gonna admit it, it feels like his change is pretty rushed, but again we have about a million other things going on. Plus I guess the worst situations can bring out the best in people. That’s certainly the case here. He over-hears RWB and May talking and decides to call Klein, who is apparently a doctor, not only a butler (the temptation to NOT make an ‘I’m a doctor, not an X’ joke after getting into Star Trek is REALLY hard XD) to treat Nora. Which Weiss’ reaction to seeing him and him not at all blaming her for being fired was just beautiful. But it’s Whitley making a decision. Not due to his father’s influence. Not to get Weiss’ attention. He did it because Nora needed help and it was simply the right thing to do. The fact that he acted independently makes Weiss so happy that she hugs him. It surprises Whitley… but you can tell that he’s happy about it.

I think that really encouraged Whitley. Jaques isn’t there anymore. There’s no one controlling his fate anymore. It doens’t matter if Whitley defies him now, Jaques can’t do a thing about it. It’s Whitley who realizes that they have the resources and ability to send supplies and help to Mantle. It’s him who goes to his father’s office to get the process underway. Even when The Hound comes in, he still makes sure to give the authorization before making a run for it. With the fear of his father gone and Weiss showing more support, Whitley is showing that he’s not a bad person. He was very much like his sister was; someone trapped and forced to succumb to the toxic influences to survive. He didn’t have the support that Weiss did, nor the skills that either of his sisters had that let them escape. But he’s taking those steps now. He has an attitude still, but he’s kind of where Volume 1-3 Wess was; a major brat but one very much on their way to improving. If Whitey ends up taking over whatever remains of the SDC or outright remakes it, I think that he’ll be a fine leader while his sisters continue as Huntresses.

Finally, we come to Penny. I should probably talk about Nora as well, but since Chapter 11 is when she expresses how she feels ike how Ruby does, I’m going to hold off until then As far as Penny goes… God, I… it just hurts. Knowing how this ultimately will end only makes it more painful to go back through. But just as Chapter 5 made it look like Penny would finally be allowed to choose for herself, Watts ruins all of it. This is a girl who is utterly trapped. Ironwood bound her down by isolating her and then forcing the protection of a whole city on her. Pietro, while well-meaning, was over-protective and allowing that to keep Penny held by her strings. He let go… and look at how it ended. The Maiden Powers, while something that Penny accepted, now has her targeted on all sides and she can’t escape them while bound tot he responsibilities that come with it. Now we have Watts’ virus and despite her best efforts, she can’t stop it.

It’s just… heart-wrenching. Especially when Nora wakes up and calms her down by reminding her that whatever is trying to take over is only a part of her, not the whole being. It works… for a few moments. But in the end, all that Penny can do is succumb. This girl truly has no control over anything. Not over her own life. Not over the abilities that she possesses. And now not even over her own mind and body. She keeps having her strings yanked back and forth, wanting to just snap them off but all her limbs are held in place so she can’t. Watching her act utterly robotic, blankly describing how she will open the Vault then self-terminate… it’s just so wrong. Not to mention her coming dangerously close to being carted off to Salem with only Ruby managing a Silver Eyes blast saving her. It was hard to watch back when these premiered but after the finale? It’s just… it’s just so cruel.

Both of these chapters were excellent. War is mainly a setup chapter and ho boy the event that it sets up for… Chapter 9 is gonna be fun to talk about! But it also had plenty of pay-offs, especially for Ren and great moments like May’s scene, Salem conducting the Grimm, and it just captures the bleakness yet determination of our heroes perfectly. Then Dark… boy is that chapter title appropriate. Again great moments like the Ruby and Blake talk, the entire fight sequence, and probably the most horrifying revelation thus far. There’s some minor stuff like the jailbreak as well that made RWBY’s 100th chapter, as well as the chapter to kick off the return after the six-week hiatus, a thrill to watch. That's not even going into Alex Abraham's spectacular score, especially when the big reveal/death of The Hound happens. Just... it's just perfect. It can feel like there’s just so much going on that it gets hard to keep up with at times… but to be fair, that’s how our heroes feel as well, so I supposed that’s appropriate.

Chapter Stats

War

Favorite Character: Lie Ren

Favorite Scene: Ren unlocking his emotion-reading power

Least Favorite Scene: RWB sipping tea. It’s not a bad scene, but them just kind of standing by while the chaos is going on… it just feels a tad out of place.

Favorite Voice Actor: Kdin Jenzen (May Marigold)

Favorite Animation: Salem conducting the Grimm attack.

Rating: 8/10

Dark

Favorite Character: Ruby Rose

Favorite Scene: Ruby and Blake talk

Least Favorite Scene: I got nothing. Everything here was perfect.

Favorite Voice Actor: Arryn Zeck (Blake) and Jason Liebrecht (The Hound)

Favorite Animation: As horrifying as it was, The Hound reveal.

Rating: 10/10

Final Thoughts

When I watched these, all I could really do was stare wide-eyed. Even though I knew that this volume was going to be intense, somehow I wasn’t prepared for any of it. Certainly not for everything in these chapters. But all of it was just so freakin’ good. Does it feel emotionally draining? Yes. It was a big part of why I’m only getting to these several months later. But was it still worth watching? Absolutely. Compare Dark to the first chapter of Volume 1. RWBY has come such a long way. A lot of things both good and bad have happened in between, but it’s still going and I plan to be here until the bitter end. With quality like this, it gives me a good reason to stick around. So six more chapters/three reviews to go.

(Image Sources)

[theadusa]

A Rant in Defense of Katara

I love this resurrection of the show Avatar: The Last Airbender and all the new discussion. This is a show that I watched when I was a kid like many of you and have continued to watch every year like clock work. 

I‘m so excited to see it back in the mainstream again except for the discussion around Katara. 

I may be slightly biased because I love Katara. It was the first time as a young seeing a female character resemble me. I grew up in a pretty conservative home, and I was taught to be a mother from a young age similar to Katara so I related to that and the anger that it comes with. Katara is allowed to be both this motherly, caring and empathetic character while also being so entirely consumed by righteous rage. Very rarely do you see characters that contain so much multitude, especially female characters. To this day I can’t name a character that I relate to as much. 

That’s why it saddens me to see the hate and slander that Katara is receiving lately especially because of her mother. I see people taking this out of context a lot of times. Katara is framed as an extremely empathetic and passionate person, which is different from the people weary and skeptical Sokka. Katara looks to relate to people, when they bring up how the fire nation ruined their lives and how much they took from them Katara empathizes with them. When she brings up her mother it’s in a context of I have also been hurt by the fire nation and the war you are not alone. Also she didn‘t bring it that much, maybe more in the first season but it was mainly when coming in contact with other survivors or within her learning more about her culture.

I want to create a defense of Katara, and also right the out of context characterization I have been seeing a lot lately. First I will address the two episodes and scenes that were used to attack Katara, and then do an analysis of Katara‘s relationship to her mother and her culture as a whole. 

The two episodes that are often used to slander her are Book 2 episode 19. Katara and Zuko are imprisoned underneath the earth King‘s palace in Ba Sing Se. Let’s give some context to this scene. This is the first time since the North Pole that they have seen each other. The last time Katara saw this dude he was hell bent on capturing Aang. She didn’t see all the growth that he went through, none of the gaang has. So the Zuko we know as the audience and the one Katara knows is completely different. With this in mind her reaction to him and her distrust makes sense

This all that Katara knows about him to this point

He is the son of the firebird, and is of the bloodline which started the war which killed her people, her mother, and actively wiped out her culture.

He attacked her village and threatened them.

Is trying to capture the Avatar which is to her the last hope that the world has in the face of the imperialist fire nation.

Has followed them all over the world and attacked them at any given chance.

Used her necklace to track down Aang and to hurt him. ( Aang is also not her last hope but someone she genuinely cares about and will furiously protect)

This isn’t someone you would necessarily have a very good opinion of, and both Sokka and Katara out of any character in the show are most weary of any firebending and people from the fire nation ( except for maybe Jet and the freedom fighters). So with all of this when she is finally in close contact with Zuko ( the first time they both actually had a conversation) she is gonna be hostile. Let’s watch this scene together…

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fsIFuUHBWK4

As expected she is weary of him, she is also taking all the anger of the war out on him. Also, she has a valid reason to be mad at him, he has stalked them all over the world and tried to kill her friend. 

