#Sorry but my love for this character went from 0-100 after that scene. | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

whateverthedragonswant · 4 years ago

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RIGHT, she always wants the upper hand. No equals. Good point! So one last question as we are on a roll! Now, if we accept that Dany believes she loves Jon and Jon's feelings for Dany are maybe love, maybe part infatuation/lust and part political. WTF was going on with Jon and Sansa? I felt they kinda had that "love triangle framing" but the show never committed to it. Was it just a mistake and bad audience interpretation? Some days I'm convinced the show hints at it and other days I don't know.

Lol absolutely, my friend! Oooo, yes I would love to dig into this with you. I’m warning you that possibly another 100 page paper may be headed your way. ;-)

Jon & Sansa - the would they/wouldn’t they pair. It’s a loaded question with an even more loaded answer but I will try my best.

They definitely were going for a love triangle. There was no mistake, I don’t think, or even bad audience interpretation or any shippers wearing shipping goggles for the triangle or either of those pairings. I think it was all very intentional and we picked up on it because of them doing it intentionally.

Like you mentioned, the framing, the promos, the cast interviews, the story, the 8x06 script confirming Sansa loves Jon and Jon knows it, hell even the editing -- all of it lead up to exactly what we saw playing out on screen. And I believe they did this for one reason & one reason only (sadly): to be a contributing factor to Dany’s fall. To cause Dany paranoia not only because of her feelings for Jon, but also as a political opponent (& rival queen, like that tense moment in 8x04 where Dany makes sure to say “under their rightful queen” at Sansa and Sansa’s chin lift). I personally didn’t care for this portion of the story they chose to tell in that last season (and I know a lot of people like to say “Jon and Sansa as a ship is weird, they’re siblings, even the show said they only love each other like siblings” to which I say “its GoT for crying out loud, the Starks have married cousins before, Jon and Sansa were not close growing up & have been separated for years now” & then point to all below, the 8x06 script confirmation of Jon knowing that Sansa loves him, and ask why Sansa was a point of contention for Dany then when it comes to Jon at all if there wasn’t something there, it doesn’t make sense, but I digress). There are so many similarities (maybe not as many as there are differences between them but they’re there) between the two characters. And while I understand Sansa’s suspicion of Dany being an actual tyrant and it’s all in character, I didn’t care for them having two of the strongest female characters on the show essentially fighting over a man when it was about so much more than that for both of them. But alas, that’s what we got.

Before the 8x06 script confirming the love triangle angle they went for, they definitely showed:

Sansa giving heart eyes to Jon in 8x04 (0:08 - x), her jealousy to Dany and Jon’s warm smile exchange & getting up to leave right after that moment

her heartbroken expression in her argument with Jon when asking if he bent the knee to save the North or because he loved Dany in 8x01 (which of course, we never got a textual answer for from Jon himself)

Dany suspecting jealousy in her convo with Sansa in 8x02 with “you know he loves you” “and that bothers you?” and then Dany’s look trying to gauge if that’s the case

Sansa’s “why her?” when watching Dany and the dragons flying above Winterfell & her emotional reaction to Tyrion saying that Jon has told him that he’s not a Stark (which I think had more to do with her being upset that he still thinks this no matter how many times she’s told him otherwise, that she’s losing him, as family & as someone she loves) (2:27 - x)

her expression when saying goodbye to Jon at the dock in 8x06 (2:05 - x, I think this particular part was meant to be multi-layered, he’s her family that she’s losing, she’s in love with him, she couldn’t save him from his fate, she’s sorry that she had to tell his secret and break his trust, she’s sorry that he had to be the one to kill Dany to save them & the world by extension, she regrets that she can’t get him freed or restored as the King in the North, that she couldn’t keep him completely safe, all of it -- not to mention in the script, this is the part where it mentions that Jon knows Sansa loves him but he can’t forgive her for telling her secret and what it led to, which I personally think over time he would have, she’s still his family and he killed his love to keep her safe but moving on)

plus all of Sansa’s hoping for Jon to return & mentions of him in season 7

Littlefinger’s knowing expression (2:37 - x) as Sansa watches Jon depart from Winterfell after he was choked/threatened by him in response to Littlefinger telling Jon that he loves Sansa like he did Cat

It was all meant to set up this love triangle, if you will.

Personally, my feelings on it are complicated because on one hand, I’m glad that it confirmed everything I had been picking up on watching the show, especially from 6x04 and on. On the other hand, I was annoyed because they confirmed Sansa’s feelings but not explicitly textually, and only used them to help further along Dany’s story in the end while making Sansa look like the horrible villain (like they were trying to make her a Littlefinger 2.0), regardless of how her story ended. I remember a lot of people actually hating on Sansa for that decision that she made and I was there holding my hand up going “wait, do you know her character, though? do you not realize she didn’t tell his secret and break his trust to get at Dany or to get back at Jon? that she actually did it to save his life? have you ever seen the movie Gladiator? you can’t kill someone publicly without reason in this universe, not if you’re going to be sitting on an iron chair in this country and are hoping to come across as the savior of the people, the benevolent but strong queen, a secret is much easier to snuff out, folks.” That’s one of the ways I believe Sansa’s characterization got muddled in the end. Everything she did, she did to protect Jon and her family as well as the North, and Arya confirms it in dialogue in 8x01, what Sansa’s true motivations were at the time (not to mention David Nutter’s direction to Sophie for the courtyard scene with Dany “This is your house”) and that’s why Arya stood fast with her. But I’m going off on a tangent, sorry, back to the Jonsa/love triangle framing.

Here’s what I believe on this despite the obvious plot device they turned the love triangle setup into:

For Jonerys, they promo’ed it heavily for the last season, right? There was this:

And of course this:

They had been given a love scene in 7x07

Dany’s costume from 7x06 to 8x03 was meant to indicate that Dany was in love with Jon as reported by Michele Clapton, the (brilliant) costume designer

they even had their own love theme “Truth” that was being played during some, if not most, of their scenes

They were purposely framed:

the shot of them coming out of the cave together in 7x04

them sitting at the table in the great hall together in 8x01 (which they definitely threw Sansa in there as well)

the shot of them closing the door in the boat cabin in 7x07

them standing together talking about the dragonglass in 7x03 with the dragons in the background

them walking back to the castle in 7x05 after Dany returns from battle

them talking privately in the dragonpit 7x07 while waiting for Tyrion

them walking up to the dragons in 8x01

them watching the Dothraki attack the White Walkers in 8x03 from the mountaintop

them framing Tyrion in the middle when the White Walkers arrive at Winterfell in 8x02 (because let’s face it Tyrion will be coming between them in a way in 8x06)

them standing & facing Lyanna’s statue in the crypt in 8x02

them standing at the waterfall in 8x01 and kissing

them on dragons at the same time in 8x03 in battle mode

the whole framing of their warm smile exchange in 8x04 and then them standing together in the bedroom scene in the same episode

them standing together in the destroyed throne room in 8x06

They did all of that to show that this is a couple and a power couple at that, which could possibly turn into a ruling couple. Even at the premiere of the final season, I remember at the time seeing a photo circulating around this site, showing that Sophie, Kit, and Emilia were placed within vicinity of each other when the cast took the stage, and even then it was obvious not only that they were playing up the Jonerys angle but also the love triangle framing (especially with this promo at 1:11 x). They knew they had an audience for that particular angle but in this last season, they brought it to the forefront, just not in the way anyone would expect (in their minds). That’s why they had the cast (namely Kit and Sophie) drumming up PR since season 7 (and possibly earlier), hinting and teasing that there would be so much tension between Jon and Sansa, that there would be a power struggle (wtf? what power struggle? because she questioned a decision of his & it showcased just how different he was from rulers before him like Joffrey & showed us he was a good ruler, one she believes in? sure, Jan, power struggle, sure) and all of that good stuff. Because what did everyone expect to be endgame?

And those who didn’t that maybe thought Jon might be in love with Sansa or vice versa, or even if there was going to be another romance for Jon or Sansa or both:

And the thing D&D and the show kept saying? “Subvert expectations” -- that was their whole goal while trying to tell this story

Personally, I don’t think they ever intended to make either pairing endgame. I believe they wanted people to think one or the other, but I don’t think they ever intended to go further than that (that I’m aware of, I should say). I know there were some rumors that supposedly they had planned for a Jonsa endgame all along, and had even shot scenes for one, but I don’t think they did (if I’m wrong, I would be more than happy to be). And the reason I don’t think they did besides for the love triangle to be a plot device contributing to the end they had in mind for all three characters? The way they ended everyone else’s arcs that did not make a lick of sense. I think Jonsa was heavily foreshadowed as Ned and Cat 2.0 but I think they planned to do it only to bring this to the viewers’ minds in order to make Sansa a romantic and political rival, enough that Dany sees the threat, Jon knows it, and it influences Sansa’s decisions enough that it also affects Jon’s and Dany’s decisions.

As much framing as they did for Jonerys, they also did for Jonsa. The only difference was that it began more almost subtle (though the framing was screaming loudly even back when they were building up their forces to take back Winterfell in season 6), Sansa wasn’t a queen yet, and she didn’t have dragons or a direwolf pack behind her. This is just my personal opinion, but I think Sansa was always meant to play a part in this triangle, like I mentioned Sansa and Dany have many similarities, they also show the contrast between both ladies in Jon’s life as well as how they would rule as queens (while hinting he would be the King half of each relationship):

I don’t remember where this post is (if I find it again, I’ll come back and edit, I want to give them proper credit) but I know I saw it on here somewhere. Roz confirms in season 3 that when Sansa was born, they rang the bells all day in Winterfell. (x) When Dany was born, not only was there a great storm with dogs howling all night (which further proves she is one of the two threats to Westeros like GRRM said) (x) but what was going on while she made the decision to torch KL? They were ringing the bells to surrender (x)

Sansa organizes the defense for Jon (like a Queen Regent would do), handles the Littlefinger situation, and rules the North while the pack makes its way back home so to speak in season 7 all while Jon is away; granted Dany already has her armies, she is already a queen, so she doesn’t need to do any of this and she does go to North to assist Jon in the Great War & save Jon and the guys in 7x06 but she also chooses to burn all of the supplies in the battle with the Lannisters in 7x04, doesn’t really concern herself with the little things like food (I know she has a Council for that but I think they show this contrast purposely to show she’s not really a ruler) and gets annoyed when that is questioned (granted Sansa was a bit snarky here but it was a very good point to make and actually echoes Jon’s own ruling method/concerns from season 5 as Lord Commander)

Sansa brings reinforcements for Jon in 6x09 using her connections so to speak just like Dany shows up to save Jon in 7x06 & brings her forces north in 8x01 to assist in the Great War

Dany is shown ruling in 8x02 when Jaime Lannister arrives but eventually she is outvoted (which is a nice way of putting it lol) by Sansa and Jon who agrees with the logic of getting every person they can get to fight this war - but they also make sure to show that while Dany isn’t listening to Jaime or Tyrion (as her Hand), Sansa listens to Brienne (her sworn sword) and that factors into her decision making, meaning she will weigh everything and not let anger or emotion cloud the issue & she will take things under advisement before so doing

the convo that takes place in 8x02 between Dany and Sansa, when Dany walks into the library, Sansa is seen giving instructions to keep the gates open for more people to come for safety to Royce who gives her respect after, and the bare minimum respect to Dany as he leaves - we also see Sansa thinking of everything outside the Great War box by asking about what happens afterwards and after they defeat Cersei, and then of course we see Dany’s narrow scope of an answer “I take the iron throne” and she has no answer for what after which launches Sansa into steel mode & asking again about the North more strongly

after their convo, we see Sansa and Dany walking in and standing in front of Theon and his men. Theon gives Dany her due respect as their queen but he makes it clear who he is there to address, who he is there to fight for, and gives Sansa her due respect as well. But we also see Sansa’s reaction to Theon pledging to fight for them as we see Dany’s reaction to all of this and her confusion, seeing it’s not duty that Theon is fighting for, but love, love for Sansa & his chosen family -- more importantly, love that Dany doesn’t have which she confirms in 8x04 and 8x05

We see Sansa make the point in the battle planning scene in 8x04 about the men needing to rest, that the generals need to be spoken to. Dany who feels she has waited long enough after she came to fight the Great War alongside Jon doesn’t want to hear this. But it actually is a very good point to make & consider, as we know. Yes, Dany still won in the end, but possibly she wouldn’t have lost Missandei (we can only assume) or Rhaegal or anymore men or wouldn’t have even razed KL to the ground (possibly). But because she didn’t want to wait and it was Sansa who made that point, it’s immediately dismissed.

We see Sansa as someone who would go to war for her family by the dragonpit scene in 8x06 - while she’s in love and they’re threatening the guy she’s in love with who is another member of her family who is being held captive, she is not unleashing fury unless Jon gets hurt which is confirmed by her dialogue to Grey Worm; yes, Dany holds back in 8x04 when Tyrion attempts to compromise with Qyburn & Cersei while they hold Missandei captive & Euron has already killed Rhaegal, she did not attack KL as soon as she landed in Westeros, but the desire to was always there & showed to us in moments throughout the last 2 seasons, never mind all of the hints we were given of what would happen if she came over to Westeros before then

Another contrast is how Dany handles executions vs how Sansa handles them - both are brutal of course and not fun, but how they were conducted says a lot (though they both definitely have in common that they both swing the sword so to speak after they pass the sentence) - Sansa gave Littlefinger his chance to defend himself as he asked though no one would help him, Varys was never given that chance (even if she told him what she would do to him if she discovered him betraying her, which in a way he did look her in the eye first and tell her like she asked but she ignored him and I don’t think that constitutes as a full betrayal, he was never given a trial like setting, only a chance to say his last words, which fun fact that Cersei does the same with Missandei and slightly weirder but I suppose it was weird at the time since Jon was fresh back from the dead, Jon in season 6 with his murderers, though the crimes are: Littlefinger - getting Ned Stark beheaded and starting the Lannister/Stark conflict, Varys - treason, attempt to overthrow a ruler, Missandei - being in the wrong place at the wrong time & for shock value, Night’s Watch murdering squad - murdering Jon so all different I suppose if I’m being fair, but the styles of executions...I’m just saying)

Sorry, I ran off on a tangent there for a minute but I think it all relates to the whole framing of this love triangle and Jonsa itself. Jonsa was definitely going to be a thing, maybe not the way we thought it would, but it was definitely brought to the forefront in season 8. And they purposely hooked us with the framing they gave Jonsa alone as Ned and Cat 2.0. Like Robb, Jon is named King in the North. Instead of the Young Wolf, he is the White Wolf. His costumes and hair styles are meant as callbacks to Ned. Sansa’s own look is meant to be a callback to Cat though she has different hairstyles and different costumes. Her dress in 8x04 at the feast has a scale-like look to it and this is also meant to call back to the Tully side of the family (which is interesting because she’s a Stark through and through yet in this moment, a moment where we see her giving heart eyes to Jon, she is wearing a dress meant to callback to her mother while Jon had just been sitting at the head of the table where Ned would have sat...yep). There were tons of shots framing them as the ruling couple of Winterfell, as Ned and Cat come again:

Oh and this gem in comparison to the hand shot up above for Jonerys:

Not to mention the callbacks in other ways:

Ned choking Littlefinger in season 1 when going to meet Cat in a brothel --> Jon choking Littlefinger in the crypt in 7x02 after the latter admits he’s in love with Sansa, just like her mother

Ned & Cat watching Bran practicing archery in the courtyard before they are interrupted --> Jon (and Sansa with Davos) in 7x02 watching people practicing archery in the courtyard as they discuss Tyrion’s scroll; Jon & Sansa talking in 7x01 above the courtyard when they are interrupted)

This brilliant video shows so many parallels, visually and textually, that show the Ned/Cat & Jon/Sansa callbacks so much better than I ever could

Michele Clapton is one hell of a brilliant costume designer. She is the one who said the costumes on the characters will hint at their desires. She is the one who went in depth on what certain costumes or accessories mean, so much so that they tell their own story outside of the acting, framing, music, and dialogue. She’s really brilliant. Jon was in a similar costume to Ned in 6x09 in the tent scene and then during the Battle of the Bastards. Then, Jon was in Stark clothing up until the end of 8x02, until he was in a sigil-less costume (funnily enough after he is having his identity crisis) though he still maintains the Stark cloak. He continues to don that cloak, except at the feast in 8x04.

