#Kira cooper

[queen-daya]

Every KC Cooper Outfit (22/?)

“Do women not get a chance to bid around here? Cause if not, I'm gonna be madder than a sack of cats.”

[lost-in-beacon-hills]

That feeling when the "powerful" character has no control over their love for someone. They just let it destroy them.

[we-ezer]

fic where the gcpd has L on loan for a case but he solves it too quick and now he’s making his way thru their cold cases and tim notices bc he also solves them in his free time so now they’re racing against each other to see who can solve more

[thatwashhingmashine]

uh.

I may have done something.

KC: Undercover and Lab rats should’ve had a crossover episode I think.

[littlestar2rayoflight]

My beloved boyfriend Teddy @youngirlsofrochefort is raisin***g mo***ney for his top surgery expe***nses!! We were mutuals-in-laws for years before we met irl in our art history class and fell in love (his url used to be @gayrsl if that rings any bells!!), please consider do****nating to help him get surgery!!! We are a tumblrina love success story and tumblr was very important to both of us coming to terms with our transness :)) LOVE YOU ALL reblogs are also greatly appreciated!!!

His v€nm0 is @theodoreheil btw if you want to dona***te without gofu***ndeme taking a percentage

[jupitermelichios]

In response to this post from @couldtheycatchkira which asks a very good and important question, but does not specify what timeline and/or dimension we're dealing with:

Which versions of Betty and Jughead would be most likely to catch Kira from Death Note and survive?

For clarification, Kira can kill you pretty much instantly if he knows your name and face. Catching Kira requires you to accept that the supernatural exists, and to be able to intuit the rules by which it opperates, as well as needing exceptional detective skills (or supernatural abilities that let you learn things you wouldn't otherwise have known) since he's not a public figure.

Also yes I've split the original timeline up by season, it's just more fun that way. And for the purposes of this poll, we are assuming the Riverdale Time Hole (TM) allows information to flow normally in and out of Riverdale, and all of them except season 7 have access to modern technology if required.

No one on the original poll can make up their minds whether dying and then coming back to life, or dying and being replaced by a multiversal double, or dying and then having your death undone by the archangel raphael/satan/tabith tate/cheryl/immortal jughead from the bunker still counts as dying, so I leave it up to your discretion.

[myempireofsalt]

Catalyst WIP

A short clip of something coming about a chapter or two from the current that I'm happy with.

"If I might trouble you a little longer, would you grant me a favor?" the former Count watches as Vala's shoulders stiffen. Her expression remains that too-familiar mix of wishing to flee out the nearest window and guilty obligation.

I ask one last favor of you.

At least the eyes in the man before her's face are filled with life. Lined with grief and the stress of age weighing their corners as cleaves within mountain stone even as they are. 

A slow nod, heavy as the sword lying at rest within the job stone nestled at the hollow of her throat. "Ask it and it is yours."

"Careful," Edmont cautions her, eyes half-consumed by the smile her grave answer conjures forth. "I might take advantage and ask you to pack your Scions and sequester them here in Ishgard in selfishness."

He leans forward, hands gripping the smooth dome of his cane topper with intent. "Would you indulge me with a private performance? Particularly the one you would serenade young Alphinaud with during your time here."

A beat. "If I am not mistaken, it is also the very same I have heard over my son's grave as well."

Her heart sinks into her stomach and freezes colder than the night outside. Cheeks aflame with shame and embarrassment, it takes Vala a precious double fistful of seconds to manage a response."You-"

"Were not asleep, no." His smile fades. "You held my son's word and offering of his honor, but not my trust. I was not going to sleep undisturbed with strangers in my home."

Vala's mouth thins, jaw clenched briefly as she grapples with the emotions his words invoke. Embarrassment, as those were private moments between herself and Alphinaud, the boy she considered her adopted kit, and Haurchefant, her former lover and friend besides. Humiliation at the thought that she had been trusted– and how she was so foolish to believe that one's generosity equals trust. 

Yet another reason to doubt herself, her own judgment; there are too few people who say what they mean and mean it genuinely in this outside world. 

I want to go home.