This scene is more apart of Zuko‘s development. Zuko has been forced to empathize with refugees, and now he is being forced to see why someone would be so radicalized to try and take down his nation, which he is learning is an oppressive entity. Also he can connect with her, he also loved his mother a lot and she was also taken because of the war. 

When Katara hears Zuko‘s confession she stops crying and turns to him.

In the next scene she apologizes for shouting at him. She starts to empathize and relate to him even though he is fire nation. 

Katara‘s next line is extremely important, this shows that whenever she envisioned the fire nation it was Zuko’s face. Which makes sense he is probably the first fire nation “soldier” that she came across since the raid when she was 8. Plus he was the prince, he had direct connection to the person who created and benefited from the war. 

Despite her justified anger and bitterness, she forgives him for the terrible things that he personally done to her, and because Zuko overall represent the fire nation both to Katara and to the story in general, she is ready to take steps of healing and forgiveness. This is huge. 

That‘s why she offers to heal him, it’s symbolic both in their relationship to each other, but the relationship between the nations.

Also note how cute it is when Katara sees aang she just runs and hugs him. And also, he gives a similar look of distrust. After this scene you see Katara looks back in pity.

Zuko‘s betrayal hurts Katara deeply because she was willing to heal, she was willing to put down arms which then resulted in the almost death of her best friend and only hope. That is why she treats Zuko with such scathing ferocity in Book 3. 

Which brings me to Book 3 episode 14 The Southern Raiders. Zuko joins the gaang because Aang needs to find a firebending instructor and Zuko seems not to be the only one around at the moment. The gaang is still very tentative around him, especially Katara, the one that almost gave him a chance and then betrayed her. As I mentioned before Zuko represents the fire nation, so essentially through his redemption the fire nation is also redeemed ( but that’s for another rant). Because of this Zuko takes each member on a trip to face their trauma caused by the fire nation before the final showdown ( that’s one of the reasons Toph was left out because of her overall rich background in the Earth kingdom she wasn’t that affected by the war until she joined the avatar). Aang faced his fear of fire and the destructive nature which can burn an entire civilization to the ground, Sokka faced what the war took away from him, his father and his ability to grow as a leader and his relationships, and then we get to Katara who has very specific baggage the weight of being the last water bender of the southern water tribe and the lack of knowledge of her culture, the guilt of being the reason her mother died this all comes to head in this episode.

I will only analyze the scene which many people try to hate her with but this entire episode is so good especially with the development of Katara and the moral question of revenge in time of war. At the end both Katara and the audience is left with the question of did she do the right thing, but any way moving on. 

This is the first episode in which we see what happened to Sokka‘s and Katara’s mom. And we see both perspectives of this traumatic event. We also see the extent in which this event scarred her. Katara lashes out at Zuko because he made a joke about reliving the old days ( which is a touchy subject to Katara). She lashes out, she is probably sensitive also because of the war coming to head and also just parting with a family member just that morning. 

Of course this isn’t Zuko’s fault but remember to her Zuko is the face of the fire nation. So she just takes her anger out on him. Knowing this Zuko offers revenge for her mother’s death. Aang is against this due to him being raised as a pacifist and Sokka is against it because he doesn’t want his sister put in danger and he sees a bigger picture of ending the war will bring justice. 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ok6wdTh-PyU

This is the scene which I see used to slander Katara the most. And I often seen taken out of context, when she tells Aang that he wouldn’t understand it was before he even brought up his people, and was mainly an attack of his pacifist nature. And look at the framing when she sees the lines to Sokka “ you just didn’t love her the way I did“ it’s a close up on Sokka‘s eyes this tells the viewer what was said was both untrue and hurtful to him. The narrative doesn’t Support Katara’s claim, which shows she is being angered and is in the wrong at this moment. This scene is all about conflict and a dialogue between two opposing beliefs in how to deal with pain and being wronged. And this episode is so smart, and it’s sad that all you got out of it is that Katara should be considered a bitch. In which you missed the entire point of this episode. This was were she finally gains closure to something that has haunted her for 6 years. At the end she couldn’t bring herself to forgive the man that killed her mother but she can forgive Zuko and the fire nation. It’s so beautifully done. At the end of this episode she gains some closure and I’m pretty sure it’s the last time she mentions her mother.

I‘m so sorry about this long tangent, I just love Katara so much and it’s frustrating that many viewers aren’t allowing Katara to make mistakes and be jaded. We allow Zuko to make mistakes, ones even bigger and more vexing without damning him. Katara is such a wonderful character that is allowed to be so many things within the narrative without being villainized, so why as the audience are nitpicking at every little thing that this girl who faced trauma and war deciding to grow and express her emotions in sometimes damaging ways, but she learns. And on another note Katara is often the first one to apologize even when it’s both parties fault, she takes full responsibility and grows from her mistakes and misunderstandings. I just love her so much and am tired of the hate even if it is just a meme.

[salmonthestoryteller]

Malex - Heading in the Right Direction

The last thing I expected was for me to have so many Malex thoughts after the first episode of season 2  - especially since they really only had one scene together.  But it was such an important scene to happen.  I’d talked previously about Malex & Character Growth - and how Alex’s character growth had outweighed Michael’s.  That in order for them to have a good relationship, we needed to see Michael match that.  And that’s exactly where we are headed, despite the spiral Michael is currently caught in.

First of all, despite Michael’s best efforts, Alex did not let this become an argument between them, once again demonstrating his character growth.  Michael did what he normally does when hurt - he lashed out - but instead of rising to the bait, we get instead Alex’s soft, “Hey”, and the way he holds Michael’s hand to his chest.  Alex has seen through the smokescreen now - he knows that under the anger and harsh words that Michael is in pain.  He wants to be the place he falls into.

Unfortunately, at this time, Alex is unaware that Max is dead.  (Note that Kyle’s scene with Rosa and Alex’s scene with Kyle come later.)  So, while he knows Michael lost his mother and a chance at answers with Noah, he doesn’t know what the true situation is when he asks if Michael would have come with him if he’d gotten out.  I’m actually so glad for the timing here, because when I first saw hints of the scene I couldn’t figure out why he would ask Michael to abandon Isobel in the wake of Max’s death when he knows how important Max and Isobel are to Michael.  Now it all makes sense.  Alex doesn’t know Michael has also lost Max, so he doesn’t know just how bad off Michael is right now.  He knows he’s bad, but he’s also willing to be there for him through it.  But Max’s death is a whole other level, and at this time Alex is in the dark about exactly how far down Michael is.

And Michael is way down.  Michael spoke previously to Max about the danger of hope in 01x11.  But, despite that, there are a few things Michael still had hope for. Fixing his ship was one - returning to their home planet.  Escaping the wreck of his life on Earth by finding a new one there.  Maybe finding a family there.  Michael no longer sees hope in that.  Their families were refugees, his mother was captured and tortured and is now dead.  His life’s work, fixing their spaceship, means nothing anymore because what is there to return to? A war-ravaged planet his mother ran away from?  It’s little wonder he doesn’t care about showing the console to Liz now - it no longer holds the meaning it held the day he showed it to Alex.  And now Max is dead - one of his only connections that mattered is gone.  Yeah, Michael is fresh out of hope, and he no longer wants to find a home.  Is it any wonder he’s pushing Alex, the only person who ever made him feel like he could belong somewhere, away?

However, there is a half-truth in what Michael says to Alex.  He did follow Alex’s lead in their relationship all these years.  He did allow Alex to come in and out of his life.  And him saying no to Alex here is important, because Michael never has before.  Not just to Alex, either - to anyone that matters in his life. Isobel, Max, even Liz - every protest he gives them throughout season 1, he never holds out on - instead he does what they want in the end. He tells Isobel he won’t go help Max because he chose Liz, yet he is the first on the scene of his fight with Wyatt.  He protests Max’s decisions all the time, yet he follows them - which he mentions to him in 01x11.  He initially tells Liz he won’t trust or help her, yet he takes her to his bunker - the first person he lets inside.

