#I just think when people see the contrast in his roles they’ll appreciate his acting more. | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

yan-twst · 4 years ago

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yan-twst’s yandere twst base guidelines

long story short, i’m tired of not writing yan characters consistently so this is more so a guide for MYSELF to write them consistently. it’s not going to be 100% coherent or like, poetic, because this is moreso a reminder for myself to know how i’m characterizing these boys, but i thought i might as well post it so everyone has an idea how i work with yan characters

warnings: death mentions, general yandere content, mentions of verbal and physical abuse, non consensual drug use, you know the drill

riddle rosehearts is desperate for control and affection. his mommy issues make him seek out the sort of coddling and care he never got from his mother, and at the same time makes him want to establish he’s the one in charge to feel safe. he is easily jealous, doesn’t mind getting his hands dirty if it’s for his darling. he can be manipulated by them in his weaker moments, but he’ll usually be able to tell when they’re trying to use him and retaliate. he wouldn’t be opposed to letting those he trusts oversee his darling. he’ll keep his darling in his dorm; they may be allowed to roam around with trey or maybe cater, but riddle fully expects them to only go out when he’s there.

ace trappola is sadistic and a bit immature. he likes to make his darling’s life hell, tear them down and make them cry until he’s the one who comforts them (not very well). he’s the standard “little kid teasing his crush in the playground”, except way more violent. ace trusts nobody with his darling- he’ll use threats and violence to get them to stay away. he mocks his darling for being weak. ace can’t really keep his darling locked up due to his dorm situation, but his verbal abuse and manipulation are enough to keep them silent about how he treats them

deuce spade is conflicted but selfish. his past as a delinquent makes violence come easily to him, and he might hurt his darling in an outburst of anger. likewise, he’ll get rid of people he thinks are “getting too close” to his darling with threats of physical violence, and he’ll easily make good on those threats if prompted. the idea of locking them up isn’t something that comes up naturally (besides, he can’t really do that), but he’s always waiting for his darling in the door of their dorm in the mornings and drops them off, making sure they aren’t wandering off. he has bouts of extreme sweetness, talking about how they “changed him”, bringing them flowers, making them meet his mom- a big contrast to his violent tantrums, but his sweetness is enough to make his darling think he might stop hurting them (and also fear of what he could do if they broke up with him)

trey clover is a manipulator. he doesn’t really need fancy tricks or strength to make his darling stick by his side. the fact everyone sees him as a friendly and helpful man means nobody questions his actions too much. he pushes his darling to act the way he wants them to, usually gaslighting them or guilt tripping them into doing as he wishes. trey will not lock up his darling, at least not in school, but he’ll make them feel like they aren’t allowed to talk to anyone or interact with anyone other than him. he’ll also freely twist his darling’s words to make people who try to get close to them stay away

cater diamond needs to be told he’s loved, be told he’s good. he craves to have a close connection to somebody, and he’s just not used to feeling so attached to someone. he’ll use lots of blackmail to keep his darling obedient. whether he kidnaps his darling or not depends on how easily he can do so: if they’re the MC, he might not do so, since he craves to take pictures and show the world who he’s dating, and if he kidnapped them and published those it’d be too obvious. however, his blackmail makes it enough that his darling doesn’t dare go against him. cater won’t use violence to get rid of “rivals”, but he’s very much willing to use rumours and blackmail to ruin them

leona kingscholar wants both a plaything and someone to treat him like a king. he will make his darling feel weaker and inferior to him, but he’ll also seek comfort in them. leona has no trouble using some physical violence to keep his darling in their place, nor does he have qualms in killing people who he sees as a threat. luckily, it takes a lot to get him to that point, since he’s quite lazy about the effort it takes to kill. he fully expects his darling to pamper him, but he often makes allusions that once he sets a life for himself, they’ll be his “queen” of sorts. ruggie absolutely knows this is going on, and leona will let him be around his darling once in a while, as long as he knows his limits. lots of jealousy towards his brother- mentioning him is a surefire way to get beat black and blue

ruggie bucchi wants someone to call his own. he’s possessive and jealous, and he’ll do all he can to make them be his. he treats them more like property than as a lover sometimes. at the same time, he’s very much a needy lover, and he’ll be whining and keening for constanta affection. physical violence isn’t usual in his darling, but he has no issue getting rid of others- he’s very, very good at getting rid of the body. he keeps his darling locked in his room out of jealousy, and he’s got no problems with using his unique magic to make them give him affection

jack howl feels bad about how he feels but ha can’t stop himself. he rationalizes that he’s “protecting” his darling from the outside world, seeing them as weak and helpless compared to him. he scales up slowly in his obsession, starting from walking them around to locking them in his room. he thinks his darling is being thankless for not appreciating his worry. jack will not use physical violence on his darling, but he might make empty threats just to make them understand he’s stronger. jack will be hesitant to kill for his darling, however if he gets mad enough and if someone seems to be trying to rescue them or contact them, he might snap

azul ashengrotto is desperate to be reassured. he often cries and guilt trips his darling, asking them to assure him he’s good enough for them. the way he treats his darling wildly varies on his mood; when he’s feeling confident he’ll use smooth talking and act in a way so gentlemanly it might be able to temporarily make them forget their situation, but when he’s in the deep end of his insecurities he’s all screams and tears. when he’s out of his mind, he might leave bruises on his darling, but it’s more of a lack of control than a desire to hurt. he lets the leech twins around- under his watch- and makes them make sure his darling doesn’t think of escaping lest they be hunted by the eels. he’ll absolutely use a contract to take away his darling’s magic, and by extension take away the magic of anyone he sees as a “threat”. likewise, he’ll sic the twins onto the “threats”

jade leech is sadistic but calculating. he wants his darling to be dependent on him and him alone. upon kidnapping them, he makes sure to treat them nicely; bringing them warm food, physical comfort, etc. of course he also punishes quite liberally: however, he’s always careful in how he does it. he either makes it out to be entirely his darling’s fault so that he’s not “the bad guy”, or he might send in floyd to make them suffer. either way, jade is always the one to comfort them, and make them associate his presence with being well. jade absolutely keeps his darling locked up, and while he doesn’t like them being alone with someone else, he does let floyd or azul see them sometimes, maybe for dinner or something. jade has no problem killing to teach his darling a lesson, but he’s more often lowkey and clean about it

floyd leech does whatever he pleases. it doesn’t take much for him to decide to take his darling and force them into his room into the role of a toy for him to squeeze and bash around. floyd’s darling is always bruised and injured in some way- floyd sometimes treats their wounds, sometimes jade drops by to treat them, but he’s too rough for them to heal entirely. floyd rejoices in his darling’s tears and missery: he isn’t going to comfort them or try to make them love him, but rather demand they act how he wants when he wants and hurt them to get that. he’ll happily kill anyone his darling even as much as seems to think of- and he’ll also be very happy to show his darling the corpse and the gore to make them cry and sob

kalim a-asim truly doesn’t want to do his darling wrong. at first it’s his worries over his darling’s safety that makes him take action and lock them in the dorm; he prepares a room for them, lavish gifts and whatnot. kalim seems to be trying to buy his way into his darling’s heart, believing his actions can be forgiven with enough repentance (but not giving up what he’s gotten). although kalim would never harm his darling, he’ll chain them up so they can’t run, believing he’s doing the best. while kalim loathes violence and death, if he truly does believe it’s “needed”, he might pay his family’s assassins to silently get rid of threats, but he’ll be very careful to keep this a secret from his darling. talks a lot about the future and how he’ll marry his darling and how good life will be

jamil viper wants to be, for once, the most important person to someone. he wants to be seen for all he is and congratulated, worshipped. his obsession starts with being praised and given attention, and suddenly he wants more. jamil has no issue using his unique magic to keep his darling locked in his room and acting as he wants; however, he wants them to act like that out of their own accord. punishments may be verbal or physical, but in the end, he wants his darling to act like they love him without him having to hypnotize them. there’s a fair chance jamil will let kalim know about the situation, albeit word it in such a way kalim believes jamil’s darling is actually a willing lover and lend him an extra room to keep them in or something. jamil will try to avoid getting blood on his hands, but if he sees that it’s going to be better off it he kills people who may try to release his darling or expose him, he’ll gladly remove them from the scene

vil schoenheit finds peace in having someone to control and fuss over. his day to day life is very busy, always having something to do, something to study, maintain his image and his grades and his job. when it comes to his darling, vil feels relaxed when he can simply pamper them like a doll: to have some absolute control for once. he prides himself in how he “polishes” his darling. vil will use any sort of potion, from potent love potions to numbing or calming draughts to keep his darling dumb and pliant under his care. because he believes that hard work means doing everything needed, vil will easily use untraceable poisons to get rid of those he thinks are trying to tarnish his darling. he doesn’t care if the love he’s being showered with comes from a love potion, as long as he feels like he’s being entirely appreciated for who he is (and not just who the world sees him as). he’d trust rook enough to stay around and watch over his darling, but usually he’ll just keep them in his room, knowing full well the potions make them too docile to hurt themselves or make a big mess

rook hunt��loves all things beautiful and thinks of his darling as a muse. he’s the very image of the stalker who watches his darling through their day, stealing trinkets and making a small “shrine”, taking creepshots, and sending anonymous letters with enough detail to make his darling scared. he builds up the “fear” (in his mind, he’s just elongating the hunt, making it a game) until he finally catches them and takes his prize home. rook has no problem letting vil know he’s keeping someone locked in: honestly, this isn’t too surprising, and as long as he doesn’t cause trouble, vil might be willing to supply love potions and such to keept he ruckus down. still, rook much prefers to “tame” his darling the natural way- with fear, punishment, and reward. he’ll often make them think they have a chance to escape only to catch them later, crushing their spirits

epel felmier wants to be told he’s strong, he’s manly, he’s his darling’s one and only. he’s grown up seeing the traditional quiet marriages of the people back in his village, and he fully believes he’ll play the role of the supporting, strong, capable man to his darling, meanwhile they’ll be his domestic and pliant spouse (regardless of his darling’s gender). he may use his innocent appearance to fool them into his trap, and then use any means possible to keep them, from mild poisons in food he brings to spells that make their body lock up. he luckily isn’t one for physical punishments, but that can change if his darling tries to insult him or imply he’s effeminate or weak.

idia shroud is a creep. he spies on his darling with the campus security cameras, he sends small drones to spy on them sleeping, when he dares venture out to the campus he nervously pockets their belongings and builds a literal shrine to them. he might even use ortho to lure them into his room- and once they seem to trust him just a little, he strikes and keeps them locked inside. idia is so very aware his darling thinks he’s a weirdo and a creep, but he still wants their affection. idia may force his darling into cosplays of his favourite characters, using empty blackmail threats or threatening to somehow hurt or sabotage the people they care about using his borderline horrifying technological creations. he even uses ortho as leverage, telling them that if they keep acting that way and crying they’re going to worry the small child who sees them as another sibling figure

malleus draconia has never felt this way before and all he knows is he feels a need to keep and protect. his dragon’s instincts are to hoard his treasure, and his darling is the most precious thing to him. malleus keeps his darling captive as part of that hoarding instinct, although he does crave genuine love and becomes frustrated and angry when he doesn’t receive it. if he’s angered enough, malleus might have outbursts where his darling is seriously hurt- although he’ll be very guilty later. he’s very, very jealous of anyone who gets close to his darling, and he really might turn them into a pile of ashes if they irk him wrong. he has his guards and lilia making sure his darling doesn’t run away, although more often than not that’s not even possible with the sleeping curses he puts on his darling while he’s away

lilia vanrouge has been alive for long enough to know he can get away with pretty much anything, and so he really won’t hold back. he’s a sadistic lover, but more than teasing or being mean it’s sometimes him downright enjoying his darling’s pain and misery. he has enough experience to know exactly what to do to make his darling do what he wants without them even realizing they’re playing right into his tricks, and if not, he’s never afraid to come back home a little bit bloody and make his darling guess who he got rid of because they refused to behave. lilia can keep his darling about anywhere; he’s experienced enough with teleportation magic to switch back and forth from NRC to wherever he pleases, but it’s more likely he’ll keep them in his dorm room so he can “play family” with malleus, silver, and his unwilling darling.

silver is just doing what his heart tells him, unaware his love is an obsession. being raised by fae, he isn’t 100% of how human romance and courtship works, and it doesn’t really help his parental figures are either clueless in love or twisted enough to encourage his obsession. silver doesn’t want to punish his darling or bring them harm, but he’s ruthless on those he thinks are threats or are trying to tear him and his darling apart. malleus and lilia let him keep his darling locked in diasomnia, even offering to help keep them locked in when silver falls victim to his sleep. of course, the one thing silver wants is affection and warmth- the kindness and sweetness with which he treats his darling are so contrasting to how ruthlessly he kidnapped them that it’s almost painful to see his sad face when they refuse to embrace him

sebek zigvolt is mad. he’s mad that someone is causing him to be confused and distracted, that he can’t properly protect malleus because his heart is going wild at the thought of some silly human. he takes this anger out on his darling; they think he hates them, at first. but the stares, the blush, the fact he’s stealing their personal belongings, smelling their sweaters he stole before he goes to sleep tell another story. and yet he’s mad; when he kidnaped them, he locks them up, telling them he’s punishing them for distracting him. over time, he’ll give in, once his thirst for affection and for holding his darling override his initial anger. but that won’t change much- he’ll still be controlling, very violent when angered, despite him drinking up their praise and basically begging for their affection

#yandere twst #yandere twisted wonderland #yandere tw #death ment #blood ment #drug tw

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abyssal-memories-and-dreams · 4 years ago

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Hi sorry to bother you but can you do the same oneshot that I have requested for leona but this time is jack howl pls and don't forget that the reader has the same personality, background and the role of mc pls.

Hi, Luv! Thank you so much for the request! I hope you enjoy!

Without further ado...

Jack Howl x Fem! Shy! Reader

~The Wolf in Hero’s Clothing~

“Oi, pipsqueak!”

A group of boys cornered you at the bottom of one of Night Raven’s many staircases as you backed up against the iron railing as much as you could. Your first thought was to run back upstairs to Professor Trein’s classroom for sanctuary but realized that a couple of them had already blocked your way to exit through there. So much for trying to catch up on your studies, you guessed. With not much to do, your mind started to wander to get yourself away from the stress, wondering one question to yourself.

How did it come to this?

Well, the answer simplifies in the fact that you were not supposed to attend Night Raven College at all. Not that you really could as someone who could not control any magic. And yet Headmaster Crowley saw potential in you - that you held a special knack for teamwork with your newfound companion, Grim. But even so, there was nothing outgoing about you.

Back in your world, you were never the best at socializing with others. You always kept to yourself, and would often do double the amount of work in school just to keep up with your classes. No one really saw the need to talk to you either, so for the most part, you were just left alone. Whether or not this was bad or not, you really couldn’t tell, but nonetheless grew anxious the more you felt like you had to talk to people other than your family.

So when you suddenly woke up in the middle of the night inside of a coffin, your heart sank as you feared for your life whilst being chased by your now furry familiar. When all was set and done, though, not much had changed in how you interacted with others. Yes, you had Ace Trapolla and Deuce Spade from Heartslabyul, but you still had your moments where you felt too intimidated to approach them. Combining them with Grim’s arrogant persona, and you often found yourself reclusing back to your own dorm to escape the chaos.

Of course, it was never going to be that easy while residing in this academy. Being the sole female student in this school, you often got stares by some of the other boys in the hallways. It was almost comedic, if not a little weird at seeing their expressions, almost as if they had never seen a woman in their entire life. Some of them tried to even approach you - there was that the dorm leader of Scarabia mustered up some small talk on the spot, but his vice leader was able to pull him off to his next class before he got too close to your liking. It wasn’t uncomfortable, just a little awkward for you. In fact, most of whoever you did interact with was on a neutral footing. Either that or they just ignored you, simple as that.

However... that did not stop a certain group of classmates from making you feel repulsed.

These guys didn’t do so much as stare at you as they did stare you down. No matter where you went, you could feel piercing eyes stare at you like a predator stares at its prey. You could see from the bands on their arms that a lot of them came from Savanaclaw - the dorm built on their students’ pride. You posed no threat to them, but they still looked down upon you like a helpless little herbivore. You realized pretty quickly that they were itching for your reaction, desperate to watch you cower underneath them.

So what was your solution? Evasion and hiding. Yes, you realized that this probably wasn’t the best plan, but it was one that worked best for you. For a while, you sought to run away from them as urgently as possible. You rushed between hallways to avoid social interaction and get to your classes quicker. You sat as close to the dining hall’s door to rush through your meal and hide in your next classroom. You sometimes took the long way back to your dorm by learning about the school’s layout and planning your route from there. And sometimes, you even hid in the library when you suspected something amiss, then awaited until nightfall for you to return to your room unscathed.

These habits soon controlled your life to an unhealthy degree. Sometimes, your familiar Grim would try to pry answers from you when you got back home, but you just shrugged it off and moved on with the conversation. After all... what could you do? Your existence in this world rendered as much as a fly avoiding the next frog or venus flytrap it flew across.

Unfortunately for you, the day you decided to stay after class for an extra study session was the exact same day one of those predators found you.

“Hey, Herbivore!” Another one of the students from Savanaclaw yelled at you, snapping out of your daze. “It’s been a while, hasn’t it? How does it feel knowing that someone weak like you has managed to survive this long?”

Your voice gets caught up in your throat, forcing you to only gulp as your heart beats faster, pounding in your eardrums. You could feel your palms start to sweat as your hand grew clammy on the stair railing. Was this it, you wondered? Was this the fear that they wanted to get from you? Either way, it was working.

“Hey, we’re talking to you!”

You yelped as another one gripped the back of your blazer and dragged you from the stair railing to the floor. All of them laughed as they watched you trip over your feet and fall to your knees, your petrified eyes gazing up at them as if it’s the last thing they’ll be able to see.

“Please...” You muttered under your breath.

“Huh? Please what?” Another guy chimed in, smirking. “Don’t think that timid act of yours is gonna save you, herbivore. C’mon, why not entertain us for a moment? Fight back, use your words...” He chuckled, his words of ‘encouragement’ leaning more on cynicism. Every word he spoke left a tinge of bile in your mouth as your felt ashamed for letting these guys get under your skin so easily.

Of course, you said nothing - you couldn’t say anything. Your heart was beating at the speed of light, your voice hitching up an octave to the point of inaudibility the more you whimpered, your tear ducts on the verge of explosion from the sheer fear you were feeling. None of it could’ve helped you as you saw the same boy’s condescending smile turn into a demeaning scowl like he was disappointed you didn’t snap back at him - that you didn’t entertain him.

“Tch... worthless!”

As soon as he said that, he rose his fist in the air only to swing back down at you. You shut your eyes tight and tried your best to cover them with your wrist, but you knew that could only work so well in this predicament. Was this it? Was this going to be your demise? Were you going to the infirmary later with a severe concussion as you barely recalled the same boys that accosted you, rooting each other on with cheers of encouragement?

And yet... you didn’t feel anything.

You didn’t hear anything beyond your heartbeat.

The same voices seemed to deafen in a matter of seconds. You keep your eyes shut, confused. Did you lose consciousness already?

No. You could still hear your heartbeat. You could still feel your palms layered with a sheen of sweat. And for a moment in time, you could feel a single teardrop escape from the corner of your eye and fall down your cheek.

You slowly opened your eyes, wondering what in the world happened. Suddenly, all the boys surrounding you were all on the floor, either groaning in excruciating pain or knocked out cold. Your gaze wandered from boy to boy, letting out a sigh of relief that you were ok for now.

