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iwritenarrativesandstuff · 2 years ago

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Trimax Thoughts Vol. 2 Pt. 2

Or, Wolfwood is a terrible liar and that's actually way more compelling than if he was good at it.

Wolfwood is quickly becoming one of my favourites in this series. I love a character with a good internal conflict who challenges the protagonist, and he's such a delightfully odd little critter of a man which makes him doubly enjoyable to me. He also causes me emotional damage, which kind of sealed the deal.

So, let's review what we know about his situation so far: He is, allegedly, a traveling priest, but his other job, the one he makes most of his money with, is some kind of dirty business (given the company of the Gung Ho Guns, it is likely as an assassin or a hired gun). Legato hired (?) him along with the rest of the GHG, and we know the fate of anyone who fails or tries to run. He knows this too - he can't leave. He's trapped. There was a two-year time-skip between Fifth Moon and his return in which he was searching for Vash, allegedly about the mass disappearances. We don't know fully what his current situation is, but given the GHG's continued orders, the recognition by Rai-Dei, and the way he knows way too much about Knives, it seems likely he is still stuck working for him - from here, it's still unclear what exactly his orders are, but it seems likely he is set up to betray or antagonize Vash later on.

This seems like it should be the set up for a character who has to lie constantly. Setting up smiles and earning the trust of their target. Their conflict about their mission vs their budding attachment being a deeply internalized struggle that slowly bubbles up to the surface as time goes on.

Wolfwood (kind of?) tries to do this, to be fair. But. He is so bad at it.

(Fair warning: this got LONG. I am sorry in advance.)

He is not a good liar. He doesn't even come up with a proper reason to explain his knowledge of Knives. He does not make any active effort to win Vash's trust. His internal conflict bleeds out of him to the surface almost right away and is glaringly obvious. He's just. So bad at not seeming suspicious. Here's the prime examples:

In his first appearance, he responds to Vash questioning how he makes money as a priest by practically admitting he has some kind of side job with a troubled and more serious expression than he's worn in the entire chapter (his eye is pale instead of dark here - take note of this btw this is important!). He doesn't even know Vash. Vash is some random stranger he just met on a bus. Why are you telling him this.

He reveals his giant cross is actually a giant gun with no lead up or warning whatsoever in front of a very startled Vash. He never explains why he is carrying around a giant cross-gun.

He says he's been looking for Vash for two years but the reason he gives is the mass disappearances, which only started six months ago.

He reveals that he knows way too much about Knives to not be associated with him in some way. Vash is obviously suspicious and asks about it, to which Wolfwood replies that he has a grudge against Knives and that he'd explain it later. ...he proceeds to never explain it.

Wolfwood gets annoyed when Vash says he's meeting with someone but it's a secret, to which Vash points out Wolfwood is hiding things too. Wolfwood just says "..." and. Does not deny this.

Wolfwood once again reveals he knows way too much about Knives. Vash is obviously suspicious by now and questions him again to which Wolfwood deflects in the most obvious way by changing the topic entirely and saying "Oh look a sandworm wow that's a big one!" Which. Does not fool Vash at all? That wouldn't fool anyone? You just made yourself more suspicious???????

Wolfwood and Rai-Dei clearly recognize each other. Vash is left looking between them in confusion while Wolfwood, once again, does not try to explain away anything - which would be a good thing to do, considering Rai-Dei is one of the Gung Ho Guns and he would probably want to... not imply any connection to them?

In short. What are you doing. What are you doing???

It's so funny to me because this is 100% an "I know/I know you know" kind of situation, and they could be playing mind games about this or leaning on that but instead they're just both blatantly ignoring the giant sandworm in the room. But it makes sense for these characters and is way more interesting in this case - after all, the core conflict so far revolves around second chances, and changing your life, and not killing so that people have a life to change. If Vash was unaware of the potential threat of Wolfwood, we could chalk a lot of his amicability with him up to ignorance, but we can't, because he isn't ignorant at all. This in turn makes Vash utterly confounding to Wolfwood, which makes his internal conflict not as much about the situation surrounding Vash, but about Vash himself, and what that may say about Wolfwood's own character.

Also, I personally think it's really fun to see how silly they are together in spite of all of this looming over them. Disagreeing on something so major as life and death coupled with Wolfwood's obvious suspiciousness - they really probably... shouldn't get along?

It's not a completely unfounded dynamic though. They met once, before Wolfwood knew that he was going to be made an enemy to Vash, and they clicked. Very easily. It was a brief meeting but it was impactful enough that Vash immediately recognizes him two years later.

And Wolfwood's eyes are dark when speaking with him.

Ok! Now I get to delve into the entire reason I wanted to make this post in the first place - it ties in firmly with Wolfwood being not great at lying or hiding his intentions.

Tristamp Vash voice: "You can see it in his eyes."