But I say half-truth, because while he’s acknowledging here that Alex’s leaving always hurt him, he’s not acknowledging that he let it happen.  He’s not acknowledging that he never told him No when he showed up.  He’s not acknowledging he never chased after him.  And right there is our Echo parallel - because what does Liz tell Max in 01x11?

“If I mess up. If I cave and take off again,  I need you to follow me this time. Don’t let me go that easily again, okay?”

Because that is what Michael has been doing as well.  That’s the other half of where his problems in their relationship land - the moment he gets a hint of rejection Michael lashes out and pushes away.  He doesn’t even question it.  He told Isobel Alex is like a crash landing, but he also sets himself up for it because he never asks Why.  He never talks to him, he simply pushes him away.

Probably the best example of all of this is actually the scene at the airstream after the reunion in 01x02.

“What happened last night can never happen again.” “What happened? I was pretty wasted.”

Alex’s rejection of Michael in this moment isn’t actually all that logical.  There isn’t anything holding him back from seeking a relationship at this moment.  He’s lived enough of his life away from Roswell now to know that Jesse isn’t as powerful as he once believed him to be when he was seventeen, so I don’t believe he’s rejecting Michael out of any notion he has to protect him.  He doesn’t know anything about Project Shepherd or aliens yet.  This moment is all Alex, his own doubts and fears, making him push Michael away.

And, really, Michael has no reason to push Alex away, either.  Alex is back in Roswell and doesn’t seem to have any plans to leave.  He clearly doesn’t mind others knowing about him and Alex. He clearly wants to be with Alex period.  But instead of asking Alex why he doesn’t want to be together, instead of having a conversation, Michael does what he always does - he lashes out.  He pushes him farther away.  That’s not on Alex.  That’s 100% on Michael.

Michael finally learning to say No, I don’t want to do this is important. And he continues this by finally telling Isobel they can’t bring Max back.  His second “no”, this time to Isobel.  His yes to Liz doesn’t count because Liz brings him science.  Max is partly still alive. So that yes makes sense.  It’s not about hope or feelings, it’s about facts.

And Michael’s No isn’t really a rejection of Alex.  It’s a rejection of the way they’ve been behaving toward each other.  Because he also is saying to Alex - I don’t want this if it ends the same.  I don’t want this if you leave. I’m tired of being hurt by you, but I’m also tired of hurting you.

“I want to be good for somebody.”

There’s a conversation happening here, an underlying message.  They can only do this if, this time, they do it right.  And I have absolutely no doubt they will.

[picturejasper20]

Since Steven universe is ending i'd like to recommend some shows/movies to watch.

Lilo and Stitch

The movie is about a broken family, Lilo and her older sister,Nani, who is struggling to find a job and taking care of Lilo. One day their life is turn upside down after meeting Stitch, an alien escapee who is trying to hide on Earth and pretend to be Lilo's dog in the process.

Why i recommend it: Like SU, is about Alien and human life coexisting. The movie is very comedy-driven but is also about Stitch learning what Ohana(family) means and how people can change for the better. Lilo is a little girl without parents who struggles to fit in with other girls of her age.

OK KO: Let's be heroes!

The series is a superhero show about KO who wants to learn to be a hero while training with Rad and Enid at Gar's bodega.

Why I recommend it: While is more comedy and lighthearted than Steven universe. The way the show is written is much like SU. Each character has their own arc. And there is this "there is much more than meets the eye" like S.U. The series slowly starts building it's own myth arc and exploring themes such as racism, bullying, letting go one's past,etc. The main protagonist is a sweet kid who likes helping everyone but hides a deep secret inside him.

Song of the sea

This movie is about Saoirse a little girl who discovers her mother's legacy and that she's a selkie: A magical creature that is destined to save the "magical world". Along with her brother,Ben, they must find Saoirse's voice and race against the clock before is too late.

Why i recommend it: Much like in SU, Ben and his father struggle to accept Ben's mother death: She dissapeared the same day Saoirse was born. There is a lot of symbolism in the movie. And has no real "villans", just people with good intensions that are misguided when it comes to helping others. The animation and soundtrack is beautiful and has a charm that is uncommon to find in modern animated films.

Transformers animated

Now you may be wondering. What does this has to do with SU? Well, let me explain:

The series is about the main protagonists who wake up after being 50 years on stasis on Earth. They start living along humans while fighting against the Decepticons. There is a focus on the autobots(the protagonists) learning about humans and taking care of Sari, a human girl who seems to have a special connection with a key that hides increible power.

The series also takes places in a post-war setting. So, some of the characters suffer from P.T.S.D and trauma, like Rachet. Most of the characters are defined by their past and mistakes the made along the way.

The series can be quite silly at times but it has it's dark moments as well. It's focus is on the characters growth.

Sym-bionic Titan

A very short lived series, sym-bionic titan is about Lance,Ilana and Octus, aliens refugees who were forced to leave their home planet after it was invaded.

The plot is about them learning to be humans while fighting against monters that are send to destroy them. The series shines when it comes to it's characters and the relationships they develop over the course of the series.

It also explores what is like to grew as a child soldier with Lance: He is the one who has the most trouble fitting in. He has lived as a soldier for so long that he doesn't know how to live a normal life. Even Octus, who is robot, starts asking himself what is he supposed to be and his purpose.

I forgot to mention that to fight a monster, sometimes they need to form the "Titan". Much like fusion in SU, they need to be on sync or the Titan will fail to work. This concept its used to explore their dinamic and personal problems.

This series is more violent than SU and can get pretty dark in some episodes. Just as warning for those who may be interested.

Now keep in mind that this is based on my experience watching cartoons. I choose the ones that remind me the most of Steven universe when watching them.

[moviegroovies]

alright alright alright alright. i finished watching a:tla last night SOOOO you know what that means, i’m here to make a ghostbusters au. 

of course.

let me get started by laying out the World Building™. basically... it’s definitely not new york, 1984, but it’s not quite the avatar world either, although it plays by their rules and is much closer to the avatar world theoretically. 

the major difference is that, while the fire nation in this au is still a somewhat imperialist power like in the show, it’s actually the EARTH KINGDOM that attacked... under the leadership of the last avatar, vigo.

hear me out.

the whole time i was watching avatar, i was really interested in the question of what would happen if an avatar actually DID use all that power for evil. it falls to him to maintain balance, but what if he’d rather tip the scales even more? vigo totally fits for this. imo, he started off like all the other avatars, training to keep the peace with the power of all four elements, and then he realizes that like... he doesn’t have to. 

he conquered the earth kingdom, his home, and then moved on to wreck the other nations’ shit. finally died in a way similar to how his death was described in gb2 (he was poisoned, shot, stabbed, hung, stretched, disemboweled, drawn and quartered... ouch), but not before looking for a way to subvert the avatar cycle and take control of his next life.

following logically, the next avatar is oscar wallance. originally i wanted to use a character we’re a little more familiar with, but this au is much more about the avatar’s teachers than the avatar himself, so he’s more like a plot device. sorry, oscar. anyway, oscar is born in the fire nation to a firebending father (who doesn’t really stick around) and an earth kingdom refugee mother, dana barrett. she’s a non-bender, and definitely didn’t sign up for this shit. when it first becomes clear that oscar isn’t just a firebender like his father (which was already causing her enough pain), but the full-fledged avatar, she panics.

and calls her old “flame,” peter venkman

they met when she was still new to the area, before she briefly settled down with oscar’s father. 

at this point i feel like i should mention that the majority of this au takes place in or around the fire nation. just an fyi. anyway, peter is a firebender.

but like, the chillest firebender of all time. i mean, he’s fairly powerful without even trying, but he uses that power to... warm up his coffee, or do parlor tricks. basically he’s in a position where bending is as natural as breathing to him, and he uses it all the time for little inconveniences, but a lot of people hardly consider him a real FIREBENDER because he just doesn’t... use it. he just doesn’t want to fuck around with huge displays or battle. 

going even further is ray, who is technically an airbender but NEVER uses it, like, at all. he was once an air nomad living in one of the temples, training to become a monk, but one day he just... had a crisis of faith. maybe it blocked his chi, maybe he just decided he was done, but he hasn’t done any airbending since then. instead he left, moving to the fire nation and attending university, where he honed his craft as an engineer and decided to rely instead on inventions and practice. he’s not spiritual. he’s interested in the implications, but doesn’t care about the actual applications of his personal abilities when he considers what training them would cost.