“Hey.”

You jerked your head around to the source of the voice behind you, your heart starting to beat faster again. Behind you was another guy, larger than any of the upperclassmen that harassed you before. His skin was a light tan that contrasted with his piercing golden eyes and white hair. What stood him out from the rest were his wolf-like ears that perched on the top of his head, the hair fusing from an ivory white to a dark grey at the tips. Behind him, he had a tail of similar characteristics that sprouted out of the back of his uniform.

The boy held his arm out for you to grab and get you back onto your feet. However, you froze in fear upon closer inspection at the band on his sleeve, only to scurry away from him the more he reached out to you.

Another student from Savanaclaw. Just like those boys before

He took a step back, confused as to why you flinched away from him. However, upon seeing the fear on your face, he took a deep breath as if he figured it out, averting your gaze to contemplate what to do next. Finally, he took another step back before kneeling to your eye level, relaxing his posture before asking in the most gentle voice he could muster.

“... Are you alright? Don’t worry, I don’t wanna hurt you.”

(A/N: I would like to thank you guys again for these requests! These are a lot of fun to make! Just to let you guys know, I am just about this close to opening requests again. When that happens, feel free to offer some suggestions! I want to try writing more for different fandoms, so if you have a suggestion, let me know!!!

With All Appreciation,

Echo)

#twisted wonderland #disney twisted wonderland #twst #jack howl #jack x reader #jack howl x reader #twisted wonderland oneshots #oneshots

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cosmicjoke · 3 years ago

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Okay, onto chapter 6 of “No Regrets”!

So the first thing I want to jump into here is, once again, something which the manga vastly improved on over the visual novel, and that was the scene following the flashback to Levi and his friends learning about the long-distance scouting formation before the expedition, and then Flagon’s instructions to them in the present. I don’t think this scene was even included in the visual novel, but it’s indispensable in understanding Levi’s mindset going into the fateful final act.

Isabel gets carried away by Flagon’s speech, and ends up saluting, expressing genuine enthusiasm for the SC’s cause, before realizing what she’s done and turning around, seeing Levi and Furlan looking back at her in silence. Furlan looks unimpressed, while Levi wears his usual stoic expression. You can’t tell one way or the other what he’s thinking, which is why the next scene is so hugely important, because we get a look into his inner thoughts.

I saw another person say not long ago that in this scene, Isabel expresses a desire to join the SC, and Levi blows her off and ignores her, only thinking about his revenge on Erwin, and to that person, I would like to ask ‘What scene were you reading?’, because that’s pretty much the opposite of what happens here. This scene reveals so much about Levi’s own, inner conflict, and how he’s beginning HIMSELF to understand and even sympathize with the cause of the SC, and the soldiers who have dedicated themselves to it. Let’s dissect it here a bit.

The scene takes place at night, before they ride out again, and Levi is sitting up with Furlan and Isabel, and he’s thinking quietly to himself. The first thing he’s recalling in his contemplation here is Sairam’s words, asking Levi if he knows how many elite soldiers have been eaten by Titans. This plainly shows Levi’s growing concern for Furlan and Isabel. The longer they spend outside the walls, the higher the risk of something going wrong, and that’s a worry that’s heavy on Levi’s mind here.

He then remembers, in quick succession, all these various interactions and the words of different people throughout his short time up here on the surface. He recalls Sairam hurling insults at him and his friends, calling them punks, and then Hange’s opposite words of encouragement and appreciation, telling them they’ve given everyone hope. He recalls Furlan’s words, telling Levi that with him there, they’ll really be able to raise hell, and then Isabel’s words, pointing out that the SC soldiers really believe their cause is worth dying for. Finally, Levi recalls Flagon’s degrading words, about how Levi and his friends have spent their whole lives in a trash heap, implying they’ll never amount to anything more than garbage, and last, he recalls Erwin’s words, how he’d seen the desire to kill in Levi during their first encounter.

All of this is hugely important to understanding Levi’s psychology, I think, and understanding his feelings of conflict and confusion, and how it ultimately plays into him making the choice he does. For Sairam’s and Flagon’s words, it’s the assumption people have made about Levi all his life, that he’s nothing but a worthless criminal who can’t do anything good for anyone, and Levi’s struggle to overcome that perception that people have of him. In contrast to that, Hange’s words are sending Levi the opposite message, that he isn’t just a worthless criminal, but someone who can actually contribute something positive and important to other people’s lives. He’s someone who can inspire hope. Something Levi’s always secretly wished he could do. And then there’s Furlan’s words, serving as a confirmation to Hange’s, in which he expresses his reliance on Levi to help make his own dreams come true, and Levi seeing himself in that role, of taking care of these two people whom he loves. And there’s Isabel’s words, a clear admiration and astonishment at the realization that these soldiers really believe in a cause bigger than themselves.

We see all of Levi’s greater hopes, his desire and wish to help other people, coming into conflict here with the way he’s been treated all his life by others, as a worthless, good for nothing criminal, and how that treatment has forced him to become the very thing they accuse him of being, someone ready and willing to kill, someone ready to commit crimes, etc… It’s Levi’s pride and anger battling with his deeper desire to protect and help others. The thing his life and his environment has FORCED him to become, against his truer nature. This is such a vital, important scene, and once again, the manga succeeds in explaining and revealing Levi’s complexity as a character, whereas the visual novel just flat out butchered it.

Now getting back to Levi’s interaction with Isabel in this scene, and the woeful misinterpretation I saw another person make one time.

Furlan is talking about how, given the complexity of the formation, they won’t be able to break ranks without being spotted, and he suggests they should just wait until they’re back behind the walls before trying to steal the documents again. Levi points out that if all three of them leave, then yeah, they’ll likely be spotted, and gives no further opinion. Already, Levi is thinking that maybe he could go after Erwin and the documents alone, thinking of taking the entire burden of the operation on himself, carrying the hopes and dreams of all of them on his shoulders alone, (which is why he later calls himself conceited and proud, having relied on his own strength entirely, instead of his friends too, ending in failure, which in turn goes back to the very beginning, with Levi’s statement about never knowing what the better option is, to rely on oneself, or on their comrades). But anyway, he doesn’t protest or try to counter Furlan when he says they should just focus on getting back alive. Isabel expresses agreement, and then says she knows the documents are important, but she also doesn’t want to get in the way of the SC and what they’re trying to do. Now here’s where the conversation gets really important in, once more, understanding Levi’s psychology.

He and Furlan look over at her, and while Levi stays silent, Furlan gets annoyed, chastising Isabel for seeming to suddenly care about the other soldiers, accusing her of only caring because Hange’s cookies were good. Furlan clearly doesn’t understand Isabel’s sentiments here, he doesn’t get why she suddenly seems concerned. He’s still focused on their own goals, and that’s all that matters to him. But Isabel begins to explain that it’s just that she’s starting to understand why the SC goes out beyond the walls, and likens it to how they felt living in the Underground, wanting to escape to the world above. She’s saying she understands that sense of being trapped, of being imprisoned, and the longing for freedom. And then she talks about seeing lots of her friends dying underground, while dreaming of making it “up there.”, and how seeing that made her feel like she HAD to get up there. It’s like Isabel is saying here that her dream to make it to the surface was strengthened by the dreams of others who never got to realize it for themselves, and that she wanted to make it to the surface, more than anything, as a way of giving the dreams of those who had died without realizing them, meaning. By making it to the surface FOR THEM. She starts to try and explain what she means, saying ‘It’s…” before Levi suddenly speaks for the first time since her monologue, saying “It’s like leaving the walls behind to kill the Titans…”

This is such a huge moment. Because contrary to what I saw this one person claim once, Levi is acknowledging Isabel’s feelings, and expressing empathy with them. He’s telling Isabel here that he understands what she means, because he feels it too. This desire to fight for freedom as a way to give meaning to the suffering of those who couldn’t escape their imprisonment. Levi, rather than ignoring or blowing Isabel off here, is relating to her. Her feelings are his own. Isabel smiles dreamily and says “Yeah.” Because Levi put her thoughts into words. She then keeps talking to Levi, starting to ramble about what she wants to do when they get to live in the Capital, how fun she thinks it would be to steal from all the “rich pigs” and use their money to buy useless junk, before she falls asleep.

Furlan then kind of bursts this bubble of reverie that Isabel and Levi have fallen into, and what he says here is, again, so important. He says “I’ve got to revise our plan. We’ll need to steal the documents before you and she start seriously talking about dedicating your hearts, or whatever.” Furlan’s perceived how Levi’s own feelings are beginning to match up with Isabel’s, how he’s starting to feel drawn to and sympathetic towards the SC’s cause, and he’s worried, because that’s not what they’re supposed to be there for. They’re supposed to be there to steal the documents so they can get a chance to live in the Capital. This is Furlan’s dream, ultimately, and he doesn’t want to lose sight of it to some unrealistic ideal. What’s so interesting here is the contrast between Levi and Furlan. While Levi is so quiet and reserved and hard to read, he’s actually showing himself to be more of the dreamer of the two, while Furlan is much more practical and less prone to fanciful, ideal notions like helping people beyond their own means.

We get one last shot of Levi gazing at Isable, thoughtfully. He’s still thinking about her words.

Alright, then comes the next big scene, with all of them outside again, to try Erwin’s new formation. We see, again, Levi’s gradually shifting opinion of Erwin already, when he remarks that Erwin’s idea is “brilliant”, once he sees how it works, expressing genuine admiration for it and Erwin’s mind. Levi still hates Erwin, and want to kill him, but we already see this desire in him starting to crack and come apart, replaced by an almost astonished curiosity instead. Like he isn’t sure what Erwin is, but he’s impressed, in spite of himself.

Then the storm comes and everything starts to fall apart.

Another, massive and vital change here in the manga from the visual novel is Levi’s reaction to the sudden storm. In the visual novel, Levi’s first and only response to it is that he can use it as cover to go after and kill Erwin, sparing no thought to the safety of his friends, or the other people in his squad. It was another instance in which I thought Levi’s characterization in the novel was just horribly butchered, and so once again, I was so glad to see them correct it here. Levi’s first response, after he, Furlan and Isabel start to lose contact with Flagon and the others, is to scream at his friends to not get separated. He's only worried about them in this moment, and wants to make sure they don’t lose contact with each other. He isn’t thinking at all about leaving them here yet. Just this small addition completely changes Levi’s motivations and priorities, leading into the fateful choice, and it’s immeasurably better characterization for him then what was presented in the visual novel. I’ll get more into it with the next chapter. So until then, thanks again for reading.

#attack on titan #No Regrets #shingeki no kyojin #Levi Ackerman #Furlan Church #isabel magnolia #Erwin Smith #snk analysis

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matildainmotion · 3 years ago

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How to Keep the Children Safe? What will you Risk?

When I first held my son after his birth, I did not feel the famous rush of maternal love - the love came later, growing, deepening - what I felt in that first moment was a rush of responsibility. His life is in my hands, I thought. Nine years later, along with the love, I still feel this, because that’s the deal as a parent, isn’t it? It’s our job to keep them safe.

But how? It often seems like a difficult task. Some of the friction that my husband and I have weathered as a couple, transitioning into parenthood, has been over our different ideas and feelings about how to fulfil our protective role. My husband’s approach is physical and immediate. He is on high alert beside busy roads, on train station platforms, and when crossing big bridges. In my pre-motherhood life, I was a circus aerialist, and we have some of my old circus equipment rigged up beside the dinner table (not recommended for peaceful mealtimes) - wild swinging also makes my husband nervous.

Whether it is because of my aerial training, in which doing physically risky things was part of the course, or because I have read The Continuum Concept too many times, I have tended to take a different approach. In The Continuum Concept Jean Liedoff describes the Yequana people’s radical approach to child-rearing and in particular to health and safety. She writes of the innate trust the adults hold in their children, to the point that they leave babies rolling around beside the village water hole, allow toddlers to wield knives, and no one comes to any harm. Her theory goes that children are social beings and will do what is expected of them - if they intuit that they are expected to fall and hurt themselves, they will. If they are expected to balance, and keep poised, they’ll do that. Seen from Liedoff’s perspective, we, in the West, are a health & safety, and safeguarding-obsessed culture, that gets more dangerous every day, because the former (the safety policies) anticipates and thereby invites the latter (danger!).

However, whether it be my aerial training or my parenting reading, the fact is that I stay calmer than my husband when crossing bridges, or witnessing wild swinging, but it would be wholly misrepresentative to suggest that I am the cool, laid back parent and he is the uptight one.

When our children are tucked up safe in their beds at night, is when I grow afraid. If my husband’s concerns are physical and immediate, mine are emotional and long-term. Night is the time when I look at the two of them, at their quiet faces in the dark, and think about their futures. The future of the next day, or the future of their lives in ten years time. It is at night that I imagine my daughter running out into the road, not by day when we walk beside it. It is at night that every possible horror- attacks, abuse, illness - comes visiting.

Because of these contrasting attitudes to danger and risk, my husband and I also take different steps towards the actual act of keeping our children safe. My daughter likes to bounce on our bed (of course - that’s what a parent’s bed is for, isn’t it?). Our bed has another bed built in above it. When we moved in, on the ladder up to the other bed, was a metal hook. This hook would get perilously close to my daughter’s head as she bounced, which would worry my husband, so eventually he got a screwdriver and took it down. I can do nothing so practical to protect my children from the dangers I fear may harm them, so I resort to cliched superstitions. I touch wood - I have a wooden egg I hold at night. I cross myself when I see a magpie, thumb lifted to my forehead - my father, despite not being a religious man, used to do this, and I keep up the tradition, in part to honour him, in part for me, for the children. I throw salt over my shoulder when it spills. I know these are preposterous acts - I am ashamed of them, although that does not stop me doing them.

I do not intend to defend my approach and criticise my husband’s. Anyway, something humbling happened yesterday, whilst I was working on this blog, that put an end to any chance of that. My daughter came to me and asked me to somersault her – a her-walking-up-my-legs and then me-flipping-her-over-the-top manoeuvre – which we have done a hundred times. But this time, whilst doing it, she dislocated her elbow. It was easily reset, as it turned out, but driving her to A&E, along dark roads, gave me a short, sharp taste of what it is to be in real fear for my child, of the fierceness of the need to take care of her physically right here, right now. I realised my long-term night-time worries are a luxury – they only arise out of living in a situation of relative safety.

And yet, they go on.

And yet, some long-term thinking is part of the job.

Because to be a parent necessarily involves a constant holding of two timescales. The minutiae of the days- the second by second demand of the children’s needs- and the epic scope of a whole life, from that first moment that we held them to…..we do not know what, but it is, in some way, our task to prop up a possible future for them, until they are ready to step into it, and it becomes their present.

I believe it is a challenging time to be a parent, to have to carry on, with the minutiae, with the beds to be bounced on, the roads to be crossed, the somersaults to be supervised, as if the world were fine, as if it were all going to be okay, when we have no idea whether it is, but increasing evidence to the contrary. I am thinking of the climate crisis; I am thinking of societal collapse, of further pandemics, extreme weathers, war, of all the things that may come to pass within my children’s lifetimes. In the face of these things, taking down a hook and throwing salt over a shoulder, both seem entirely inadequate actions (though the former is more useful). What to do? How to keep them safe?

As has become my practice - the practice that lies at the heart of Mothers Who Make - I turn to my making for answers. As an artist, risk-taking is reframed as a positive act. I know this and understand it, on a stage, and in my writing. It is ironic that my afraid-of-big-bridges-husband, teaches improvisation, and the importance of moving determinedly towards the danger, whatever it is, inside a story. Get into trouble. Cross the bridge, lean far out over the raging river, fall in - is the practice he teaches in this context. And when I am writing, I know too to go to the place that feels most vulnerable. I found this blog inside a moment when I was reaching for a crystal of spilt salt. I thought, “Could I admit to doing this?” and that felt dangerous and difficult, so I thought I better had.

In our art we take risks, just like our children do in their play. We can explore the horror, the creatures hunched in the shadows, the underside of everything, the monsters under the bed, the churning water under the bridge. It is also, of course, why artists and their art have at times been banned, by certain authorities, because art can tell of untold dangers, and sometimes people in power would prefer them to stay un-told, unmentioned. But I believe the whole point of art is that it has the potential to hold all the dangers, safely. Unlike my superstitions, rituals that try to push the dangers away, art is a ritualistic act that turns towards the dangerous and the difficult, and welcomes it in. Art is like salt - ordinary and precious. Not something to be thrown over your shoulder into the devil’s eye, but something to scatter deliberately and generously, something that preserves, keeps things good - even the devil -adds flavour, cleans, something to be found both inside us, in our sweat, our tears, and outside us in the sea - something that helps us float. There is a folktale I remember from my childhood, one of the sources of King Lear, in which salt is the symbol of true parent-child love: a good daughter tells her father that she loves him as much as salt loves meat. He doesn’t appreciate this at the time, but he comes to do so, when he tastes what it would be like to dine in a salt-less world - about as terrible as living in an art-less one.

But in what way can our salty art help keep our kids from harm?

Well, I cannot teach them wilderness survival skills, which in one of my imagined versions of an apocalyptic future, they are going to need. I cannot show them how to make a fire out in the woods, without matches. But I can teach them how to sit around that fire and tell a wild story, and I believe they will need that too.

Both my children have a story-telling gene – actually, I think we all have this in our DNA. Artists or otherwise, we are story-makers, and our children are ready to take risks inside the stories that they tell. My daughter saw a Pride rainbow the other day and asked me about it. I tried my best to explain the range of identities that the colours celebrated. She said, “So, is it also standing for all the rabbits who feel they are squirrels? And all the eyebrows that are lips?” She expanded my limited understanding of the gender spectrum and divergent identities right then and there. One way, I think, to help protect her, is to encourage her to take risks in her play, in her dreams, her stories, about rabbits, eyebrows, lips and more.

Despite our different approaches to health and safety, this is where my husband and I join up - we both believe that supporting our children’s creativity, and our own, is one way to help them to stay safe, stay afloat in the world, with all its rising sea levels. When, in the bedroom at night, I think about the future, and then think about my children, I feel scared. But, by day, as I listen to their stories, when I think about my children, and then think about the future – in that order, with them coming first - I feel hopeful. They, along with the rest of their generation, and the stories that they tell, are the best hope that we have. Maybe, in the end, they will keep us safe and not the other way around. But until the time when they are old enough to do this, I will keep on propping up a possible future for them, and keep on making, because however tiny my contribution, grain by grain, salt crystal by crystal, I think making makes the world a safer place.

P.S. A question I asked myself yesterday when my daughter hurt her arm: Does the art really matter when things get real?

But then on the way to A&E, frightened and tearful, my daughter wanted a story about the most clumsy monkey that ever existed in the jungle, called Oops A Daisy. Oops A Daisy was so clumsy that she was forever slipping over her own banana skins….

So, yes, I think it does.

Here, then, are my questions for you for the month:

What is your approach to health and safety? Your own? Your children’s?

What risks do you, or could you take in your creative work, however tiny? What dangers can you safely hold?

What do you do when the salt spills?

Poem below by Zoe Gardner @limberdoodle

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reingkings · 5 years ago

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Black Friday (*Spoilers*)

Alright first I want to say this is not hate! I absolutely LOVED Black Friday. However, I did have some things that I felt could have been changed to make the script a little stronger

Things I loved:

The old TGWDLM gang! — we got an update into their lives without it being overly shoved into our faces. It was just there for people who loved the first musical, but knowing about them wasn’t necessary to the understanding of this one

The music! — Feast or Famine, Do You Want to Play?, Adore Me (especially the chorus), Black Friday, If I Fail You, Our Doors Are Open well I can’t name them all.