Though when he goes to battle in 8x05, he is wearing the Stark emblem as expected, since he’s leading the Northmen into the fight. But then Arya shows up at the end after Tyrion has been arrested, as Jon watches Dany walking away which funnily enough they’re playing a Targaryen-esque theme again, and boom there’s Arya and his choice is in his face again but moving on. Then when he goes to talk to Tyrion, he has no Stark clothing, all sigil-less again. (I think this was done because he still hadn’t made a decision yet while they also were trying to keep the audience in the dark as to what would happen). But when he goes to talk to Dany, even though his clothing is sigil-less, his outfit looks very familiar to what Ned and Robb have worn in the past (indicating stealthily that he had made his decision, not to kill Dany, but that he was a Stark). Sansa’s crown has two wolves at the top, meant to symbolize the pack/her family as was her coronation dress. In my opinion, I don’t think she ever gave up hope that Jon or Arya would return home at some point.

So when it comes to Jonsa, I don’t agree completely with what they did but I do think those who rooted for them as a pairing or just their characters individually were left a very generous open ending so that others could take it and do what they would with it (fanfic, fanart, etc), that this open ending could make room for GRRM’s own ending in the last two books (I’m not sure how this will go in the books, if he even has any plans for it, but I have seen a lot of meta circulating on this site from the book readers who like the idea of the pairing showing clues they’ve picked up that there could be a hint to a Jonsa ending).

To answer your question with a long lengthy answer (sorry!), yes I think they intended to frame Jonsa romantically but not have Jon reciprocate or confirm/deny textually (or even have Sansa put words to it textually). Because they weren’t going to go with one of the predictable endings after all of the hinting/foreshadowing had been laid, (terrible writing to use the Ned/Cat thing as a red herring since the Starks were the underdogs to begin with, no pun intended) GRRM even says himself you can’t just suddenly change it, or do framing to build up something only so you can use it later on as a red herring and then go “gotcha! you didn’t expect that, did you? Oh I’ll give you Jon and Dany but not how you expect, oh I’ll give you Jon and Sansa but not how you expect, oh I’ll give you Jon as a king but not how you expect, expectations and predictability are the scourge that must be subverted at all costs” so they can pat themselves on the back with a “job well done” at fooling the audience and how they shocked them and go “OMG I did not see that coming!” I say the same for Jonerys with the pregnancy/child talk and even their framing, though at least they followed through on the romance part of it textually (regardless of story intentions).

And they definitely intended there to be a love triangle between Dany, Jon, and Sansa:

(the last one is I think meant to show the ruling portion, especially as Dany as the head, but it also shows these were the three main characters when it came to power, despite Cersei of course - though I think Jaime represents that Lannister reminder here as well & she’s being discussed so we don’t forget who still sits on the IT - and despite all the supporting players that go into the whole story)

The whole funeral scene in 8x04 (x) - we see Dany mourning Jorah, then Sansa mourning Theon and then who do they show afterwards? Jon. Then they show Dany walking back to her side, then Sansa walking back to hers in the wide shot. In 4:42, in the wide shot, it’s Sansa, Jon, and then Dany at the funeral pyres, watching them burn. Even when they’re walking away, they’re framed again with Dany in the middle of Jon and Sansa. Then they show Dany’s face, then Sansa’s. It’s just nuts. (to me, this whole scenario gave it away that we opened with two queens mourning their two knights/courtly lovers if you will, and then the rest which just proved more to me that this was a love triangle and that Sansa was in the running to be a queen just as much as Dany and Cersei were). We also see the scene where Jon studies Lyanna Mormont’s body and then turns to look at Dany who is just looking at him, waiting for him to give the signal to light the pyres. I might be reading too much into it but I find it interesting that Lyanna is the one he is going to burn, the same girl who presses Jon when he returns in 8x01 for giving up his crown & holds his feet to the fire, that she was the first to proclaim him as her king in 6x10 - x, first to come to Jon & Sansa’s aid in season 6 that we were shown though that was also due to Davos’ intervention, that she was loyal to House Stark even back when Stannis was around & this shot is followed by him looking at Dany, the reason he is no longer King in the North.

And how many times did Dany mention Sansa to Jon over that season after meeting her? Why was Sansa the one (I mean chosen story wise) to break the secret and be the catalyst for Varys to attempt to usurp Dany with Jon? That Dany was bothered by the most besides Cersei? Yes as a rival queen, a political rival, sure, but she mentions Sansa to Jon far too many times for it to be strictly that. She mentions Cersei a fair bit, too, but the tone is very different, even after Missandei being executed and Rhaegal being killed. Cersei is a bug to be crushed that simply stands in her way and has taken things from her that she should have never touched (the IT, Missandei, Rhaegal) but Sansa... Sansa is almost mentioned with as much vitriol (though way less name calling) by Dany as she is by Cersei. (The War of Five Kings? I think this really became the War of Three Queens at some point)

While Jon chose to protect his family, Arya was not pushing for Jon to kill Dany, she was only pushing for Jon to wake up and realize that he’s not safe since he would always be considered a threat to Dany (x) and would eventually end up being killed (”I know a killer when I see one”). And while I believe Arya would have stood by Sansa loyally and never backed down (that would have put her in danger in Jon’s mind solely, since he doesn’t know about her faceless training), Sansa was really the one that he knew wouldn’t bow down to Dany. The dialogue in that scene “Try telling Sansa” in 8x06, Tyrion mentioning Jon’s sisters and then Sansa specifically in that jail scene in the same episode (though I know he did this to also get through to Jon, exploiting this weak point) (x), Jon’s question to Dany in the throne room later on “what about everyone else? what about all of the other people who think they know what’s good?” and Dany’s “they don’t get to choose” (x) followed by Jon’s look afterwards...he knows, he also knows Sansa won’t back down and she’ll eventually be executed most likely the same way Varys & the Tarlys were (this is confirmed in the script with the line “Jon understands what this means for the people he loves the most” & he remembers Dany’s line in her speech to the Unsullied & the Dothraki mentioning Winterfell), he makes his decision right then and it weighs heavy on him but he does it - he ultimately lived up to his promise that he made back in 6x09 “I’ll protect you, I promise” to Sansa though she doubted it was possible at the time. (x)

Plus, I’m also looking at Kit’s acting choices here, the Master of Microexpressions himself:

(x) (x) (3:37 - x) - and just to point this out for the whole thing above, isn’t it funny they go from a shot of Jon after Sansa walks away that they go to Torumnd and Brienne, a redhead whose affections are not returned, sure it’s meant to be comedic and obviously Jon is not disgusted by Sansa but also...eh, maybe I’m reading too much into that editing choice...)

This in sync movement as well as framing here (0:48, and before this, just to note, Sansa’s horse keeps pace with Jon’s and she keeps pace with him while walking until the fight breaks out, while also speaking up and keeping in the conversation, meaning not only is she trying to be heard but she’s on an equal level with Jon, they’re a team trying to take Winterfell back, she has the Stark name & he has the military experience - x)

Why the breathlessness, Kit & Sophie? Why acting choices? (3:36 - x) (1:02 with step forward after - x) (1:35, this little inhale right here - x) (1:54 - his shocked reaction to seeing the Starks & his inhale and who is front and center in the lineup? & why that last look after [what I think he’s doing] memorizing Sansa’s & Arya’s faces for the last time, 4:46 when Sansa is not his favorite sibling & they lined them up by affection level almost for Jon with Sansa being the furthest back? x)

It was definitely portrayed as romantic, almost as much as Jonerys was, to feed into the love triangle theme later on they wanted to present. And while the scripts hadn’t been written yet for season 8, D&D did confirm they had started planning the show’s end around the time season 6 was being shot. They also worked with GRRM on certain planning of the final season, they said through video calls or something like that (I’m not sure if they discussed this part of it at all but I’m sure they discussed Dany and Jon and Dany’s fall and what could contribute to it). Benioff also said that the relationship between Jon and Sansa would “be crucial to watch” (though at the time, he was talking about the conflict between them, that Sansa doesn’t trust Jon, didn’t tell him about the KotV, etc).

I think the love triangle was intentional, I think framing Jon and Sansa as the second coming of Ned & Cat was intentional, and I think Sansa having feelings for Jon & their romantic framing/coding was very intentional. I just don’t think the Jonsa endgame (as far as I know) or the Jonerys endgame was intended to be an HEA for either one at the end.

It was always going to come down to Jon having to choose one house or the other, which family, but also choose which queen. In the end, as we know, he chose the Starks, the family he’s always been with and loves, and kept his promise to Sansa. Dany broke the wheel, sure, but Jon ended up being the “shield that guards the realms of men” by taking out the other threat for Westeros, making room for Sansa to remain safely in her home (which is what she’s always wanted) and not under anyone’s thumb or boot heel. Jon took that safety away when he brought Dany up North (though he had to) but thankfully, he restored it even if he wishes that it didn’t have to happen in that way, even if he continues to question if what he did was right (it was, even though I love Dany, she wasn’t going to stop). Sansa was in love with the idea of love as a child, the stories about princes and knights, we know this canonically about her character (more from the books, but I think they intimated it in season 1 with the whole Joffrey arc). I think in her eyes, Jon is that prince, that knight, especially after she saw how he was as a king, even if his decisions frustrated her at times. I think she trusted him after they take back Winterfell (though she didn’t care for his decision to bend the knee and now we see that she had good reason) but she never naively did, if that makes sense. She still kept her wits about her, and even though I don’t think she ever expected Jon to do what he did in the end, killing Dany, I think she still hoped he would be safe and would she, and by extension Arya (should she return) and Bran, and that maybe hopefully someday Jon would come back home. She still had her feelings but she accepted that Jon had made his choice (even if she didn’t understand it or agree) and it wasn’t her or the Starks (from that convo with Tyrion in 8x04). But in the end, Jon did choose her and the Starks, and absolutely proved himself a Stark, and part of the pack.

It’s almost wasted potential, but I think that’s what they were kind of going for. I know the actors themselves balked at the idea of Jonsa as a romantic pairing (Sophie’s response at a comic con when a fan mentioned Jonsa as a ship, Kit’s recent reaction on a video call or panel with “that’s weird” when someone mentioned Jonsa as a ship, etc) but after all of this, you can’t tell me that’s not what they were shooting for even if they never intended for it to became overtly textual like Jonerys did, even if it was only used to push Dany towards her fall in the end. Bittersweet, indeed.

So, my friend, I hope this very long post answers that question for you. I’d be very curious to hear what you think, too! <3

#ask #jonsa #dark!dany mention #got #game of thrones #got posts #got love triangle #anti jonerys slightly #jon x sansa #got meta

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imaginedhaven · 4 years ago

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hi this is a rant i’m already sorry

i really think our goddess sarah j maas should have made aedion gay. because then we wouldn’t have had that incredibly awkward period where we were (or i was) like ¿incest? AND then we wouldn’t have the whole aedion and lysandra thing because that also kind of enraged me when during KoA when he treated her like crap and only came to his senses after aelin was fine. and also, there’s a strong chance he settles, right, so then we got that heartbreak because i think i remember shifters are not immortal? any thoughts?

anyways that’s all and i love all your writing; wildfire is *chef’s kiss* <3

Haha, rant away! I love rants. Have a rant back!

As a bisexual person myself, I have a... complicated relationship with Aedion. I want to love that he’s bi. I just wish that we’d SEEN that instead of just being told as a one-off line at the end from an otherwise-straight-presenting person (although a bi person choosing predominantly heterosexual or heterosexual-presenting relationships is also totally valid!). Or that we’d been told that... really anytime BEFORE when we were told. That’s a whole other rant that I don’t particularly want to go into huge detail on right now, though! Lol. I’m sure I have enough unpopular opinions as it is.

The suggestions between Aedion and Aelin didn’t bother me that much, personally? It was always someone outside suggesting it would be a good match to strengthen the Galathynius line’s ties to Wendlyn further, which is... pretty much why noble marriage was done in societies like we see in TOG. Especially in royalty, cousin marriage was SUPER common to “keep bloodlines pure”, which is dumb but it’s a thing that happened. Aelin and Aedion both found the suggestion laughable the whole time, so that was enough for me to just kind of shrug it off.

Aedion and Lysandra, oh how I want to love thee. I completely agree that Aedion was 100% an ass to her throughout a large chunk of KoA. I also think it was... kind of odd how quickly he went from 0 to 100 on their relationship in the beginning, though? It’s part of why I decided to go with her being his mate in Rules of Engagement, I needed some kind of explanation for why he was just so completely GONE on her. Their whole relationship is... well, I have questions lol. For what it’s worth, though, I do think it’s not a bad thing that he’s not perfect. I certainly get angry with my spouse, and I like to think the stakes are far lower in my household! Do I wish he’d been a little more understanding? Absolutely. But I think it fits with his personality and his character traits that he just... wasn’t, at least not for a while, and then realized he’d been a jerk. Rather Aelin-like of him, in a way!

Ah, Settling. I do think that Lysandra is supposed to live a normal mortal life? I don’t think shifters settle, based on what research I’ve done into it. As someone who is half Fae, it is likely but not guaranteed that Aedion WILL Settle. If I were a primary-Lysaedion writer, I would absolutely want to get into a scene of their discussion should that ever happen! After all, we’ve seen that those who do Settle into effective immortality can yield that--we’ve seen examples of that in Mala Fire-bringer, and in Lorcan as well. I think Aedion would want to give up that longevity and just share a life with her, while she would want him to enjoy the full potential of his life. (I love exploring those difficult moments and conversations. I just don’t think I’d ever do it for Lysaedion.)

I, uh, think that covers most of it? I think my rant is almost twice as long as yours now, lol, so don’t feel bad! As for your comments about my writing, thank you so much! I’ve loved sharing it with you guys and you’ve all made me feel so very welcome as I try to figure out this whole tumblr thing while also joining a new-to-me fandom!