egon... ok, originally i was going to say that egon was a non-bender, but i think i like it even better if he rounded out the set by being the world’s most fukt up waterbender. he’s from the northern water tribe, and he does technically practice (so more than peter and infinitely more than ray), but he ignores all waterbender traditions and teachings. instead he presses the limits of what his powers can do. he manipulates plant growth. he tries to use uses his bending regulate his own body, from controlling his temperature to make sure he never sweats, to fucking with the water and chemicals in his brain to eliminate the need for sleep. he’s obsessed with the implications, and also uses his waterbending to make steam-powered devices, but never really “waterbends” in a traditional sense. 

before they get press ganged into being the least qualified avatar trainers ever, and even possibly during the training afterward, the three of them go around messing with the spirit world. or, basically, the fire nation and the earth kingdom alike have ravaged the land in the pursuit of their war, and the spirits are fcking Pissed. they go around trying to appease or capture the spirits in exchange for money, to various effects.

winston, meanwhile, is something like ex-dai li, or whatever the equivalent to that would be in this world. he got tired of being an elite imperialist agent, particularly when he realized how messed up the earth kingdom empire really was, and he peaced out to train the avatar. he’s the last to join the group, and also the most spiritually attuned--while he’s “limited” to earth bending, he’s practiced meditation that’s helped him grow closer to the natural world, and feels a personal connection to the avatar. unfortunately, in trying to hunt him down, he at first comes off as an earth kingdom spy or saboteur, and the guys spend a lot of time trying to escape from him before they realize that he’s not actually trying to hurt them.

winston definitely metalbends. he’s being pursued by the dai li himself, because when he left he was such an asset that his loss, especially if he’s turned traitor, could conceivably turn the tides of the war. he has a harder time with sand bending, but i think he figures that out too... basically this au is about using bending in non traditional ways, and winston is a big part of that.

finishing up the cast: janine, a water bender refugee from the southern tribe, possibly the last of her people. the earth kingdom hit the water tribes especially hard in their invasion, and while the northern kingdom maintains some ba sing se-esque degree of autonomy, the southern kingdom has been completely wiped out. she lives in the fire nation and pretends to be a non-bender, working some kind of menial job as a maidservant or maybe in a tea shop or something until she encounters the guys and gets inadvertently involved in their plight. 

she’s a little intimidated by them at first (particularly peter, with his casual displays of firebending that are thoughtless for him but feel like a constant reminder of the power he’s got to her), but she can clearly see that oscar needs a woman in his group, because they’re horrible guardians. she stands up and volunteers for the ride. 

for a while, though, she doesn’t use her bending. it doesn’t take that long for her to realize that egon is a waterbender, and she takes to him pretty quickly for that shared trait, but the way he waterbends and the way she does... the gulf between them is HUGE. she keeps it on the downlow and practices at night when everyone else is sleeping.

peter is the first one to find out.

she’s afraid. she’s really afraid, even though she knows logically that these men aren’t here to hurt her, because everything she’s ever learned has taught her that she has to hide her waterbending if she wants to stand a chance in hell. she almost decides to run... but he calms her down. promises he won’t tell, and doesn’t. eventually, she works up the nerve to admit it to everyone else herself, and takes the role of a more traditional waterbending tutor to oscar, since egon only does weird and scary stuff with his. 

louis is involved with one of their gang’s spirit encounters--in particular, he’s possessed by a semi-malevolent spirit, vinz clortho. when not possessed, he’s a dorky earth kingdom nonbender who owns some sort of shop and helps the guys out with supplies after they free him.

later on, signs of his possession are mirrored by oscar when vigo’s plan starts to take hold. ooooo, plot shit.

walter peck is a semi-talented firebender who chose not to pursue bending in favor of bureaucracy. he’s got a limited alliance with the police force, and becomes the guys’ enemy when he meets them and starts to suspect them, first of kidnapping, then of harboring the avatar, who he believes should be turned over to the fire lord in the interest of winning the war with the earth kingdom. 

he also just hates peter venkman. like, REALLY hates him. walter’s apathetic toward his firebending most of the time, like peter, but interactions between them heat up to the point where both of them consider tapping into it. 

all this to say: agni kai. think about it.

am i missing anyone?? oh yeah, janosz. he’s basically this universe’s version of the cabbage man; a traveling art merchant who keeps accidentally getting his shit wrecked by the spirit busters. also in possession of a portrait of vigo that might kickstart some major wreckage on THEIR end when oscar wanders off one day to mess with it.... but i’ll have to explore that at another time ;)

[nickblaine]

I’m new to THT series and fandom. I literally binged watch the show last week. One thing rubs me the wrong way is the way the word misogynistic is thrown around especially to women who like Nick. Or how ‘you only care for the romance’ since I enjoy Nick/June. Is it not possible for me to love the female characters, but also love Nick? Am I less of a feminist, because I love the romance? I don’t mind people disliking Nick or NJ, because it’s a show, but those things are too harsh IMO. (1/2)

(2/2) so I’m hoping you can recommend so great blogs to follow? Any help would be appreciated!

welcome to the handmaid’s tale fandom, aka hell! (jk, every fandom is hell)

Is it not possible for me to love the female characters, but also love Nick? Am I less of a feminist, because I love the romance?

the short answer is no, just because you like nick doesn’t mean you are less of a feminist. it ESPECIALLY doesn’t mean you love the female characters any less, how does that even work? 😂

put simply, the handmaid’s tale is not about men vs women, and anyone who says otherwise can just take that up with margaret atwood (who has only 1 low-status male character in her story, so you can guess who her example here is referring to):

feminism can be expressed in so many different ways. it’s not a competition. it’s not about shaming each other for who is or isn’t “feminist enough” and we should question the integrity of anyone who does that, especially when it’s being used in the context of something as inane as fandom gatekeeping.

and honestly, it comes down to the fact that you can enjoy this show in any way, for any reason. i know it’s an unpopular opinion here in the handmaid’s tale fandom, but no one has to watch the show for its politics. you can watch it just for the drama and/or the characters and that’s VALID. 

(personally, i can’t get behind the show’s political message because of its exclusion of intersectionality and all the damaging tropes they depend on. how is it feminism if it’s not intersectional? i was only ever interested in this show because i enjoy dystopian fiction, so this “feminism competition” the fandom likes to engage in is of no interest to me when i never viewed it as good feminist media (the show, not the book) to begin with.)

now, i could write an essay about why the romance storyline in this context IS an inherently feminist concept, and why treating romantic love like it’s an inferior type of love and calling women who like male characters “shallow” both come from some good old-fashioned internalized sexism, but @skyshipper has already done that and it’s a great read: Why the Romance Between Nick & June is Feminist and Important

i could also go off about why nick blaine’s growth as a character is a great example of what a supportive male ally should look like (which is important) and how he represents the class struggles that are intrinsically linked to theocracies throughout history, and when people dismiss him entirely as a “boring male love interest who adds nothing to the plot” (some of you know which post i’m referring to 🙄) then they dismiss all these points too… but that’s an essay for another day.

anyway, because i can’t answer this question without ranting and i know someone’s going to see this and say “uh, it’s my right to not like a character”— it’s okay if nick isn’t your cup of tea. you can be critical without debasing his entire character and those who find value in what he represents. (this is a lesson i’ve learned myself— i am highly critical of luke, but dismissing him as “just another shitty dude who adds nothing to the story” would also be dismissing the refugee perspective he brings to the show and the people who recognize something in that. i can’t stand luke’s passive misogyny, but his story matters. see? criticism without disparage, it’s doable.)

sidenote: i’m literally begging the people who have such an issue with nick fans that they need to rant about them to PLEASE put that energy toward confronting all the white feminism that plagues this fandom, oh my god

as for your last question…

I’m hoping you can recommend so great blogs to follow?

oooh, there are many great nick and nick/june centric bloggers out there! to name a few off the top of my head… 

@splitscreen, @skyshipper, @dcgal814, @smoulderingocean, @dystopiandramaqueen, @benofie, @zalrb, @thesnarkmaidstale, @underhiseyebrow, @lera-cherry-blog, @mikasahaswings, @forthisone

(if you’re looking for blogs that post a particular kind of content, such as gifs or fanfic, let me know and i’ll customize a rec list!)

also, some of us run a fansite where we try to congregate all the nick/june content throughout tumblr and share breaking updates. it’s a labor of our love for this ship, so check it out at @nickjunesource 💖

[armageddon-generation]

7 companion ideas I wish Chris Chibnall would use for Thirteen once Team TARDIS has moved on:

1) The Soldier With PTSD:

Ideally this companion would've best fit 9, but 13, with her Ten-like self-righteousness and hypocrisy, would also learn a lot from a companion like this, who directly challenges her prejudices.