The thought springs unwelcome, unbidden, to the front of her thoughts. The desire and sheer force of want has her eye casting in Golmore's direction. East. Ever, ever east. Far, far away to the east and south where a life she knew and loved and understood lie eternal and unchanging. Predictable in its unpredictability and dangers known and unknown alike.  

But she can't. Like the world of the Ancients. Like the former shards of the worlds destroyed in their attempt to make this one whole again.

Home does not exist for her; there is no going back.

[abs0luteb4stard]

W ⋀ T C H I N G

(Unrated Edition)

[gbhbl]

Horror Movie Review: M3GAN (2022)

When Gemma becomes the unexpected caretaker of her 8-year-old niece, she decides to give the girl an AI prototype, a decision that leads to unimaginable consequences.

M3GAN is a 2022 American science fiction horror film directed by Gerard Johnstone, written by Akela Cooper from a story by Cooper and James Wan (who also produced with Jason Blum), and starring Allison Williams and Violet McGraw, with Amie Donald physically portraying M3GAN and Jenna Davis voicing the character. A young girl named Cady and her parents are involved in a car accident in the snow,…

[corviiids]

oh would love to see ur breakdown of whether or not miles could do it tho. if not him then do u think polly could do it

verdict: miles edgeworth could beat kira but not without help and significant damage to his psyche. as a player character he could do it with support. as an npc he would support phoenix to figure it out but would argue the entire time

could miles edgeworth intuit the mechanics of the death note

not at first instance. probably not at all. i think if miles edgeworth received the right combination of clues and/or (but preferably and) was forced to eliminate literally every other option, he would accept the mechanics of the death note as factual. however i don't think 'magic notebook that kills people' would ever enter miles edgeworth's mental realm of things that are possible without someone/something very firmly pointing him towards that fact. he would not arrive at this conclusion on his own. also, phoenix meekly bringing up the possibility in court would give him a migraine.

could miles edgeworth identify light yagami

yes. i think edgeworth would ultimately be able to kira even without intuiting the death note's mechanics. i think figuring out how the book works is the very last stage in this inquisition. but i think he would be able to ID light as a person of interest even without solid information on means and i also think he would really enjoy his verbal battle with light yagami and by enjoy i mean miles edgeworth enjoys talking to people that make him want to tear his hair out. can we all take a second to imagine mind chess/logic chess light yagami edition? can we please think about that

could miles edgeworth survive

yes - see my post about shi long lang:

yes i think he survives owing to the rules of the ace attorney universe which he brought with him, namely that a culprit in ace attorney will politely sit and cooperate while you argue with them and will admit when you've defeated them in argument, which is the least realistic thing about ace attorney. so i think light wouldn't make a move to try and kill lang until his Culprit Breakdown, at which point lang could simply kick him in the shins and pluck the notebook out of his hands because light is three toothpicks taped together.

(miles wouldnt kick light in the shins but if lang, franziska, kay, or gumshoe is there they would do it for him while miles does that arms crossed eyes closed pose about it.)

also noteworthy is that miles would give a speech about how he would gladly risk his own life to kira if it means uncovering the truth

(i put apollo under the cut because this post is too long)

verdict: apollo justice could beat light yagami but i think he would need trucy for help and motivation

could apollo intuit the mechanics of the death note

not organically but i think in true trained by phoenix wright tradition he'd kind of arrive there in a moment of panic by pure accident. trucy would say something nuts and apollo would be like

APOLLO The only thing the witness has on him is a notebook!

TRUCY

Hey, anything can be a murder weapon if you try your best and believe in yourself!

APOLLO What's he going to do with a notebook, write me to death?

APOLLO .........

TRUCY Uh, Polly? You've got a weird face on.