#asks #wow this really turned into a whole ass rant #sorry not sorry

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darkedgey · 5 years ago

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Toy Story 4 - Thoughts and Opinions

So, majority of people seemed to really enjoy the most recent installment to the Toy Story franchise, going as far as to say it is one of the best movies within the series by far. But I am here to say that my unpopular opinion differs from that, and I think it is by far the weakest movie out of the four movies.

Of course, I'm going to talk about spoilers, so, if you would prefer not to be spoiled, it's best you skip this post. You have been warned.

Now, let's start off with one of my biggest pet peeves. The characters of Woody and Buzz Lightyear within this movie.

Within the movie we see Buzz and Woody talking, and Woody is basically trying to explain to Buzz what it means to have a conscience. That little voice inside of you, that tells you to do stuff, that is your conscience.

While this starts off as a pretty amusing bit for the first few times the joke is made, it starts to become a little frustrating, because it gives off the vibe that Buzz's intelligence has been dumbed down EXTREMELY within this movie, just for the sake of comic relief.

No, Buzz has not always been the most intelligent toy, but neither has he been this unintelligent either. He knows how to think on his feet, on his own volition, and this is demonstrated throughout the 2nd and 3rd movie, (like in the 3rd movie when he comes up with a smart plan of how to get out of the playroom to go find Lotso). So, for him to start pressing buttons on his suit, to listen to his recorded voice lines, and treat that as his conscience, it's like it's going back to the whole trope of Toy Story 1, where Buzz doesn't know how to be a toy.

Buzz really isn't THAT dumb you guys...

Now, Woody.

The way Woody acts out in this movie extremely bothers me, and it was something that brought me to not like the ending very much, as his final decision felt extremely out of character for him.

Woody has always stated that his job as a toy "isn't about getting played with, it's about being there for Andy/Bonnie."

Yet in this movie we see a point of Woody getting a tiny bit salty when Bonnie hasn't played with him for about, I think it is said to be three weeks. Three weeks isn't that long of a time span, and even then, I don't think Bonnie would stop playing with Woody forever. Kids go through phases, but she probably would have eventually gone back to Woody.

Throughout the past three movies, Woody always stresses how important it is to be there for your kid. To make them happy. And in the third movie isn't the ending of that kind of supposed to be the fact that they're all supposed to stick together?

For Woody to have this moral and this message for three movies that there is "nothing more important than being loved by a kid", and then to leave Bonnie and all his friends behind to go with his love interest who he literally has not seen for years, it feels a little... Iffy and out of place to me.

How did Woody not lose his purpose when Andy literally stopped playing with him for years, but when Bonnie stops playing with him for like three weeks he decides he has nothing left? Bit odd to me.

"The thing that makes Woody special, is that he'll never give up on you. He'll be there for you, no matter what." This is how Andy describes Woody to be in the end of the third movie. But, heh, guess Woody kinda forgot about that in this final scene. Have fun later Bonnie when you realise your cowboy is missing because Woody decided to run off with his love interest.

Now that those two are out of the way, time to move onto Bo.

Is it me, or in this movie, was she a bit of a jerk to Woody? The past two movies, she's all: oh Woody my cowboy, but in this movie, it's like she completely disregards him?

There is a moment where they come up with a plan as an attempt to save Forky, but Woody derails from the plan and this causes her sheep to get caught by one of the puppets that is helping the main villain. While yes, I can understand her being annoyed, the way she acts towards Woody is so insanely shitty, that it just feels off. She doesn't let him talk or explain himself, and when she is asked whether Woody is a friend, she regards him as an "accessory". That's a bit 0 to 100 from you Bo, isn't it?

It feels like her old personality has just been stripped away to create a very generic, tough girl bitch persona, who can't show empathy, because that's a sign of weakness. Rather than her being her own unique character, she's been turned into a typical, tough girl cliché.

She treats Woody like the villain, when he just wants to save another toy to make his kid happy. Why this makes him a bad guy, I am certainly not sure.

Why does the villain get away with the terrible, awful things that she has done?

While I understand her story is quite sad, in no way do I think her sob story should clear her for what she has done to Woody and his friends.

She went as far as to forcefully try and steal his voice box, hurt his friends, take Forky hostage, and try to use Woody's past to manipulate him into listening to her, and we are supposed to feel sorry for her, why? Because the child who she wants to be liked by, casts her aside.

While it would be nice to have a villain we can sympathize with once in awhile, (as all previous Toy Story movies have had a villain that has nothing but a hateful side to them), it is terrible that she does not get held responsible for any of the terrible things she has done. She is never told she is wrong. She never apologises. So, in the end, she is given what she wanted, without any sort of karma in return.

What?

Majority of the main cast are just cast aside.

Why this happens, I am not quite sure. In Toy Story 3, it was so interesting to see all the toys in the gang actually work together and have quite a good involvement in the movie. In this one however, they're hardly anywhere to be seen.

Because they have gone on a road trip with Bonnie, a lot of the characters like Rex, Ham, Mr and Mrs Potato Head... Etc, they are just left in the RV, for majority of the movie. They don't even have many lines like they do in previous movies, and their screen time is pretty nonexistent. I was surprised to find that even a character like Jessie had hardly any involvement in this movie.

This is pretty disappointing, as I would have expected these characters to have more involvement within the story. But no. They don't.

Forky is a plot device just to make sure Woody runs into Bo.

The way the first few trailers showed this movie, they made it seem like it was mainly going to be about Forky, and how he struggles with the concept of being a toy, who is made out of trash. Similar to how Buzz struggled with thinking he was a space ranger in Toy Story 1. While doing this kind of plot with Forky may have been a bit of a repeat of the first movie, it probably would have been better than what we were given.

Forky is able to be convinced by Woody that he is a toy after a few explanations, and maybe roughly 30 minutes into the movie. That's it. The movie is hardly about Forky at all, and is more about the fact that Woody misses Bo, (which I find so odd, when she was only mentioned once in the third movie. So for him to be THAT desperate to see her, it feels out of place).

They could have explored the idea more of how toys come to life, how they have a conscience. They create this new character who was never originally a toy, but still comes to life. So do they explore this idea, of figuring out how he comes to life? You bet they don't.

I just don't see the point in introducing this new character if he's going to be used for such a reason.

Now, I'm not saying the movie was ALL bad. There were some things I liked about it, (like how good it looked visually, how it was just awesome to see characters like Woody and Buzz on the screen again after all these years...), but there is no way I could say this movie is a masterpiece, or even the best out of the series. Really, they probably should have just left Toy Story alone. Because now to me, it feels a bit weird to watch the end of Toy Story 3, having Andy talk about how important Woody and the gang are to him, only to know Woody will just leave. It leaves it feeling a little sour I think...

But that's just my opinion. If you got this far in listening to me ramble about my thoughts then thank you. And if you were able to enjoy the movie more than me then I am glad for you. :)

#toy story #toy story 4 #opinion #rant #woody #buzz lightyear #bo #bonnie #forky #toy story 2 #toy story 3 #andy #villain #spoilers

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keelymewett · 4 years ago

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Zombie Movie: I Am Legend (2007)

“Here’s Karen at the health desk.”

Karen from the health desk. (Picture: A female news anchor, Karen from the health desk.)

Language warning (sorry kids, but this is an MA15+ movie).

I shit you not, that’s one of the opening quotes of the movies. So, friends and enemies, welcome to the longest review I’ve done of a zombie movie yet. It’s 1:35am here in Australia and I’ve just finished rewatching I Am Legend, everything’s fresh in my mind and I’m hyped up on chocolate.

This movie has incredible tension, a fresh take on the zombie apocalypse, and it’s based on the 1954 novel by Richard Matherson, which inspired the modern day vampire and zombie movies. Why you may ask? Because it popularised the concept of a worldwide apocalypse due to a disease... now I’m beginning to realise that watching zombie movies during a global pandemic maybe wasn’t the best idea I’ve ever had. Any who.

YouTube rewind made me forget how bloody good of an actor Will Smith is, and boy does he deliver in this movie. Robert’s (that his character, btw, though I will probably end up just referring to the character as Will Smith) interactions with Sam the goodest girl in the world (she’s a dog) and the mannequins is incredible.

The goodest girl in the world. (Picture: A dog (I’m sorry - I don’t know dog breeds! I’m 99% sure she’s a German Shepard) being given a bath and head scratches by Will Smith.)

Now: three things to look forward to in this “review” (assuming you read the spoilery section below). One: how realistic is this apocalypse? Two: there’s a dog. Three: zombie vampires. Vampire zombies?

Backgrounds details! (Picture: Will Smith opened the fridge. On the fridge door are photos of his wife and daughter, a calendar dated for December, a drawing with “Marley” written in kids handwriting, post-it notes, a pamphlet with the heading “Quarantine”, and a Time Magazine cover of Robert Neville (Will Smith). The title reads (heading) “Saviour?” (sub-heading) “Soldier, Scientist” (body of text) “In a Battle that Could Save Thousands of Lives, Lt. Col. Robert Neville Takes on the XV Virus.”

Also, there’s banging in my house at the moment and when I say I’m peaking. I’m going to need to listen to some music while I write this.

Read on for a fun time! Spoilers ahoy!

Realism (the really relevant part. Yikes)

Okay, so what’s this fresh take on the apocalypse? Basically, this doctor cures cancer and it all goes to shit from there. I’m not 100% on the logistical jump from “destroying cancer cells” to “humans (and animals) becoming bloodthirsty mutants that burn in the sun” - for instance, this is just my sci-fi high-school biology and physics brain working here, cancer is basically a rogue cell that mutates other cells and destroys them in the process, yeah? So if the doctor, like she said, uses these cancer cells to work for the body and in the process “cures” cancer, wouldn’t the humans just... infect each other and the virus would kill the host if it went south? Given, that did happen in like 90% of cases as Will Smith explains, but where does the sunlight allergy come in? Is cancer afraid of UV? Confused, but I digress.

... Is that my queen, Missy, from Umbrella Academy? (Picture: A woman with blood leaking from her eyes, holding a child and shouting for help.)

The scene where they’re listening to the radio and the guy is like we’re “issuing a military quarantine of New York City” I’m like bitch you wish. Unrealistic. The USA currently (9/10/2020) has the highest cases of COVID-19 in the world (for future historians and poor school children, it’s at 7.68 MILLION cases, no statistic for recovered cases for some weird ass reason, and sadly, 212,000 deaths. For reference, here in Australia we’ve had as of today 27,206 cases, 24,807 recovered and 897 deaths. New Zealand, who went into hard lockdown, had as of today, 1,864 cases, 1,800 recovered, and 25 deaths, with a period where there were 0 new cases for several days.)

Though, with that in mind, everyone going outside and gathering in large crowds? Realistic.

The actual movie part

Praises time! Will Smith has a stockpile of food. Also, him getting Sam (the dog) to eat her vegetables like she’s a little kid? Cutest thing ever.

Stockpilesss. (Picture: Will Smith wearing an apron and preparing a meal in a kitchen chock full of food items, including things like Pringles and spaghetti sauce.)

Setting alarms on his watch for sunset? Brilliant, smart idea, fantastic. Re-enforced windows and door, AND booby-trapped house? Incredible, genius. Setting traps to catch the zomvamps? (like the dumb name I just came up with? Don’t worry, I’ll reveal the stupid arbitrary name they ACTUALLY came up with later) Talent, intelligence.

Dude, why wouldn’t you restrain the head/chest? You know, the part that can bite you? (Picture: Will Smith in a lab coat standing over a female zombie-vampire who’s been secured to a metal bench by the wrists and ankles. Medical monitors are connected to her.)

Now, Will Smith is out here looking for a cure. And by looking, I mean actively creating. In a lab. He washes his hands before going in - *chef’s kiss* follow his example - and unlike other zombie movies where it’s super dramatic in the hunt for a cure, this is a lot more chill considering it’s a) been 3 years and b) is more like how science actually works. Trials, tests, animal test-subjects (there is a debate about the ethics of this which I won’t go into here) (I mean a debate in real life not in the zombie movie haha) and human test-subjects.

“Did you kidnap my girlfriend, bro?” (Picture: bald, pale muscular dude-bro-looking zombie-vampire roaring in rage.)

The mother-fracking zombies

I have to say it: these are the most dumbass looking vampire-zombies. I say vampire-zombies (zomvamps) because they avoid sunlight but also eat people?

Now, unlike most zombie movies, these are really bloody intelligent zomvamps. At one point, after setting a booby trap and catching a zomvamp after stumbling into a nest of them, Robert says “They’re not showing any human social behaviour.” Hahahaha. Okay bitch first of all dude bro screamed when you kidnapped his mate, secondly dude bro has pet dogs, thirdly dude bro fucking caught you in a trap. He took revenge on you there, love. He followed you home!

The zomvamps are apex predators, can climb, run, hunt in packs, communicate with each other, set booby traps, make coordinated attacks, follow you home, learn where you live and remember it, and holy fuck humans had no chance.

Thank you for clarifying, because I actually found this quite funny. Like, look at him! (Picture: dude-bro zombie-vampire from earlier growling in front of a flaming car. The zombie-vampires are very CGI, pale, fish-person looking things with pale skin and completely bald of hair. This guy is wearing ripped clothes. The caption reads “Growls menacingly”.)

Random things I have in my notes but haven’t mentioned yet (yes I took notes)

What’s with the apocalypse and mannequins? Looking at you, Five (Umbrella Academy).

(Picture: Will Smith looking at a “female” mannequin, who is dressed in a coat and black bob wig. They’re in a movie store. Funnily enough, behind the mannequin is the “Adult” section of the films.)

I agree with the fuck-that-shit sentiment when you see a mannequin suddenly appear in a different part of the city - like how in the hell??

(Picture: Will Smith aiming a rifle at a mannequin in an orange jumper. Mannequin is usually located outside of the movie store, yet here it is randomly in the middle of the street at the end of a T-section. There are tall glass windows behind the mannequin, and the window to the right has a giant, gaping pitch black hole in it. It’s presumed that there is a nest of zombie-vampires in there.)

... so is this a booby trap for humans or for zomvamps? Because the former makes sense if that dude bro zomvamp analysed Will Smith’s trap from earlier and remade it (hence dropped the car off a bridge to string him up), and the latter doesn’t really make sense because a) you’ll only catch (and probably kill) one zomvamp and why would you want only one unless you’re Robert and two why tf aren’t you meeting up with Robert he’s been broadcasting and racing around town hunting deer (elk?) in a sports car.

I’d like to know how hard it actually is to do like a weird sit-up and get yourself free of one of these kinds of traps. Am I dumb for thinking it’s not that hard? (Picture: Will Smith is suspended in the air by a rope tied around his ankle, the result of a booby-trap. He’s struggling to free himself.)

Come on, you’re literally a doctor and a soldier. Don’t tell me you’re actually considering pulling that out? (Picture: Will Smith has been impaled in the leg by something. It looks like he’s about to attempt to pull it out. He’s in the middle of the street as the sun sets, and Sam is right next to him.)

Sam is a queen. Here are some photos of her.

(Picture: Robert Neville’s wife carrying a baby Sam - Sam is a puppy, by the way, and very adorable. Neville’s young daughter is walking out of the gate to their house behind her mother.)