Oh, and how America is Great Again played in the background when General McNamara appears on screen. I’m a sucker for characters having their own themes songs. Wouldn’t it be amazing if Paul got a mix of Let it Out/Inevitable

The fact that starkid made a MUSICAL extended universe

The new characters/actors, Kim, Angela, Kendall, James, Curt, were all amazing and their addition really helped flesh out the new universe (plus, it doesn’t hurt that they have amazing voices)

The old cast playing new dynamics and pushing themselves (Lauren, Dylan, and Joey especially, but Jaime killed in her role as Sherman too, as did Robert with Ethan and Jon as Gary)

THE SCRIPT OH MY GOD THE SCRIPT

The choreography! Feast or Famine was my favorite but they keep getting better and better with this!

Their comedy, still fucking gold. Especially those fucking oneliners and small exchanges. “Well, we haven’t put a label on it yet” “But we are intimate” *moment if silence*, “Hannah what the fuck is this, that better be fucking floss!”, “That’s a bribe sir, and that’s illegal”, *raised eyebrow*, “... Well it should be”, “Ooh right in the subpeona”, everything about James Tolbert as Agent Morris

The social CRITIQUE, the fact that the kids don’t even want wiggly, it’s the adults who want to buy wigglys to fill the holes in them (still buying a wiggly though)

How vitalized they all seem to be about the new direction of starkid/that they’re experimenting and coming out of their comfort zone. I love starkid but you could tell that they were getting worn out by just sticking to the same formula of just making parodies. Before TGWDLM we had 2 year gaps between uploads of musicals (which, a year to write a musical is incredible, Sondheim has currently been working on the latest for a decade, and Miranda took like three for Hamilton). I love seeing creators grow

The overall aesthetic of the stage, costumes, and music was so vicerally haunting and scary. I literally slept with my hallway light on and the door open the first time I saw it

Sigh, and now for the things I might get pitchforked for

First some technical stuff. One, I think the sound equipment was on too low for the stage production. If you compare the songs in the stage production to the album version, you can tell that the more subtle parts of the intrumentals were just too quiet. Also, the actors’ voices were much louder than the music so sometimes it was like they were singing acapella. Two, although I appreciate the new camera work and how it’s more similar to traditional recordings of musicals, it did take away from my ability to appreciate the choreography and the subtle reactions of the cast

While a lot of the songs were good, some of them just needed to be cut or trimmed. Especially for songs where one line of explanation would have sufficed. An example of a trimmed song I think is CaliforM.I.A where Lex sings that her mom is an alcoholic, etc. I feel like it could have just been spoken and it would have been more subtle, quiet and painful. A song I think needed to be cut was Deck the Halls. I love Robert, but that song was mostly just an omage to what they did with Workin’ Boys. However, the part that made Workin’ Boys, pardon the pun, work was that it was Professor Hidggen’s backstory/dream. It revealed something about him and his isolation

Some of the lines in the lyrics were just clunky. It’s something I noticed in TGWDLM, but I thought it really worked there since the characters couldn’t sing naturally. However, it seemed to be worse in this? Like I said, some songs were still golden. But some just. Monsters and Men, I noticed had a lot of it. Which yeah, they had less than a year to write it and they had more songs than TGWDLM, so it makes sense that some are a bit rushed? But still, i would have preferred a shorter soundtrack with tighter songs.

I think the Becky and Tom romance was so unnecessary. I feel like yeah, you can make them exes, and you can build up their chemistry so it’s implied they’ll get together eventually, but the fact that they fall in “love” in like 5 hours makes them so shoehorned. For Becky, it’s kind of a disservice because most of her songs are then focused on romance. For Tom, it’s just. It kind of cheapens him, especially since he was previously married for at least 8 years. Like you don’t hear him mention Jane or Tim at all, or worry about Tim’s gift when he’s at the theater. So when it comes to him singing “If I Fail You” it doesn’t feel authentic because you don’t get that sense of Tom feeling like failure over Tim in his dialogue. And also, you could cut out a lot of songs (and give them something new ones)

Although I loved the multiple storylines, I felt like it was really hard to connect to the characters. I feel like that might be because of the songs? Characters were so busy with info dump songs that there were just less interactions in general. I would have loved if the character subtleties could be explored in the same way as TGWDLM

They shouldn’t have killed Ethan. Not just because it’s Robert, but as part of the overall storyline, they shouldn’t have killed Ethan.

Imagine if it had played out like this: No Becky-Tom Romance. They’re just fleeing the mayhem together because they’re the few that managed to keep sane. Becky has a doll but Tom doesn’t. Ethan and Hannah get accosted by the mob. Ethan tells Hannah to run and you see him start to fight, but not what happens after. Hannah is running and you see dead bodies strewn around the mall (to show that people have died). Becky and Tom appear. They hear a few of the wiggly worshippers members yell that they have to find the girl with the wiggly. Tom joins in on the hunt because “he needs to find one for Tim”, the same scene plays out with Do You Want to Play With Me? bc that song is a BOP but Ethan shows up to save Hannah. Becky manages to snap out of her trance and helps Ethan subdue Tom. The three of them flee. Now the two of them are bigger targets bc they had two wigglys. Meanwhile Lex teams up with her managers/discovers her supernatural powers during their escape or something and goes looking for Hannah and Ethan. All this within the first act. Now you’ve got about ~4 plotlines (the cultists/Linda, the trio, Lex (all at the mall) and General McNamara) that are a bit interconnected instead of ~6.

None of the characters got time to breathe, pause and reassess, or grieve. Hannah and Lex never even found out about Ethan. Gerald didn’t find out his wife died, and his call bit was used for comedy, The President didn’t even seem too affected by General McNamara’s sacrifice (which might be a byproduct of the switching story arcs, but contrasts to his TGWDLM moments where he at least got his last words and Paul remembered him)

There was no indication of Lex being supernatural, so her connection with General McNamara was pretty out of the blue and unearned.

That’s it. As I said, I loved it, I just think it could be rearranged somewhat

#black friday #hatchetfield #starkid

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angelicorn · 5 years ago

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FFVII Remake Analysis Chapter 1 (1/2)

My sister was introduced to FFVII via my gameplay and reacted to it with fresh eyes which I’ve written down and posted to tumblr up to chapter 5–which I will continue posting some time in the future (I finished the game, but have looked towards another project in place of the reactions) The past couple weeks, she’s been playing the game while we stop every so often to dissect and analyze the mediums used in this game for story telling purpose. We analyze the music, blank/negative spaces, lighting, camera angles and shots, the introduction of characters, using characters to reveal information/reveal to us the lack of info the players know, etc.

Everyone is free to their own opinions. We just wanted to share our thoughts and understanding of the story and its characters through the use of rhetorical appeals found in the game that push towards a common narrative that all players of this game can agree on—what FFVII’s story is about. We are free to our own interpretations and preferences. The plot devices and rhetoric strategies used in this game are there for specific reasons and this is our (me and my sister’s) take on that. We hope you enjoy this lengthy analysis.

Spoilers, for those who have not yet played the game.

When you begin the new game, you’re introduced to dry and barren land. The first sign of life we see is a bird flying across the sky and towards a bleak looking city. The scenery is washed out with hues of gray, black, etc.—the city is filled with people in contrast to the rocky terrain we saw prior, but it still seems dry and barren in a different sense. The flowers aren’t even growing. A reflection of a washed out greenish light reflects in the eyes of a child playing at a park and it’s coming out of something steel and man-made. It doesn’t look welcoming—it looks ominous. The brooding music and the way this pale light doesn’t illuminate everything around it, but rather makes everything else in comparison, darker, tells us so.

The scenes fades to black and we are next shown a mysterious nameless girl who is perched in front of a pipe(?) with the same glow that we saw coming from the reactor in the last scene. She opens her eyes and the camera cuts to a side view of her. We don’t see her expression, but we see the green glow of the pipes flicker almost as if it’s conversing with her. We see a yellow flower and it’s a a call back to the dead flower growing by the curb in the earlier scenes. It makes us question whether the green glow is something that’s alive and not meant to be harvested to an extent that the flowers are dying. She stands up and looks away from the screen into something unknown to the viewers. We’re further intrigued. Maybe she isn’t meant to be near the green glow? We don’t yet know.

She walks out into the street and bumps into someone who doesn’t even apologize or excuse himself. She drops a few of her flowers. A woman glances at her but no one helps this girl. A man even tramples on one of her flowers. We don’t see her face, but she picks it up with two hands—she’s carrying it like it’s something precious to her. Yes—this steel city is empty of greenery similarly to the way most people depicted are empty of compassion towards life (the environment)

She looks towards the sky and we are left with a lot of questions as to what she is to this story we are embarking on. The camera pans out to a large city enclosed within walls and divided into sections like a pizza—a telltale sign of a society being controlled by a higher power/hierarchy. The sound of drums, wind instruments and the brass instruments gradually become louder and louder until a streak of pale green light shoots across from the upper right corner and strikes the middle of the screen like a meteor. The logo appears to the sound of brass instruments and drums overpowering the score and this crescendo marks the beginning of an epic journey: Final Fantasy VII Remake.

The music gradually quiets down and we pan closer and closer into another section of the city with cuts of a moving train and a mysterious man with a large sword on his back perched on top of this train. We can’t help but wonder why he isn’t inside the train like a normal person and we‘re left to wonder if he’s trying to sneak in undetected. The train slows down to a stop in front of 2 grunts whose faces we can’t see. A closer look at the train—it doesn’t look like it’s meant for people to ride in. It looks like a heavy duty train that’s meant to transport things.

The grunts get their asses handed to them by three characters that are introduced. They’re wearing attire that’s a bit similar to each other so we get the feel that they’re acting as a 3-man unit/team. The camera pans to a big guy with shades and a metal cylinder arm. The guy looks intimidating and to be quite honest, sketchy. Is he supposed to be a good guy or a bad guy? We’ll have to play on to find out.

The three headbands wait for this big guy to give the signal and when he gives them the ok with a head nod, they nod in understanding and turn around to get to their destination.

“Get down here, merc.” The first line is spoken by this big guy whose name flashes on the screen as Barret.

We see the same man with the big sword riding atop the train from before as he back flips onto the scene and coolly looks up at the viewers in true protagonist/hero fashion and this is where we know without a doubt, we are definitely going to be playing as this mysterious, fellow. The striking eyes and spiky-hair tells us so (lol).

The story begins in the middle of all this action. We don’t know this guy’s name, why we’re working for Barret or what their objective even is yet, which leaves a unique way of storytelling by piecing information together. We rely on characters around us and our interactions with them to figure out just wtf is going on.

I wanted to note that the music is quick paced while the brass carries a low melody which, together, evokes a sense of urgency and covertness. We get an idea that perhaps we will be infiltrating this place. Also, the chapter of the title clues us in on what we’re doing. We’re destroying a reactor—a source of energy—which we can safely assume is that green stuff shooting out of that structure from the intro and that it is supplying this walled city with power/electricity.

The player has control of this character and, as Barret puts it, “you’re up” and made to engage in a battle with the same type of grunts as before, all in tutorial fashion. We learn that this man’s name is Cloud. We learn from the first few battles that Cloud is a cocky little shit swordsman based on his scripted dialogue between himself and the grunts. (The grunts warn him that they’ll shoot if he moves and he challenges them with the line, Go ahead.) Our first level up isn’t level 1, it’s level 7, and he already has a few abilities and a spell, plus different fighting modes, so we know he’s has some kind of fighting experience already.

Additionally, the fighting modes are called Operator mode and Punisher mode. These are words that evoke a lack of autonomy. Operator suggests that a person must do something to make a tool or system function properly. Cloud is a tool to make another tool work. Punisher suggests that a person is inflicting damage, pain, death, etc.towards people who have committed grave crimes/sins —someone who takes away someone else’s autonomy.

We learn more about our main man through the other characters. Jessie and Biggs’ conversation reveals his full name, Cloud Strife, and that he was a SOLDIER which is stylized in all caps in the subtitles showing us that it may be more than just a title or occupation in this game. Biggs describes him as a professional in comparison to the rest of them. Professional in what specifically? He was trained to fight, what with all the abilities and fighting styles he has at this point. That leaves us with the question: what is a SOLDIER exactly, and why isn’t he a SOLDIER anymore?

His interaction with Wedge tells a lot about his character and gives us insight as to what the situation is and what his relationship to them is. Wedge gives a thumbs up—no words from Wedge—yet Cloud is moved to say this is a one time “gig” emphasizing his role as a mercenary and he reiterates it by saying when the job is done, their connection between himself and their group will also end. From a storytelling standpoint, this interaction leads us to separate ourselves emotionally from the rest of the group. To Cloud—the player—this is just another day at work.

Jessie and Biggs continue to talk about the player character, but you cannot interact with them at this point. As you approach Barret, he pushes you aside to watch over Jessie and Biggs. We get a stronger impression that Barret is a team leader of some sort—one that doesn’t seem to approve of your presence. Does that have anything to do with being a former SOLDIER?

Cloud isn’t interested in what Wedge thinks. Cloud is aloof and kinda fuckin’ rude. We wonder what made him this way?

Barret warns Cloud that he’d better be worth the money. He doesn’t even call him by his name. He calls Cloud merc, which further puts emotional distance between the two.

The fact that the player is left behind to fight the baddies alone while the rest make their way forward creates a distance between them as well. Cloud is working for them—not with them. A job’s a job.

Cloud takes the elevator alone and enters an area where we see Wedge is left behind while the rest of the group tells you to hurry and to pick up the pace.

As the player, I personally was annoyed that they aren’t more appreciative. I can’t keep up with you guys bc I’m left behind doing all the fighting keeping all of you from harm. However—fighting is what’s expected of the player—that’s what we were hired to do, right? I’m just being salty bc my efforts aren’t being noticed the way I want. Here, I feel inferior.

If you choose to interact with Wedge before going further, he tells you he will secure an escape route, asks you to keep his friends safe, and not to worry about him. Cloud may not give two shits yet, but as the player, I’ve begun to form an emotional attachment to Wedge. This guy is so caring! Cloud’s cold personality does not sway him! HOW can I not like Wedge?

We join up with the others and Barret asks him for directions to get to some bridge above mako storage. He then goes on in an increasingly aggravated manner and asks Cloud if he’s still a “loyal little doggy”. We can draw several conclusions from from this dialogue.

1. Cloud was once affiliated with some kind of power/company/force in opposition to Barret & co.

2. We are made to believe that Cloud left this company some time before for reasons we do not yet know.

2. Cloud was hired to help them infiltrate a building belonging to this opposing entity.

3. Barret’s lack of trust in Cloud correlates to his former affiliation with the opposing entity.

4. Mako is a source that this opposing entity has in possession. This building is huge. They must have quite a lot of it.

We are left with several questions about this character we are playing.

1. What is his objective?

2. What are his morals?

3. Where does his loyalty lie?

We lack this information, but we do know that Barret does not fully trust him because he’s a former enemy. So, can we trust Cloud too? Is he credible? Is he speaking the truth? Should we believe what he says? What if he’s a double agent? We have to play on as this character to find out.

Cloud experiences some kind of headache at the mention of “loyal little doggy” and it feeds us the idea that maybe he’s negatively triggered by it because it reminds him of something traumatic. This may be a clue that explains the reason for his departure from SOLDIER.

Barret calls him a mutt and exclaims “we can do this with you or we can do this without you.”

Cloud recovers from his headache and responds calmly. “Different reactor, different layout, depends when it was built. Never seen one like this, but I’ll manage.”

Barret’s use of “we” and “you” followed by Cloud’s “I” creates more of a separation between them.

Biggs gets the door open, but not for long. Cloud enters first—alone—Barret reaches his hand forward and shouts “wait!” and Cloud is left to fight alone while the others are locked outside of the room. When the fighting is over, Jessie chirps happily as she enters the room and makes a flirtatious comment which Barret tries to quickly shut down (lol).

Jessie gets this new door to open with her knowledge of passcodes through a friend. No one else at command will talk to them, but they must make due.

Now we know that this small team is a part of a bigger force, however, there isn’t a sense of unity as the command won’t socialize with this team specifically. Why though?

Biggs tells Jessie to be careful to which she responds with a smile. Cute moment showing Biggs’ concern and Jessie’s optimism/confidence—traits that may help us to understand their motivations and nature’s little more in the upcoming chapters.

If you talk to Barret, the first thing he tells Cloud is to be ready for the increasing security. “We can’t afford any more mistakes.” And he includes Cloud in this “we” this time around. It’s a subtle way for Barret to say they are a team and they should be working together. It also subtly reveals Barret’s soft and caring side. Classic soft teddy bear in a grizzly bear’s skin. You care, Barret—and the players care about you too, regardless what Cloud says.

Before getting into the elevator, Jessie asks about someone named Tifa and though it isn’t any of her business, she wonders if she and Cloud are close which is italicized to give an important emphasis on their relationship. Here, Jessie separates herself from the relationship between Cloud and Tifa, yet her interest in their relationship plus the flirting and comments on Cloud’s appearance hints that she may be interested in him ins romantic sense.

We hear and see a new name and for new players to the FFVII franchise, it’s common for people to consciously try to connect that name to a character. Tifa...Tifa... who is she? Why is Jessie asking Cloud about her? Wait, was Tifa the one who hired Cloud? Oh, is she the pink girl we saw in the intro?

The flashback sequence is important because it affirms to us that the pink girl from the intro is not Tifa, but an entirely different character. It is also worth noting that before the flashback, Cloud looks away from Jessie and willingly tries to remember Tifa. This flashback juxtaposes the quick flash of memories and migrain he receives when Barret calls him a loyal doggy. Those memories cause him pain when he remembers even bits and parts of it. The memories with Tifa are...well, we don’t quite know what they are to him yet, but there’s a stark contrast between how Cloud reacts towards the two memories.

The flashback reveals a town that doesn’t look like the city streets of the intro. We are experiencing this flashback through Cloud’s eyes. He looks at this tower hears Tifa call his name, and there we see she is surrounded by other boys. His focus jumps back and forth between her back to her surroundings. He turns away and Tifa asks if he is ignoring her. He focuses on her displeased face again and that is the last thing we see before the flashback ends—everything else in the background gets washed out with a pale green hue except for Tifa’s face. A hue of red is the only vibrant color left, and it’s centered on her face—we cut back to Cloud, and I don’t know if this the lighting effect was intended, but the red color on Cloud’s face is emphasized against a washed out background for a brief moment as well before the pale green hues face back into the regular color scheme. We also here what sounds like a heartbeat within the sharp static sounds? And so what are we left to think about this scene?

The music, mostly string instruments are played in a minor key that evoke mystery, nostalgia, and a sense of meekness. Tifa is the only one waving to him while the other boys rarely move an inch.

In the English version, he lifts his right hand with his palm open, a gentle gesture, and says “Tifa and I...” before he’s interrupted with the elevator buzzer.

We’re left with a sense that Tifa is someone from his childhood—a cute girl who is evidently popular among the other kids. The flashback initially leads us to think he wasn’t interested in being her friend as a child or that he was too shy/felt too inferior to all the boys hanging around her to accept her invitation...? The focus on Tifa’s face in his flashback, the redness in his face, followed by the subtle heart beat hints at a crush and that perhaps he may have been jealous/inferior to the other boys around her—thus, his hesitation when trying to explain his relationship with Tifa to Jessie.