APOLLO I just had a really bad idea.

could apollo justice identify light yagami

i think apollo would be taken in by light for the most part like, kind of kristoph style... listen the bracelet is a weird mechanic. people literally lie all day long forever and apollo only catches specific, gameplay convenient things, just like phoenix with the magatama. (we're back at 'why dont you just question your client with your truth telling powers from the beginning' and the answer is because it is a video game with a narrative that needs gameplay and stakes.) so i think apollo catches light in a couple of white lies and then dismisses it for the most part as like, light's just one of those weird guys with a fakey persona but who is mostly harmless, and light generally tries not to lie directly in favour of speaking vaguely around the truth, so it doesn't really ping apollo as particularly strange until near the end of the case where apollo is like. ive been getting weird vibes from this guy from the start what if that like. means something

anyway i think he'd figure out that it's light in like a tense moment where he feels like trucy or himself or someone else is in danger

could apollo justice survive

yes for the same reasons as above but i think it's a close thing. like i think light gets "Apollo Justic" written in the book before trucy throws a knife at him and nails the death note to the wall and then apollo is like (Y-y-yikes!!! That was close!)

[queen-daya]

Every KC Cooper Outfit (9/?)

“Alright I'm just gonna say it. Does this little mama have an off switch?”

[couldtheycatchkira]

[vorareromantic]

when L met mello and told him stories about his cases, i think he was trying to pick him apart.

he understood near, near was supposedly the most like him. near was very easy to pick apart. but mello in all of his emotional complexity with layers he hasn't even uncovered himself? L needed to see that for himself to make his choice. he needed to figure out exactly who mello was.

and he did. and his choice was to not choose. because he saw mello, he knew who he was now, he knew that being on par with near wouldn't be enough and choosing both would still drive a wedge between them. but he also saw that mello wasn't as tough as he pretended to be. that he was an insecure kid that wanted to be worth something, and he saw that it didn't REALLY have anything to do with near.

so he chose not to choose. he knew that they would be forced to cooperate sooner or later. he knew that if mello was able to accept his truth, he would be able to work with near (more or less) and help him in his own way. he knew that near would be too confident, and he knew that when push comes to shove, mello would put his pride aside to ensure that kira was stopped. that was what he was looking for. one person wasn't enough, and he knew it. one person alone will always have their flaws. he needed two people whose flaws balanced each other out.

but from the outside, mello looks like a bully. he looks like a cruel individual who doesn't care about anyone but himself. he looks genuinely confident and sure of himself. clearly, that wasn't the case, but L needed to see for himself to really truly figure him out and decide what was next. mello took it as a sign that maybe he was better than near, but L was just testing him and he passed

[boreal-sea]

Kai Winn: Power vs. Faith

From Kai Winn Adami's point of view, I think she views her story as one of a faithful servant scorned. But that story involves a level of entitlement: that she deserves something from her gods and her people as payment for her service and her faith, and that when she does not get it, she deserves to bring about their destruction. There’s a point made in the show that her ultimate downfall and the reason she was able to be seduced by the Pah Wraiths is due to her greed and how power-hungry she was.

Hers is a story of two main conflicting motivations (as well as a third, deeper, core need). The main conflict is between her faith in the Prophets and her desire for political power. These are in conflict, but also compliment one another. You cannot talk about Winn's faith without discussing her desire for power, because she believes her faith entitles her to power. Conversely, her drive for power is partially motivated by her faith - she needs power to properly perform her faith, and to protect the faith of others.

And then at her core, she is motivated by a third need: the need for recognition and acknowledgement by the Prophets. The ultimate praise, to know that they appreciate all she's done for them. That they see her.

The first episode she's in is important because it shows us Winn’s core flaw, her desire for power. If she sees a chance to gain power, she will abandon the teachings of the Prophets and even take advantage of other people’s faith, and she does not care if people die in the process. Her attempt to get Vedek Bareil assassinated shows us this conflict within her. She used her faith as an excuse to come to DS9, to plan a terrorist attack against a school, and lure her political rival to the station so she can have him assassinated.

Her attempts to gain power escalate throughout the series. Even as she gains power, she still desires more. No amount of power is enough.

After failing to kill Bareil, she allies herself with militant insurgents who are trying to take over the Bajoran government. She does this in part because she hates the Federation, but all also because she is promised the role of Kai. She is willing to watch Bajor fall into civil war, to see Bajorans fight and kill other Bajorans, to gain power.