(Picture: Will Smith in a flashback saying goodbye to his wife and daughter and crying. Sam is licking away his tears.)

Sometimes I hate foreshadowing. (Picture: Will Smith searching a house. He opens a cupboard and there’s a newspaper article with a picture of a zombie-vampire dog. The article reads “Infected dogs can come out at dusk. Stay in the light.” There’s a number to call for questions.)

Worst birthday ever. Now I’m sad and there’s still half the movie left.

(Picture: Will Smith sitting on the floor of his lab, hugging Sam, who’s just been bitten by infected dogs.)

Get Shrek’d.

(Picture: The ‘Shrek’ movie playing on the TV in Neville’s house.)

Ma’am, do you not know how to ration? That is such a waste of food. (Picture: the woman and kid who rescued Will Smith have cooked breakfast. She’s cooked way too many scrambled eggs for two adults and a kid, and all the of the bacon for literally no reason.)

Oh yeah, wanna know what they call the zombies in this movie?

Dark Seekers. They dropped that one on us well into the final half of the movie. Dark Seekers? Really? I won’t get into how dumb that sounds when you had two options to choose from - vampires and zombies. Hell, go with my suggestion of zomvamps, even vampzoms. Dark Seekers? Sorry, I get hung up on dumb zombie-alternative names. Sure, I get the atmosphere might be ruined by calling them vampires or zombies, but not even lying I didn’t realise she said “Dark Seekers” until I turned the CC on to grab a quote. I thought she said “Dog Keepers” hahahaha. “The dog keepers got them.” My defence is that the dude bro did keep dogs.

Finally, wrapping this up at 2:15 before I add in pictures, you’re telling me approximately 100 zomvamps made a coordinated attack on Will Smith’s house to eat... 3 people? That’s like me and a hundred mates descending on the pentagon for a fucking snickers bar. We’d get like an atom each.

Oh, what’s that? They’re here to rescue one person? Really? Really? How in the fuck are they even zombies if their primary purpose isn’t to eat humans. I’m disappointed. But points for a fresh take, at least.

Now one of the things I remember about this movie is that is has an alternate ending. The actual ending (huge spoilers but then again, you’re in the spoiler section) has Will Smith sacrifice himself (read: blow himself and the zomvamps up with a grenade) to defend the cure and save his new friends. The alternate ending, which was scrapped due to negative audience reaction, has Will Smith communicate with the zomvamps who like actually calm down and listen to him. He gives the dude bro back his friend, and... no one dies.

I’m sorry, how is an ending where, sure, a cure isn’t found YET, but, the “villains” of the movie are humanised and a new side of them is seen that shows, hey, maybe there’s another way through this apocalypse, better than an ending where Will Smith dies? Make it make sense test audience. Because, remember, there’s still a whole bunch of immune people living out here, and three of them are currently in the same room. Robert’s only been working on the cure for 3 years. How many years do you reckon it takes to cure cancer? Hint: it’s ongoing in real life. Just because the cure isn’t found in the movie doesn’t mean it won’t be found. Ughhhh. I digress again.

I have more random photos but I am very tired. If anyone’s interested in hearing me roast butterflies, the world not actually ending in 2012, and a missed pun about Until Dawn (even though it was made like ten years after this), and a quick analysis on Robert Neville and God, let me know :)

Have a great day everyone, wash your hands, social distance if possible, and quarantine. Just because the COVID-19 virus isn’t turning us into zombies doesn’t mean it isn’t hurting us.

Worldwide statistics, 9/10/2020: 36.2M total cases, 25.3M recovered, 1.06M deaths.

(Picture: Will Smith saying “I like ‘Shrek’ after just quoting an entire scene of it to win a kid’s trust.)

#zombie #movies #I Am Legend #Will Smith #vampires #zombies #Dark Seekers #quarantine #doggos #shrek #apocalypse #mannequins #The Umbrella Academy

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ridiasfangirlings · 5 years ago

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Hi Ridia-san! I had a discussion with someone who thought that yata had the tendency to get away with things in canon and didn't have any character depth whatsoever,I'm new in the fandom so I don't have all the material to make an argument,what's your opinion on this topic?(they also think that yata is not good enought for fushimi but i don't know about that)sorry for my engli

….I don't usually answer these out of order but I feel the need to defend my baby whose good name has been besmirched D: Also you’ll see this is why I only did a short answer today, this one took me all evening...long rambly meta under the cut:

To be honest I find it a bit odd to say that Yata 'gets away with things' in canon while also claiming he's not good enough for Fushimi, considering Fushimi arguably gets away with more than nearly anyone else in canon – like, I love him and he has a lot of issues that make his reasoning clear, but it doesn't make the way Fushimi acts okay and one of the unfortunate weaknesses I think in his character arc is that he's never really quite called on it or forced to examine his actions very closely, whereas I would argue that Yata is forced to face the weaknesses in his world view and comes out a better person for it. Same with the argument that Yata has no character depth, his arc is one of the more clearly articulated in the series and I would honestly wonder if someone's been actually paying attention to what's happening in the series if they think Yata has no depth and that the Yata we meet at the beginning of the series is the same as the one that ends the series.

So yeah, Yata. I've got a few more in-depth asks about him here and here that are worth looking at, but just to go over his character beat by beat and why I don't see him as 'getting away' with very much at all. He's definitely a flawed character, but so is everyone in K (as it should be, as they say there's nothing more boring than a perfect hero). The Yata we meet first in LSW is young and probably a bit overbearing for a lot of people, someone who isn't good at reading the emotions of others but who ultimately wants to be a good kid. Like at the beginning of LSW with the Yata Team we can see Yata's good and bad sides: he wants to be part of a group, he wants to go on adventures and do awesome things and maybe be a bit of a delinquent (but, notably, for all Yata wants people to think he's a tough hardcore punk Yata's not the one who was cheating on tests or bullying skinny unhealthy nerds, Yata's form of rebellion actually comes off as a bit more of an outer shell covering the actual inner core of creamy nougat).

At the same time, Yata doesn't realize at all that this isn't what his 'friends' like or what they want to do, he tries to get them to join in with him without seeming to care that they have no interest and he gets annoyed at the school being full of boring stuck up kids. Obviously this is an immature worldview but Yata's immature, he's a kid. And it's worth remembering his back story here, that Yata's a kid who doesn't feel he fits in with his own family, who felt for years that he was the only one who could protect his mom and that he just moved back to Shizume after having lived away in a place where it's pretty clearly implied that he did in fact have his own group of friends – Kamamoto, notably – and where he was popular and looked up to. Now he's in a different school in a different place and he doesn't quite manage to fit in well and it's like here he is again, the only square peg in a place full of round holes.

Even so, Yata still tries to keep strong to his own beliefs. Yata has some notable masculinity issues and I think he has this image in his head of what a 'man' should be, and that image is basically a superhero. Yata just wants to be someone who fights on the side of justice and protects everyone, to the point he takes the fall for his not-friends cheating even though he had nothing to do with it. And as Fushimi somewhat points out to him afterward, some of that may well have been rooted in Yata's own ego – wanting to be acknowledged, to be looked up to as the one who protected his friends – but I think he also sincerely wanted to do what he thought a good leader would do. Then when he sees Fushimi being bullied it's the same – Yata I think wants to be needed and to belong, and just as Fushimi feels outside his family Yata does too, like maybe if he can protect people and maybe if he has someone who needs him then Yata can finally feel like he's found a place where he fits.

Then of course he's blindsided when Fushimi doesn't show any gratitude and it makes him reexamine his own motivations, like did he really want to save Fushimi or did he just want to look good, superficially, be thanked and praised. Yata also realizes what his 'friends' think of him at this point, that they've been mocking him all this time and of course Yata gets mad – as a straightforward kid who wears his heart on his sleeve Yata doesn't get why people would talk behind his back, he wants to be told upfront. But here he's thrown the same words, that he just wanted gratitude and praise, that he made the 'Yata Team' do what he wanted and play the games he wanted, and that they thought he'd get mad if they said anything. The notable thing with Yata here though is when he thinks about it he does get depressed, he feels like a bully and that truly is the last thing he wants. Yata can be overbearing but he's not a bad kid and he's really upset by this. And remember again, we're talking someone whose behavior previously made him popular (in the Unused Tickets comic Yata mentions that at his previous birthday a lot of classmates showed up, so basically Yata went from being part of a huge friend circle to being outside of it, at the same time that he's also started feeling on the outside in his own family). And even though Yata was the one who was badmouthed behind his back, having his 'friends' repeat Fushimi's words about needing gratitude is enough to make him start to examine his own actions at least a little, trying to figure out where he went wrong.

This is the point where he meets Fushimi and everything's great for a while, they become friends and Yata gets clearly attached to this person who he thinks is so amazing. Even with the two of them more in sync at this point though it's clear that there are still things Yata doesn't understand, particularly involving Fushimi's family. He's confused when Fushimi's parents aren't home while Fushimi's sick and he knows that Niki affects Fushimi in bad ways, as he tells Aya, though at the same time he still wonders if Fushimi should visit Niki while he's in the hospital. I think it's clear that Yata knows something is wrong with Fushimi's family – he sees how Fushimi is with Niki and the Mothers short story indicates that Yata did see Niki at least a few other times and that he saw Kisa even less. He also has the whole scene at Fushimi's house when Fushimi's sick, noting how things that everyone should understand, like being taken care of when you're sick, are things that Fushimi doesn't get at all.

I can see there being some argument there that Yata should have known Fushimi was being abused and should have done something but remember, Yata's still a middle schooler at this point and besides, what would he have done? Telling his mom to call Child Services probably wouldn't have gone well, particularly considering that Kisa's super rich and that Fushimi I think wouldn't want to admit that anything's happening there, and making a fuss about it could cause Fushimi to push Yata away. With the circumstances being what they are, Yata does the only thing he can think to do: he asks Fushimi to run away with him move in with him, so that Fushimi can have a 'home.' (And speaking of the Mothers story, a note of development: when Yata meets Kisa post-ROK, he decides not to tell Fushimi and not to force on him the idea of seeing his mother again, because Yata's realized that it's up to Fushimi to bridge that gap and if Fushimi doesn't want to see Kisa he shouldn't have to.)

So a couple points about that previous paragraph, and their relationship this far: first, obviously, there's the idea that the two of them are people who feel they don't fit in anywhere who find themselves fitting in together. However, their ideas really aren't as aligned as they think, even at this point when things are going relatively well: Fushimi is happy with just Yata, Yata is happy with Fushimi but as we see eventually he clearly wants to belong to a larger group. Yata doesn't understand Fushimi's worldview, but the same is true for Fushimi, who doesn't realize that Yata doesn't think the same as he does. Also note that Fushimi at this point tends to categorize Yata's words in terms of 0 or 100 points, basically the idea that if Yata pleases Fushimi it's good but if he doesn't it's bad, and allowing no room for anything in between. Fushimi's upbringing being what it is I think that's understandable – I feel like Fushimi at this point in particular is fundamentally selfish, because he's had to be to survive, he's had to focus on himself and protect himself because no one else will. So it's easier for him to put Yata in the box of the person that pleases him, the person who's here to call Fushimi 'amazing' with shining eyes and to prop up Fushimi's own rock bottom sense of self esteem, rather than admitting that Fushimi's really the one who's clinging to Yata all this time as his only good thing, the only one who's ever cared about him. Yata, for his part, is clearly hugely protective of Fushimi and does plenty of things for Fushimi's sake that may not be the best for Yata himself – when Fushimi decides he isn't going to high school Yata does the same, even though he has way less prospects than Fushimi does.

(An aside, here: despite Fushimi's apathy towards school, he still gets good marks on exams and is noted to have some talent, while Yata is called useless by his teacher and later by Aya. Aya even says that Fushimi's 'merit' drops being near Yata. Basically Yata is being told by all corners that he's no good, he's useless, he's stupid, that even if he didn't drop out he wouldn't be able to go any further than he already has. For him, dropping out has more meaning because he won't be able to become anything with just a middle school education. Even so, Yata does it for Fushimi, because Fushimi's his best friend and because Fushimi wants to take on the world, and Yata believes in him – and Fushimi, for all his 0 or 100 points, doesn't think Yata's useless, or stupid, or without merit.)

On Yata's end, there is probably some selfish desire in his closeness with Fushimi: Yata wants to protect people and in a similar way to how Fushimi feels he must be useful somehow or else he's worthless and easy to abandon, Yata needs to have someone to protect or he feels out of place like he did in his house. Once his mother remarried to Yata it's like he lost his place entirely in a variety of ways: he can't be the one who protects his mom, he's not fully blood related to his siblings, he doesn't have a team of friends who look up to him and follow him. But with Fushimi, Yata's got someone who needs him, a guy who can't take care of himself and needs someone to make sure he eats his meals and has a decent bed to sleep in. Of course there's true affection there as well-- Fushimi is Yata's partner, he's Yata's best friend, he's the guy who Yata truly believes can take on the whole world.

And I think Yata has changed by this point too, that even though he wants to have someone to protect he's not doing this just to get gratitude or to feel better about himself. He's doing it because fundamentally Yata wants to protect people he cares about and Fushimi at this point is the number one person for him (and here's already where the cracks start forming too, because for all Yata thinks Fushimi is amazing I think he's always seen them as partners, whereas Fushimi for his own protection tried to think of Yata as beneath him, as someone who followed him, because he can't trust in Yata's sincere affection for him as friend. There has to be a reason, there has to be something he can quantify so he knows Yata won't leave).

Then Homra happens and this is where I feel like Yata gets some undue shit from fandom because I've seen a lot of people claim that 'Yata ignored Fushimi in favor of Mikoto instead, Yata stopped caring about Fushimi and only cared about Homra, Yata made Fushimi leave, etc. etc.' The thing is, I don't think the text entirely bears this out. Side Red and LSW I think make it clear that it's not that Yata ignored Fushimi, it's that the parts of both of them that the other didn't really understand were exacerbated by joining Homra. Like I said above, Fushimi was happy just with Yata (from LSW: “Why do you want me to be understood by everyone when you yourself don’t? … If YOU understand me, I would be content”) and he assumed Yata felt the same. Yata, meanwhile, has always longed to be part of a group and he assumed that Fushimi, being the lonely kid whose walls are always up, must have felt the same (LSW, again: “You don’t want to keep being misunderstood like this, do you?”). Neither one understands the other. When they join Homra, Yata thinks that it's the most amazing place and that Mikoto is the most amazing hero, and he can't understand why anyone would think otherwise. Side Red:

“I wonder if it’s the same for Saru-kun?”

In response to that unexpected question, Yata blinked once or twice.

“Eh?”

“I wonder if Saru-kun, who felt the same way as you, is also letting himself be saved by us?”

It was a question he’d never even thought of. It wasn’t something he had thought of, but he tried thinking about it and came up with a simple answer.

“I dunno, but isn’t he?”

Being beside Suoh, there wasn’t anyone who wouldn’t have their hearts moved and wouldn’t have their blood boil, Yata thought simply. Totsuka didn’t comment on Yata’s answer, just said ‘I see’, and then put on a face like he was looking somewhere distant again.