An interesting fact that I noticed outside of my sister’s play through and discussions, the Japanese version has Cloud saying “oretachi” to refer to himself and Tifa. I looked into it, and basically—he’s trying to make himself seem more masculine and confident while also revealing that the relationship between he and Tifa is informal—implying that they are close.

It also shows subtle feelings of inferiority. He had to refer to himself like that to establish his masculinity right after a flashback with Tifa being surrounded by other boys. Way to be subtle about his feelings!

The English version, while less obvious, hints at his crush on Tifa in a different sense. The way he says “Tifa and I...” is a little less deep than how he usually speaks. Vocalization, hand gestures, facial expressions, music, and lighting and colorization in this short scene reveal a lot about Cloud’s feelings. His shyness in remembering this flashback reveal something tender in relation to this friend of his.

Just a fun fact that I personally wanted to share. For the sake of this analysis however, I won’t be talking about the Japanese dialogue and will only be referring to the English localization from this point on. Just wanted to share this info as it blatantly points towards Cloud’s characterization so early on in the story.in comparison to the English version.

Also note: the distance between Jessie and Cloud before the flashback and after. Jessie inches closer to Cloud and is the active participant in trying to close the distance between them, while Cloud stands still—a reflection of Cloud’s characterization and his relationship to others at this point. He’s seems to be socially stunted. While everyone else is trying to get closer to him, he’s emotionally and mentally not ready to make that connection.

There is so much to dissect in every chapter, but I’ve reached the image attachment limit and will continue this another time with screenshots attached as I believe it’s important to examine visual mediums while also providing images that are being examined in an analysis.

So... to be continued in another post... stay tuned.

#ff7r spoilers #FF7 Remake #analysis #trying to be unbiased #but there's def hints of cloti is you squint #not trying to play favorites here #but the narrative does point at cloud having some kind of feeling for a certain friend within the first few minutes of the game #aerith and cloud will have a relationship analysis in a later chapter analysis no worries...#cloti

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comicteaparty · 5 years ago

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October 14th-October 20th, 2019 CTP Archive

The archive for the Comic Tea Party week long chat that occurred from October 14th, 2019 to October 20th, 2019. The chat focused on Lanterns of Arcadia by Beth Zyglowicz.

Featured Comment:

Chat:

RebelVampire

COMIC TEA PARTY- WEEK LONG BOOK CLUB START!

Hello and welcome everyone to Comic Tea Party’s Week Long Book Club~! This week we’ll be focusing on Lanterns of Arcadia by Beth Zyglowicz~! (http://www.lanternsofarcadia.com/)

You are free to read and comment about the comic all week at your own pace, so stop on by whenever it suits your schedule! Remember, though, that while we allow constructive criticism, our focus is to have fun and appreciate the comic. Below you will find four questions to get you started on the discussion. However, a new question will be posted and pinned everyday (between 12:01AM and 6AM PDT), so keep checking back for more! You have until October 20th to tell us all your wonderful thoughts! With that established, let’s get going on the reading and the chatting!

QUESTION 1. What has been your favorite scene in the comic so far? What specifically did you like about it?

QUESTION 2. What exactly do you think the shadow creatures were that burst out during the explosion? How are they tied in to the magic disappearing in Arcadia, and what other mishaps might they be causing? Lastly, how can they be stopped?

snuffysam

1. My favorite scene is probably the scene where Phineas is explaining all the bad things he did to the university chairs. The cold, calculated way he describes all the horrible things he did is sickening, but fascinating. Plus, the scene helps display what a scumbag the Director is, with how he claims he knew nothing about this scandal but subtly leads the conversation along to the information he wants Phineas to spill.

2. The shadow creatures are perhaps... "anti-magical" creatures of some kind? Like instead of generating magic like some other beings do (e.g. the magic fireflies), they just endlessly absorb like a black hole. And if they completely absorb a being, their memory is erased from the world? Not sure what that has to do with turning Peggy into a wolf though. Perhaps the anti-magic ghosts can release the magic they absorb and cause mischief that way? (alternatively... Peggy has always been part wolf, and it's just the lack of magic that's keeping her from hiding her true form)

RebelVampire

QUESTION 3. At the moment, who is your favorite character? What about that character earns them this favor?

QUESTION 4. Who do you think changed the Library’s pledge in Arcadia and for what reason? Is it simply discrimination, or is something else going on? In general, what do you think is the cause in Arcadia’s general hostility towards non-humans?

RebelVampire

QUESTION 5. What has been your favorite illustration in the comic so far? What specifically about it do you like?

QUESTION 6. Do you think the other shards are in danger, or will magic naturally return to normal? In what way do you think the council at the Hub will play a role in the events going forward?

SpaceTurtleArt

Author here! I'm very excited to see people's answers to these, they're all great questions. :D

Also if you have questions for me, please feel free to ask, I will do my best to answer as long as it's not spoilery.

RebelVampire

@snuffysam I really like that scene as well, even if it made me feel flabberghasted with just how non-chalant Phineas is about everything.

1) My favorite scene is probably the one after the board decides how to punish Phineas, where Avani's sponsor is throwing shade at the Director. I really kind of like how cut-throat the scene was an disconnected from how the students might be hurt. Instead, it was just all politics at that point, and it was kind of nice to see that sort of pettiness reflected. Since office politics really are a thing and makes people just as petty as you see in that scene. 2) I have to agree with @snuffysam on this. They scream anti-magic or at least things that eat magic up wherever they do go. I imagine this goes beyond just taking magic away but also extends to warping the intended function of magic. Like magic is operating with a wheel that's missing some spokes now. As for how they can be stopped, I imagine that's gonna involve creating another artificial ley line and banishing them back to where they came from. However, that will be harder than it sounds since you'd have to do it in a way that doesn't produce more of them. Alternatively, it could be they'll dissipate on their own naturally if they're just wrangled and cut off from all sources of magic. Basically starve 'em out.

3) My favorite character is Phineas. This is one of those instances where I love the villain. Like he's just...he's just so villainous. No remorse, even when caught red-handed. I can't help but appreciate that sort of ruthlessness. However, he does have that nice balance where there's a twinge of sympathy. Cause you gotta wonder how much of this twisted personality was caused by spending too much time with dear old uncle. 4) I feel like it was the Director or the Director's evil predecessor who changed the pledge. I think discrimination is involved in the reason, although I don't feel that's all of it. Cause this seems more like the sort of thing you'd do to create a legal loophole. So when you do get caught, you can say "ah ah ah, read the fine print there." So it could've been more that they wanted a way out should the worse come to pass. As for the general hostility, it's probably just from non-contact. People fear what they don't understand. So if they aren't getting an opportunity to interact with those who aren't human, of course resentment, bad rumors, and etc. will crop up. As, unfortunately, people tend to judge groups by the worst people of those groups, since people listen to more bad news than they do good news.

RebelVampire

5) I gotta go with the obvious of one of the opening pages, namely this one: http://www.lanternsofarcadia.com/comics/10/ I super duper love the composition as well as the color contrasts. I also like the shadow-y figure foreground as well and that they're so close to the bottom of the frame. It makes them feel so small and really overall expresses the direness of the situation and that there is nothing in their human powers that they can do at the moment. 6) I do think the other shards are in danger. And that while I don't think things will escalate super fast, I feel that if the issue isn't contained, the magic eaters will spread until there is no magic left. Granted, it is questionable if eating all magic means ambient magic can't return at some point. I think the council is gonna be feeding Avani and Guardian some pretty essential knowledge down the line and that the two teams will have to work together in order to solve the crisis. Cause even if they can find a way to contact each other, I feel there will be other difficulties with the council being able to act in person in Arcadia.

RebelVampire

QUESTION 7. Which characters do you enjoy seeing interact the most? What about their dynamic interests you?

QUESTION 8. Why do you think Avani’s grandfather burned research and hid information he had about artificial ley points? How does this tie into current events? Ultimately, do you think artificial ley points can actually be made safely?

RebelVampire

QUESTION 9. What sorts of art or story details have you noticed in the way the comic is crafted that you think deserves attention?

QUESTION 10. Why do you think Silas Kane was having his nephew continue research into ley points? What other information do you think he knows, and can he be stopped? Lastly, what might he have to do with other creatures disappearing in Arcadia (if anything)?

RebelVampire

7) I enjoy seeing Phineas and his uncle interact the most I think. I like this dynamic where even though Phineas is a jerk and pretty evil, you can tell his uncle is far more so. So there's this interesting dynamic where it's hard to tell how much of Phineas' personality might be different if not for his uncles influence. So to me that kind of makes all their interactions an interesting exploration of character degradation as it were. 8) Consider the director mentioned that he'd seen the shadow creatures before, I think Avani's grandfather did the exact same experiment and had the exact same results on a smaller scale. Thus noped out of, ya know, destroying the world. I mean all the pieces fit so well to make that answer seem the most likely to me. As for whether an artificial ley point can be made safely. I want to say the answer is yes, but it's a question of should you and becomes ethics. Like for example, take our world. Arguably the advances we've made our amazing. I mean here I sit, at my computer, talking to people on the other side of the earth like it's no big deal, sipping my water I don't have to worry if it's fresh or not. But all these advances have come at a cost to nature. And I kind of think ley lines fall into the same category. Where maybe you could, but is the cost of doing it worth it?

9) I've really liked the consistency of the unique words. For instance, the other sorts of areas as shards etc. Like it's not so foreign it's hard to kind of grasp what they mean by shards, but at the same time it's just got the right amount of weight and difference to add that nice in-depth fantasy feel to the world and make it feel unique. 10) I think Kane is just the type to be obsessed with progress. Like the sort of man who 100% believes the ends justifies the means. So if he has to kill half the population to advance science, then so be it. However, as director, he obviously needs to maintain his position to have access to the resources for experiments. Hence why you delegate to minions. At the very least, I think he knows 100% the consequences of what his experiments are and how to replicate at least some of the old research into ley points. But as for can he be stopped? Sure. Of course. He's not some immortal or something as far as I can tell. It's just a matter of will everyone wise up quick enough to his antics. As for the creatures disappearing, again, I definitely think it's him and it's for the sake of progress all living creatures be damned.

RebelVampire

QUESTION 11. What do you think are this particular comic’s strengths? What do you think makes this comic unique? Please elaborate.

QUESTION 12. What role do you think Isaac will have within the story given his previous involvement in the ley point experiments? Additionally, how is it that Isaac can’t seem to remember the name of his friend who died?

snuffysam

I feel like an artificial ley point can be made safely without harming nature, but... capturing magical creatures probably isn't the way to do it? Like I feel like the lesson of the story is building up to a "harmony with nature" thing, and that a new ley point can only be made by respecting all beings.

This comic's greatest strength is absolutely its worldbuilding. Like we haven't even visited many shards yet, but I can tell just from the way the world has been established that each one will be its own unique and diverse area. And that really excites me for when we do get to visit another one.

RebelVampire

QUESTION 13. What are you most looking forward to in the comic? Also, do you have any final thoughts to share overall?

QUESTION 14. What do you think will happen to Avani and Guardian once they reach Morning Glory’s place? Will Guardian be able to make a report? Further, what do you think Avani will decide to do regarding the situation in Arcadia?

RebelVampire

11) For me. the comic's main strength is the balance between fantasy and science in the world-building. I love fantasy, I really do. But sometimes the genre treats the idea of science like it's the plague and creatures don't progress. This comic has struck a great balance where sure, magic exists. But theres also ppl researching magic like they would any energy source. And I like seeing the theme of progress thrown in, as it feels like the world can grow and change just as much as the chatacters. 12) Isaac is definitely gonna be the one who tells the good guys more specifically what Phineas was doing. And I think he'll provide a much needed eyewitness account for deciding what to do. Third, I think just in general, he's gonna do all he can to set things right out of guilt. As for the memory issues, perhaps the shadow things are eating more than just magic but also the connection to magic. And that every creature is reliant on this connection. So as it erodes the connection, people forget things they were once connected with.

RebelVampire

13) I am looking forward to seeing more Phineas and for when his uncle inevitably screws him over. That's gonna be some delicious, horrifying drama that will really send Phineas in a different direction (though whether that direction is good or bad who can say). 14) I think Avani and Guardian are gonna discover they still can't make a report and dive head first into research and trying to learn all they can about ambient magic. And start trying to piece together how they can bring magic back. I think overall, though, Avani will endeavor to do all she can for Arcadia. Cause honestly, given it was her grandfather's research at the heart of this, I think she's gonna feel some familial duty to make it her responsibility to fix. At the very least, she's gonna see it through far enough to help Guardian call the proper authorities.

RebelVampire

COMIC TEA PARTY- WEEK LONG BOOK CLUB END!

Thank you everyone so much for reading and chatting about Lanterns of Arcadia this week! Please also give a special thank you to Beth Zyglowicz for volunteering the comic and creating it! If you liked Lanterns of Arcadia, make sure to continue to support it via some of the links below!

Read and Comment: http://www.lanternsofarcadia.com/

Beth’s Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/no-en/shop/SpaceTurtleStudios

Beth’s Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/S6S169VT

Beth’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/spaceturtleart?lang=en

#ctparchive #comics #webcomics #indie comics #comic chat #comic discussion #book club #bookclub #webcomic bookclub #webcomic book club #comic tea party #ctp #lanterns of arcadia #beth zyglowicz

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positivlyfocused · 6 years ago

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How To Have Easy Conversations With Conservative People

There is rancor in America and elsewhere. No time more than today is communication proficiency, self control, presence of mind and command of intention needed.

Also needed: compassion, honesty, openness and vulnerability.

As a progressive, if you’re expecting conservatives bring these, satisfaction is not in your future. Conservatives are scared and for good reason.

When a human being is scared, they do and say irrational things. Scared people try controlling environmental factors by any means necessary. If they’re scared enough, they’ll get violent.

These acts are typical for any human. Not only conservatives. Progressives verge on similar insecurity-fueled irrationality. The Anti-facists are a great example.

But progressives have no basis for their fear. They are winning.

Conservatives have a LOT of basis for theirfear. A biological basis, as we pointed out here. And, the future — our collective future — offers an overabundance of evidence. It threatens everything they hold dear.

We therefore offer this guide to progressives.

Progressives are best positioned to make history. Not by changing conservative minds. But by changing how they approachconservatives.

This guide presents a path forward. Life-changing, gratifying conversations with conservatives are possible. Conversations that can change opinions are too. These are sorely needed, but they’re not happening today’s social discourse. Not enough anyway.

This opinion-changing must happen on an individual-by-individual basis. Influence on such an insignificant level can change nations.

That’s because it’s amazing what happens when a person feels heard. Equally amazing are the many positive responses Perry gets from conservatives. Like this one:

“Thank you for your kind thoughts. It is refreshing to connect with someone with whom I can discuss some of the challenges confronting our society without the rancor too often associated with such discussions. We do have our differences…”

Progressives don’t need to change the world. They need to change their approach.

So what follows describes practical, sure-fire approaches. They will work.

However, you must practice them. Becoming genuinely proficient with them will transform your experience. Not only with your conservative fellow Americans, but anyone you disagree with.

But….and it’s a big one: if you’re not genuine in your desire for real human bonds with a fellow human being; a human being you right now may consider your existential enemy, you will not get far. Your desire to connect with this other human must be sincere. These are not debating tactics.

Your Ground Rules

Before offering the approaches, let’s set your ground rules. Your rules of engagement. Not engagement with the prospective conservative. We’ll talk about that later.

These rules of engagement are for how you will engage your humanity and your brain in service of your cause. Which is to connect meaningfully with a human you may currently consider your enemy and, through that connection, have an inspiring positive experience via conversation.

So here are your ground rules:

You will not allow words to trigger your well-honed sensitivity to offense. Words are just that. Words. You are not under threat. Even if a threat is offered, they are words. A real threat is immanent behavior likely resulting in serious personal injury. Not someone’s lips moving. Maintain your calm no matter what is said. Better yet, replace your sensitivity to offense with a healthy sense humor.

Your goal is connection. Not winning. You are not trying to persuade a conservative to become progressive. Conservatives serve a beneficial purpose within humanity. Your goal is connection, so you can fulfill your primary and secondary intents and commitments, outlined below.

Your primary intent/commitment is: understanding. You must be clear and rigid in your desire to hear, understand and inquire further into what the conservative believes.

Your secondary (but no less important) intent: finding commonalities between you and your conservative conversation partner.

Follow these ground rules while applying approaches described here. You’ll be stunned as you discover how human conservatives are. Your mind will expand and you’ll understand where conservatives come from.

You may even become genuinely compassionate towards conservatives. Rather than claiming to be compassionate while hating conservatives. Hate, annoyance, extreme frustration are not compassion. That’s hypocrisy. If you’re progressive.

Distinguishing The Context

Now let’s talk about context. To do so we’ll distinguishing two labels which describe communication between people. People often confuse one for the other. Doing so, they get in trouble.

You want a conversationwith the conservative. The word “conversation” may mean to you the same thing as “discussion”, the other word we’re going to clarify. But these words are NOT the same. They describe two totally different intents, processes, outcomes, contexts and feelings.

One aligns with your intent (presuming you’re wanting connection). The other does not.

You want conversation

“Conversation” is a talk, usually an informal one, between two or more people exchanging ideas. You know this. But you may not know the word’s origin. Words’ origins carry their meaning so much better sometimes than their definition. So let’s look at the origin of “conversation”. Here it is:

Interesting, eh? A conversation then, is something that ends with you having a feeling of “living among, or having intimate familiarity,” with the person with whom you have conversed. This is what you want. You want a conversation. Not a discussion.

Not discussion

Let’s contrast conversation now with “discussion”. A discussion is “the action or process of talking about something in order to reach a decision or to exchange ideas.”

That sounds laudable. It’s not though.

Not in the context of making a connection with, and understanding another human being.

Discussions don’t breed familiarity. In discussions, you’re just throwing back and forth opinions. Discussions get you nowhere if you’re trying to connect.

But wait, there’s more.

People don’t generally understand what “discussion” connotes. Probably because, like “converstation”, they don’t understand the word’s origin. Here is the origin of the word “discussion”, the noun and verb so you get a clear picture.

So the intent of “discussions” is not to gain familiarity and a sense of living among the person you are speaking with. No. Its intent is “to examine by argument, to tear apart, disperse, shake or dash to pieces.”

Does that sound like the basis of connection?

We don’t think so either.

Progressives and conservatives are not trying to connect. They are tearing each other apart. And the country along with them.

They are discussing. Not conversing.

If you want a groundbreaking interaction with a conservative, you’re going to have to move out of discussion-mode and into conversation-mode.

Ok?

The Right Way To Approach Conservatives

So here are the approaches. They only work if you stridently refuse to be baited. Strive instead for connection and understanding (your ground rules).

If you can’t stick to the ground rules, it’s best you first practice with someone who can role play a conservative until you get the hang of it.

The approach:

Ask more questions than sharing your opinion.

Express over and over your sincere desire to understand their point of view, not to exert yours, until they relent, i.e. realize you really do want to understand them.

Beseech your conservative to stick to answering your questions. If they avoid or refuse to answer your questions, keep (politely) redirecting the conversation back to your questions, or express vulnerability (we’ll offer an example in a moment) that may trigger them reciprocating.

When the conservative answers your question, offer sincere praise and appreciation. It is not standard practice for someone who is fearful and feeling defensive to answer a question, particularly one that demands they be vulnerable. Especially a question asked by someone the responder believes is the enemy of their values. So reward them for taking a risk.