At one point, she becomes the interim Prime Minister. She believes the Prophets would not have let her become Prime Minister if she was not fit for the role, and her authority being challenged is just a test of her ability to "lead" - to force others to follow her will and the will of the Prophets. She is willing to throw Bajor into (another) civil war over this belief. She cannot be wrong.

And then the Pah Wraiths come for her.

The Pah Wraiths contact Winn specifically because she’s the only one on Bajor who can read the text of the Kosst Amojan. They need her.

Being needed, being recognized for her faith... that's the deepest thing Winn wants from the Prophets.

Of course, the Pah Wraiths do not initially reveal themselves as such, so her first actions under their direction (and the direction of Dukat) are entirely forgivable. She thinks she is acting under the direct orders of the Prophets. I do not blame her at all for this.

But, eventually, the truth comes out: she is not in communion with the Prophets, she is speaking to the most evil beings she's ever been taught about. She has been deceived by them, yes, but she cooperated with them nonetheless. She is, understandably, horrified. She tries to get a vision from an Orb and fails.

This is the Prophets finally giving her an actual test of her faith. She is, at that moment, a direct danger to them and the Celestial Temple. The advice given to her by Kira is in fact a direct solution to the literal problem, and also a solution to Winn's own spiritual problems: if she gives up her position as Kai, not only will she no longer be a risk to the Prophets, but she will be able to actually humble herself and re-learn her faith from the ground up. Her faith is being pitted against her desire for power. Here, Winn must choose: redemption, or power.

Winn chooses power.

She is still loyal to the Prophets in that moment, but she cannot see that her desire for power is what has lead her astray. She leaves and returns to Dukat, and here she faces a second test of faith. She is told that if she renounces her faith the the Prophets, she will finally have the recognition and power she’s always desired, and most importantly, she will be acknowledged by gods. She has already chosen political power over redemption. Now, she has to choose between her faith to the Prophets, or recognition by any gods whatsoever.

She picks recognition.

And that, to me, is the tragedy of Kai Winn Adami.

[lunar1an]

i think this the third wildbow web serial with an ending/epilogue chapter about a monstrous(tm) character being stuck in prison and forced to reflect on their actions.

spoilers for ward, pale, claw below

anyway interesting evolution going on here.

In Ward's case we see the criminal (Chris) through the eyes of a 'model criminal', Riley, as a point of contrast. Chris is sulking, he doesn't accept the hand offered to him, he insults Kenzie and Riley. He's not willing to cooperate and so while there's a little bit of sympathy, there isn't much. He kind of made his own bed and is lying in it now. As opposed to Riley, who is fully cooperating with the system, and therefore gets out fast, because she's shown she's willing to change and do better.

In Pale's case we see both Charles and Kira-Lynn through the eyes of people who were actively harmed by them, the Kennet trio. They are the antagonists. As far as the trio is concerned, they're trapped in prisons of their own making because they are trying to harm a lot of people and refuse to reflect or realize they're on the wrong path -- Avery was really only sad that Charles was making her a worse person because she was so mad at him. Kira-Lynn is only in her situation because they have to keep her in stockades for their protection.

Claw is the first web serial where we get to see the perspective of the criminal (Mia) being imprisoned. And we see how dehumanizing and terrible her treatment is, and how things like the solitary confinement aren't helping her. And so when Gio visits her and has that conversation, pointing out how Mia's kind of fucked things up...the "self-reflection" Mia gets feels tainted. Like okay sure she's realized she's a monster. How does that help anything. How is that doing anything besides validating her mother. This isn't improving anyone's lives.

It casts an interesting light on the past web serials. If we were in Kira-Lynn's head, as Abyss-addled as she was, would we see Lucy's visit the same way? Would we see the Kennet system as generously as Lucy sees it? Would we feel worse about Chris being left to sulk if we saw his perspective?

Like. Claw's system is very obviously different -- it's overcrowded and dystopian upfront, instead of the honest efforts of Ward and Pale's systems. It outright says the suffering is the point. But when it comes to prison, even if suffering isn't 'the point', is there really a way to make that isolation and loss of autonomy, and the immense power other people hold over you, from being punishment and suffering all the same?