EITHER make the character female, tying into Chibnall's equality push and making her and the Doctor more similar, OR make them male, and position him as a reflection of the Doctor's violent (male) past, that 13 is trying to escape.

Best of all, 13 is kind. See her learn to move past her prejudices (we saw hints of these in series 11) and help this person move on from their trauma. It would be a way for 13 to finally put the Time War (which both RTD and Moffat were obsessed with) behind her and move on.

2) Stowaway:

I really like the idea of the TARDIS letting a human sneak on-board without the Doctor knowing.

This could be a prank, or maybe an intervention after 13 loses Team TARDIS and is moping around.

The companion's motivation could be a loved one was taken by aliens, and they want to go to space to find them. 13 gets dragged in to helping and rediscovers her love of helping people.

3) Stuck Together:

(in my head this linked to the last one)

A companion the Doctor actively dislikes, but is stuck with for plot-related reasons.

Maybe 13 is forced to help them like the Genie from Aladdin

Sweet and pure 13 bickering with a snarky, sarcastic pessimist could be really funny (I loved Donna Noble, can you tell?) and we could see real growth in their relationship from animosity to genuine care and respect

I'm thinking a 2 series arc, the first where 13 is trying to undo the plot device keeping them together, the second them realising they still want to travel together and running around having fun.

4) The Alien Refugees:

Family is a big theme in Series 11, and using the TARDIS as an ark seems like a very 13 idea.

I like the idea of her saving a family of alien refugees (because we NEED an alien NuWho companion at some point) and letting them stay in the TARDIS while she finds them a new home.

Bonus points if they're the 'two sides of a galactic war with a hybrid child' trope.

Opportunity for subtler commentary on the refugee experience (because series 11 beat the politics into us with a sledgehammer).

Also if they have a young kid 13 keeps tempting onto adventures, it could give a new spin on the 'the Doctor and their lifestyle is dangerous' conflict: the two parents enjoy being companions and they're really good at it, but they need to think about their family. Their child has seen enough wars

(Plus the idea of Awkward Auntie Thirteen TM interacting with a kid is adorable and I need it)

5) The Writer With Writer's Block:

Stuck in a depressing creative rut (either because they're dirt poor and behind on the rent, or they've become disillusioned by success and the comodification of art) this character is tired of writing about exciting things: they want to do something exciting instead.

Then 13 comes along and sparks their imagination, which in turn helps 13 defeat aliens (Yes this is basically the premise of ABC's Castle but it works so well for Who).

The writer's knowledge of storytelling could make for some funny meta-commentary about the show (another base under seige? Can you stop using the Screwdriver, it's a little overdone)

Them drawing inspiration from 13 for their writing could lead to some interesting commentary about how people mythologise and romanticise the Doctor (*cough*Moffat*cough*) and use it to delve into 13's past.

6) The Terminally-Ill Companion:

This one might be difficult for Sunday night viewing, but I LOVE the idea of the Doctor acting like the Make A Wish foundation and making sure this companion lives every last second of their life to the fullest.

Doctor Who has always wrestled with death, but this is a much more nuanced approach than 'death is REALLY BAD and the Doctor is also a genocidal murderer but you can forget that bit' (Tennant) or 'no-one ever dies! There are no consequences!' (all of Moffat).

Stories like this have worked in family entertainment before, and I think it would be amazing to see such a positive and empowering portrayal of living with a terminal illness.

Plus 13, with her focus on the joys and wonders of the universe, is literally the perfect Doctor for this story

7) Companion From Another Time:

This has been asked for for ages (there was speculation Ryan was going to be from the Civil Rights era with Rosa Parks)

I particularly like either the runaway slave or the 'modern-minded woman trapped in the Regency/Victorian era' trope - like an Austen character

Her civility and manners would contrast nicely with 13's passionate hair-in-her-face let's - get - 'em attitude.

Perhaps combine with Number 5 and have her be part of that era's famous wave of female novelists.

I'm really interested to hear if anyone has any other ideas.

[sunlitroom]

Gotham – s5e03 – Penguin, Our Hero

As I watched it, and some random observations here and there.

Previously on Gotham:

Selina can walk again. She’s also part cat, thanks to the whole ‘medication may release the darker angels of your true self’ side-effect. Big-eyed orphans flocked to Jim. Tabitha ran into Oswald’s knife. Lots of gangleaders want to kill Jim. Barbara rescued him because she needs his help killing Oswald, because no-one else in interested, because Tabitha was easily one of the most dislikeable people in town. Seriously, Barbara. Have you noticed that Sirens isn’t exactly swamped in floral tributes?  Haven exists in soft focus.  Ed and Tank got rough.  Some very lazy graffiti implicated Oswald in the killing of several gang members.

As always, long post will be long.  There are likely to be rambling digressions. Gobblepot might appear (although I welcome all shippers and non-shippers alike :)).  There will be naked favouritism and naked not-favouritism.  Broader comments at the end on plotlines and parallels and general direction.

Oswald opens what I’m assuming is his bedroom door, or a door to his private rooms. He hears a choir singing a song of praise and smiles beatifically.

(An aside.  This is really dumb and I hate it - I'm not wasting wrist strength on it.  Also - it's really offensive.  Really really offensive)

In summary, Penn gives Oswald good news about production.  The writers feel the need to really hammer home that totalitarian regimes are bad, like we may be somehow unaware of this.  We also learn that people are ‘defecting’ to Haven, and that people love Jim Gordon.  Oswald pitches a hissy fit that’s interrupted when a bunch of bikers break in, looking for revenge for Oswald’s apparent attack.  He explains to the leader exactly how and why he’s stupid, and orders him to be interrogated.

In her hospital bed, Selina dreams about being shot by Jeremiah.  This will be a recurring theme in this episode – Selina has flashbacks later - and I think it’s a good thing that we get to see someone actually dealing with the aftermath of trauma.  I hope they don’t try to attribute this to the nasty seed thing later.

Waking with a start, she gets up and dressed and heads out onto the roof. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, she leaps off the side, like she used to do.

At Haven, Harvey is warning about coping with the growth of new arrivals - word spreading like bad case of clap.  He also warns that the gangs will come looking for the slave labour they’ve lost.

Jim seems unconcerned. Let 'em

Harvey says they hardly have any ammo or food to deal with either issue– but Jim still refuses to turn people away.

Harvey then eyes Jim, and asks him when he slept – he’s been going full-tilt for months.  Jim tells him he’s OK – but does seem a little flat as he says this.

They enter a makeshift canteen, where Bruce is working.  They ask him for some good news, and Bruce tells them something about a water purification system that’s small-scale, but still an improvement.

As they’re talking, a fight breaks out over rations.  Jim breaks it up, and then realises people are staring expectantly, and delivers a speech. He tells the new arrivals that they’re all welcome, but they need to leave the fighting outside.  The government thinks they don’t need help, and they need to prove otherwise.  The gangs outside can tear each other apart – but they need to help each other survive.

Harvey is the voice of cynicism – pointing out that Jim’s speech worked now, but that it’s not going to be pretty when they find out that the government has abandoned them.

Bruce tells Jim that he’s holding this place together, and giving everyone hope – but he has more to add to his plate.  Will, the big-eyed orphan, is having nightmares and broke his arm falling from his bed.  Could Jim talk to him?