When the person answers your question, and you have praised them, ask more questions. Offer limited information you may want to share. Instead, listen to the person’s answers.

When they answer, take in what they say. Chew on it, prepare a relevant response. Then offer the response in the form of a question or a polite rebuttal supported with examples.

If they ask a question, answer it. If you don’t have an answer, say so. Risk looking stupid. And if they call you stupid or a loser or whatever, remember ground rule number one.

Repeat these steps.

We’re not offering this in a vacuum. It has worked for Perry several times now to remarkable results. Not every time, but often enough to recommend them. We’re offering one complete example that happened on facebook. We’re offering this example because of the documented evidence. Anyone can look at it to see what happened.

Despite Perry misstepping in several moments, the conversation went quite well. Here’s an overview of it:

Perry offered the following meme on his wall.

It’s inaccurate (which the conservative responders pointed out). But the purpose of sharing it was for conversation. Conversation did happen. It ended with the following statement. This from a conservative who at first expressed himself aggressively:

I enjoyed reading your post. We do have more in common it seems….I wish you much success in your endeavors!

This is where you want to end up. It won’t happen every time, but if you practice, you’ll get better at it. Perry screwed up in this facebook exchange a couple times. But he still ended with positive results in line with the above ground rules, objectives/intents.

So we know if you sincerely use these approaches, you’ll find yourself in a new reality. One where conservatives turn out to be human.

Just like you.

Don’t get triggered

^^A conservative defending her life-decisions, then name calling Perry in a tweet.

People who believe conservatively have been trained to be tough. They live in a brutish world where it’s dog eat dog, and survival of the fittest.

Their manner of interaction feels like discussion. Confrontational, gruff, belligerent. Not conversational. At first.

So be prepared for rebuffs, snide accusations, and direct insults. It will sound like you’re talking to Alex Jones, Donald Trump or Rush Limbaugh instead of the person you’re talking with.

After all, for many conservatives, these people are their heroes. So of course they will pattern their discussion style on those peoples’ styles.

Intelligent conservatives, taking a cue from many conservative organizational playbooks, such as the college campus-focused Turning Point USA, will try to bait you into losing your control.

Don’t take the bait.

Compassion wins. Always.

Self control is your best friend. Again, if you suck at self control, your best fallback is your leftie compassion.

But if “compassion” is just a word for you, or worse, something you believe you “can’t afford in these times”, which is actually something a progressive told Perry recently, then you’ve already lost.

There is always room for compassion. The best, most effective progressives — Jesus, Ghandi, MLK, Harvey Milk — have demonstrated this time and time again.

You must contain your disgust. You must respond with vulnerability. Even in the face of their disgust of you (and what they presume you believe).

For example, when Perry clarified errors a conservative made in interpreting Perry’s previous comment, the person offered the following:

I’d like to continue proving my points but you don’t seem too receptive to the logic I’m providing. Your idea of what a necessity is leaves me wondering how much of a privileged life you must have and probably still do live. Many people survive without an education and many walk to jobs or bike. Many live healthy lives without doctors and hospitals. It’s a shame that you don’t seem to have facts to support your assertions, or did I miss them somewhere in your previous posts? Again I appreciate your ‘opinion’ and respectfully disagree with most if not all of them. Assertions without facts to support them lead me to believe that all of your points are opinion based.

In response, Perry could have been triggered as a person of color, being accused of enjoying privilege. Instead, Perry offered vulnerability. How? By acknowledging his privilege:

So now let’s talk about my privilege, which is a funny thing to bring up IMO. But as I said, I’m more than happy to chat about whatever you bring up.

I am privileged. I live in a great country. It has ALWAYS been great. It also can be improved. I live in the west. I live in a democratic society. I get to live pretty much wherever my finances make it possible to live. I have a wife who loves me, pets who adore me. I enjoy the sunshine, the beautiful state of Oregon and all it has to offer. I enjoy clean air, a healthy body and mind. I enjoy clean delicious food my wife makes for me or I make. I enjoy an adventurous life, where I get to spend my time doing pretty much whatever floats my boat. My life is getting better and better as is my prosperity. I realize my eternal nature and from that I know anything is possible.

I’m also male. I’m a “black” male. I came into the world with the perfect timing such that I can enjoy both these in relative security and comfort (compared to other times). I’m also non-binary. I’m free of constraints of being “straight” (thank god!). I have the fluidity of thought to see the world from multiple perspectives, and not just human ones. I have the privilege to have time to think about life — ordinary day-to-day life, but also extraordinary aspects of life, such as what happens after death and how all that happens after death (and before birth) shapes what happens between birth and death. I have found those answers. From those answers, I know things a LOT of people don’t know. So yeah, I’m privileged. But no more than anyone can be. I can pretty much do right now, whatever floats my boats.

It just so happens, what floats my boats is creating a world where EVERYONE has the opportunity to do whatever THEY want to float THEIR boats….

You can’t be vulnerable if you’re triggered. You can’t offer cogent thoughtful replies either when you’re triggered. When you get triggered, you offer fodder confirming conservative beliefs about you and other progressives (liberals). Don’t be this guy:

youtube

Offer food for thought

Once you have earned their attention by thoughtfully, calmly and constructively listening to, and then expressing understanding, only then should you offer “food for thought”.

Food for thought is not telling them they are wrong. This isn’t about right and wrong. Your food for thought should be an attempt to surface their human connection to other humans…even ones they believe aren’t worthy of that connection.

So for example, when a conservative says people who don’t work are parasites and deserve to starve, you must figure out a way to show how a person can do whatever he wants (even not work, for example) but shouldn’t have to starve. Or worse, work a job but not afford healthcare.

If you can’t do that, you have no basis for making such a claim. And a conservative will tell you.

Some conservatives (many people actually) view people negatively. Conservatives particularly believe people are lazy good-for-nuthins. People must earn their living by doing productive work, they believe. These beliefs aren’t factual. They’re conditioned or taught, which, in a rare moment of vulnerability, is exactly what a conservative told Perry recently:

…Maybe it’s because i’ve been conditioned to believe a certain way or possibly my life experience has taught me to be cautious….

A good way to chart unknown territory with a conservative: appeal to their well-known territory (for the conservative). That is, talk about liberty. But not the way conservatives talk about it.

Liberty as you may know, is a major conservative talking point. But the kind of liberty (aka “freedom”) conservatives believe in is a kind of pseudo-freedom. It’s not really freedom as it is based on coercion: As far as conservatives believe, your freedom doesn’t extend to being a lazy parasite on society. Another way of putting that is: your freedom shouldn’t cost me or anyone else. So pull your own weight.

The response to this point is: “you’re right. And in the 21st Century no one’s freedom should cost anyone anything. This is the future. Everything is possible.”

Perry likes offering this tasty morsel, which creates amazing moments that, at first, stupefies conservatives. But then leads to remarkable, real, conversations.

It begins with Perry’s definition of real freedom:

“A person who is really free can do nothing if that’s what they want to do. A person who wants to spend all their time learning to paint, play video games all day, or fish or whatever, can. And they can do those things (or anything else) without going hungry, living on the street, or getting care for their body (or mind) if necessary. If they’re free that is. They can also get all the education they need or want to learn or improve any skill while doing whatever they want without having to earn money to get those things. And…the person exercising their freedom can do so without anyone else having to do anything they don’t want to do to support that person.”

A definition like that will short circuit most people’s brains (conservative and progressive) namely because most people can’t figure out how this kind of freedom is possible. Perry explains how this is possible. Then shows how the world is careening towards exactly that outcome for everyone.

Your food for thought, therefore, must halt a conservative’s talking points in its tracks. It must get them genuinely thinking. Not spouting conservative boilerplate.

Another example: Perry was at a Starbucks recently. There he happened to sit in a nest of conservatives. That wasn’t his intent. It just happened.

One of the conservative’s asked “what do you do for a living?”

“I don’t do anything for a living,” Perry said. “I don’t believe my living requires me to do anything.”

This conservative’s friend, Mary, piped in.

“So you’re a socialist,” She said.

“No. I’m not,” Perry said.

“Then what are you?” Mary asked.

Knowing Mary was likely a conservative, and therefore Christian (which she was) Perry said “I am what Jesus is.”

That derailed Mary’s train of thought. Now Mary had to ask a question likely not included in her talking points:

“What do you mean?” She asked.

“I am that I am,” Perry said.

The conversation turned to Christianity. Perry is not Christian, but he is well-versed on fundamental accuracies upon which Christianity’s distortions are based.

So he was able to form a connection with Mary through her religious beliefs. Then he turned the conversation towards Christian compassion. He was about to ask Mary if her compassion extends to immigrants and if not why not.

But Mary ran out of time (she had to catch a plane).

Still, you can see, by not getting baited into a debate about “socialism” and name calling, and instead connecting with something Mary held dear (her Christian beliefs), Perry found room in between Mary’s boilerplate about people who she prejudges as “socialists”.

You can do this too.

And not only will the conversations you have stun you in their originality, you’ll learn that underneath all that lashing out, anger and conservative closed-mindedness is a human being wanting to be understood and connected with.

That is the short answer to this entire approach. Giving conservatives what they want, so their minds open.

If progressives really want the world they want, they must find a way to give conservatives what they want.

Until you know what that is, you can’t give it to them. And you can’t know unless you understand them. And, you can’t understand them unless you’re willing to talk with them.

And finally, if your approach is based on not understanding justified conservative fear that they’re losing everything, and that’s why they are lashing out, you’re going to have a hard time having a conversation with them.

Rancor in America and elsewhere can be mended. But you can’t expect conservatives to make the first step.

Someone has to though. That someone can be you. And this guide can help.

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head-and-heart · 7 years ago

Text

The 100 Highlights - “Eden” (5x01)

Hey there fam! I’m starting this series in honour of the new season of The 100 that is now airing. Basically, it will function similar to review of the episode, except I will be pointing out the highlights of the episode - the things that I liked (not what I was critical of).

In light of 5x01 airing, it has become increasingly clear to me that - no matter how good an episode is - it is too easy for this fandom to get caught up on the negative aspects of it. (And yes, that includes myself sometimes.)

Being critical is good - it is a part of consuming fiction - but it is also important to recognize the positive aspects of literature as well. If not for anyone else, than for your own sanity. So that sparked the purpose of this series: for me to take a step back and think about what I enjoyed about the episode, and then share it to spread a little positivity in fandom.

I intend to do this for every episode of Season 5, and possibly for later seasons as well (assuming we get renewed) depending on how it goes.

So, for my first post, I will be talking about “Eden”.

In no particular order:

The camera following the Ark and speeding down to Earth as the very first shot of the season was pretty cool and really captured the atmosphere of the episode as well as what the heart of the show seems to be: the connection among people even when they are apart, and the ways in which they fight to get back to each other.

Looking back, the cinematography of this episode was honestly stunning. The dull and bleached colour pallet of the scorched Earth versus the vibrancy of Eden is a shocking contrast and there were so many beautiful shots throughout the episode.

Loved the little callbacks to past places and characters - like the stones where they signalled to Luna, Jasper’s goggles, the stick from L.exa’s throne, Maya’s iPod, the rover, etc - it shows how all these people are still very present in Clarke’s mind (and how they are indirectly keeping her alive, keeping her centered).

The attention to detail was really strong in this episode (see above point) with all the props and the music choices (eg. playing the CL theme when Clarke finds L.exa’s throne). Due to this it ensured that, in spite of the time jump, the heart and history of The 100 remained present.

Seriously, there were sooo many cool shots. The shot of Clarke driving as the dust/lightning storm approaches was super neat. I loved how they depicted what life on Earth looks like after Praimfaya, the devastation of the planet. And also the shot of her staring into the flames as she burns the bodies of the villagers was stunning.

Having the entirety of the first 27 minutes following Clarke (and narrated almost solely by her) really nailed home the impact of her isolation and was, not to mention, a very bold storytelling decision

Music was used expertly in this episode. Tree Adams did such a great job at pinpointing when the music was needed, and when the episode was better served by using it liberally (and, on occasion, not at all). In the shot of Clarke sorting through Arkadia, the music is very light, the most prominent sound the whistling of the wind, as if to accentuate the fact that the world has gone completely silent following Praimfaya. It is also used as an homage to old characters who have passed, such as Maya, or L.exa, which I appreciated.

The scene where Clarke finds Jasper’s things was absolutely beautiful, and Eliza killed the scene with her acting. When I watched 4x13 last year I was disappointed to find that the scene where Clarke found Jasper’s suicide note was cut from the finale (it was in the leaked scripts) because I thought it meant Jasper’s memory would be forgotten. In retrospect, I’m happy that they did it this way instead, when Clarke is completely and utterly alone, and she can finally allow the emotions to hit her properly. There were so many amazing callbacks to characters from previous seasons who are no longer around anymore.

“Anyway ... in case this is the last time I get to do this, I just wanna say .. please don’t feel bad about leaving me here. You did what you had to do. I’m proud of you.” We’ve all had over a month to mentally and emotionally prepare ourselves for this line, since the trailer came out, but it remains just as beautiful as the first time.

There’s just something so badass about Clarke driving through an empty post-apocalyptic wasteland, listening to EDM on one of the last remaining pieces of tech on planet Earth. Clarke finding Maya’s iPod was the gift I didn’t know I needed.

Kudos to the makeup department for depicting their female lead realistically after almost dying of dehydration and radiation burns in the desert - sometimes this is not easy to find on a CW show.

Clarke’s frequent radio calls/narration offers up a fresh and interesting way of telling the story in this episode, revealing how Clarke has grown and reflected over the years.

There were soooo many parallels to previous episodes (eg. Clarke rising out of the water like Octavia in 1x01, the irradiated dining room in the village visually paralleling Mount Weather in 2x16, Clarke confronting her map like she did in the very first episode of the series, the shot of her face through the flames as she burns the bodies of the villagers is very reminiscent of 3x12, and everything to do with Madi and Clarke parallels the Blakes. And, of course, Charmaine’s “it means we’re not alone” is an obvious callback to Clarke’s words in the Pilot.)

No emotional beats are missed in 5x01. Clarke finding the child on the step outside the church is just one example of a gutwrenching moment in this episode that emotionally impacts us just in the way that all good media should.

“I’ve lost track of how many bodies we’ve burned since reaching the ground. God, this would be so much easier if I knew you were alive, if I knew I was going to see you again.” My Bellarke heart is singing!

Clarke gushing about berries. Enough said.

The filming of Clarke’s encounter of Madi pays homage to the horror genre, with her appearing suddenly in between the trees, or in the window frame. While not scary, it holds the same mood as 3x12 and 4x07 did - two episodes most strongly associated with typical horror films. I really enjoyed the mystery and intrigue associated with the way they approached Clarke meeting Madi.

By displaying Madi as fearful of flamekeepers, it demonstrates an alternative perspective to the Grounder faith that we haven’t gotten to see before: resistance. It also shines a light on the brutality of the conclave system in a way that is rarely addressed in the show (but perhaps should be).

Clarke performing surgery on herself? SO ! BAD ! ASS !

Clarke’s drawing of Madi was beautiful. And the little girl’s smile after seeing it? Precious.

Clarke spearing a fish? I’m turned on.

They did the absolute MOST gorgeous transition this show has ever done in this episode. And you all know which one I’m talking about. When Clarke is looking up at the stars and says, “What about them? Do you think they’ll come down too?” AND THEN IT SMOOTHLY SHIFTS TO THE ARK, BELLAMY STARING OUT THE WINDOW LOOKING DOWN AT HER AS SHE LOOKS UP AT HIM - BOTH UNKNOWINGLY. And the MUSIC. The music, oh god. Everything about it was stunning. The camerawork, the music, the thematic implications of it all. I just can’t be coherent about how amazing that transition was. Lemme go watch it another five times before I continue.

Raven beating Echo. Raven laughing. Raven.

The dynamic among the space squad is really intriguing, and Jason Rothenberg communicated so much with so little. With just a few short scenes and lines of dialogue we can perfectly understand everyone’s role on the Ark, the tension between Bellamy and Raven, the uncertainty of Echo paired with the internal struggle of Monty, the way Emori has so seamlessly fitted herself into the group, and how Murphy has just as easily removed himself from it. It’s fascinating to me to watch how these characters interact with each other; how things have remained constant, and how they have shifted.

The fact that “Murphy” is considered one of their chores on the Ark will never not be funny (and equally heartbreaking???).

“Seconds?” “Yeah right, I choose Murphy.” I will never be over Monty’s poor, cute, little hopeful face here. It was adorable.

The Murphy and Bellamy fight scene was a blessing in every single way. First of all, Bellamy being cheeky is my lifeblood. Second of all, Murphy’s story this season is super intriguing to me. And third of all, Bellamy holding Murphy in a headlock as he forces him to admit he’s not worthless is a scene I never would have imagined I would need this much.

“You know what I think your problem is? You like being the hero; only up here, there are no heroes.” I LOVE this line because of how it delves into Murphy’s psyche and also displays him in a different way than Murphy typically is. It shows that, deep down, he really does care about more than himself. When he has so much time to wallow in his own self-loathing, he feels he needs to live up to his own expectations, and he acts out. If he can’t be a hero, then he’ll be what he knows he can be. A dick.

Also ... “there are no heroes” = “there are no good guys”. I love my otp

Bellamy is the biggest dad and I am LIVING for it.

“I’ll make sure it’s my only choice.” Cue Kate’s Bellarkean death.

“Non-violent offenders with me?” “Yeah, both of them.” Okay, I’m sorry but I’ll never stop laughing about this.

“Relax, McCreary. You’re still my favourite mass-murderer.” I loved this little exchange because it hints at the dynamic between all of the Eligius crew. Again, Jason does so much with so little words. It clearly indicates just how different these prisoners are from The 100 - how dangerous. Also ... is Zeke a mass murderer, then?

Monty and Harper’s scene together was enlightening. I’m so excited for Monty’s journey this season, and it makes complete sense for him to go in this direction. What’s intriguing is that him and Harper have almost shifted places from where they were in Season 4, where Harper wanted to give up and Monty was insistent on the need to keep fighting. He brings up a good point now: “No one should have to be that strong.�� Because isn’t that the whole truth? I also really appreciated the callback to Monty’s mom, as well as Jasper, as there was a serious concern as to whether those deaths would just be swept under the rug because of the time jump. I’m happy to see that my concerns were for nothing.

Emori and Raven’s friendship is EVERYTHING.

Nothing is brighter than Raven Reyes’ smile and that’s a fact.

Lindsey and Richard continue to have stunning chemistry and they both feed off each other so well, no matter how you see their relationship.

Ending the episode with the single shot of the fight ring in the bunker and Octavia (and her “royal guards”, so to speak) observing blankly from above was absolutely chilling. And the best possible way to lead into the next episode.

Hope you enjoyed reading my highlights! Feel free to share some of your own. I’ll be back sometime next week following “Red Queen”.

#the 100 #the 100 eden #the 100 season 5 #the 100 5x01 #posts by moi #the 100 highlights series

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davidmann95 · 7 years ago

Note

What are your thoughts on Infinity War and do you think the portrayal of Thanos is gonna make it harder for DC to do Darkseid in a future move due to comparisons?

Extended disconnected musings below the cut because world-shaking spoilers fucking obviously, but for the section of my audience that hasn’t seen it yet but is fine with simply seeing my immediate reaction and placement of it: it’s so very good, y’all. Hype as modern blockbuster filmmaking gets. Not a top-5 MCU flick (which is a credit to the MCU, not in any way a ding against this), but if you only count the Avengers movies that actually have “Avengers” in the title, this is definitely the best of that lot.