It kind of depends on your own personal stances on the matter but. Food for thought pretty much.

[nebulouscoffee]

The thing about Kai Winn's storyline ultimately being a tragedy is, it's not only a tragedy because her fate (in the eyes of the non-linear Prophets) was already known and nothing she did or said was ever going to make them acknowledge her- not only because she wanted so badly to have a big role to play in the grand, historic story of the newly independent Bajor and just couldn't handle the fact that she was never meant to- not only because the Prophets spoke to Sisko and Bareil and Kira and literally even Quark but not her- not only because she was deceived and raped and killed in the end- but most of all because, it was partly her love of Bajor that killed her.

Think about it- her whole regression during that final arc with Dukat is so tragic precisely because she was THIS close to redemption! Throughout the show, we see that her brain processes information in very rigid, binary ways: if you are not my ally, then you are my enemy. If you disagree with even one of my opinions, you are my enemy. If you refuse to endorse and support me in this mission, you are my enemy. That's part of why she's so easily swayed by fascist rhetoric, I think- she's just unable to cope with nuance. (This is foreshadowed in 'Shakaar', where she puts the whole of Bajor under martial law just because Shakaar disagreed with her over how she was handling soil reclamators.) Her personal narrative is I am the one who will save Bajor -> anyone who gets in my way is my enemy and therefore an enemy of Bajor -> I must stop them using any force necessary for the good of Bajor because I am after all the one who will save Bajor.

But when Sisko discovers the city of B'hala in 'Rapture', she is for the first time forced to accept the truth that he really hasn't been faking this whole "talks to the Prophets" thing- he's the real deal. We learn later on (when she tells "Anjohl" about how she honestly felt nothing the first time she saw the wormhole open) that a small, small part of her actually always doubted the existence of the Prophets. Now, she is faced with definitive proof that they are not only very real, but they also really do have a bond with Sisko. And for a while, she even comes to terms with this! In fact, at the end of the episode, she and Kira have possibly their first completely honest exchange:

KIRA: Maybe we're the ones who need to trust the Prophets. For all we know, this is part of their plan. Maybe they've told Captain Sisko everything they want him to know.  WINN: Perhaps. I suppose you heard that Bajor will not join the Federation today. The Council of Ministers has voted to delay acceptance of Federation membership.  KIRA: You must be very pleased.  WINN: I wish I were. But things are not that simple. Not anymore. Before Captain Sisko found B'hala, my path was clear. I knew who my enemies were. But now? Now nothing is certain.  KIRA: Makes life interesting, doesn't it?

Like, YASS babygirl- you too can learn to handle nuance!! I believe in you!!💪💪

And later on, at the onset of the Dominion War, she comes to Sisko for advice herself. She doesn't want to see her planet colonised again, and she's even willing to put aside her desire to be the main character to ensure it doesn't happen. Driven by pride and the need for power as she is, she is also driven by the desire save Bajor (and preferably be the one saving Bajor, which is the subsection of this desire that ultimately ends up being her downfall) - and she does briefly decide that cooperating with the Emissary is the best way to do this! I think about this scene from 'In The Cards' so much:

WINN: ... I have asked the Prophets to guide me, but they have not answered my prayers. I even consulted the Orb of Wisdom before coming here and it has told me nothing. So I come to you, Emissary. You have heard the voice of the Prophets. You were sent here to guide us through troubled times. Tell me what to do and I will do it. How can I save Bajor?  SISKO: You want my advice? Then this is it. Stall. Tell Weyoun you have to consult with the Council of Ministers, or that you have to meditate on your response. Anything you want, but you have to stall for time.  WINN: Time for what?  SISKO: I don't know. But I do know the moment of crisis isn't here yet, and until that moment arrives we have to keep Bajor's options open. I'm aware that this is difficult for you, given our past, but this time you have to trust me.  (Winn holds Sisko's left ear.)  WINN: Very well, Emissary. We put ourselves in your hands. May we all walk with the Prophets.