Clearly, this shows that Yata assumed that Fushimi was also being 'saved' by Homra, because he can't fathom anything else. On the one hand, here's Yata's flaws in glaring obviousness, he's so blinded by his own hero worship of Mikoto and his own needs that he doesn't realize at all what I think Totsuka is trying to hint to him here. On the other, it's not like Fushimi's doing himself any favors. In Side Red it's also noted by Yata that since he joined Homra he hasn't hung out with Fushimi as much anymore, just the two of them – but earlier in the novel when Yata and Kamamoto are watching over Honami and Anna Yata mentions that the orders were originally for himself and Fushimi, and Fushimi bailed. A mission for the two of them, where they could hang out together, and Fushimi was the one who turned away, likely because it was a Homra mission, and so on Homra's terms and not Fushimi's. But Yata doesn't know that because Fushimi never says so and Fushimi's a hard guy to understand, especially for a straightforward person like Yata. So to Yata this seems more like Fushimi blowing him off when they could have hung out than Fushimi being upset because he doesn't want Yata to look at anyone else with shining eyes, and there's really no way Yata could have known what the reason was when Fushimi won't even give him the smallest crumb of a hint.

We also know from LSW that as much as Yata loves Homra, Fushimi is still important to him even then. In LSW it's noted (emphasis mine) “The position as Homra’s vanguard he held together with Fushimi was Yata’s pride.” For Yata, it's not just that he's trusted by Homra, it's that Fushimi is there with him. Seriously, read this and tell me Yata 'stopped caring about Fushimi':

They constantly had disputes with other groups and had a brush with death on countless occasions. In this one and a half year - as long as Fushimi was at his back, Yata was never afraid. He had not even once regretted that they had thrown themselves into this world. He didn’t think that these satisfying days were lacking anything.

He could feel the heat beneath his left collarbone. As if there was a second heart, throb, power was carried through his whole body with one big beat. If Fushimi was close he could even feel the power of the mark he had in the same spot.

Yata's pride isn't just Homra, it's Fushimi. And this is where their misunderstandings continue, because Fushimi assumes, all on his own, that Yata doesn't care about him anymore, because Yata's looking at someone else with shining eyes. Yata is not obligated to be Fushimi's self esteem crutch, he's allowed to be impressed by other people (and as is clear in the interlude I quoted above, Yata still thinks Fushimi's amazing in his own way). Yata wants Fushimi to be part of Homra, to make friends, and Fushimi doesn't like that because I think he assumes that if there are other people around why would Yata ever choose Fushimi – if Fushimi's not the most amazing, if Fushimi's not the one whose plans never fail, then Fushimi has nothing to offer and why would Yata ever choose him over all these other people. And I think in a way Fushimi almost makes this his own self-fulfilling prophecy: he never tells Yata what he's feeling or what's happening with him, so it seems like Yata doesn't care because Yata doesn't know. An example: in LSW when he sees Niki's 'ghost' in the window of his old house he almost tells Yata, and Yata misunderstands thinking Fushimi's talking about something that happened at Homra. Rather than correcting him or qualifying what he meant, Fushimi sinks back into silence and takes this to mean that because Yata didn't push him – when Yata has no way of knowing what was going on – this means Yata didn't care. Yata may not be listening as hard as he could be, but Fushimi isn't speaking loud enough to be heard anyway.

The betrayal is another point between them, when Fushimi actually leaves. First, obviously, Fushimi never 'betrayed' Homra – he is fully within his rights to leave a clan he didn't feel comfortable in, and Mikoto clearly never thinks of him as a traitor. Yata doesn't see this at all, but there are different reasons for it. First – Fushimi clearly frames all this as a betrayal. He doesn't say the real reason he's leaving, he doesn't approach Yata calmly and explain himself. He mocks Homra, mocks Mikoto, mocks all the things that he knows will make Yata angry, and then he burns his tattoo. To Fushimi, Yata's anger and look of betrayal here is all for Homra, that when Yata says 'did you forget this mark is our pride,' Yata means Homra. But the passage I quoted from LSW a bit ago reveals the misunderstanding: to Yata, that mark isn't Homra's pride, it's his and Fushimi's. To Yata, the Homra tattoo in the same place as Fushimi's symbolizes their bond as partners, that second heartbeat he can feel whenever Saruhiko's near.

And Fushimi burns it in front of his eyes.

So for Yata's feelings: yes, he's angry that Fushimi dared to leave Homra and Mikoto. Yata's always had that blindness, the same one Kusanagi notes in the Shrine Visit short story is common in Homra, that everyone tends to assume it's Homra vs the world, that you're one of us or you're an enemy. That blind hero worship is enough to make him think of Fushimi as an enemy just for leaving Homra...except it's pretty clear throughout the series that Yata doesn't actually feel that way (in fact if there's one weakness in Fushimi's arc I feel it's that we get a lot of how Yata feels about Fushimi but precious little concrete moments showing how Fushimi feels about Yata). Shortly after Fushimi leaves we have Yata talking to Totsuka and Yata's angry, he's upset...but:

He regretted it. Grabbing a pillow and pressing his face into it, clenching his teeth so much he cut his own mouth, even then he couldn’t stop regretting.

“I- if he’d say he changed his mind and wants to apologize and come back, then I’m going to apologize together with him to Mikoto-san. He isn’t the type to apologize by himself so I’ll make him apologize and if Mikoto-san’d say things won’t be settled unless he beats Saruhiko up then I’ll get beat up together with him.”

No one's here to give Yata gratitude for that. Fushimi can't hear Yata saying he would be beaten up for Fushimi's sake, because he can't let Fushimi get beaten alone. But Yata still says it, because he still can't abandon Fushimi. And yes, he still doesn't understand – he still thinks of things in terms of Fushimi coming back, not that Fushimi didn't belong in the first place – but Yata doesn't really hate Fushimi either, as much as he wishes he did. Nor does Yata ever stop trying to understand – in the Cellar chapter of Memory of Red he even asks Fushimi straight out why he left Homra. And even with Fushimi still a member of S4 Yata also clearly seems about to ask Fushimi if they can be friends again at the end of chapter, even though Yata still doesn't know why Fushimi's become this way. It's Fushimi who rebuffs him, who won't take anything less than total understanding, and who can't let himself have a 'half-hearted thing' – he can't trust that he has all Yata's affection, so he'll just have all Yata's hate instead.

Jumping ahead then to S1 and after, the first thing I feel should be said on Yata's behalf for anything that happens during the season and the aftermath: Totsuka fucking died in Yata's arms. This is important, because even though the series only lightly touches on Yata's trauma he is still very clearly traumatized by it and I think that informs a lot of Yata's actions in S1. And honestly if we're going to complain about Yata getting away with things in S1 we have to extend that to all of Homra because yes, they do make what from an objective viewpoint would be some rather poor decisions – in seeking revenge, and helping Mikoto seek revenge, they're basically risking a catastrophe that could kill hundreds of thousands of people if Mikoto's Sword falls.

Now whether anyone in Homra aside from Kusanagi and Anna really understands this is debatable, personally I really don't think Yata does. He even says himself in Countdown that he never thought about what Mikoto was thinking and that he never really understood Mikoto. Yata's giving his best in this space though, even as Kamamoto notes that he hasn't been eating or sleeping well, because Yata is determined to avenge the death of a precious friend who died in his arms. That this feeling could have negative consequences isn't really his to think about and that it puts him on opposite sides from Fushimi isn't a consideration either because they're already on opposite sides (and even so, Yata does try to rein in his temper when he meets Fushimi at Ashinaka in episode 5. It's Fushimi who clearly initiates that fight and who goads Yata into it, because he still needs Misaki's eyes on him, he needs Misaki's hate, and he doesn't want to deal with a Yata who puts things like Mikoto's wishes over hating and fighting Fushimi).

Then Mikoto dies and this is another point where I think Yata gets some undeserved flack, for the way he acts in the aftermath. So keep in mind Yata has just lost two people who are very important to him (as have Kusanagi and Anna and all the others, and that's why I personally give them all some leeway in their respective reactions at this point because you can't always control grief). Yata's also lost the place he belongs – to Yata, Homra was the thing he always wished for, a space where he really fits, where he's one of the group and not that kid on the outside. Even when Fushimi is gone, Homra is Yata's rock. When Mikoto dies I think part of Yata knows that Homra's not going to be the same and that it's likely to break apart but he doesn't want to believe it, doesn't want to see his precious place crumble, and so he reacts poorly when Kusanagi says he's closing the bar down.

Obviously Yata's not considering Kusanagi's feelings in this, and he's running a little roughshod over everyone else, trying to keep the mood up by suggesting a trip to the sea even though it's clear that no one is interested. It's like he's regressed a little to the middle school kid with the Yata Team, deciding what they should do for them, but in this case it's not because he wants to be someone looked up to but more that he's trying to hold onto his past because the idea of a future without Homra scares him. Again, Yata's someone who is pretty constantly told he's an idiot and has no other prospects (and he's internalized that too, in Countdown 1 he even says right out “Because I'm stupid I fail even though I give my best”). I think even though Yata hasn't got the same level of issues that Fushimi does he's still someone who feels like maybe he can't belong anywhere – he wants to try, which Fushimi doesn't because Fushimi assumes he'll fail which I think is where their difference lies – and I think for him seeing Homra crack is like suddenly not belonging anywhere at all, like when the Yata Team told him they didn't like him, except this time there's no Fushimi there by his side (and it is notable that while Kamamoto, good guy that he is, tries to cheer Yata up and be there for him Kamamoto's also busy with his own stuff and that really leaves Yata as the only 'main' member of Homra with no partner to help him get through this. The Homra alphabet pairs have each other, Kamamoto's taking care of Anna, but Yata has no one because his 'person' left long ago).

This sends Yata into a pretty long period of depression, which we see in MK and throughout the pre-MK side materials. Obviously Yata's not the only one hurting (Anna and Kusanagi have a lot of pain too, though most of Kusanagi's is offscreen), but I don't think it's fair to fault him for being selfish in his own pain. Yata sits at the bar and stares at old videos of when everyone was happy and for him this is just the lowest point, where he feels like he has nobody who cares and no place to belong. It's indicated that Kamamoto has tried a little to keep an eye on Yata and he does try to call Yata in MK when Anna's in danger (and is ignored), but I think it's understandable that Yata would feel so down and abandoned. He says in Countdown that he hates when people leave him without explaining themselves, the scars of Fushimi's betrayal still strongly there, and I think it's understandable at this point that he feels as if he's been left by everyone.

(Though also worth noting: even though Yata was so angry at Fushimi, in the LSW novel epilogue the one thing that Yata has to cling to, that he doesn't have to regret, is that Fushimi is still alive. “That guy was alive. They would collide again endless times after this, let out anger and questions, and they could try to talk.” Yata can't speak to Totsuka or Mikoto anymore to find out what they were thinking or why they chose the paths they did, but he can still one day reach out to Fushimi and that's important to him.)

And then in MK when he hears that Anna's in trouble Yata does pull himself out of his funk and goes to help her. Even if he doesn't answer his phone for Kamamoto right away due his depression and the general lethargy brought out by it, now that he's needed, now that there's someone who needs protecting, Yata's up and ready. It isn't because he wants gratitude, it's not because he wants to be a hero, it's because Anna's in danger and he cares about her. Yata also swallows his pride and calls Fushimi for help and I think it's clear that this isn't Yata just using Fushimi when it's convenient or anything like that. Yata initially is against calling Fushimi when Kamamoto suggests it because Yata has all this resentment and anger still built up about the betrayal, but even so he knows that Kamamoto's right that Fushimi might be the only person who can help them and so he makes the call. Fushimi of course mocks him for it (I wrote a bit about the call in general here way back), probably feeling like Yata's only calling him because now Fushimi's needed, but that isn't really the case and even if it was, this is still something Fushimi broke himself.

When we get to the back half of MK I think Yata shows a lot of growth actually – even though he does rush in like an idiot, because rushing in is really all Yata knows how to do, he still doesn't completely blow off help from the Silvers, not treating this like a 'you're in Homra or you're against Homra' situation like he might once have. He also clearly tries to thank Fushimi for his help after everything's gone down, which to me shows some definite growth again on Yata's part – Fushimi is still unable to accept that gratitude, but Yata tries. And he keeps trying even into ROK, where his first non-flashback scene with Fushimi is once again Yata trying to thank Fushimi for his help and I think at this point Yata really doesn't want to treat Fushimi like an enemy anymore. Countdown 1 gives us a lot of character growth for Yata, where he really recognizes that he's never quite understood the people he loves and where he makes the decision not to make that mistake again. He wants to support Anna, so he asks her what she wants from him instead of assuming. He wants to understand Fushimi, so he tries to find a way to mend fences (and then Fushimi hits all the buttons he know will hurt in order to make Yata lose his temper again, because Fushimi is nothing if not a master of sabotaging his own happiness).

Continuing from there too, we see a lot of growth in Yata's mindset and his way of dealing with Fushimi and with other clans from this point out. Where Fushimi is clearly displeased about the alliance from the beginning, Yata seems to accept it fairly quickly and he appears to be on pretty good terms with the Silvers, treating them as Anna's friends rather than outsiders who aren't part of Homra – he's graduated from the narrow viewpoint that Kusanagi describes in the Shrine Visit story, he's willing to see people now as more than with us or against us. And even though he may not like Munakata Yata is very clearly trying to understand why Fushimi does – during the Mihashira attack we see him wondering why someone would follow a person like the Blue King and it's blindingly obvious that he's meaning Fushimi here. Yata is trying to understand, because he clearly has decided he wants to fix what's broken between him and Fushimi. Saying Yata 'gets away with a lot' or 'doesn't deserve Fushimi' seems particularly unfair to me in this context, especially seeing as Fushimi shows no real signs of trying to understand Yata at all. Fushimi's still trapped in his own little mess of issues and the closest he lets himself open up is to tell Yata to come and chase him right before the fake betrayal, which is a fairly obtuse way of putting it (and yes you could argue that Munakata understands Fushimi a bit more than Yata does, but I don’t think ‘less perceptive than Munakata Reisi’ is grounds for saying a person doesn’t ‘deserve’ someone else).

Of course for all that Yata does still come to save Fushimi, and I think his reaction to Fushimi's 'second betrayal' shows a lot of how he's grown too. First we do know from the short story 'The Eldest Son and His Mate' that Yata keeps trying to call Fushimi even though he's angry that Fushimi 'betrayed' his clan for a second time. Yata's still a bit immature here, still thinking of it as betrayal, but then when he talks to his mother and she mentions that “My son isn’t somebody who gets wrong what he should do for his best friend” Yata decides to reach out one more time, to search one more place. He's angry, but he also wants to find Fushimi, to ask him why, to understand him. Yata's not looking for Fushimi just to beat him up, he's grown from that.