* I had been, while not concerned per say, very curious how the Captain America team would handle this - the writers might have been there from the beginning and done some pretty bombastic pulpy action in the first Cap movie, but the Russo Brothers had been entirely on the grounded side of the franchise, even doing the relatively grounded Avengers movie in Civil War - given this would be the most cosmic and superheroey of the bunch, and they acquitted themselves magnificently in every way imaginable. It’s big, it’s funny, it’s ballsy, it’s engaging, it’s fun, it’s weighty as hell, it’s emotional, it’s the gold standard of this sort of thing. I have no idea what they’ll do if they ever stop doing Avengers movies, because at this point the sky is the absolute limit for them.

* I know people have already inevitably been complaining about this being dependent on previous movies for continuity and character, to which I say

1. Fuck you, this is the sequel to a once-in-a-generation filmmaking blockbuster that completely changed the game, of course you’re going to know who the goddamn Avengers are, most especially if you’re going to see this movie. Don’t act like you’re that cool. You’re not that fuckin’ cool.

2. This may not have been a movie of character development, but it’s by no means a movie short on character. It’s very much in the vein of Grant Morrison’s JLA, in that it banks on familiarity and iconography not to change our understanding of these characters, but to do the most conspicuously *them* moments possible. Captain America might be a minor presence, but he’s Captain America as heck in this, and so forth.

3. This only banks on you having seen the first Avengers. Banner is our entrypoint character because he himself doesn’t know what’s going on so the Avengers breakup can be recapped in broad terms, the initial conflict you don’t really have to know about Ragnarok to understand (they could’ve been fleeing Thanos destroying Asgard for all a casual viewer would know), Spider-Man’s role is obvious even aside from him being a cultural icon, Panther is Cap’s secret ally the rest of the team barely knows about so and Wakanda are broadly understood, and the Guardians and Strange are reintroduced. Strange you immediately know all you need: Wong defers to him so he’s clearly a big deal, but he’s also still telling him things about magic - even if jokingly - so clearly Strange is not the most seasoned veteran and hasn’t been in this hidden mystic world forever. The Guardians are space bozos, and based on Star-Lord’s manchild nature and 80s nostalgia and lack of familiarity with the Avengers you can guess he hasn’t been to Earth in a long time even if he clearly hails from there.

* Thanos was…good? Though I would have yelled “BULLSHIT!” at my monitor when I saw Starlin declared Thanos in an interview to be exactly as he had always envisioned him had I seen this at the time, because this is very much from the Slade-in-Teen-Titans “scrap everything, and it’ll wind up better because there’s nowhere to go but up” school of villainous improvement. But seriously, while surely people will write eye-rolling thinkpieces on his nature and goals, he’s a proper vile bastard of the sort we haven’t quite gotten in these movies before that more than justifies his place after 6 years of buildup, with humanity to spare keeping him from being a caricature; it should avoid Darkseid comparisons quite deftly (and vice-versa), even if none of what made this work can translate back into the comics. And as much as the sidekick baddies might have been traditional uncanny-valley CG, this guy might be the most amazing effect I’ve ever seen in a blockbuster: I totally bought this was a real flesh-and-blood living being existing in recognizable 3-dimensional space whenever they zoomed in on his expressions. And more importantly, they acknowledged he has a nutsack for a chin.

* Speaking of effects, that’s how you do a fuckin’ magic fight!

* And speaking of villains: SKULL. What a payoff, and I sure hope he stays and fills the role Mephisto did in the original Infinity Gauntlet as Thanos’s right hand man, because I want to see him face down with Steve as Captain America one more time. In a very different movie/s, I could have seen him seizing the Gauntlet and promising Thanos he too will wipe out half the universe, but much less indiscriminately, with the great tyrant dying with the ultimate monstrosity his endeavor has brought about evident to him at last. And then you’d have the ultimate Nazi as the final boss, since not only are he and Cap enemies, but he battled Iron Man’s dad, was well-versed in Asgardian mythology and stole one of Odin’s treasures, and is like Hulk a failed Super Soldier. What we got should be pretty good too though. Fingers crossed he at least sticks around to menace Bucky and Sam once one of them takes over as Cap.

* Outside the villain, boy, who would have expected Thor would basically be the closest thing to a main character of this movie? I guess Marvel rightly expected Ragnarok would be fire, and knowing that he’ll now be the major remaining original Avenger, are trying to build him up in double-quick time. And with only half of Asgard gone, they can keep the setup Waititi provided after this (even if I wish they hadn’t brought back his eye. I’m not worried for him personally though; his godly constitution should be more than capable of resisting mere alien raccoon ass germs). And given Ultron was the Iron Man-centric flick and Civil War was literally a Captain America movie, it feels fair they gave this to the third member of the core trio. By contrast, I’m not sure whether Black Panther was too late for them to account properly for him, or they did know, and that’s why the final action was set in Wakanda even though it’s relatively irrelevant.

* The characters getting to bounce off each other was much of the heart of this, and while Downey vs. Cumberbatch was totally reasonable - I wish Strange and Spidey had more time together as promised as fellow Ditko creations, but doing Sherlock vs. Holmes makes sense, with “Do you concur, Doctor?” almost feeling deliberately evocative - I never would have expected Thor and Star-Lord to be the standout comedic pairing. And yet, as Drax put it, it entirely makes sense: “He is not a dude. You are a dude. He is a man.”

* What most leapt out at me as signalling this is the post-Trump movie relative to Civil War’s summer 2016 blockbuster? There, the question of whether or not the government can be trusted is the inciting incident that drives everything. Here, that the government is actively working against the right thing is so plain that Rhodes - who had previously said his critical injuries were more than worth standing up for the Accords, so passionately did he believe in all they stood for - immediately, casually acknowledges that the entire thing is fucked and bails with no fanfare, and that’s the end of it.

* I’d expected this to be an all-out invasion flick and so had been disappointed no Defenders or whatnot would at least cameo, but as it really turned out I’m not surprised there wasn’t a place for Daredevil to stick his horns in. And despite assurances, no Hawkeye! I’m sure as many as 5 or 6 people were quite disappointed.

* Betting pool on who’s actually dead? Obviously everyone vanished will be okay, but the others? Gamorra looks pretty stiffed, but she seems a safe bet to return. Vision’s end felt gruesomely final, but they put so much effort into implying he might be able to survive without the stone, and now they have a seminal story to draw on for a potential solo movie of his. Loki, I think, is most likely to remain in the ground. A last-minute return and final prank against Thanos wouldn’t be out of place for him by any means, but his character has come full circle, and I think it’s more likely that if he returns it’ll be as Kid Loki.

* Speaking of the vanishing, I really appreciate the thought that clearly went into who was taken off the board. The castoffs either really had nothing to do with the Thanos conflict, even and indeed especially if they were big for maximum shock value (Black Panther, Spider-Man, White Wolf, Falcon, Mantis), or DID have something to do with Thanos but whose arcs in terms of physical confrontations with him reached their logical climaxes (Star-Lord vented regarding their shared relationship to Gamorra, Drax tried and failed as he was always going to because that one-sided hate he wanted fulfilled isn’t as much at the core of his character as Gamorra’s relationship with Thanos is). Or in Strange’s specific case, the enigmatic type with an ace up his sleeve who could logically leave a final mystery and hope for others to have to rely on. And as a whole, it means the final OG Avengers movie ISN’T going to be an even bigger crossover movie than this the way we thought. This, for the MCU’s 10th anniversary, was the big crossover movie. The last Avengers movie as we’ve known it up to that point is mostly just going to be the founders (plus Captain Marvel, a mandatory Wakandan representative or two, and Rhody since he’s the other hero who was introduced in Phase One) getting one last hurrah. And it makes sense to go with that smaller cast, because they’ll want space to really zero in on Steve and Tony before they go, and since going at Thanos head-on is no longer an option, there’s not really going to be an opportunity for the same kind of massive super-war we got in here anyway, because then he’d simply de-create them.

* Steve and Tony are going to die, and going into pure fanfic, I think I know how it’ll happen. Steve will get the Gauntlet, and it’ll kill him to use it, but in an homage to the climax of Kree-Skrull War, he’ll use his last breath to not only revive everyone, but bring together an army of superheroes to defeat a depowered Thanos once and for all (Gamora or maybe Nebula almost certainly striking the final blow), raising his returned shield high, exchanging a last look with Bucky, and finally crying out “AVENGERS ASSEMBLE!” And Tony? Tony is going to knowingly walk to death in a doomed fight against Thanos as a distraction to give Steve that chance, becoming the guy who lays down on the wire and lets someone else crawl over him. It not only reaffirms his partnership with Steve and the idea behind the original Avengers just as both die, but brings his character arc totally full circle: he faces down the embodiment of his nightmares, and after having lived as the ultimate egotist, he dies as the man who sacrifices himself so someone else can secure the win. And Thanos was I believe introduced in an Iron Man comic, so that aspect’s pretty appropriate too.

* Jackson finally almost got to say motherfucker in one of these! And that’s the second Marvel movie with a character nearly saying fuck. Take the leap Disney, I believe in you. And much as that last shot in the stinger was neat, and much as this alternative would have been literally impossible, how much cooler would it have been if that screen had shown a “4″?

* My #4 title prediction? Avengers: The End. There was a big Thanos story by Starlin titled Marvel: The End where he destroys everything but ultimately turns it back, and that’d be both ominous enough to fit the warning that we should be scared of this title, and spiritually truthful. And since the Spider-Man movie right afterwards will according to Feige mark the start of the new MCU, they can title that Spider-Man: Brand New Day in accordance with said new beginning.

* Post-all this? It’ll be awhile yet before the Fantastic Four and X-Men come on stage, so ‘Phase 4′ will basically have to stall until they can bring in Doom to be the true final boss before the inevitable reboot a decade or so down the line. Spider-Man’s the new lead (hence the Iron Spider armor, which in Homecoming seemed deliberately to be overly gaudy as Tony’s vision of a Spidey remade in his image but now seems an indicating as his leading man status, the red/yellow/blue color scheme marking him as Peak Superhero) along with Panther, Captain Marvel, and likely Thor as the old standby. The Avengers likely disband for a bit due to losing the core and break up into different teams - your Ultimates, Champions, Young Avengers, etc. - before coming back together in New Avengers, managing to make the Avengers movie after the next one an event by making it about the reformation. Osborn leading the Cabal’s the big bad; he’s the leading man’s leading villain, he has the pedigree thanks to Dark Reign while still being able to put on a Goblin suit at the end, he lets them do the inevitable “all the bad guys get together to fight the Avengers” story, and while it might not work as well as it would have post-BvS pre-Justice League, using Sentry/the Void - a compromised, frightening, unsure, ‘realistic’ Superman figure - as his muscle and the true threat would be hella charged at the moment in a way I could see the MCU being cocky enough to go for, even if they never outright do Avengers V Squadron Supreme.

That’s what I got. As the god of thunder would say, farewell and good luck, morons.

#Avengers: Infinity War #Avengers #MCU #fanfic #Opinion

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dellaliz19 · 7 years ago

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(Spoilers) Star Wars: The Last Jedi thoughts

Ugh, I am so divided on this one. This one was a real pros and cons evening out for me kind of movie, which left me just so...(insert Dark Side/Light Side metaphor here).

So, Going with that metaphor: The Light Side

1) Rey, Finn and Poe are all great again. They feel true to character, and each has their own arc that is really good. Finn learning he has to do more than hate the First Order, Poe learning to set aside his hot head and be a strategist, and Rey finding her way in regards to her place with the Force are all well done and no arc feels tacked on.

2) The landscapes are gorgeous. The fight on the red salt planet, the quiet beauty of space, the Monaco planet and so much more are just lovely and poetic.

3) Leia finally getting to use the Force. It really hits home how much we lost with Carrie Fischer’s passing, because it seems pretty clear that Leia and her Force powers could have played an amazing part of the next story.

4) Luke and Kylo’s final stand off. That was classic quipping Luke Skywalker and I loved it. Flicking of imaginary dirt, I’m not here to forgive you, “see you around kid.” Bad fucking ass.

5) Yoda. God Yoda was fantastic. Lightning from the sky, jokes and the fab line “Masters. The true tragedy is we are what they outgrow.” Right in the feels.

6) Rose was a great new character, and a good foil for Finn. She felt raised in the Rebellion, and her viewpoint was a great contrast to Finn’s.

7) Snoke got what he deserved. Fuck that gold robes wearing ahole.

8) Admiral Pink Hair. Love her. Bad ass lady, and her last stand was just...cinematic. Hot damn.

9) Rey’s parents. I love the idea that they were nobodies and that Rey is just some girl, with the Force, choosing her own way. The great part of the Original Trilogy is that anyone could be a hero, not just a chosen one. The prequels clouded that, and I’m so hoping that the last movie doesn’t go “just kidding! Rey’s a secret Kenobi or something.” Just no, please no.

10) The humour. This was a funny movie, but it never got to be too much. The frog nuns, Luke, some physical humour; it all felt smart and clever and fit well with the tone. Like Poe fuckig with Hux at the start: A+ fucking with a space nazi.

11) You lift those rocks and hug that boy girl. You go girl.

Now, The Dark Side:

1) Kylo Fucking Ren. Look this one is not going to be true for everyone, but I am %100 not interested in THE REDEMPTION ARC OF KYLO REN. I do not want it. I like Kylo a lot as a villain, and I think Adam Driver plays him excellently. But Kylo Ren is beyond redemption for me. He’s not the scared child in Luke’s training camp anymore, still teetering on the edge of his choice between Light and Dark. He killed children, burned the Temple, committed mass atrocities with the First Order, killed his Father and is now leading the Space Nazis.

He chose. And not MURDERING HIS MOTHER and killing Snoke don’t make up for that. There’s a reason Vader didn’t live out a long an peaceful robo-life after killing the Emperor. Give Kylo a noble death, but he doesn’t deserve a nobel life.

2) Too many space battles. I get that the second movie in a trilogy is the heroes at their lowest point. But holy crap these kind of odds really strain credulity. Yeah these 15 people are going to take down the First Order. And yes they’ll get more allies likely off screen before the first movie but damn that was a little bit to much. You didn’t need quite as many “man we got out of that” set pieces. It was just so much. They were really good battles though, I’ll say that.

3) That we never really got “Master Luke, Jedi teacher.” I do appreciate Luke’s arc, and it made narrative sense, but I just felt so robbed by never getting to have Luke properly train Rey. Like it’s funny that the epic “Rey passes Luke the lightsaber scene” actually results in him chucking it away like hot garbage but damn it, I WANTED what they were selling with the first one. I wanted Master Luke.

4) Porgs. Look the Porgs were cute but they got to Ewok levels really fast. I’m down for the Porgs, but less Porgs please.

5) Benicio de Plot Waste. His character served a narrative purpose but that was about it. Can’t say I’m dying to see that character again. No Han Solo, is all I’m saying.

6) I’d love some more back story on Snoke. Like, how did this guy get trained for his Sith powers? I want that story. It made more sense when he was using Kylo because he didn’t have powers of his own; giving him his own powers really made him the Emperor V.2 and I found him a lot more compelling before.

7) The Carrie Fischer question. I really liked her role in this movie, but I can’t help but wonder if it would have been better if they’d had her die. I know they are saying hey won’t use CGI for the 3rd, and fine whatever they chose, but it does really leave a void in that the Original Three are gone now. Mostly I’d like to have her die in some way that isn’t murder: something mundane. A heart attack, a disease, something that no one caused or could have prevented and then have the rest of the characters have to accept that.

8) Why was Maz in this? She added very little, and her union joke was funny but she was pretty clearly crammed in. Give her something to do or don’t add her.

9) Same with Phasma. I hope they didn’t pay Gwendoline Christie by the word because she’s critically underused again. The last shot where you see a real person is under there was gold; that’s what Phasma could have been, but she just served as a set piece for Finn to get some closure which is fine, but really, could have been so much more.

Overall The Last Jedi is a good movie that I did really enjoy. It wasn’t quite what I was expecting but it didn’t suffer too much in that view. It’s a visually stunning movie and the characters are well acted and real. Still, it left me...wanting, somehow that I can’t quite explain. I’m interested to see the next one, but I’ll admit I’m not as interested as after The Force Awakens. Good movie, certainly, but it wouldn’t crack my top 3 Star Wars movie list.

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logh-icebergs · 7 years ago

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Episode 21: The Battle of Doria Starzone, and...

Spring 797/488. En route toward Heinessen, Yang’s fleet encounters Baghdash, a supposed deserter who is very obviously there to assassinate Yang—not before taking a nap, though, which gives Schenkopp the chance to lock him in deep sleep mode while Yang and co. make pretty quick work of the 11th fleet, which was sent to intercept them. Instead of the dishonor of surrender, the commander of the 11th fleet chooses to fight until all but a handful of his soldiers have been killed, and then commits suicide. Meanwhile on Heinessen, Admiral Greenhill’s whole “if I didn’t lead these young’uns bad things would happen” schtick proves rather pointless when, despite Greenhill urging restraint, the unit sent to break up a peaceful protest ends up inciting a riot that kills 20,000 people, including the organizer, Representative Jessica Edwards.

Julian and Yang

Close your mouth, Julian, a bug will fly in. Or possibly a bird or small spacecraft.

Julian said he would protect Yang back when he was first learning to shoot, and a real opportunity presents itself for the first time when Baghdash shows up on his mission to assassinate Yang. Schenkopp forestalls Baghdash’s plans in pretty undramatic (but hilarious) fashion, adjusting his tank bed to keep him asleep for the whole battle (hey, look at that worldbuilding about tank beds from episode 1 having actual plot payoff!); and when Baghdash wakes up to find the 11th fleet annihilated, he pragmatically offers his loyalty to Yang, who he now believes will be the ultimate victor.

Feel familiar? This is essentially the same scene as when Reinhard gave Ferner to Oberstein, recast with Alliance personnel.

Yang seems to feel he has a good read on Baghdash’s self-preservation instincts and has no qualms trusting him; he even temporarily bequeaths his own gun to Baghdash, since he himself never even carries it.

This is a move Yang has pulled before, acquiring personal loyalty by putting perhaps undue amounts of trust in people—he did this with Schenkopp and the Rosen Ritter when he relied on them to infiltrate Iserlohn.

Baghdash “jokingly” points the gun at Yang before lowering it and saluting, which leads to this masterful piece of cinematography.

My, they grow up so fast...

To appreciate the context of this scene, let’s back up and take a moment to peruse a photo album of the last year and a half of Julian’s life.

From making Yang tea and keeping house for him on Heinessen… (Episode 3, early 796)

...to trotting earnestly around after him in Thernusen… (Episode 10, mid 796)

...to getting to tag along to Iserlohn as an orderly… (Episode 16, late 796)

...to pledging to protect Yang if necessary… (Episode 17, early 797)

...to now. Mid 797, fifteen years old. Threatening to shoot a man for the crime of possibly contemplating killing someone Yang.

It’s impossible to talk about Julian without talking about his role in Yang’s life, because such a huge part of his own conception of his identity has to do with struggling to figure out exactly what that role is. We’ve seen his hero-worship manifest as copying Yang’s style and body language in the past, and he eagerly soaks up Yang’s lectures about battle tactics; but at the same time ever since his very first introduction it’s been clear that Julian’s own goals and skills are distinct from—even opposite—Yang’s: he enjoys cooking and cleaning while Yang is hopelessly lazy; he dreams of becoming a soldier while Yang dreams of escaping the military; he excels at physical combat while Yang apparently can’t hit the broad side of a barn.