In the earlier seasons, Winn would often casually make claims that the Prophets had "told her" something, or that she was just "doing what the Prophets asked"- and her political position as Kai always allowed her to just lie about being in contact with them all the time. Now, you can see the sheer humility- the embarrassment, even- on her face as she (for the first time) openly admits to Sisko that she has never actually heard them speak before; and that they clearly "prefer" him. Yes, there's some (understandable imo) bitterness here- but not at him, at THEM. And when she tries to read his pagh at the end- something she probably does to dozens of people every day, most of whom would unquestioningly believe anything she declares afterwards- she doesn't even try to pretend she felt anything there. It's one of her most genuine moments in the whole show, you can just SEE the redemption arc in reach and it's so heartbreaking!!

I think 'The Reckoning' is a huge episode for her too, for many reasons- but let's talk about how it sets up this fascinating parallel between her and Kira (who Odo describes in this episode as having "both faith and humility"). The Prophets choose Kira as their "vessel" because she was "willing"- meanwhile, Winn was right there just begging to be a part of this! Here she is, with a Prophet right in front of her face- and she prays and postures and begs and prays some more, all just to get ignored. Kira's brand of faith is very, "I am ultimately insignificant and I surrender my power and my body and pagh to the Prophets"- Winn's is more, "if I do all the right things, then I will be able to prove to the Prophets that I am worthy of their attention, worthier than everyone else, and maybe then they'll appoint me the saviour of Bajor! It's My Destiny, You See!! (Why Isn't This Happening For Me??)" And the events of this episode are kind of a big slap in the face to her honestly, because they sort of prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Prophets have no interest in her. Maybe stopping the battle was also an attempt at regaining some kind of agency with them- I DID THIS, I pulled a switch and it had a direct effect on the Prophets, so there!! (Whatever that effect entails). She does care about Bajor. Of course she does. But her ideal configuration of Bajor involves her being a major player in its salvation, which she was just never meant to be. And this is why she's so tragically susceptible to Dukat's manipulation- he was the first person ever to tell her everything she always wanted to hear.

And the intriguing thing about Dukat's deception is, it doesn't all fall apart at one go. It falls apart in layers. And this makes for some excellent, excellent Winn characterisation imo.

First, she thinks the pah wraiths are the Prophets- and they tell her, hey, The Sisko has faltered, Bajor needs you, and only you can fix this. Good lord, imagine finally getting to hear those words after a lifetime of silence! And it's very telling that her first reaction isn't to gloat like she would've in the earlier seasons, but instead to humbly- even anxiously- pray. Bajor needs her, the "Prophets" have asked her to do something, this is her moment! Then, this random lovely Bajoran farmer comes in and tells her even more things she has always wanted to hear- that her activism during the Occupation (ignored by Kira and Sisko alike) saved lives, that he always wondered why the Prophets would choose an alien as their Emissary, that surely Sisko and his followers were mistaken- and finally, "our world will be reborn- with YOU as its leader". Sounds good, right? But THEN she finds out she's been speaking to the pah wraiths and the lovely farmer is a devil worshipper actually. And she tries the "wash away my sins" approach- she wants some kind of quick fix ritual that will "purify" her, so she can continue to be Kai the right way. She even admits to Kira that she's always been power hungry and she wants to change- and I believe her! Unfortunately, Kira then tells her something she doesn't want to hear- that she has to step down as Kai. And surely that can't be, right? She's the saviour of Bajor! She's so complex... it's not simply her love of power that this scene reveals imo, but more significantly, her inability to see herself as not a vital part of Bajor's history; of this whole larger narrative. Like-

WINN: I'm a patient woman. But I have run out of patience. I will no longer serve gods who give me nothing in return. "GIVE ME"!! ADAMI MY BESTIE MY GIRL MY BUDDY THEREIN LIES THE PROBLEM!!!

So, okay, fine, now she's swayed over to the side that maybe the Prophets aren't that great, and maybe the pah wraiths are the true gods of Bajor (because they were willing to talk to her), and maybe she's okay working with the devil worshipper. But then it turns out he's DUKAT- and at this point, she's literally murdered someone, she's ready to stop this, to go back to Sisko and set things right- but then the book of the Kosst Amojan lights up because of the blood she spilled. She did that. It happened as a direct result of her actions. She's just so desperate to be acknowledged... to have a role to play in all this, no matter who offers it to her. So the pah wraiths actually giving her a reaction isn't something she can resist. And here's where things get even more tragic.