And even though Yata thinks he's an idiot, even though he gets so many things wrong, in the end Yata comes to a conclusion even Fushimi couldn't manage: “To you, the Blue King was your King all along.” Yata's the one who tells Fushimi that he isn't a traitor, when prior to this Yata was always more than happy to yell that word back at him – because Fushimi wanted him to, because Fushimi wanted to paint himself in those colors. Yata has no way of knowing the real reason why Fushimi broke off their friendship the way he did – Yata doesn't know about the anthill, after all, and there's no way he could – but he tells Fushimi straight out: “Say it in a way I understand. Keep saying it until I do understand.” He's not saying that all the onus is on Fushimi to communicate in their relationship, because Yata himself always communicates everything he feels loudly. What he's saying is that Fushimi can't keep hiding all his emotions and pain and forcing them down into nothing, and then feel upset when Yata doesn't read his mind. It's like with the hallucinations in LSW, when Fushimi finally leaves Homra. He tries to tell Yata only once about anything related to them (the bit I mentioned earlier, where he sees 'Niki' in the house), and clams up as soon as he's misunderstood. Fushimi doesn't say anything and Yata knows it, and he's putting it to Fushimi plain: I want to understand, so don't stop talking until I do. Don't give up on me. Don't carry it all alone.

So basically with all this above, I find it really strange for someone to say that Yata 'gets away with things' or that he 'has no depth.' The after story with him and Fushimi also makes this clear:

'Homra might not be able to exist the way it was now. When Suoh had died Yata was the the only one who couldn’t accept that until the end. He resented his comrades for leaving the bar and labeled them as coldhearted. He had stubbornly persisted to protect Homra and the bar the way it had been when Suoh was around. Now he understood that Homra was changing its form from a ‘street gang’, also for Anna’s sake. They had to change to be able to properly deliver to the future what the now deceased had treasured. And because of that there was no guarantee that all the comrades who respected Suoh wouldn’t walk down a different path now.

When Yata had accepted that, and even though it was strange, the day where he could walk side by side with his once lost best friend had come at the end of the way he had started to move on.'

I don't think you could see that as anything but Yata acknowledging his own faults, acknowledging that he can't hold onto the past forever and that trying to do so was wrong, while also expressing a desire to move forward, and a happiness that he can do so with Fushimi back by his side. Yata worked fucking hard to get Fushimi back. He grew, he changed, he questioned his old outlook on things, he did his best to understand something that he really never would have been able to understand entirely by himself. From the Mothers short story: 'Trying to understand Fushimi based on his own assumption was not the way to go. Because he assumed this way back then, they had missed one another for so many years. Guess that guy would still need some time.'

Yata's been through some shit and he lost a friend, and he matured and worked to win that friend back. He's got plenty of depth to spare for a guy who thinks he's an idiot (yet still can make insightful comments on his own, who still does understand Fushimi a lot more than I think Fushimi himself realized despite what happened between them) and he definitely doesn't 'get away' with anything, especially when by contrast we never see Fushimi so much as apologize for his part in the betrayal (and while Fushimi has all his myriad of issues and mental and emotional struggles that make forgiveness possible, it doesn't give him carte blanche for everything he did to Yata either, that's not how a relationship works. I love Fushimi, but he owes Yata a damn apology). I think the reason the two of them do deserve each other is because they've both gone through the fire together, broken apart, and still found their way back together. They're both reaching for an understanding, even if it's hard to grasp, and there's no shame in a few missteps along the way.

#Yata Misaki #K project #Talking K #K Meta #giant meta post of doom #the second #yeah this got away from me I hope everyone enjoys it #also I should note that again I do love Fushimi and don't think that all of the things between him and Yata were 'his fault'#or that he 'doesn't deserve' Yata #basically Fushimi is an absolute disaster child who has reasons for why he is the way he is #but at the same time I don't think that should mean that Yata has to take on all the blame and heavy lifting in their relationship #honestly if someone told me they didn't think Yata had any depth I'd wonder if we watched the same series #I personally wish the end of Fushimi's arc had gotten more depth myself #but Yata gets plenty he has one of the clearer arcs out of the whole cast

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thinking-outside-the-giftbox18 · 4 years ago

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A Pill In Time: Chapter 0 - Introduction

Ao3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25747456/chapters/62524747

Wattpad link: https://www.wattpad.com/932662757-a-pill-in-time-ahit-psych-ward-au-chapter-0

Summary: An alternate universe where A Hat In Time [by Gears For Breakfast] is set in a psychic ward and anyone non-human in the game are human now.

Notes: The writer has done research on the mental disorders yet has trouble understanding and memorizing them, please don’t harass or insult them as they have tried to be empathetic and avoid spreading misinformation.

The perspective of the main character changes to the next character to show what the main character is really doing.

TW: Mental disorders [Autism/Autism Spectrum, PTSD, OCD, Anxiety, Schizophrenia, etc.], the perspective of a child can be dark too, self-loathing, mentions of physical abuse [not kids fighting each other, we were kids who fought our own siblings before, unless it was physical abuse on your perspective…nevermind…], mild swearing, might be boring depending on how I write this story.

It’s a lovely morning, the sky was blue with puffy white clouds, or atleast, that’s what my switch was showing me as I play my favorite video game. My grandpa, Tim wanted to show us- me and my cousin Timmy, where he works; he is a doctor but not like any doctors I’ve met. Today looked like it was going to rain anytime soon by taking glimpses through the car window, in the reflection I saw Timmy was also bored of watching the window as he snaked a hand to the zipper of my big bagpack!

“Hey!” I yelled out, making both Timmy and grandpa Tim jump a bit. Timmy regained his position and looked away with his arms crossed, “I saw your hand on my bagpack!” I declared. He, being the older cousin, sticks his tongue out in protest “Did not!” he replies while keeping the “good guy” attitude. Grandpa just sighed and looks at both of us from the rear view mirror, me and Grandpa have the same eye color, “Timothy Jr. and Hana, stop fighting. And don’t touch her bagpack, Timmy.” He nonchalantly stated while Timmy’s eyes narrowed in annoyance as he looked at Grandpa and then at me, I was busy playing my game but listened in on them-

Timmy: “That’s not fair! I didn’t bring anything with me, besides the switch, and she gets to bring all FORTY OF HER TOYS!!”

Grandpa Tim: “She has to bring them for her own safety as all of those toys help her.”

Timmy: (mumbles) “Sometimes I think she’s pretending to have Autis-!”

Grandpa Tim: (exclaims) “Timothy Junior!! You do not say that in front of your cousin sister!”

Timmy: (quiet) “…”

…It sucks to have Autism, if I’m being honest here. You see, I was raised by my Grandpa only, and he makes sure that I have a good life, but when you’re surrounded by “normal” kids who are quick to point out a flaw you can’t control or those who are just close to you to get what you have, as far as stealing it, it gets harder as you grow up. Grandpa says that I am special in my own way, and he has met and helped those who are almost like me, so I take his word for it. Whenever me and Timmy fight, Grandpa always tells me that what makes me different from Timmy is that I have a different way of seeing the world, his way of saying that Timmy is raised differently and has trouble understanding how I feel. Those “toys” I brought along, all help to make me feel… safe, each of them are a part of my memories and it’s hard to not leave them.

“We’re here!” Grandpa tells us after a long silence, he had just parked the car next to a hedge close to a grey-white stone building, I unbuckled my seatbelt and carry my bagpack which is heavy, but I can keep it in Grandpa’s office. I held onto Grandpa’s hand as we all walked to the entrance of the building, the inside was like a quiet hospital with dimmed lights, there were nurses, security guards and janitors roaming the corridors to attend to any room in need of their services. Timmy and I looked at each other and we had the same thought: This looks like a good horror movie setting, Grandpa walks up to the first door, unlocks it and lets us in, the room looked almost identical to Grandpa’s bedroom, without the bed and a closet, there was a big wooden desk with a lot of small framed photos, a pen-holder and a goldfish bowl with a blue-red betta fish in there, “Stitch!!!” I exclaimed, I put down my bagpack on a purple beanbag and ran to the fishbowl, waving at the blue fish, I remember Grandpa buying him in a pet store when I saw him, I was so happy to see Stitch again.

Then an almost plump lady in a nurse uniform and a sweet smile peeps into the office, holding a paper bag filled with something, Grandpa greets her warmly, “Head Nurse Clara! Good to see you here, these are my grandchildren: Timothy Jr. and Hana.” Both me and Timmy waved at Clara, who smiles more, “Oh my! It’s really nice to finally meet you two! Good thing I baked a fresh batch for both of you!” She gets a paper plate from Grandpa’s office cabinet and out of her bag was a pile of cookies, the smell danced around the room and I was jumping on my tippy toes, wanting to hop on top of the desk and snatch all of the cookies for myself. Grandpa and Clara laugh softly at my reaction while Timmy rolls his eyes, Clara gives the plate to both of us and the next 5 minutes were a blur as me and Timmy eat the cookies and watch me play the game in his switch. Grandpa and Clara had left the room previously for work, leaving us in the office; as I finished the game, I noticed that there was one more cookie, so of course, I take it and took a bite of the scrumptious treat, Timmy looked at me with what I can guess was betrayal. “I wanted that last cookie!!! How could you?!!” I jolted, looking at Timmy with surprise, he storms off to the office door and slams the door shut, making my ears ring from the loud bang. I really didn’t mean to eat the last cookie, I can’t help it…

Timmy didn’t come back, so I went outside to see him leaning against the wall, with his hat brim covering his eyes, he got that grey hat from his dad, my uncle; he and Timmy’s mom are always busy, leaving Timmy with me and Grandpa. I walked towards him cautiously, this wasn’t the first time he gets mad, the last time ended with me getting an arm-brace and bandages while he got bruises and was grounded for 2 weeks. “T-Timmy…? I’m really sorry for eating the last cookie…I didn’t know you wanted it first…” I shakily said, hoping for him to yell at me and cause a scene, so that Grandpa could rush to us and calm everything down, Timmy raises his head to reveal his eyes, they also match Grandpa’s eyes…”That’s okay, it’s just one cookie! You really like cookies, that’s all.” He replies, shrugging everything off, leaving me surprised. He patted me in the back reassuringly with an off-putting smile, he notices my hands that have chocolate smudges and cookie crumbs, “You should wash your hands, Hana! Wouldn’t want to get the switch dirty, or ruin your fun with the treasure hunt!” He had this unusual tone when he mentioned a treasure hunt, yet he saw how my eyes widened more, he smiles more and chuckled. “A treasure hunt?? You were planning a treasure hunt??” I asked with excitement, I hopped on my toes again with delight, Timmy nodded and again asked me to wash my hands again, “After you wash your hands, count to one hundred, okay?” I looked at him confused, I asked why, “To find the perfect spot to hide the treasure, duh!” I naively giggled at his answer and rushed to the restroom, beginning to wash my hands, just the thought of something exciting finally happening while in Grandpa’s hospital.

Timmy’s P. O. V.

As I watch Hana rush to the restroom, I set my plan in motion, ‘I’ll show that dummy that she shouldn’t get nice things…! She’ll pay for making my switch dirty with her grubby hands and eating my cookie.’ I thought with a smirk as I open her bagpack she carried so dearly on her back. I looked at all of her toys, which were in fact just really weird looking gadgets, especially a really heavy blanket and a top-hat shaped toy with a turnkey on the band, I didn’t waste time to look through all of them as I carried the bag, ignored my breaking back and ran everywhere to hide all the toys, even the other 2 floors above the ground floor. Good thing this ward has elevators, or Hana will punch me more badly if I get caught, like the last time we fought…I shudder at the thought of being grounded for more than 2 weeks. Luckily, I knew this ward, inside and out to know where to put these toys in.

Hana’s P. O. V.

I washed my hands but in the process, got my sleeves wet, so I used many paper towels and a hand dryer for a long time, then I start the countdown from 1 to 100, but I messed it up twice, till I finally get to one hundred. With adrenaline pumping into my veins, I rush outside but saw Timmy nowhere, he might be in the office, I thought, and I entered the office and found to what I can describe as a soul-fleeting moment, my bagpack…it’s empty!!!! All my comfort toys are gone!!!! All forty of them!!!

Timmy’s P. O. V.

I hid in another restroom close to the one Hana went in, and felt a small tinge of regret when I hear her scream of horror…Nah, she’ll be fine…right? …I’m so gonna get grounded…A cold sweat fell from my covered forehead when I hear Hana’s stomping footsteps exit the office.

“YOU’RE DEAD, TIMOTHY!!!!!!” a loud Valkyrie shout boomed across the corridors.

…Yep, I’m grounded. So I stayed in the bathroom.

Hana’s P. O. V.

I was beyond mad at Timmy for not just opening my bagpack but for also touching AND HIDING MY TOYS THAT HAD SERVED COMFORT TO ME FOR A LONG TIME, ALL BECAUSE OF A COOKIE!!! I’ll kick his butt when I see him, but I kept my main objective: Find all 40 of my comfort toys before we leave, I can’t let Grandpa know because I want to hunt Timmy myself. I marched through the corridors, searching for atleast one of my toys.

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Notes: End of Chapter 0 of A Pill In Time. This is a testing chapter to see if I can continue on writing this fanfiction. I hope you enjoyed as much as I enjoyed typing it; if you have any thoughts or suggestions, please let me know as I would want to make this chapter friendly and well-researched with no misinformation. Terms and Conditions apply.

#giftbox_treasures #ahit #a hat in time #ahit au #ahit fanfic #a pill in time #ahit hat kid #ahit Tim the CEO of Time #ahit Timmy #ahit cooking cat #mental health #mental disorder #mental ward #Mental Ward AU #autism #autism awareness

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thefinalkey16 · 5 years ago

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KH3 Re:Mind spoilers/Reactions

So Xemnas gave the order?? To find the box?? But why??

So did Xigbar actually lose the box? YOU HAD ONE JOB

Oh we’re starting HERE HUH

I forgot how pretty the graphics are

Why is Riku so pretty???

Nomura really went “this DLC is about SOKAI and I’m gonna make sure you KNOW IT.”

Nomura really cares about his ship and I appreciate it so much

LETS GO SAVE OUR GIRL!

Heck yeah REMIND TIME

I love the music in this game so much

YES WE GET MORE MOM

Why does MOM adopt smol children lol

It bothers me that MOM has no actual face behind the hood. It’s like Ansem’s original form

So Xehanort is where Xemnas’s confusion of the heart comes from lol

OH THIS IS PREMASTER XEHANORT

I’m sorry, Xehanort is more powerful than darkness?

I’m sorry MOM is too scared to take off the coat???

MOM is a psychology teacher who gets exasperated by his dumb students

OH THATS JUST RUDE NOMURA

LEMME KNOW HIS NAME

A lost..Master?

Well we know where Xehanort got the hands behind the back walk from

OOO A NEW THEME

OH I LOVE IT

I’m 100% sure that MOM told him his name was “Noneya,” and it took a few decades before he realized what he actually said

DID THEY TELEPORT TO LOOK COOL ON THE ROCKS

I’m sorry they have holograms??

Did they actually call him Riku Replica lol

Wait they were actually nobodies

XEMNAS AND XEHANORT WERE REPLICAS?

“Why we have assembled here,” because Xemnas and Sora destroyed your sick castle

Poor Terra got possessed TWICE?

Demyx! You get Demyx!

I’m sorry 20??

No. I

Oh so they don’t actually remember Xion

Does.. does Xigbar remember Xion?