(An aside.  I get that they’re building up Jim as a more uncomplicated protagonist and father figure.  This is also to emphasise how emotionally invested Jim is in Haven, so that the explosion at the end will have added impact.  However.  It is treacly to the point of becoming sickening.  Maybe it’s setting up another of Jim’s dark paths – where he’ll side with his old army pal over tried and tested allies in Gotham, and have a one night stand with Barbara – but even then, it’s just all felt a little heavy-handed)

In the dormitory, Jim sits down next to Will.  Bruce tells him that they can’t imagine what he’s been through, but that he’s safe now. Jim underlines this by telling him that he’ll never let anyone hurt him again.

(An aside.  Jim, no.  You can’t promise that.  You can promise to do your best – but you can’t promise to keep someone safe like that. Bruce is young enough to have an excuse. You know better.)

Jim offers the boy a treat before he leaves.

I’ve got something for you: pineapple from my rations.  Hang in there – I’ll check on you later

He and Bruce walk away

(An aside – the obvious parallel here is between Jim and Oswald as leaders. Oswald – on an ego-trip, serving himself an elaborate breakfast, literally enjoying hearing his praises sung, slowly leaking followers. Jim – giving his rations away, working himself exhausted for his people, with people endlessly arriving at Haven.

And I suspect that’s how we’re supposed to view it – but, and I know I’m probably overcomplicating, it’s not quite so black and white.  It’s not as nakedly motivated by ego as Oswald’s actions, but there’s no way that this isn’t gratifying for Jim)

Selina shows up in the dormitory. An alarmed Bruce tells her she’s supposed to be resting- but a cocky Selina asks him if she looks like she needs it.  She’s never felt better, and she wants to find the freak who shot me.

Bruce says he’s been looking for Jeremiah, but never found anything.  Selina points out that there’s been an influx of refugees from all over the city – someone must know something.

Bruce says he wants to find him as much as Selina – but he’s had months to fortify, and they need to be careful.  Selina looks askance at him, and asks him if he’s scared.  Bruce replies that of course he is, Jeremiah

Shot you to get to me

He tells her he can’t lose her

Selina tells him she’s not his to lose.  He can’t stop her, but she does want his help.  Bruce stares for a moment, and says that if they’re going to take him down, they’ll do it right.  They’ll bring him back here and he’ll stand trial

(An aside.  Honestly, Bruce?  I don’t see any judges hanging around.  A makeshift court consisting of you, Jim and Harvey isn’t exactly doing it right.  On top of that, do you really want to bring Jeremiah into close proximity with defenceless civilians?)

Selina smiles fondly at Bruce’s naivete.  Reaching up, she touches his face and kisses him.

I was hoping I could count on you

Further in the dormitory, a man sitting on a bed says he heard rumours in dark zone – which is apparently a place of chaos - ruled by those who lost their minds when the bridges went down

(An aside.  Sigh, Gotham.  So the mentally ill are scary again.)

Jeremiah is there, gathering followers.  Selina makes to leave immediately, but the man remonstrates, telling her

You can’t go there: you’ll die!  Jeremiah is the least of your worries.  Everyone there is insane.  Look what they did to my friend

He pulls the cover down, and we can see the man in the bed has had stuff carved into his torso.

Oswald opens his bedroom door, in a snit, clad in underwear this time.  He’s wearing a tight black top and shorts under his white cotton garment. I’m guessing the white thing was possibly a little too see through, and they decided to just let the black underwear show rather than get a headache trying to hide it.

Penn! Where the f…..

His choir is gone, and there’s only Olga singing alone

(An aside – I know it’s not the biggest point in the world: but if people like Olga and Eyepatch Guy consistently come back to work for Oswald, then he’s not as uniformly loathsome as the show likes to paint him)

Oswald interrupts her – asking where his staff and Mr Penn are.  She informs them that they all defected to Haven.  He fulminates before panicking, looking for his dog.

He turns to Olga, teary-eyed

They took my dog?

She looks blandly at him

Rumour say pup went willingly

(An aside – I know Oswald’s scenes are more or less comic relief at points, but I still do get irritated when he takes more of a kicking than any other character in terms of sheer humiliation and being told he’s unlovable.)

He screams in rage and grabs the biker chained to the wall

You're in luck.  Our interests are now aligned – and you may live

He tells him to contact the other deeply irritating petty gangs, and to gather men, vehicles and petrol. He has bullets.  They’re going to pay a visit to Haven.

After he’s dressed, that is.

 At GCPD/Haven, Harvey – accompanied by Alvarez - tells Jim Oswald has made it through the barricade with gangs.

Jim tells them to load up. Harvey points out they’re low on ammo. Jim sends him to someone he hopes with be friendly.

(An aside here.  How much time has passed since last episode? Barbara made clear to Jim when she saved him that this was essentially conditional on him agreeing to plot Oswald’s death with her. Jim said he’d table that for later.  Is she still waiting for this to happen?  Has she just assumed he’s not going to do it? When are we, exactly?  If he’s really just never got back in touch, why assume that she’s going to be willing to help – other than the fact that he has no other options, and Jim has a track record of expecting help from people – no matter whether he’s recently jerked them around.)

Down the tree-lined street where Ivy and Selina once wandered – and which is now the dark zone. Selina cracks a joke about calling it the dull zone, and Bruce gazes at her – telling her he’s glad she seems herself again

Selina says she’s been here before – it’s the posh part of town. Bruce says people with money got out. She points out that he didn’t, and he tells her seriously that he had a reason to stay.

(An aside.  Oh Selina – and it wasn’t staying with you.  Bruce wanted Alfred to evacuate with Selina.  He was going to stay and hunt Jeremiah down.  Does Selina know this?)

A man with a bomb strapped to him runs towards them, frantically asking for help, before the bomb explodes.  We hear laughter and gunshot, as a band of God knows what approaches. Actually.  There was a version of Phantom of the Opera set in a disco in the 70s - called Phantom of the Paradise. They remind me of this, crossed with the slightly naff cenobites from Hellraiser III

Anyway

They turn to run, and collide with a hulking guy who’s not exactly friendly

Selina says they’re looking for Jeremiah

Kill you. Kill Jeremiah

Selina decides the best course of action is to find the schoolyard’s biggest bully and take him down

They all start fighting.

Haven, where Mr Penn is still conducting the choir - who now do hymns instead. We hear the sound of bikes approaching.  Penn nervously asks Jim what’s going on.

It’s Oswald.  Jim tells his men to hold their fire

Oswald gets out of his car – lividly angry.

Well. If it isn’t my old friend Mr Penn, and the Gertrud Kapelput Memorial Choir.  How nice to see some familiar faces!

Jim tells Oswald that he shouldn’t have come to Haven.  Oswald responds angrily that he stole his people and his dog.  

Jim says that the people came here of their own free will.  Oswald ignores him to call on his dog, who doesn’t respond to him

Jim raises his eyebrows at him triumphantly when the dog refuses to come when called.

Oswald reiterates that Jim is to return his people and his dog – and also apologise.  

Jim says no.

Oswald tells him he knows his ammo is used up – he’s bluffing.  

On Jim’s signal – some of his men take down some of the bikers.  Oswald pulls a face, and Jim says his men need some target practice.

Back with Selina and Bruce. The hulking guy tells her that she looks soft – while she tells him he looks 300lbs of ugly.  

Selina gets the man on the ground and starts clawing at his face with her new metal claws – demanding that he tell her where Jeremiah is.

The man protests that they don't mess with him – but then tells her he’s at Hotel North.

Selina’s still going, though, clawing at his face.  Bruce tells her he’s had enough.  She says it’s enough when she says so, and he restrains her.  

He looks at her, troubled, and tells her she won.  It’s over.

Selina blithely replies that it was easy, and strolls off.  Bruce stares after her unhappily.

Back at Haven, an irate Oswald tells the bikers that Jim is bluffing.  The leader asks how he knows.

I know Jim Gordon

Oswald says if they require a demonstration – they should march forward.  The biker says they have guns – Oswald retorts that he does too, and his are loaded.

They march.  As they approach, Jim tells his men to make ‘em count.

They shoot – but run out of bullets, leaving one man standing.

Oswald gloats that Jim is out of ammo, and points out that he doesn’t want his men to die.  

On the count of three, GCPD lower their weapons.

Bruce and Selina head to the church – Selina deftly climbing over cars.  Bruce is not happy at how she handled the big guy earlier, but Selina disagrees – asking whose side he’s on?