No. Seriously. The manga does some really interesting things with shading to draw attention to specific parts of a panel, such as shadowing entire faces to display rage or indicate "something to be afraid of", shading things in gray to emphasize them in the scene... and in Wolfwood's case, making his dark eyes look pale to indicate his emotional state, in what I have now taken to calling the "Wolfwood pale eyes of distress". I use distress to specifically encapsulate emotions like fear, desperation, feeling trapped, and internal conflict - strong, negative emotions that become more overwhelming the less control he has over a potentially threatening situation. Here's some examples:

So, yeah, his eyes are extremely expressive. Not only is he not a great liar, but his eyes pretty much always complement what he's feeling or saying - they give him away. Small wonder he's typically wearing sunglasses when interacting with people. Wolfwood appears to be somewhat aware of his eyes being giveaways... but I think he may have misinterpreted what exactly they reveal. He seems to think they reveal his darkness; the "devil" he's had to become. I can think of no other explanation for why his eyes are firmly shut in the nightmare sequence as soon as the kids run up to him.

^ This caused me immense pain btw. Not only is he keeping his eyes shut in front of the kids, he keeps that smile fixed on his face - the panel on the side is clearly internal. So he's... doubly hiding himself. He doesn't want to scare them, or for him to see the "monster" he's become so he smiles and acts like everything's fine even though he's pained. Hm. Sounds like... someone else we know...

However, what Vash sees is not some devil.

The ending of the Rai-Dei fight is when the budding conflict between Vash and Wolfwood reaches a breaking point. Interestingly, Wolfwood starts this fight without his glasses, but puts them on somewhere between Rai-Dei mentioning the Gung Ho Guns know where Vash's home is and Wolfwood deciding to interfere - which really means aiming to kill Rai-Dei. It's interesting he should take the time to put them back on like that. It doesn't really matter though, because we see his eyes anyways as he shoots Rai-Dei dead.

Ah yes. The eyes of a man completely unaffected and not at all bothered by the act of killing. Note the paleness again. They're like that all the way through this scene. The glasses do manage to cover his eyes in the next bit where he proceeds to shoot Rai-Dei again three more times. Hard to read his expression here but I'm assuming he went somewhat blank. He mentions later that he shoots twice in the head, twice in the heart - this was probably a "finishing of the job"; he's on autopilot - and so he doesn't actually react at first when Vash punches the glasses right off his face.

My actual reaction when I read this: OH???????

The glasses are off now. His cover is gone. And Wolfwood goes "to hell with it" and all but reveals that he's probably going to be a future threat to Vash.

Wolfwood takes the gun he just used to kill Rai-Dei, presses it into Vash's hand, aims it at his own head and tells Vash to shoot. Now, disregarding the fact that this is such a normal thing to do (sarcasm...), the intention here is pretty obvious. Wolfwood genuinely thinks that someone has to die for others to live, and because Vash won't kill, he believes he is the one who has to do so. If Vash would face threats with lethal intent, if he would dirty his own hands, then Wolfwood would trade his life - but they both know Vash won't shoot. However, I'm not sure if Wolfwood consciously realizes what he all but admitted here - pointing the gun at his own head, "so you won't hesitate to take out the next man who gets in your way"... they've both been dancing around the issue of Wolfwood's suspiciousness but here he might as well have said "I'm a threat. You know I'm probably a threat. Why don't you defend yourself? How can you be this naïve?" And all the while he's making full eye contact - probably expecting to have revealed that darkness within him. But Vash does not see Wolfwood as a devil. He sees him as playing the role of one. Vash is upset with Wolfwood here, but he's also upset for Wolfwood. Vash sees right through him to his inner conflict and pain, the same way Wolfwood saw through Vash to his pain.

Backtracking a bit.

Remember how I commented close to the beginning of this that Wolfwood's eyes are dark when he speaks with Vash again after two years? The way the conflict builds between them is really interesting too, because it doesn't really start as an argument (or at least, that's not how I took it).

I think I saw someone on here commenting on how funny it is that Wolfwood is expositing Plants to Vash, which is for the reader's benefit probably, but is still an interesting way to segue into the moral conflict that will characterize them in future.

Explaining the Plant and resulting conflict in straightforward terms. "We've had this talk already." Stating what he sees as simple truths of the world bluntly but not unkindly. Rapping on the door and wanting to finish the earlier conversation, and suddenly I realized "wait. wait."

He's. It's almost like he's trying to teach him. Like one would explain things to a child who doesn't yet understand the world's harsh realities. Which is so funny for so many reasons.

For one, Vash... plays along? Just because, I guess? Look at that intense look of concentration while Wolfwood educates him about what Plants do. He is being very attentive and listening really hard. Also, the next part too is just...

Vash, sniffling: "Why do things like this have to happen?" :'(

Hjdhfdjhb??? (Like he definitely is genuinely upset but it's not like he doesn't understand... the little pout after too...)

For another, I'm so fascinated that Wolfwood initially decides that Vash must just not understand the ways of the world because like. He's seen his scars before. He can see Vash's scars in this very scene. You can't chalk that up to naivete... but if it isn't that, then Wolfwood can't understand it, so he leans into this interpretation, despite having to know that it's wrong.