Wow they got Vexen just to get his daughter in their gang. How rude

Xehanort fell asleep while they chatted I’m cackling

Crazy old man

Now when do I get to save Kairi? :3c

YAY ITS TIME

YAY ITS CHIRITHY TIME

ITS MY SMOL KITTY

“Back so soon?”=you died again?? You’re lame

Chirithy is a mood

Sora you watched your GF get shattered

Oh so that’s why Sora dies

IS SORA SAILOR PLUTO

Oh my god he’s Sailor Pluto

Lose powers? He’s done that so many times 😂

Getting banned from one world? He had a phone and friends with gummi ships lol

ARE WE GONNA SEE EVERONES HEART STATION??

NOOO VEN That still hurts to watch

AWW SORA TRIED TO CATCH HIM

Wow he’s a ghosty ghost

Oh I love Ven’s heart station so much

Wow Vanitas really said that Ven is Baby

YAS GIMME VANITAS

Also wow Vanitas is protecting Ven’s heart and I love that

OH NO NOT THIS GUY

I beat him by using Meow Wow. meow wow is best boy

Oh no oh no it’s this pet

Gotta love Big Bro Lea

I forgot they call him Axel

ITS THE HUG

It’s Donald’s Safrifice ;-;

Donald Really channeled his inner Molly Weasley and said “Not my son you WITCH.”

WASTED

Also aw Sora got to see what Donald did for the first time

AQUA’S STATION IS SO PRETTY

Poor Aqua ;-; this is the moment where everyone hates her for

Also aww she trusts Kairi to protect them

We love Big Sis Aqua

YES WE GET ANTI AQUA FIGHT AGAIN

NAMINEEEEE

I’m literally screaming and I scared my grandma

Oh my god She lost Kairi and she immediately went to Sora cause she knew she’d be safe there ;-;

Namine’s Really here bringing everyone together

Agsisgsjdg I forgot Terra can do the keyblade whip thing lol

AND the cannon

Wow they’re really fighting in the sky

Anyone else getting Star Wars vibes

AWW HE JUST WANTS TO PROTECT HIS FAMILY

I still hate Terra’s pants

Imagine your heart crushing your body. Like really

NO LINGERING WILL

HECK YEAH SORA YOU KICK THEIR BUTT

Wow Sora you’re so cocky

LINGERING WILL NO

OH MY GOD

I forgot that Marluxia is an Ouran Host Club character

Wait, that Mickey finisher was new, wasn’t it?

Okay but I still have no idea what Xemnas did to Luxord

Cards: *Appear*

Sora: PTSD from watching his friends get destroyed from the cards in the manga

Mickey: *is captured*

Sora: PTSD intensifies

I’m really happy that we get to replay all of the Organization battles, they’re so much fun!

I’m so soft for Replinami ;-;

He loves her so much, and all he wants is for her to be safe and happy ;-;

Ven: we aren’t the same. You’re Edgy. I’m Baby

Aqua when Sora appears: TWO Baby’s :0

“If I’m a traitor, then Kairi’s the trump card.” LEA DRINKS RESPECT KAIRI JUICE

Aww Kairi’s so confused. She doesn’t see how she could be a trump card ;-;

HE STRAIGHT UP FLEXED

AWW XION REMEMBERS

Ohhh Isa’s jealous.

YES THW CHAKRAMS

LETS GO

Jealousy mode has been activated in Isa

WHAT WAS THAT RUN

OH MY GOD THAT SCREAM

YES KAIRI GO

PROTEXT YOUR BRO

“Yup” Kairi really just wants this over with so she can go home 😂

The way Kairi’s face lights up at seeing Sora gives me life.

Wow Xemnas was really hurt by Axel’s betrayal. Frankly? I’m shocked.

XION’S HAND IS SMOKING

HER HAND IS BURNING BECAUSE SHES GRABBING THE BLADE

Xemnas does NOT drink Respect Xion juice

ROXAS KEPT XION’S MEMORIES SAFE INSIDE HIM

AND SHE HAS HER FACE BECAUSE HE GAVE THEM BACK TO HER

Lea cares about the small girls he adopted as his little sisters

AWW THE THREE OF THEIR HEARTS ARE CONNECTED

NO XION ISNT ON HIS HEART ANYMORE

YES KAIRI’S HERE TO KICK BUTT

Wow Nomura really got tired of people dissing Kairi so he amped her up with cool stuff

“Oh? Tired of Kairi not doing anything?” Heres her literally overpowering Xemnas and him having to restrain her with a stop spell and magic to stop her

KAIRI IS THE SCARLET WITCH AND XEMNAS IS THANOS

Oh and in case you think she’s weak? Here’s the same thing for Sora too.

God I love Nomura

Oh my god she’s in so much pain because of the darkness

OH MY GOD SHES IN SO MUCH PAIN BECAUSE OF THE DARKENSS

SORA LITERALLY FAINTED AFTER 2 SECONDS BUT KAIRI’S HOLDING ON OH MY GOD THE STRENGTH

OOOOOOOO ROXAS TIME

The MUSIC

THEIR ATTACK IS CALLED “THINKING OF YOU” BECAUSE THEY REMEMBERED XION I CANT

I can not believe i was forced to relive watching Kairi die

SHE WAS CRYSTALLIZED?? SHES NOT DEAD??

I love Donald and Goofy so much ;-;

They aren’t gonna leave their son alone

Also wow Xehanort was just staring there forever

I FORGOT WE GET TO EXPLORE SCALA :D

KAIRI?!?!

Getting KH1 vibes with this

“The heartless that is radiating light” how is that possible??

Okay but this is such a good parallel to the first game, with him saving Kairi ;-;

Except for the fact that HEARTLESS SORA DIDNT GET BEAT UP

Okay so her heart is a thassala shell. Will we have to collect the pieces to make her wayfinder?

Oh my god I see the thing at the top of the screen. We totally are making her wayfinder ;-;

THAT MEANS SHE LITERALLY GAVE HIM HER HEART SO HE COULS RETURN IT TO HER OH MY GOOOOD

Okay so I love the puzzles they have here

XEHANORT?!

I’m sorry you hid her heart? What are you, five?

What do you MEAN almost out of time?!

OH NO KINGDOM HEARTS

Oh no not these guys again

So many keyholes

IM SORRY IS THIS WIZARD OF OZ

Oh my god Lea is so overwhelmed lol

SGAKSSGE ROXAS CAUGHT XION

Okay so for the team ups, I love how all of them were mix and matched from the trio’s

I loved Terra and Riku, the Master and apprentice

I loved Ven, Roxas, and I can’t remember who else was in it. “Thanks Roxas.” “Youre welcome. You’re not too bad yourself.” THAT WAS ADORABLE

Xion, Aqua and Mickey being mages and protecting everyone

Aqua and Lea, him trying to talk and Aqua telling him to shut up and focus

MICKEY’S STRUGGLE TO SAVE HIS FRIENDS BROKE MY HEART

We now present: Kingdom Hearts 3: connect he dots

Connect. Connect the dots. Get it?

KAIRI’S HEART MADE A FLOWER

THE KH2 THING

“SORA :D”

THEIR HUG

HE JUST HOLDS HER CLOSE

TIME FOR PLAYABLE KAIRI BABBYYYYYYY

“I can do this.” YES YOU CAN

I’m sorry you think I want to play as Sora? After waiting my whole life to play Kairi? HA

KAIRI IS THE MOST POWERFUL

Seven wishes saved me in that fight

ONE HEART

THEY HAVE ANGEL WINGS

OKAY YALL HAD YOUR SORIKU ATTACK NOW WE GOT SOKAI :D

Now we just need Rikai and Sorikai and it’ll be complete ^^

AGSKSGSKDGSJS CHIRITHY

“I was trying to give you some privacy” awwww

CHIRITHY IS CRYING

THEYRE GOING ON DATES

Chirithy has my soul and I love it

Every scene with Chirithy adds 7 years to my life

Afsjsgsajg Sora DONT PUSH THE CAT

NAMINE

THEY WERE THERE TO FREE HER HEART

Aaand he’s gone and I’m crying again

LIMITCUT EPISODE TIME BABBYYYY

GAJSGSJDG RIKU AND TERRA ARE TOGETHER

Oh my god Riku and Terra being bro’s are my favorite thing

Wait what are they gonna do

ARE THEY SEALING THE WORLD

OH MY GOD THE ARMOR

HOW DARE THEY NOT SHOW US THE FRONT PARTS

OH they’re going to search for Sora!

IS RIKU IN CHARGE OF THE LAND OF DEPARTURE

ONE YEAR???

Agajsgsjdg MERLINS HOUSE

CLOUD

PRETTY BOY

YUFFFIIEEE

AERIITH

CID

OH MY GOD THE GANGS ALL TOGETHER

THEY WENT TO THE REALM OF DARKNESS WHAT

“The Twilight Town gang” ITS OFFICIAL

OH NO WHAT HAPPENED TO KAIRI

WHY DOES HE LOOK SAD

NO WHATS GOING ON WITH KAIRI

They’re searching her heart?

SHES BEEN ASLEEP FOR A YEAR?!

Riku’s been all ALONE

DATA SORA??

Battalion oh my god lol

I’m mad about Kairi being asleep for a year though

AGSJSGS WE GET TO EXPLORE

Wow. A video game inside of a video game

I spent the rest of the day failing the Data battles and making funny Data Greeting pictures. Hopefully I’ll be better st the battles tomorrow!

#KH3RemindSpoilers #kh3spoilers #KH Re:Mind #kh commentary

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makeste · 5 years ago

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BnHA Chapter 238: Shigaraki Tomura: Tattered Goth Remix

Previously on BnHA: Young Shimura Tenko killed his whole family, as angsty young misguided antagonist characters sometimes do, and then proceeded to wander the streets feeling all sad about it until All for One just happened!! to come across him and was all “oh you poor thing it looks like you killed your whole family by accident, let me just adopt you and raise you to be my own personal killing machine.” We got some more flashbacks showing just how this transformation took place, plus some answers about the hands that kind of just raised more questions though tbh, and watched as little Tenko made his first premeditated kill after a number of effed up AFO pep talks. AFO then rechristened him “Shigaraki Tomura”, and we learned that Shigaraki is actually AFO’s own last name. The chapter ended back in the present day, with Tomura reflecting on how his family’s death wasn’t really a tragedy after all and ended up setting him free. We’ll have to agree to disagree, kid, but in the meantime have fun fucking up Re-Destro and dealing with Gigantomachia’s rampage!

Today on BnHA: Re-Destro tries to smash Tomura at 100% and absolutely nothing happens. So then he summons a bunch of robot armor bits like fucking Iron Man, and levels up to 150%! Tomura could not care less, because he’s leveled up to be one of those “yawn, is that all you got?” bad guys now, and while RD desperately tries to intimidate him, we briefly check in with the rest of the League. Everyone is freaking out at how quickly Machia is destroying the Liberation Army, and Compress calls Ujiko and frantically begs him to warp them all to safety. But Ujiko is all “nah” and says he wants to drive Tomura into a corner. Meanwhile Gigantomachia finally takes out Dairy Queen, since Dabi was doing fuckall, and the chapter ends with Tomura possibly killing Re-Destro?? To be honest it’s really unclear. For all I know the dude just dropped dead of a heart attack from all that stress. In fact, now that I’ve typed that, I kind of think that’s what did happen. Anyway! The point is I’m pretty sure the battle is finally over.

(All comments are my unspoiled reactions from my initial readthrough of the chapter. I did a quick edit for grammar and clarity immediately afterward, and added one or two ETAs in the process, but aside from that there are no changes.)

so I mentioned this in an ask post a couple days ago, but this recap is a day late because I was out of town this week. consequently I’m behind on my asks and other things as well (I know, what else is new), so I’m sorry about that!

also! @temperatezone informed me that there’s yet another BnHA spinoff coming out, and that the preview chapter debuted last week! so I went to check it out, and holy shit, it’s a manga all about the U.A. kids teaming up with various pro heroes!!!!??!! between this and the new anime season coming up in just two months (it’ll fly by) and BakuDeku: Heroes Rising coming out in December, I feel like I’m being fucking spoiled with BnHA content. and I didn’t even mention the 2nd light novel which just had its official English translation released last month! so all in all it’s a lot of good stuff, and I desperately want to recap chapter 0 of the new spinoff as soon as possible, but it’ll probably be a few days unfortunately, unless I decide to be very irresponsible and do that instead of the piles of work I should actually be doing. we’ll see which impulses actually win out sob

fortunately Jump is on a break next week if I recall, so that’ll give me some time to catch up. anyway let’s start this thing before I manage to procrastinate anymore! so the new chapter is called “Liberation”, probably after a certain army

and the chapter is picking up where we left off before, with Tomura taking his Father Hand out of his pocket and saying he doesn’t need it or any of his other hands

ooooooh

maybe the title isn’t referring to the Liberation Army after all! or just one of those cool double meaning things

oooh man

god but that is satisfying. is there anything more satisfying than seeing a character you’ve been rooting for finally reach out and take control of their own destiny? ahhhh yessss that’s the good shounen shit right there

lol Re-Destro

he finally scared you into using your ~full power~, huh? punk

don’t mind me I’m just appreciating how much of a total badass my boy here is

your move, RD. personally if it were me, I wouldn’t want to fuck with him anymore! but hey your funeral bud

hmmm

the last few chapters have been so well-drawn that I’m starting to think I was maybe getting spoiled. I wonder if Horikoshi will re-do these later for the volume release

anyway so it seems like what’s happening is that RD is trying to hit Tomura with another Almighty Bitchslap and Tomura is not having any of it, basically

oh wow

and this isn’t even the Gigantomachia damage. will there be any pieces of this town left larger than a toothpick once all is said and done here?? stay tuned! but the answer is no

so the rest of this two page spread is just more panels showing vague high-contrast images of the destruction. we’re also briefly cutting to Gigantomachia! and to Dabi, who is still fighting Pinkberry, and like, dude, come on. finish him off already

and now the dust is clearing after that latest clash, and would you guys fucking look at this dramatic bitch though omfg

Shigaraki Tomura: Tattered Goth Remix. you look like the cover of a Bauhaus album. thank god this arc isn’t set somewhere stupidly dark, like, say, a basement

lmao Re-Destro is so mad

once again I would like to point out that you invited him here, you overconfident dishrag

so now Tomura is casually conversing with him

Tomura did you burn one right before this battle. you’re so fucking chill all of a sudden. gotta say that if someone had asked me “what do you think it would take to get Shigaraki Tomura to mellow out” before this arc, I probably would not have answered, “hmm, well maybe flashbacks to his horrific childhood and the violent deaths of all of his loved ones”

well at any rate, watching Re-Destro progressively freak out while Tomura makes more (ﾟ⊿ﾟ) faces is my new form of sustenance, guys

“you seem a bit rattled. a bit ill at ease. perturbed. something’s got you in a tizzy, huh.” ⊂( ・ ̫・)⊃

(ETA: okay but rereading this here, he keeps talking about his heart pounding, and then he goes and summons a fucking robot suit that actually raises his stress on purpose. so like, I don’t know? but I vaguely recall reading a theory on reddit a few weeks ago that RD was going to have a heart attack and it looks like it could really be the case. or not! that last page is really inconclusive.)

and now the Re-Destro flashbacks that absolutely no one asked for! of course!!