Yours. Always

As they approach the church, they see a shrine to Jeremiah.  Selina says she’ll tear his throat out.  They follow some other people up the stairs to the church and enter the building.

A woman in a mask welcomes them to the Church of Jeremiah, where the faithful will become their best selves – after a demonstration of faith.

They’re very oddly dressed. Shirt and tie – and one guy in a kilt (which tends really to be formal wear)

They walk further in. The masked woman stops Selina – and points out she doesn’t look like a worshipper.  Selina insincerely says she witnessed his work first hand, and she’ll never forget it.

She is permitted to pass, and follows the adherents upstairs.  The masked woman whispers in the ear of another guard before removing her mask.  It’s Ecco, in some dilapidated makeup.

Bruce slips away

(An aside - Where are the clean and well-dressed devotees coming from?  I thought the Dark Zone was a terrifying bedlam?  How did they get there without being attacked? Why are they so clean and well-presented?)

Oswald leads Jim to a cage/cell.  Jim tells him he’s going to regret this.  Oswald gloats that those are strong words for someone out of options.  He’s going to have Jim watch while they destroy Haven, and then shoot him and leave him for dead like did to Oswald

(An aside – Oswald – no you’re not.  We both know this.  Jim knows this.  That one-episode biker leader knows this.  Tank knows this.  Those weird English peasants at Ivy’s know this.   Give. It. Up)

Jim tells him when the government finds out what he’s done, he’ll be at the top of the wanted list. Jim – Jeremiah created this whole crisis.  Jonathan is crucifying people.  The government will not share your pigtail-pulling fascination with Oswald.

Oswald tells Jim the only law in Gotham is power.  Jim tells him they have children and families here.  What will happen when the gangs take them back? Oswald blithely says they’ll go back to being slaves.  His people will go back to their lives: bellies full of gruel, with him as their protector.

Jim tells him to take revenge on him – but leave the refugees alone.  Oswald tells him it’s almost tempting – before leaving

(An aside – and here, again, we have the problem with this storyline.  If you can tug on anyone’s heartstrings, it’s Oswald’s.  It’s stupid enough that they have him genuinely believing his people enjoy their life.  The additional notion that he wouldn’t actually care about children and families is stupid.  Let’s not forget – when Oswald was piloting the blimp, the worst outcome he could imagine was the death of thousands of innocent citizens.  It was Jim who felt the need to further incentivise him by appealing to his ambition.  Seriously, now.  It wasn’t that long ago.  I’ve said it several times before – but if your plot demands that the characters are ooc in order to facilitate it, your plot isn’t good)

Outside, Penn is being chained up.  Oswald’s not happy at this, and steps in

Stop - that one belongs to me

He manages to unchain Mr Penn – who smiles happily  - at being rescued, but also maybe at the indication that Oswald actually appreciates him.

One of the annoying bikers grumbles that Oswald sacrificed one of his guys. While Oswald is untying Mr Penn, who’s thanking him all the while – the biker shoots Penn in the gut.  

Penn drops to the floor. Oswald tries to stem the bleeding but it’s no good.  

You should have stayed with me!  Why did you leave?

Penn looks up at him and, without malice, simply tells him

Everyone hated you

Oswald looks down, his face blanched.  

One of the bikers tells him they’ll take everything.  An enraged Oswald says he’ll pay for this, before the biker wallops him hard in the face.

(An aside – sorry, but no. Oswald is cleverer than this. He’s adept at reading other people’s needs and wants.  The notion that he honestly would have no idea of how he was perceived is just silly.

Also – I know there apparently wasn’t time to develop Penn as the Ventriloquist, but I don’t think they had to kill him off.  It feels really unnecessary.  Given that this ‘revelation’ was only needed because they made Oswald temporarily stupid, it’s particularly bitter.  On top of that, if I feel he’s been jettisoned to help make room for the compulsory indigestible lump of Os/Ed interaction we’ve to dutifully swallow later this season, I am going to feel rather cross.)

Oswald is taken to the cage, struggling and protesting.

Let me go, we had a deal!

As he’s shoved in, Jim watches him calmly from the corner.

I take it that didn’t work out like you planned?

Harvey is at Sirens, calling for Barbara.  She sneaks up behind him, puts a knife to his throat and tells him there no men in Sirens past midnight – making it surely a very inconvenient brothel.

She adds that perhaps it’s time golden boy learned to save himself. She asks Harvey if he’s tired of playing sidekick.

Harvey tells her he doesn’t see it that way.  They’re friends fighting for same thing.

Barbara says she remembers when Jim was the idealistic rookie and Harvey was the cynical veteran. Harvey cuts in that she was sane back then.  Barbara snidely says that now Harvey carries Jim’s laundry.

Don’t you wonder what your life would have been like if you never met Jim Gordon?

(An aside - Barbara.  Yes – you have ample cause to deeply resent Jim.  He compartmentalised the bejesus out of his life when he was engaged to you, he moved on indecently fast, and his default facial expression when he’s encountered you since has been a curled lip and a sneer.  You turned to him after your release from Arkham and asked for him simply to recognise you as a person, and he wouldn’t do it.

However, laying the blame at everyone else’s door for your current situation has become tedious. You were placed in horrible situations, but you have also had agency.  Decisions were made.  Paths were taken.  For the actual love of God, stop whining. I’m so bored.)

Harvey replies that he’d be dead, or wishing he was.

(Another aside.  The spectre of Death has hung over Harvey since day one.  I do hope he makes it to the end)

Barbara sneers that he’s delusional – like the saps who expect the government to help.

Harvey tries again – commenting that he knows they’ve had their differences, before mentioning that Oswald has turned up…

Barbara’s tune changes, and she tells him he should have opened with that.

Let’s move

Back in the cell, Jim is trying to cut his bindings.  Oswald is ranting.  Jim’s taken everything from him.  Jim tells him to keep his voice down.  Oswald keeps talking.  His people should have loved him, he kept them safe.  What so special about Haven?

Jim pulls a face at him, and says it’s special because it’s far away from him. Oswald pulls a face of his own

That's rich

People are coming, and Jim hisses at Oswald to be quiet.  We see the head biker and a couple of children come in looking for supplies – one of whom is big-eyed orphan boy, who glances quickly at Jim.  Jim tells Oswald to just act normal, adding

I know it's a stretch

The boy slides a piece of metal under the cage, which Oswald covers with his foot.  The bikers find he booze they were looking for, and leave.

Oswald laughs manically. When they get out – he is going to tear this place to the ground.  He starts to rant – but Jim interrupts him.  That won’t solve the problem.  They need to take the gangs out – right here, right now.

They look down at the piece of metal.  Oswald asks how they pick it up.

They eye each other, and – honestly – the fact that they both wordlessly come to the same impractical solution points to how bizarrely close they are.

They turn back to back and – leaning against each other – lower themselves slowly to the floor, with Jim making some of the best facial expressions ever seen.

(An aside.  OK.  Fair enough, Oswald can’t really pick that up: I don’t think his leg would allow him. But Jim.  Jimothy.  JimJam.  Jimbalaya. I ran a test.  It’s easy to lower down to the ground with your hands behind your back, pick something up, and then stand again.  You saw a chance for some body contact and you took it.  Naughty.)

Bruce creeping about at Jeremiah's lair. He encounters a corridor strewn with the corpses of pilgrims, all with gunshot wounds to the head.

Meanwhile, Selina joins Ecco and the others in an empty swimming pool. Essentially, they play a group game of Russian roulette.  Ecco is very theatrical and Harley Quinn-ish about all this.  Selina scoffs – but, on Ecco implying she’s a coward, places the bullet in the chamber and spins the barrel.

Ecco counts them down – again, slightly aggravating on the quirky preciousness front.  We go quickly back to Bruce, whose head turns sharply when he hears the gunshots.

Ecco strolls round, announcing that she’s disappointed in those who didn’t participate.  Selina says she’s

Just not a mindless idiot willing to get shot in the head for nothing

Ecco glares.  She comments that Curls is here to judge all of us.  She goes on, though, indulging in some wittering about Jeremiah and his methods and how it looks like madness but it’s really liberation, blah blah blah

She then tells them all to leave now – she needs to have a word with Selina. They all got straight ‘As’ and can proceed and be reborn.