WINN: But the prophecies! They warn that the release of the Pah wraiths will mean the end of Bajor.  DUKAT: The old Bajor, perhaps. But from its ashes a new Bajor will arise and the Restoration will begin.  WINN: Who will be left to see it?  DUKAT: Those the gods find worthy. It will be the dawn of paradise. And you, Adami, are destined to rule it.  WINN: You're sure of that?  DUKAT: It is meant to be.

Again with the ease at which she's swayed by fascist rhetoric! Let's be clear, she was (and is) absolutely against the Cardassian Occupation. But her worldview is built on the pursuit of being "worthier" than everyone else, of being "closer to god" than everyone else- her expectation of faith is that it's some sort of determiner of who's doing it The Most Effectively, rather than it being a practice- and she just completely misses that any sort of plan that executes masses and spares whoever is deemed "worthy" is... literally exactly what people like Dukat did to her planet. Something something faith as competition, faith as determiner of inherent superiority, faith as a way to gain power via proximity to god… never faith as submission. And the worst part is she’s self-aware. It’s heartbreaking.

And it's about to get even more heartbreaking, because she truly believes she has arrived at her girlboss moment in the finale (I think the tragedy of her being a rape victim and knowing this and having to hide the body of the one (1) person who was looking out for her while being stuck with her rapist speaks for itself.) After kicking Dukat out on the street (lol), she studies the eeevil texts and realises that to set the pah wraiths free, you need to make a sacrifice. So now she gets to deceive him in return. And she does! The look of shock on his face when he discovers she poisoned him is priceless imo, and her triumph as she taunts his dead body, the sheer joy on her face as she casts off her Kai robes, when she recites those incantations and something actually happens- and that too such a large pyrotechnic spectacle- is so sad knowing what's coming. Because ultimately, the pah wraiths want to destroy Bajor, right? And Winn just doesn't. Of course they don't choose her. Of course they choose Dukat over her! She really thought that by tricking and murdering him, she'd made him the unimportant piece of the puzzle, that she was stealing back his thunder- but tragically, it turns out even the pah wraiths see her as disposable. Of course they resurrect Dukat (a man who's proved time and time again that he wants to see Bajor & Bajorans destroyed) and turn her into the sacrifice. The way she screams "NO!" here breaks my heart- she's betrayed her planet, and it was all for nothing. (Dukat's "are you still here?" is particularly devastating.) I think it's very significant that her final words are "Emissary, the book!"- it shows that in her last moments, she's owning her mistakes- she's stepping away from power and putting Bajor first, and leaving her own fate in the hands of the Prophets. Who, of course, once again ignore her, and choose to save Sisko instead. God.

The utter tragedy that even in the pah wraiths' plan, she was just a pawn. That she died at the hands of the gods she thought chose her, but used her, all while the gods she'd coveted her whole life stood by and did nothing. The Prophets chose Sisko because they believed he would put Bajor's interests over even his own- and now they ensure he will be back one day to see the new Bajor. She never will.

Yes, it was her pride that got her here. Her mean streak. Her inability to cope with nuance. Her inability to see herself as ultimately insignificant. Her inability to surrender to a higher power in any way that didn't involve becoming more powerful herself; more relevant, more "close to god". But it was also her love of Bajor. Because if she'd cared about Bajor less, then maybe the pah wraiths might have chosen her- or at least spared her, or taken her to their realm after she burned, the way they did with Dukat. Now, she ends up being the one thing she never wanted to be: insignificant.

Honestly if I had to summarise the tragedy of her arc in one sentence, it would probably be Kai Winn: Too Evil For The Prophets, Not Evil Enough For The Pah Wraiths. She and Dukat are not the same! She is a perfectly pathetic, sad and wet blorbo and I am holding her gently in my hands while apologising for her crimes <3