-- OH MY GOD

I’M DYING I CAN’T. SEND HELP

Iida I’m so sorry. all this time I have been teasing you and calling you a 40-year-old man, when this whole time it was actually Re-Destro who Benjamin Buttoned his way from his mother’s womb

is he related to the Alpha Kid from the adventures of the Babysitter’s Club? he can’t not be, right? what else could it be? two characters just happening to vaguely resemble one another in a purely coincidental manner?? are you even hearing yourself?! get out!!

um hey, so what the actual fuck is happening

...Krestro??

lol what. Horikoshi Muriel Kouhei, did you seriously just give this fucker Hulkbuster armor. do you just have a list of Marvel comics tribute shit that you check off as you go

so apparently this suit jacks his power up to one hundred and fifty percent! wowwwwwwww

but meanwhile Tomura is all just

what would it take to faze new Toked Goth Remix Tomura, I wonder

sob omg

goddammit now he’s going to want one. Ujiko you’d better get on it

oh my god you guys

I’m starting to feel really bad about all of these nice Twice clones who are being so helpful and are just going to end up dying in the end omg

also, if someone ever asks you, “should I read BnHA,” you can say, “well that depends, how much do you like scenes of characters with two broken arms getting piggyback rides from other characters?” and they’ll be like, “that’s really specific, does that... happen often,” and you can be like, “well it’s officially happened more than once, so”

like, it’s a whole thing now I guess. also, ouch

anyway so Real!Twice is concerned that Machia is having far too easy of a time kicking names and taking ass, and he’s trying to regroup with the rest of the League

oh my god Compress, seriously?

League of Ungrateful Sods, is what you guys are. he’s trying to help you guys out!!

lol Dabi you fucking liar

no you fucking weren’t, you were going to keep fighting him for a million more years. your fight was going to make Goku VS Frieza look like a 15-second Youtube ad. once again, you guys should really be more grateful here

(ETA: why did they even invite Dabi lol. all he did was fight offscreen and have zero (0) flashbacks. fucking tease.)

so now Compress is calling Ujiko and asking him to warp them out of there

what...?

he’s absolutely 100% making this up, right?

lol yeah now even Compress is calling him on it

right, Compress??

okay now Ujiko is straight up telling him no

oh, this is good you guys

Ujiko, I don’t know how to tell you this but while you weren’t looking, the dude hopped on a fucking golf cart and drove his own damn self. and now appears to have made himself pretty damn comfortable in that corner too

oh is Halo Top finally about to fucking die??

the cornerstone?? really?? holy shit, it really is remarkable how thoroughly unprepared these guys actually were in the end

anyway so now more action panels are happening

did Machia kill him? it looks like he survived but just went flying

and what the hell does Hanabata think he’s actually going to be able to do. drive his van at him? give him encouragement??

anyway I guess we’re wrapping this up now, and we’re cutting back to Tomura who’s saying something extremely cool

it is kind of like that. except that it’s bullshit

anyway so it looks like he’s touching the ground and using his decay again and holy shit is this it???

!!!!!

YOU GUYS DID HE JUST DISINTEGRATE RE-DESTRO OH MY GOD. JUST LIKE THAT!!??!

YOU GUYS I HONESTLY CAN’T TELL, ALL I KNOW IS TOMURA TAPPED THE GROUND, AND RE-DESTRO HAD A WEIRD PANEL WHERE YOU COULDN’T SEE WHAT WAS HAPPENING, AND HE HAD A THOUGHT AND IT WAS SUDDENLY CUT OFF, AND THEN WE CUT TO GIGANTOMACHIA WATCHING AND WE COULDN’T REALLY SEE ANYTHING OMG

but can you imagine, though?? “one single strike”?! like oh my god, there wasn’t even any fanfare? if he really did just kill him that is pretty much exactly how I would have wanted it to go down tbh

at any rate, it’s safe to say life just got a hell of a lot more dangerous for our Actual Protagonist with this new power-up. shit. oh my god

well I guess that’s it! does that mean this arc is gonna wrap up next chapter. because I’m also going to be away the 16th, so I’ll be a day late in doing that chapter too. I s2g Horikoshi, if you finally cut back to U.A. on a day that I’m not able to read the chapter right away, I will... well actually I’ll be pretty happy regardless, but secretly I will also believe it’s some sort of conspiracy against me. so just know that

#bnha #boku no hero academia #bnha 238 #shigaraki tomura #re-destro #bnha spoilers #mha spoilers #makeste reads bnha #dabi I can't believe you abandoned your boyfriend for this #just left him hanging there with a severed head in his backpack #on the plus side this really gives me hope for hawks's ability to fool the league in the future #apparently you don't actually have to kill anyone or do anything remotely useful and your fellow league members will still be fine with it #tomura and twice out here carrying the entire organization #twice buddy #they're not paying you enough

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a-nerd-obsessed · 5 years ago

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Yet Another Long, Unnecessary, and Obvious Star Wars Trailer Breakdown (Read: Fangirl Blathering) that Literally No One Asked For

Yup. I’m doing it again.

(My other breakdown for the first trailer is here.)

So this time we start with Rey in training mode. Apparently, she’s following Obi-Wan’s training regimen by using that remote that Finn found on the Falcon in TFA and the helmet with the blast shield that Luke used in ANH.

But something happened to call her away, which is why she drops everything (except the lightsaber, thank goodness) and starts running through the jungle. I assume she’s headed back to the Resistance base of operations, which we see more of later in the trailer.

Is it too much to assume this might be Endor’s forest moon? That would connect with the Death Star wreckage and how they end up on the Death Star.

Then we’re on the Death Star, with Rey jumping across a chasm, one that I believe is the same where the Emperor fell to his “death” in ROTJ. Behind her you can see the turbolift where Luke and Vader arrived before approaching the Emperor, which would mean she’s looking towards his throne.

Finn’s been giving the voice over thus far, speaking about how “the Force brought us together.” The shot we get of him looks to be from the planet where the Knights of Ren will be making an appearance, along with the chase scene from the first trailer, and the ultra-awesome TIE Fighter FlipTM.

What’s he looking at? No idea. Wouldn’t it be hilarious if he’s looking at Kylo’s TIE Whisper with Rey riding on the back and he’s just like... wtf?

More running Rey... presumably a continuation of the previous shot

And we get more Lando!!! I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait to see what they have in store for Lando’s part in this film. Again, we haven’t got much of anything, but based on the way this scene is set up, it looks like he just showed up at the Resistance’s base. Everyone knows who he is, of course, and they all turn out to see the old Rebellion hero.

We’re not alone

From Poe’s voice over and the visual we see here, I think Lando’s going to bring something to the Resistance - a game changer. I mean, besides himself.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. Lando Calrissian = the best part of the Solo movie. And let’s be real, I’ll take any more Lando content I can get.

And then we see Rose, looking tired and burnt out. Behind her, Connix doesn’t look much better. Also, shit’s going down in the background. It looks like the base is being attacked and they’re having to evacuate.

But wow, I really hope that we get more of Rose’s character arc. Along with Finn and Poe, they’re the ones who grew the most in TLJ. Rose didn’t have a lot of confidence at the start of the last movie, but she became stronger by the end. And of course it’ll be interesting to see how they choose to proceed with her and Finn’s relationship.

And then it’s my boys!!!

Good people will fight if we lead them

I don’t know if this is a line Poe actually says in the movie, but I like that they chose him to say it. He’s been learning this whole time how to be a leader and I think we’re going to see that growth come to fruition here. Not that he can’t do a bunch of crazy stuff or get in trouble (because goshdarnit I freaking love that) but he’ll be more aware of the consequences for the people he’s leading.

Also, what are they looking at? Maybe it’s Rey busting out of the jungle because she knows they’re in trouble. I’m not 100% sure this is connected to the earlier bits with the base getting attacked but the guys in the background look like they’re trying to get outta there ASAP.

The next shot appears to be some sort of Resistance transport taking off... or landing... or crashing. Still I feel like the theme is we gotta go..

AND THEN WE GET THIS

People keep telling me they know me...

...no one does

But I do

*SIMULTANEOUSLY COMBUSTS AND ACHIEVES NIRVANA*

This. Is everything.

Like, who needs the movie?

Just kidding. I do. Desperately.

But guys, this is exactly it: they are the only ones who know what the other person is going through, understand where they’ve come from, and seen where they’re going.

This is going to sound cliché and dramatic af, but their fates are intertwined. They are going to bring balance to the Force. Like, that’s fact at this point. Don’t @ me.

Next we see TIE fighters coming up on this icy island, which appears to be free-floating? I don’t know if it’s orbiting a planet or if it’s by itself in space, but it’s not a reflection over water like I thought the first time I saw the trailer.

Again I’m assuming it’s that same icy, mountainous city we saw in the first trailer where our Resistance heroes are going to meet up with Zori Bliss (who we also see later for the first time live!) And it seems they’re going to be rousted from here as well as the jungle planet where their base was located - the First Order is closing in.

Long have I waited...

Okay, Palps. We get it. Your throne is super menacing. We know you’re all creepy and evil. Let’s just hope that Rey and Kylo kill him for good this time. Although as Luke says, no ones ever really gone... so yeah.

This Star Destroyer is breaking out of the ice somewhere - so maybe Palpatine pulled a Steve Rogers and went into deep freeze for a few decades?

(And yeah I’m pretty sure it’s ice, people, not water - I’ve watched it in slo-mo SEVERAL TIMES OKAY)

*insert March of the Resistance*

The Millennium Falcon!!!

You know what I might miss the most about the saga ending? This old ship. Okay, not really, but it is very near and dear to my heart.

Ok, pause for a second with me. Can you imagine this:

Versus this?!?

Like, HELL YES. This is the ultimate showdown, baby! BRING IT ON!

I like how the Resistance’s side is a bunch of random ships as compared to the First Order. I’d like to think that this is an Avengers: Endgame style battle where literally EVERYONE shows up, even if they’re not in the Resistance. They just know that Palpatine/First Order is the ultimate evil that needs to be taken down at all cost and risk to self.

Anyway...

...and now your coming together...

Interesting that they chose to impose Palpatine’s words over both our classic heroes together in the Falcon and over Rey and Kylo “fighting.” I say “fighting” because are they really opponents? Really? Not in this story. Obviously they’re not yet on the same page, but their relationship been a rollercoaster thus far and I feel like we’ve got some abrupt twists still to come.

Something goes boom. No idea what, but with a Star Destroyer lurking in the background, something sinister is afoot.

Poe to the rescue!! Is there someone else in there? I can’t see for sure, but he’s headed to the Death Star, where we know Kylo and Rey end up at some point.

Then they give us this HEART-WRENCHING SCENE of C-3PO saying goodbye to his friends?!?! Like, what does this mean? Without context, we can’t be sure, but it sounds like he’s going away - permanently. I never expected it - which is great for plot - but I don’t know what to think about this.

Also could be a total red herring. He could be risking his life and he’s saying goodbye just in case. Or he’s getting a reboot - maybe he knows too much, or maybe forgot something when his memory was wiped in ROTS and he needs to remember. I literally have no idea, but even D-0 looks concerned. (I love him already)

Also note Zori Bliss in the left corner of this shot! I cannot WAIT to know what her role is going to be in this story. And we can tell they’re where they first meet up with her in the snowy city because they’re all wearing thick insulated gear. So I feel like this would be earlier in the film...?

CHEWIE!!!

This guy’s gone through so much. Please just give us Ben Solo redeemed just for his sake.

Chewie’s had so much practice running through corridors taking out stormtroopers. Hopefully this is the last time...

UGH MY HEART.

Every time.

Now with more footage of the Resistance’s jungle base and their evacuation... why are they hugging here? Is Leia staying behind? Are they splitting up? Rey has clearly become close to Leia, which I’m thrilled by. I’m curious to see how they play this.

We don’t see much of Pasaana in this trailer, but we do find out who threw up that smokescreen for our Resistance friends during the chase sequence. BB-8 is a trouble-maker. Honestly he’s worse than Poe, but he doesn’t get the proper fear he’s due because he’s just so gosh darn adorable. And with everyone encouraging him, he’s not liable to get better.

Of course we can’t have Lando in this movie without having him pilot the Falcon. I kind of love that even though it’s Han’s ship (sorry Lando) everyone has some kind of connection to this old freighter. Again, I love the Falcon.

Then we see a Y-wing taking on a Star Destroyer, with more in the background. Part of that epic showdown?

Finn has joined with Jannah, another new (female!) character that I can’t wait to meet. They’re mounted on charging orbaks, which are from Pasaana. Does the final showdown take place in the sky above the desert planet? Is this part of the emergence of that Star Destroyer from the ice?

Cut back to the Death Star wreckage, where Kylo and Rey are facing off - note Kylo’s saber isn’t lit. Rey doesn’t trust him for obvious reasons (cough, cough, failed proposal in the throne room).

My gut instinct says they didn’t know the other was coming here. But something drew them both here - maybe this is Palpatine’s influence bringing them together.

Or is this a Force bond vision? Is the bond still a player in this chapter?

Back to the outside - Finn runs up and calls Rey’s name, probably interrupting their duel. As much as I’d like it, I feel like the alignment of Kylo and Rey’s objectives doesn’t happen until Pasaana - and yeah I’m kind of putting the events of Pasaana after the Death Star. Do I have solid evidence for this? Nope. Just my current interpretation of the absolute lack of plot we can get from the footage we have so far.

That said, I have no idea where this shattering of the Dark Side artifact would fit in. But yes they’re working together here. They’re very clearly attacking the ugly black thing (it looks a lot like Vader’s mask again) and not each other based on their stance and movement.

Also, theory time:

We’ve seen dark Rey in the previous trailer. She seems very rigid and emotionless - like a vision, perhaps, not a flesh-and-blood Darksider.

IWe also see this shot of Rey at the end of the trailer:

She’s also pretty emotionless, and the background is out of focus. This could be from another segment of Kylo’s (or Rey’s?) vision. With them shattering the Dark artifact together... could it be them breaking free of the trance? We never see this location in any of the other footage. This could be a part of the vision, too.

Back to the trailer sequence: We see more of the Resistance heroes and that (final?) battle. This just points out that they’re in some kind of atmosphere if Finn and Co. are running along the outside of a Star Destroyer.

Back on the Death Star: Kylo’s intense gaze that communicates so much.

We can’t see what he sees, but it’s like every other time he looks at Rey - he knows what he wants. It liquidizes my mind every time.

And then OMG JUST DIE ALREADY PALPATINE. NOBODY LIKES YOU.

Kylo better figure out whatever is keeping him from helping Rey out and get his butt over there. Only together can they do this.

The Force will be with you

Always

Interesting how they give us almost no plot that we had already, huh? And I like it that way.

We don’t see Hux or the Knights of Ren at all - which is a significant omission.

I have an idea of the sequence of what I think is going to happen, but honestly I’m probably all wrong. Still I trust them to finish the saga in a satisfying way.

What are your thoughts on the trailer?

#star wars #star wars meta #tros #the rise of skywalker #trailer breakdown #tros speculation #tros spoilers

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