These differences are part of why Julian sees himself as serving a purpose—he can do the various physical labor that doesn’t come naturally to Yang—but they’ve also introduced tension into their relationship starting way back in episode 3.

After responding to Julian’s expressed wish to become a soldier by ranting about how much he dislikes both soldiers and the war, Yang tells a rather downcast Julian that they’ll continue the discussion some other time. The only person who’s happy in this shot is Gensui, smiling smugly in the corner. We see you Gensui. Stop laughing at the humans’ drama.

The point of this little Julian Retrospective isn’t to show a transformation from meek housekeeper into badass soldier; on the contrary, Julian’s ambitions to join the military have been a constant of his character from the beginning, and so has his instinct to rush to Yang’s defense physically.

Did you think I could pass up a chance to show my favorite moment from episode 10 again? I told you this gif never gets old. Hang in there Julian, your moment will come!

But while Yang’s overt disapproval of Julian’s chosen path creates some background tension between them, we’ve never actually seen Julian be anything but deferential and eager to please in his direct interactions with Yang.

Until now.

I’m obsessed with Yang’s change of expression here. He goes from an initial (rather impressed) “holy shit Julian means business” reaction to, when Baghdash appeals to him, a more solemn “oh yeah it’s probably my job here to make sure Julian doesn’t actually shoot the guy” face.

Getting over his initial surprise, Yang adopts extremely relaxed body language as if to intentionally counter Julian’s rigid, aggressive pose and diffuse the tension. But Julian is not having it. The key line here is his blunt contradiction of Yang: “Riyuu wa arimasu!”—“There *is* a reason!”—which, while still in polite speech, is delivered with authority and without any markers of humility or deference.

Julian is there to protect Yang from a threat as he perceives it, in his own way, even if that means going against Yang’s own view of the situation and preferred way to handle it. This moment emphasizes that while Julian would—perhaps literally—kill for Yang, he is not trying to fashion himself into a mini-Yang, or even to stuff himself in a box labeled “Yang’s ideal protégé.” His identity is deeply tied to Yang but not erased by him.

Of course, Julian may be the one pointing a gun, but the actual authority in the room still resides with Yang—as becomes clear when Yang finally, laughing, orders Julian to stand down and dismisses Baghdash.

The timing of Yang’s laugh, after several seconds of silently letting Julian stand there looking badass, makes it feel more like a calculated strategy to diffuse the situation than something spontaneous.

The verb form here is actually the causative, “Hito-goroshi wa sasetakunai yo.”—“I don’t want to make you murder anyone.”

Far from acting upset with Julian’s theatrics, Yang seems some combination of proud and just kind of tickled. But despite Yang’s smile and his explanation of why he’s not worried about Baghdash, Julian’s expression remains angry; he may have argued further, but they’re interrupted by news from Heinessen...

Jessica

The rest of this episode is much less fun than watching Julian level guns at people. When 200,000 citizens gather in a stadium for a peaceful rally protesting the National Salvation Military Council’s takeover of their government, the council sees it as a challenge and sends a unit in to break it up and “restore order.” This leads to absolutely chilling scenes where the leader of that unit (whose name I neither know nor care about, fuck this guy) attempts to show that true power comes through violence by making an example of ten random people.

The question of whether there’s something inherently righteous about being willing to die for a cause is one that pervades the whole episode (and more broadly is one of the recurring themes of the show). I’ve talked before about how Yang is differentiated from many of the other Alliance commanders by his hatred of rhetoric about death being noble and honorable—in his tea speech in episode 6, for example, he motivates his soldiers to fight not for the glory of dying for a good cause but so that they can live to drink more good tea. This same contrast is again underlined by the speeches that Admiral Legrange and Yang give to their fleets before the battle in this episode.

Just like the asshole violently intimidating the crowd at the rally, this speech conflates courage with self-sacrifice, to the extent of willingly giving your life.

Also reinforced here is Yang’s belief in personal freedom and self-determination as the most important ideals, over allegiance to any particular nation or government. He’s not fighting against the military coup because the former Alliance government was so great, but because (as he told Schenkopp in episode 19) he sees the oppressive rule by force of the NSMC as worse.

It’s Jessica, the organizer of the rally, who delivers the most eloquent and impassioned critique of this equation of violence and death with righteousness; in response to the attacks against civilians she quickly steps forward to intervene:

This is a beautiful speech, but it has the effect of angering the asshole commander so much that he lashes out violently against her, which ultimately escalates into an all-out riot. It’s brutal and horrible to watch, and in the end over 20,000 people have been killed. Including Jessica.

Obviously Jessica is right on the front lines of her own battle. I love this line, as she steps forward out of the crowd to confront the military force: her “koko ni imasu” echoes the accusations of “doko ni imasu?” (“where are you?”) she leveled at Trunicht in her speech in episode 3. Unlike Trunicht and the other politicians, she is right there.

One thing to note about Jessica’s death is that unlike her fiancé Lapp, she is not fridged—her death is very much about her, her own principles and resistance against the oppression being carried out in her society. And while she has a semi-romantic history with Yang, this riot is not a plot device to somehow change his plans or how he approaches fighting the military council. In fact after we see him first react to the news, he never brings it up again. Jessica’s story is about her fight, not someone else’s.

History

Which brings us back to Yang’s office, where Frederica has just interrupted Julian and Yang’s discussion of (argument about?) Baghdash to tell Yang about the riot and Jessica’s death.

Until this moment, the show’s narrator has confined himself to either telling us facts about dates, locations, number of casualties, etc., or making vague, general claims about the nature of war. What he tells us here is different: “They say Yang Wenli said not a single word.” This is neither a fact of public record nor general academic philosophizing. It’s specific personal information which we can see, since we’re watching the scene unfold behind the narration, that only one person other than Yang himself could know. Hmm.

Stray Tidbits

Schenkopp spilling coffee on his uniform in a (pretty transparent?) attempt to distract Baghdash from inquiring further about Frederica is a cute callback to his first introduction, in which he flings a pot of coffee all over a bunch of random assholes who were yelling at a waitress for defiling their uniforms.

I cannot overstate how hilarious I find Dusty’s signature strategy of fucking with enemy fleets by alternately retreating and advancing. It’s adorable, smart, and strangely erotic all at the same time. Dusty, you are the best, never change.

I love the worldbuilding of all the random battle jargon that flies by in the background of this fight. I'm gonna qualify any directions I give from now on with "relative to the standard galactic plane."

You know you wanted this reaction gif, and we are here to give the people what they want. As long as what they want is cute Julian gifs, at least.

#Legend of Galactic Heroes #Legend of the Galactic Heroes #author: Rebecca #Alliance #battle #Jessica #Julian #Yang #Gensui #badass!Julian #history #death #narrator

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jade4813 · 8 years ago

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I would love to hear your thoughts on the S3 finale of the Flash.

I wanted to wait until I was at a computer so I wasn’t trying to formulate and type my thoughts on my phone, so I appreciate your patience.

So, here’s the thing. It wasn’t perfect. Like season 3 as a whole, it had some flaws. There are definitely some things that I think they need to improve next year. That said...I enjoyed it. I thought season 3 as a whole was loads better than season 2, and that goes for the finale as well.

In a sense, it is the least “dramatic” cliffhanger we’ve had, but particularly when you consider it alongside the first two season cliffhangers, I think it’s really good. Of course, Barry isn’t going anywhere. He COULD to be sure - the show could go on with Wally as Flash. But he won’t. For one thing, we know Grant isn’t going anywhere. We haven’t heard he’s leaving the show. Remember Once Upon a Time announced right before the finale aired that JM was leaving the show. If Grant was leaving for good, there’d be no reason to hold off on revealing it.

He’s not even gonna be gone past maybe the first five minutes of the first episode. Sure, they could bring him back at the halfway mark or so, but he is the star of the show - and Flash has demonstrated over the past three years that they take that Very Seriously. Of course, being the star of the show, much will naturally be about Barry, but they take it to mean EVERYTHING is about him in one way or another, really, and nobody should expect that is going to change too drastically in the next season. He’ll come back and it’ll be pretty early on in the premiere.

Now, there are things that left me with a certain level of dissatisfaction. Yes, I would have loved Iris to get more POV throughout the season and for the arc about her death to be more about HER. However, that wasn’t going to be retroactively changed in the finale - nor could it be. So some of my issues with Season 3 remain, but there really is no way they could have been fixed in the final episode, so they are what they are and we can only hope they are improved upon next season. I also am annoyed that they never gave Killer Frost’s motivations for her actions beyond “well, I TOTALLY have some, guys. Believe me. And they’re SUPER good reasons, too.” Well, that tells me that - once again - they wanted Caitlin in a certain role and didn’t bother bringing themselves to the point of actually considering why SHE would put herself in it. (Tip: You can’t just say that a character has justified motivation behind her actions; you should actually bother to think about what that might be and maybe, I dunno, let the audience in on the secret at some point. Otherwise it’s clear you’re just SAYING they have reasons for their actions but you haven’t bothered to think of any.)

It also is irritating as hell that they could never quite resolve themselves on what they wanted Killer Frost to BE. Either it’s a force outside of Caitlin’s control or it isn’t. Either she’s evil and wholly distinct from Caitlin like a parasite feeding on a host or she’s still Caitlin, and everything she did is something Caitlin really wanted to say and do deep down. Either she was an invasion or a choice. The waffling they did on that to come down in a vague sort of nebulous “nowhere” is an irritating copout. Pick your narrative. Then have the balls to stick to it, WHATEVER that narrative is.

I don’t really care about HRs death. Maybe if he hadn’t died or left every single year of the show so far, it would have more impact? As it is...I saw someone say that the show went from the most impactful death to the least, and I would probably agree. There were times I liked HR; there were moments he made me laugh. And I never really realized (as others did) how much Harry’s whispervoice grated until it came out in full force and in comparison. But TC’s characters have died/left every. single. year and he keeps coming back, so am I going to be sobbing in my beer over it? Not really.

The grief at the top of the show ripped out my heart - JLM’s collapse, Barry rocking Iris’s body, Iris’s tears...I was glad that she tried to stop HR, and I do think that they set up an interesting contrast (unintentionally maybe) between Iris and Caitlin. That could lead to something interesting next season if they choose to take advantage of it. I’m not holding my breath that they’ll give that much consideration to Caitlin’s story to do so.

And I loved Iris getting through to Savitar. I liked Barry realizing that anger and grief and vengeance aren’t always the answer. In a sense, he’s always acted emotionally in the past two finales. The first, he was driven by grief and rage to go back and try to save his mom, only to change his mind and come back to the present and oops there’s a black hole now. The second, he was driven by grief and rage to create Flashpoint. It was nice that this season, he made a conscious decision: The rage and grief are in him, so he could choose to act on it. Or he could choose to be a hero and try to find another way.

The other way may not have gone according to plan, but I do like that he was brave enough to try it. And, really, it won’t always work...but heroes have to choose what kind of people they are going to be. One of the themes of the season was Barry not losing himself, and in the end he didn’t.

I also really loved the cliffhanger. Again, we know - more than perhaps the last two seasons - how the premiere is going to go. HOWEVER. I like the parallel. The first two finales utilized the speedforce as well, but, again, both times, Barry was acting in grief and rage. This time, he entered it with resolve and maturity and as a demonstration of his willingness to learn from his mistakes and accept the consequences of them. And hasn’t that been something people have been YELLING for him to do for two years now? So it’s not a HAPPY ending, but as a demonstration of how far Barry came this year? It’s a pretty damn good one.

Also? Candice killed it.

I am looking forward to next year. I hope when Barry gets out, they’ll allow him to have that lightness back to his spirit. There are things that they need to improve...but I’ll be honest. People refer to Season 1 as the halcyon days of yore sometimes, but...come on. It was hardly perfect. Even as regards Iris as a character or how they treated Westallen. We spent a good chunk of it yelling for everyone to stop patronizing Iris and treat her like an adult who could be let in on the secret and make her own decisions. Her journalism story was perhaps better than it was this season as a whole, but it was still treated like an afterthought more than it should have been.

There are problems that the show needs to fix, but they are problems that the show has ALWAYS had. I do not expect them to be 100% fixed, but I live in eternal hope that they will be better than they have been in the next year.

And, really, in a lot of ways...Season 3 is still a MASSIVE improvement on Season 2. Even when it comes to Iris. Because while it is true we SHOULD have gotten her POV more and we SHOULD have gotten a journalism arc and the story of her death SHOULD have been about her more than it was...it’s also true that the story about Francine SHOULD have been more about her than it was (it was about her for like two and a half minutes before it became immediately hijacked to be about Joe finding out he had a son) and we SHOULD have seen more of how that story impacted her and we SHOULD have gotten her POV for more of what happened in season 2 throughout and...really...even if she’d had more of a POV in season 2 (and that’s arguable at BEST)...does it really matter if you’re never on screen to express it? I mean, Iris can be sitting in a corner saying to the wall, “I feel really conflicted about my mom’s return,” but if the show is only going to show Barry and Joe talking about it for five nanoseconds does it really matter? (“How’s Iris doing?” “She’s okay but she’s conflicted. Hey, is that a cheese danish? I love these. I used to go to this little bakery...”)

Ultimately...it wasn’t perfect. There are things that the show has to fix. There are things they’ve needed to fix from the beginning. Some of those things...they’ve gotten better at in some ways but still haven’t fixed the main issue. Some of those things (like Barry being the undisputed center of everyone else’s stories)...well, to be honest, I’ve accepted that are just not part of the fabric of how they view or approach the show, so I don’t really expect to ever change.

But I liked the season 3 finale. I think it leaves Iris and Barry and Joe and Wally all at REALLY good and interesting places for season 4. I think we’ll get to see Iris and Wally working together at the beginning as heroes and hopefully we will get that promised focus on journalism. I think there are interesting places they could go with Cisco and Frostlin. And, ultimately, I think that IF THEY EMBRACE IT, they’ve set themselves up for a more optimistic and CERTAINLY less angsty and dark season 4. At the moment, there is no reason for Barry to come out of that speed force like a self-hating sad sack. So hopefully the tone of S4 will be happier, too.

So I’m happy with it! I’m looking forward to S4 and the payoff of both the wedding and the twins and/or Bart.

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ourcollectivefantasy · 8 years ago

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OTP Asks (Jericho x Iloam version)

ourcollectivefantasy

anonymous asked:

Why aren't all these questions OT3 questions instead? :(

I am jumping on the bandwagon a bit late, (sorry!) but I will go through the ones Ael did and do my best to answer them for Jericho and Iloam, considering these two are actually really close and sweet...but it rarely gets displayed in the public eye. 3. Most common argument? They don’t argue often. Bicker? Absolutely. Grumble at each other when they’re in pissy moods? Sure. Arguments between them though typically result in large blow outs and one time they didn’t speak or see one another for nine months. If anything, it’s usually about Iloam trying to go off and do something on his own without letting Jericho help when he’s perfectly capable and willing, but Iloam has walls for a reason and so Jer just tries to slowly and patiently chip away at them a little at a time. Jer can be just as stubborn though, so really...this is a two way street. 4. Favorite non-sexual activity? Unlike Aelberyn, Jericho and Iloam can spar because they both know when to stop...whereas Aelberyn likes to take it to 11. Still, I think even more than that, their favorite activity is their occasional road trips on the bikes. They’ll just go out for a few days, maybe a week at most and camp and hunt and ride and it’s just the two of them away from all their responsibilities. This is especially important for Jericho, who’s usually drowning in them. Having time to reconnect with Iloam definitely helps ground him. 5. Who is most likely to carry the other? Jericho *has* carried Iloam a few times in the past, but usually it’s with a TON of protest on Iloam’s part. It doesn’t happen often though, that’s for certain. 6. What is their favorite feature of their partner’s?

That’s tough, but I think Jericho would honestly say Iloam’s lips. They are incredibly plush and full, an odd contrast with his otherwise sleek and lean build and that damn smile of his gets him out of more trouble than is even remotely fair.

7. What’s the first thing that changes when they realize they have feelings for the other? Oye, this is...going waaay back. Fun fact. Jericho was not a bisexual character when he was created. Fortunately, or unfortunately, he met an infuriatingly charming rogue named Iloam. It was honestly a struggle for him, because Jericho isn’t some young elf figuring himself out. He was fairly certain he knew what he was and who he was and what he liked. It threw so many of his assumptions about himself into disarray that it was literally months before he could mentally relax enough to even begin to explore his attraction to Iloam. To Iloam’s credit, he was exceedingly patient. Far more than most would give him credit for, I’d bet. Still, they started as best friends and they shared similar broken pieces and a deep understanding that grew into affection over time. When attraction entered the picture and became a regularly acted upon thing...well, Jericho was shocked to realize he’d fallen for the redheaded rogue. The physical closeness was the part that changed the most, honestly and it just added an element of intimacy and even romance to their already solid friendship. It was actually a very gradual and natural progression by most standards. 8. Nicknames? & if so, how did they originate? Ha. This goes back to the very, very beginning. Might have even been the first or second time they met, if I recall correctly. Back then, Jericho was a DK and had pale teal/blue hair all over. Iloam, being the smartass he always is randomly called him “Blue” back when they barely knew each other. Without missing a beat, Jer just looked at him and started calling him “Red” and thus, the Blue and Red nicknames were born. They still refer to one another as such and it’s definitely become a term of affection for both. 9. Who worries the most? They both worry, but about different things. Jericho’s concerns are more focused on making sure his many businesses are running smoothly, keeping track of contract and profits and now, all the Hall affairs. He worries if he’s put enough money into the servants’ quarters he refurbished not long ago, did he expand them enough, do the hall soldiers have good enough equipment, armor and weapons? That sort of thing. I think Iloam’s concerns are more localized and on a personal level and many revolve around keeping his loved ones safe - paranoid rogue minds and all! Both of them however worry plenty about the Twins and despite knowing they are not his biologically, Jericho is in love with those children. Sean especially has him wrapped around her little finger. 10. Who remembers what the other one always orders at a restaurant? Considering Iloam rarely eats...Jericho, but Iloam *does* pay attention to the habits of his lovers and likely has a long list of mental notes that he just never has reason to share. 11. Who tops?

Interestingly enough, this does vary. Iloam is a top by nature and so much of their early sex resulted in this, but as Jericho grew more comfortable in his bisexuality and became aggressive, Iloam began to accommodate him a fair bit. I think they sort of read each other well enough to decide who sort of “needs” it more and so it does switch up from time to time. 12. Who initiates kisses? That...depends. Jericho isn’t very PDA with Iloam, but in private he doesn’t hold back. Maybe it’s *because* Jericho isn’t big on PDAs that Iloam likes to initiate kisses with a decent frequency, but I’m honestly not sure! 13. Who reaches for the other’s hand first? Again, I think this depends on their moods. Jericho will not hesitate to reach for Iloam, public or not, if he thinks the rogue needs even some subtle support. Iloam has a very chaotic and fiery personality and Jericho tends to act as a grounding agent for that when Iloam is struggling. Alternatively, Iloam is one of the few people who can get through to Jer when he is at his absolutely worst and lowest. Sometimes, even with a simple touch of the hand. 14. Who kisses the hardest? I’d say this is very close, but probably Iloam. It’s just his nature. He’s fiery, explosive and intensely passionate. Jericho is as well, but he’s more of a volcano...a slow build up to the heat, where as Iloam is like a wildfire that can instantly consume everything around it just by being what it is. 15. Who wakes up first? These days? I’d say they are fairly equal. Jericho doesn’t really need sleep and Iloam functions on barely any. 16. Who wants to stay in bed just a little longer? I’d say Iloam, but usually it’s to continue sexy shenanigans. Especially with how busy and closed off Jericho’s been in dealing with his issues lately, Iloam definitely tries to capitalize on the time they do get together and rightfully so. 17. Who says I love you first? I think at first, Jericho probably said it more readily, but now? I feel like it’s fairly equal. Iloam has become more affectionate over time and perhaps it’s just the fact that they’ve been together for nearly seven years now, but they are comfortable with one another in ways they never were before.