Elsewhere, Bruce follows two guards before beating them.  He ascends further up the staircase.

Selina faces off with Ecco. Ecco says she doesn’t want to meet Jeremiah, but Selina insists she does – only she’s not willing to play that psychotic game

Ecco does some more quirky stuff

But baby – it’s so fun!

Selina asks why Ecco doesn’t play.  Ecco tells her she doesn’t get it.  Lifting her hair, she displays a scar at the base of her skull, near her ear.

The bullet’s still inside.  I hear it.  Ping ping ping.  Boy do I feel it when the nights get cold

She pulls the trigger, but there’s no bullet.  She seems to be getting off a little on it.

Selina tells her she’s insane – but she’s indignant at this, saying she was willing to look death in the face and allow the old her to die.  This is the gift Jerome gave Jeremiah – and now it’s the gift he’s giving them

(An aside – interestingly, Jeremiah seems to have rather retconned his past with Jerome again.  The gas wouldn’t have killed Jeremiah – there was no potentially fatal option, as with his gun method)

Ecco smiles

We want you to experience that gift….Selina

Selina’s eyes widen

You know me

Ecco smiles

There’s not a single part of Bruce's life we don’t know about. His joys, his fears, his desires

(An aside.  Wow.  That sounds a like a fun couple activity.)

She adds that Bruce wasn’t ready for Jeremiah’s gift, and nor was Selina.  

Selina grimaces as Ecco points the gun at her face

One thing Jeremiah did teach me.  I hate a gun pointed at my face.

She hisses angrily, and they start to fight.

Oh puddin’.  Aren't you delicious?

(An aside.  I suppose you can’t really blame Ecco for flirting with Selina.  It sounds like most of her evenings with Jeremiah are spent working on the big Bruce scrapbook.)

Ecco says she knew she had it in her – all it took was a kick in the pants.  

Bruce appears.  Ecco sneers that her boyfriend is worried about her.

Selina flashes back to her shooting.  She manages to turn the gun on Ecco – but Bruce yells stop, and Ecco escapes, stabbing Selina in the leg as she goes. Selina screams in rage and makes after her – but Bruce stops her, telling her that she’s bleeding.

Selina cuffs him to the gate.  Bruce protests, but Selina says they’ve done things his way.  Not it’s her turn.  Bruce is left yelling after her as Selina drags herself off after Ecco.

Back at Haven, the bikers eyeing up cops and discussing who might be best for fights.  Jim strolls up

How about this?

He points his gun

The biker says he’s bluffing

I’m afraid not

Oswald appears at the other end of the room

Neither am I

Oswald shoots the gang members.  Jim calls on the cops to come out.  Jim and Oswald face each other across the room.  We hear a whimper, and Oswald’s dog approaches him.  He fusses over him, and reassures him that he killed the bad men.

The crowd behind him overhear this and mutter agreement – he did shoot the bad men.  They start to chant his name.

Oswald smiles gleefully. In many ways, he’s the world's simplest creature.

 Back at Haven, people are arguing both with and about Jim

You promised safety!

He saved us!

Oh boy.  Time for another speech.

It was a hard day - but we won.  

He points out that they’ve got Oswald's guns and ammo now, and that they survived.  Hope survived too – and he thinks that’s worth fighting for.

So do I

It’s the winsome orphan who rescued him

(An aside.   Mercy, Gotham. I can’t take much more of this treacle.)

Jim blinks in response to this support.  He goes on. Now there’s work to be done, wounded to be cared for.

Tomorrow's another day

Jim’s Scarlett O'Hara now.

A cop appears to tell Jim that Oswald is outside.  

Before he heads out, Jim tells the winsome orphan that he did a brave thing, and that they wouldn’t have escaped if not for him.  The boy replies that Jim helped him, so he wanted to reciprocate.  He hands the boy his badge, and tells him he needs deputies. He smiles and thanks him – especially since he’s allergic to pineapple.

 Jim walks towards Oswald, who is fussing over the dog.  He straightens up as Jim approaches, and asks him if the cops are really necessary: after all, he just saved hundreds of people.

Jim adds that he endangered them to start with, so he can be forgiven for wanting to play it safe.  

Oswald looks up at him, his face more sincere

Still - I do hope there’s no hard feelings?

Jim steps closer and looks at him like he’s recently been caught stealing apples, as opposed to putting a bounty on his head and then breaking through the barricade with a gang of bikers.

You did the right thing today, Oswald.  You’re free to go.  Don’t make me regret it.

They stand close and – even with my shipper glasses off, there’s really no other way to describe this – stare at each other fondly, smiles on their faces.

(An aside, before Barbara comes in waving the plot point no-one cares about.

I ship this like crazy. I like writing fic for it. One thing that’s blocked me for ages is how readily Oswald can forgive the worst of behaviour from Jim, and how Jim readily heads back to him for help each time no matter where their relationship has been. But actually seeing this helped me get it.  Oswald thinks he’s capable of doing great things for the city and its people.  Jim also believes this of himself: Jim Gordon, hero of Gotham.  They also both know they are capable of terrible, terrible things.  

To have someone who is not only seemingly willing to forgive you anything, but who also has a seemingly endless capacity to believe in you? That’s about as a big a deal as you can get.  No wonder they keep gravitating towards each other. Who wouldn’t?)  

Harvey hurries in, shouting a Jim in warning.  He’s swiftly followed by Barbara.

Hi Pengy.  Bye Pengy

Wide-eyed, Oswald holds his hands out in front of him, falling back on what he always falls back on in dire straits

Jim!

Jim hurriedly gets in front of him, and faces Barbara down

Barbara, no

Barbara tells him to get out of her way or he’ll get her first bullet.

Jim insists that he’s not moving

We don’t get to see what Barbara does next, because there’s an explosion that knocks everyone to the ground.  Oswald, Barbara and Harvey are unconscious, but Jim stands and looks around to see Haven up in flames.  There’s no scream of rage – just resignation, and weariness.

(An aside - So, I’m guessing that the explosion was Jeremiah’s doing – given that it just so happened to coincide with Bruce not being anywhere near the building?)

 General Observations

A couple of themes here.

The obvious parallel is between Jim and Oswald as leaders.  Jim is the ‘good’ leader, Oswald the ‘bad’ leader.  I don’t think we’re supposed to read more into it – but, as I said, I think you can really dig into a little more.  Barbara comments offhand that Jim wants to be a hero.  They both get emotional gratification from what they’re doing.

Oswald has already been chastened by Mr Penn’s death.  How Jim copes with what has happened remains to be seen.  

There was a little bit of crossover between storylines, if you squint, in the notion of proving yourself under pressure.  Oswald eventually did the right thing.  Oswald and Jim came together when it counted.  On the darker side, Ecco seemed insistent that Selina could step up to the challenge she posed after a kick in the pants.

Given that it lasted a whole two episodes – the Oswald as dictator thing was dumb.  Oswald’s whole thing is his ability to read motivations and needs and exploit those.  He can’t just fall back on a family name, or use brawn to succeed. But suddenly he actually hadn’t realised that people hated him? Really?  Equally – the bit later about him not understanding why people would resent the situation he offered: safety and stability – Oswald’s whole first season is him rejecting the notion of ‘knowing his place’ in favour of clawing his way up, risking his neck repeatedly.

Sorry – but this storyline has been dependent on both ooc-ness and Flanderizing his character.

Hmmm.  See – here’s the thing.  I liked Jeremiah last season – pre and post-gas.  He was different and had his own quirks and complexities.  He simmered icily – a contrast to Jerome’s all-out mayhem.  But I find the whole Cult of Joker thing tiresome – with all the witless, biddable acolytes wittering on about how he’ll open your mind.  It feels even more marked with Jeremiah, who essentially displays almost total contempt to anyone who isn’t Bruce.  I’m guessing part of the reason he stays secluded is that he can barely tolerate them.

I wonder if we’ll ever find out why Ecco was so devoted to Jeremiah.  Because she was – back last season – before all the gas stuff. Fiercely devoted.  It didn’t feel like a romantic thing – and I was curious to find out what it was.  Had he helped her out of a bad situation?  Did his working set-up meet her needs and personality in some particular way?

Thoughts?