18. Who leaves little notes in the other’s one lunch? (Bonus: what does it usually say?)

Well, Iloam doesn’t *eat* lunches hardly ever, but I can definitely see notes being left on both sides. Probably less on the adorable side and more on the sexy side...I’m sure Jericho has found inappropriate notes in many a suit pocket over the years. Mostly because Iloam loves getting under Jer’s skin, whether it’s needling him and making him grumbly or trying to get a whole different rise out of him. ;)

19. Who tells their family/friends about their relationship first? I don’t think either of them are inclined to discuss their personal relationship. Jericho has always been a private person and when he married Aelberyn and was sort of dragged into the spotlight that nobles inevitably end up in, it took some getting used to. Iloam is a guy who doesn’t kiss and tell, so probably neither. 20. What do their family/friends think of their relationship? Aelberyn is probably the only one who truly understands enough of their relationship to make sense of it one way or the other. There was a time when she did express some jealousy of Jericho’s bond with Iloam, but over time, she’s come to accept that Jericho fills a different role in Iloam’s life and that he’s never attempted and never would attempt to come between them. That’s the whole reason Iloam wanted Jericho to marry Aelberyn in the first place. It enabled Aelberyn to have a face to lead her house that would also allow them to be together. Hell, that’s even why he doesn’t stay in bed with the couple very long after they have their time together...he feels like he’s intruding on time that should be spent between the pair. 21. Who is more likely to start dancing with the other? Iloam. Absolutely. Jericho knows damn well his style of dancing (he took ballroom dancing lessons as a young man) does *not* mesh with Iloam’s and so he typically will just observe, though that doesn’t stop Iloam from trying to lure him out.

22. Who cooks more/who is better at cooking? Jericho cooks more, definitely. He has always loved food and has an appreciation for *good* food considering he grew up a vassal. They weren’t destitute, but they were hardly well off. His very first business venture was a restaurant in Dalaran he designed and came up with the concept for himself. Still, Iloam is a much more skilled cook than most would expect, though he does it rarely. Jericho definitely considers it a rare treat when Iloam cooks for him. 23. Who comes up with cheesy pick up lines? I think Iloam would do this more than Jericho, though Aelberyn definitely holds the title of cheesy pick up lines. Jericho is generally smooth with his flirting/pick up lines, to the point that it drives Iloam nuts and he usually has a comment or an eyeroll ready. 24. Who whispers inappropriate things in the other’s ear during inappropriate times? Iloam. Jericho will do this on occasion, but Iloam is the master of sending illicit thoughts or imagery or commentary over the mindlink. Usually when Jericho is trying to concentrate on something. 25. Who needs more assurance? Jericho probably does, considering Iloam takes far more lovers than him. Though interestingly enough, Jericho didn’t really get his first spike of jealousy until Iloam started seeing Lain. It was the first man that Iloam had more than a passing fling with and Jericho definitely felt like he was just being slowly replaced. He retreated subtly for quite a while until that whole mess was worked through. I’m not sure if Iloam has been doubting things at all recently himself? 26. What would be their theme song? Oooof. This is HARD. Shit. I know Iloam’s Mun would have a wildly different idea, but this is the best thing I can come up with on the spot. (I may change it later, but for now...I am going to cheat and use something that is a throwback to when Jericho owned and sang at his club on occasion. Jericho sang this one and was totally singing it to Iloam, though whether anyone knew that or not besides Aelberyn, I have no idea...)

youtube

27. Who would sing to their child back to sleep? Both. Absolutely. Though they’ve never actually done it together yet, both of them have taken their own time to sing to the Twins, considering they both have excellent singing voices. Jericho would often go into the nursery late at night and seek comfort in the act, especially when he was dealing with his jealousy and fear of being replaced by Lain. 28. What do they do when they’re away from each other? They both have their own lives, but currently with Jericho on the front lines on the Broken Isles and Iloam holding down the fort back home, I like to imagine that they keep in contact with nightly conversations over the mindlink while Aelberyn and Lyandiel are asleep. Light knows Jer could use the pick me up in his current state of mind, especially. 29. one headcanon about this OTP that breaks your heart The NINE MONTHS where the two of them didn’t speak or really even see each other totally broke my heart OOC. It was brutal and long and both I and Iloam’s Mun were all sadface every time we talked about it. Jericho had restored himself to a living state from being a DK after Iloam had been the one person who protested the decision. Iloam’s protest was based on the fact that Jericho was basically immortal and essentially gave that up and Iloam loathed the idea of ever having to bury his lover and friend. It was a loooong nine months and neither of them were very happy. :( 30. one headcanon about this OTP that mends it Referencing the last post, I have to say when they made up, because holy shit they made up in the most epic of ways, lol. By the end of the nine months, Jericho was at his wit’s end and kept trying to reach out to Iloam, but without success. Aelberyn suggested Jericho come with her when she went to visit Iloam out in Pandaria. (He was staying at one of the temples, though I forget which right now.) During that visit, Jericho basically looked at Iloam and said, “What can I do to make it up to you? I’ll do anything you want.” Iloam’s instant response was of course, “Anyt’ing?” I really should’ve been tipped off then how fucked Jer was lol, but Iloam pulled out a GoT level move that neither myself nor Aelberyn’s mun had any warning of. THAT is when he told Jericho that he wanted him to marry Aelberyn. Granted...a loooot of angst came out of the following story arc, but ultimately it was a very sweet move on Iloam’s part. He was looking out for the future of Ael’s house, his future with her AND he found a way to make sure Jericho always stayed around. It was a brilliant master stroke that I look back on and admire to this day!

#otp asks #answers #Jericho x Iloam #Red x Blue

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cabiba · 7 years ago

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If you ask most people with only a passing knowledge of Christianity to explain the differences between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism, they’ll probably mention communion. Catholics believe the bread and wine literally turn into the body and blood of Jesus Christ, while for Protestants the ritual is merely symbolic. Something like that? Martin Luther would have been horrified.The man credited with kickstarting the Protestant Reformation 500 years ago this month very much believed in the ‘real presence’ of Christ’s body and blood when Christians take communion. Among other things, Luther took issue with the Catholic church’s particular doctrine of transubstantiation, an attempt to square the miracle with Aristotelian metaphysics, but he certainly did not question the miracle itself. The Swiss reformer Ulrich Zwingli did suggest communion was more commemorative than ‘effective’, an idea that rubbed off on the hot-and-cold English Reformation. But even John Calvin, the most intellectually thorough reformer, maintained that the bread and wine were visible signs of Christ’s spiritual presence, not props in an empty ritual.To modern ears, of course, ‘spiritually present’ sounds a lot like ‘not really present’. Something that is not literally true is just not true. For the reformers, however, the spiritual was very real – and Christ’s spiritual presence was therefore no less miraculous than the gorier Catholic version. But the details mattered, because religion was not only a matter of life and death; it was more important than that. It was about eternity.As a young monk visiting Rome, Luther had been shocked at the worldliness of his fellow Catholics. There were smirky rumours that Roman priests mumbled under their breath as they celebrated Mass, ‘Panis es, panis manebis, vinum es, vinum manebis’ – you are bread and wine and will stay that way. At least that’s Latin. Luther’s direct experience was of priests who didn’t even know the mother tongue of the Church, rushing congregants along as they went through the motions carelessly and making a mockery of the whole thing (1).

Luther saw priests who didn’t even know the mother tongue of the Church, rushing congregants along as they went through the motions, making a mockery of the service

This is not to say ordinary Catholics were not pious, but to Luther and other reformers, the Church itself seemed far too at home in the world, with little apparent need for or interest in a supernatural God, except as an idea useful for wringing money out of the gullible masses, rich and poor. At the risk of stating the obvious, the Reformation was all about God.

Looking back on how the Reformation had swept from Wittenberg and thrown all Christendom into turmoil, Luther downplayed his own agency: ‘I simply taught, preached, and wrote God’s Word; otherwise I did nothing. And while I slept, or drank Wittenberg beer with my friends Philip and Amsdorf, the Word so greatly weakened the papacy that no prince or emperor ever inflicted such losses upon it. I did nothing; the Word did everything’. (2)

So the Reformation is best understood as a religious revival rather than a mere reform movement. It was emphatically not about bringing Christianity up to date. Calvin wrote to his Catholic antagonist Cardinal Sadoleto, ‘our agreement with antiquity is far closer than yours’. The Reformation was an attempt to ‘renew that ancient form of the church’ that had been ‘distorted by illiterate men’ and ‘was afterwards flagitiously mangled and almost destroyed by the Roman Pontiff and his faction’ (3).

It was not only a revival in the sense of a return to orthodoxy, however, but also in the sense of a popular religious movement. And it was not intellectual hair-splitting or indeed umbrage at flagitious mangling that inspired thousands and then millions of Christians to embrace religious reform: it began as a powerful appeal to individual believers as persons. While the role of the printing press in driving the Reformation is rightly celebrated, arguably an even greater vehicle of reform was the sermon. The sermon was not a staple part of a medieval Catholic church service for ordinary Christians. For the most part, people showed up, heard priests mumble in Latin, swallowed their communion bread (the wine was just for priests, so the plebs wouldn’t spill it) and left. In contrast, the reformers preached to them, talking in their own language about things they had perhaps never thought about before. Some people, at least, seem to have loved it.

It is an oft-noted irony that the Reformation in many ways paved the way for secular modernity – individualism, capitalism, even atheism – but the irony may be deeper than is often appreciated. Jean Delumeau, the French historian of the Catholic Church, sees both the Reformation and the Catholic counter-Reformation (through which the Church cleaned up its act in various ways) as aspects of Christianisation, moving away from a popular medieval religiosity that was not far from paganism (4).

What if it were not simply a case of a religious movement unwittingly speeding the demise of religion, but of Christianity properly establishing itself in Europe for the first time? The seeds of secularism would then be less an accidental consequence of a disruption of the established order than something essential to Christianity itself. Something like this is argued by Theo Hobson in his recent book God Created Humanism (5). In any case, the essence of Christianity was very much at stake in the debates surrounding the Reformation.

In Why the Reformation Still Matters, Christian authors Tim Chester and Michael Reeves emphasise that the issue was not simply the corruption and worldliness of the Roman Catholic Church: ‘The problem was not a moral issue – the Reformers accepted that on Earth and in history the church would always have elements of corruption. The issue was theological. Luther had described justification by faith as “the article by which the church stands or falls”. Since the medieval Catholic Church was denying justification by faith through its teaching and practice, it was fallen.’ (6)

But perhaps morality and theology cannot be so easily separated. Luther’s theology arose from an intense psychological struggle, and it was that struggle that led him to the issue of ‘justification by faith’. Karl Marx famously described religion as ‘the opium of the masses’, and less famously as ‘the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world’. The point was not that religion dupes people, so much as that it comforts them in their misery. But the young Luther’s faith was anything but comforting. He felt deeply, personally convicted of sin – not in a trivial sense of guilt about particular transgressions, but in a more existential sense.

When Jesus was asked which commandment was the most important of all, he answered, ‘you shall love the lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength’, and ‘you shall love your neighbour as yourself’. What would that mean in practice? And when you think about it, how can anyone possibly live up to it? How do you make yourself love a distant, mysterious entity you can never be completely sure even exists? And how can you care about every Tom, Dick and Harriet you bump into as much as you care about yourself? Never mind. Christianity is a religion for sinners, not saints. And Jesus died for our sins. So, nothing to worry about?

The Catholic Church taught that Jesus saves sinners’ souls, but it also asked the sinners to do their bit. One Our Father, 10 Hail Marys, something for the collection box. That stuff about love, too, sure. And it wasn’t shy about suggesting their salvation depended on it. As Patrick Collinson puts it in describing Luther’s early years in the monastery, ‘The sermons Luther heard and the theology he was taught made salvation a matter of God’s grace, not something that could be bought with a virtuous life. But for grace to work it was necessary for a man to do what he could from his side of the equation: facere quod in se est [do what you can]. How could Luther know that he had ever tried enough?’ (7)

We might say that Christian faith in God is like a child’s response to its parents’ love, its recognition not of their existence but of their status as parents

Relief finally came when Luther decided there was no Biblical warrant for that nasty bit of Latin. The Scriptures, and in particular Paul’s letter to the Romans, taught that Christians are justified by faith alone. They are imputed with the righteousness of Christ, regardless of their own sin. It is an entirely external thing and it comes first, before they are expected to do good works in loving response, and with the help of the Holy Spirit. For Luther, this was the best news since the gospel itself.

The best secular analogy might be the difference between a parent telling his or her child, ‘I love you. Now do your best,’ and saying, ‘Do your best. And then I’ll decide if you’re worthy of my love’. According to a certain ‘economic’ logic, the latter approach should incentivise better behaviour, but if you know anything about human beings, you know the opposite is true.

But what about justification ‘by faith’? Is this not just another kind of qualification, requiring something of the sinner in return for justification? One of Luther’s early adversaries was Cardinal Cajetan, sent by the Pope to confront him at the Diet of Augsburg in 1518, where the question of faith was pivotal. Lyndal Roper explains: ‘Luther argued that the sacraments [such as communion] were ineffective without faith, while Cajetan insisted that they were valid in and of themselves; indeed, as the cardinal argued, since one could never be entirely sure of one’s faith, it was vitally important that the sacraments did not depend on it.’ (8)

This brings us to an important clarification about the meaning of faith in the Protestant tradition. In his book Calvin and the Christian Life, Michael Horton notes: ‘Calvin recognises that “unbelief is… always mixed with faith” in every Christian. He frequently reminds us that it is not the quality of faith, but the object of faith, that justifies. “Our faith is never perfect… we are partly unbelievers.”’ (9). It is the object of faith, God, who bears the burden.

Returning to the parent-child analogy, we might say that Christian faith in God is like a child’s response to his or her parents’ love, his or her recognition not of their existence but of their status as parents. A child’s dinner is ‘effective’ regardless of how he or she feels about it. But the love of a parent, which is sometimes manifested in the form of dinner, steadily elicits something else in the child. Trust, gratitude, reciprocal love, even – the things that make Christmas more than a transfer of expensive objects from parent to child. But a loving parent does not test the child’s feelings for authenticity. Most reformers were content to accept the fact that some congregants would not be faithful: in the spirit of Jesus’ parable of the tares, they would allow the weeds to grow along with the wheat till harvest time.

In this respect, there is an important distinction between the mainstream, so-called magisterial Reformation and the ostensibly more radical, Anabaptist tradition. Anabaptist means ‘rebaptised’ – because they believed Christians should be baptised as adults, making a conscious decision to embrace Christianity rather than simply being born into it as babies. There were various Anabaptist sects, including some socially radical ones that were later claimed as harbingers of the age of political revolution, though it is the pacifist, separatist wing of that tradition that survives in the likes of the Mennonites today.

Far from bringing about the ‘disenchantment’ of Europe, the Reformation imbued everyday life for Christians with new meaning

In world historical terms, the magisterial Reformation was far more important. The name comes from the fact that the Lutherans and Calvinists sought the support of the secular powers, whether princes or magistrates. That was how they were able to ‘turn’ whole cities, provinces and even countries Protestant without unleashing anarchy. Luther argued that princes had the right to act as ‘emergency bishops’, reforming the faith and society in line with reformed teaching (10). Separation of church and state it was not, but it did affirm the legitimacy of territorial, secular authority, beginning the process that would lead to the development of the modern nation state, whose people are citizens by default and not by choice.

Observing that the Anabaptists sought a ‘pure church’, Luther once commented: ‘But I neither can nor may as yet set up such a congregation; for I do not as yet have the people for it.’ (11) He was unwittingly anticipating his countryman Bertolt Brecht, who four centuries later suggested ironically that the East German Communist government should dissolve its unsatisfactory people and elect another. The Reformation was about preparing for the Kingdom of God, not establishing it.

And arguably it was the reformers confidence in the Kingdom of God that allowed them to affirm the value of the mundane, material world, and the validity of secular ‘callings’. Anticipating Adam Smith this time: ‘When we pray, “Give us this day our daily bread,” Luther says, God answers it “not directly as when he gave manna to the Israelites, but through the work of farmers and bakers”. They are God’s “masks”.’ (12) In attending to their own work as businessmen, tradesmen and labourers, or indeed mothers, cleaners and servants, ordinary Christians were no less holy than priests and monks.

Arguably then, far from bringing about the ‘disenchantment’ of Europe, the Reformation imbued everyday life for Christians with new meaning. Of course, it would have been experienced very differently by its leaders and their enthusiastic followers, for whom it was a kind of personal awakening and psychological liberation, and those simply carried along in its wake, for many of whom it would have meant unwelcome disruption to no obvious purpose. Of course, the Reformation also led to vicious wars that lasted generations, but then Catholic Europe before that had hardly been noted for its Christian peace and harmony. The Reformation also imbued bloody power struggles with new meaning.

Ultimately it is impossible to say what would have happened had the Reformation never happened, or had it happened very differently. Looking back on what was significant about it at the time, however, it is possible to see it less as a bridge between the medieval and modern worlds than as reminder that the human story is more complicated than that. It was an historical process that involved both deep personal introspection and engagement with interwoven traditions of human thought going back millennia (partly made possible by the earlier Renaissance).

It also reflected both a persistent human intuition that there is more to life than animal existence and a yearning to transcend the merely human. Given the persistence of religion across much of the world, it remains to be seen whether those things will ever be fully secularised. In any case, anyone willing to take seriously the various debates and controversies thrown up over the course of the Reformation will find that in perhaps surprising ways they remain deeply relevant to the question of what it is to be human and how we ought to live.

Dolan Cummings is a writer based in London. He is the author of That Existential Leap: A Crime Story is published by Zero Books. (Buy this book from Amazon(UK).)

Picture published under a creative commons license.

(1) Young Man Luther, by Erik Erikson, WW Norton, 1993.

(2) Calvin on the Christian Life: Glorifying and Enjoying God Forever, by Michael Horton, Crossway, 2014.

(3) Calvin on the Christian Life: Glorifying and Enjoying God Forever, by Michael Horton, Crossway, 2014.

(4) The Reformation: a history, by Patrick Collinson, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2003.

(5) God Created Humanism, by Theo Hobson, SPCK, 2017.

(6) Why the Reformation Still Matters, by Tim Chester and Michael Reeves, Crossway, 2016.

(7) The Reformation: a history, by Patrick Collinson, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2003.

(8) Martin Luther: Renegade and Prophet, by Lyndal Roper, Bodley Head, 2016.

(9) Calvin on the Christian Life: Glorifying and Enjoying God Forever, by Michael Horton, Crossway, 2014.

(10) Martin Luther: Renegade and Prophet, by Lyndal Roper, Bodley Head, 2016.

(11) Calvin on the Christian Life: Glorifying and Enjoying God Forever, by Michael Horton, Crossway, 2014.

(12) Calvin on the Christian Life: Glorifying and Enjoying God Forever, by Michael Horton, Crossway, 2014.

#luther #calvinism #reformation

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