For as much as this sounds kind of condescending of him, I don't think he really intends it that way - he may think the pacifism is naïve, but he doesn't actually see Vash as a child. It may be somewhat automatic for him to approach it this way, because I'm assuming Wolfwood's positive interactions are mainly with children, and again, I don't think he's trying to start an argument here. He wants answers out of Vash, because Vash confuses him, and, after Fifth Moon, scares him too.

When he finds Vash again two years later, his eyes are dark, not pale. He's not scared of Vash in that scene, not the same way he was when he witnessed the Fifth Moon event. He greets him on fairly friendly terms and seems decently comfortable around him - enough to laugh at him, scold him, and share/fight over food. But there is still that moment of trepidation, where Wolfwood carefully brings up Fifth Moon and is clearly trying to gauge Vash's reaction. This is the random guy he met on a bus two years ago who seemed human enough. This is also the same guy he witnessed blow a crater into a moon, revealing himself to be something much more powerful and inhuman than he could understand. I believe a lot of this early questioning - the poking and prodding at Vash's morals, the watching to see what he'll do, is Wolfwood's attempt to reconcile these very conflicting views.

Unfortunately, instead of his questions and challenges clarifying things, they only muddy the waters further for him. Vash's actions, that kind of selfless-looking pacifism, is completely unexplainable by his current worldview - worse, the continued survival of Vash's pacifism directly conflicts with it. As Wolfwood's inner conflict is uncomfortably forced to the forefront of his mind where he spent his whole life repressing it, Vash becomes more unsettling to him, and the moral conflict, which started as an attempt to understand and question becomes confrontational. Vash's no-killing philosophy should not be possible to maintain, and Wolfwood responds by becoming more reactive and terrified.

When thinking later, he straight up says he's never seen someone put other's lives above their own. He nearly died as a child and the only thing that saved him was raw survival instinct. He's had to fend for himself. No one came to help. No wonder he doesn't have much hope. He thinks that to be human is to eventually succumb to the harshness of the world and to join that never ending cycle of violence (no matter how much he hates it) - notably though, he's not like Knives, who believes that humans are born bad. Rather, he seems to believe that people become corrupted, are forced to become "devils", over time and due to the inhospitable world they have to struggle to survive in. If he really believed humans were inherently bad, he wouldn't try to hide his eyes and bloodied hands from the kids (innocent!). It's why he can recognize Rai-Dei and the rest of the GHG as human, even when it's claimed they have given up their humanity. To Wolfwood, that in itself is just a part of being human.

Funnily enough, it is Vash's kindness surviving against all odds that cements him as something inhuman in Wolfwood's mind. And not only does seeing Vash as something not-human bring back some of the terror he felt during the Fifth Moon Incident, but it also puts Wolfwood in a very uncomfortable position of having the necessity of his darker actions be called into question. Vash is now threatening. And Wolfwood starts to respond to that threat in the way that is most natural for him.

There's some extra complications here too though - Wolfwood definitely cares about Vash too, at least to some extent. Their first meeting had none of this baggage, and Wolfwood expresses some worry about Vash's smiles not being genuine. They fall into a pretty natural, easy dynamic after one meeting and a two-year gap. He also shows a level of protectiveness really early on - that was the purpose of my funny little counter I did on a previous thoughts post, but let's look at this particular instance right here:

Return of pale eyes Wolfwood, who is genuinely concerned and pissed off. At first I assumed that Wolfwood was running to go after the still-present threat of Keele but the next time we see them, Vash is getting patched up and Wolfwood is standing in the room with him - the part where Wolfwood is running there is him trying to get medical help. This is not even bringing up the part after where he pulls out the tobasco sauce. (As an addition, it's also the last time he calls him "Vash" instead of "needle-noggin" - endearing nickname, or an attempt to distance himself? Who knows. Not Wolfwood, I'm sure.)

I do wonder if Wolfwood focused on some of the commonalities between them at first to attempt to bridge the gap between his conflicting images of Vash - I am not sure whether he's... well... self-aware enough to recognize that he also hides pain behind a smile and a pair of glasses, but they both sure are in uncomfortable positions of being wielded as weapons by Knives. The panel where Wolfwood tells Vash Knives is on the move again while he is superimposed directly below the spike jutting out of Knives' chest drives me insane. The threat of death looming over him like that. He’s trapped. Then there's the witnessing of the Fifth Moon incident, in which Vash's arm was quite literally hijacked and control taken away from him. Now, I understand this is mostly my assumption here but I don't think it's entirely unfounded - Wolfwood's expression when he watches this is a bit more detailed than the rest of the GHG, who mostly look shocked or scared - he looks that way too but there's also a furrowing of the brow that complicates the expression. Vash is screaming. Wolfwood's previous lamenting of the cycle of violence he's trapped in happens on the heels of realizing he'll be working against Vash. And when he finds him again, he's certainly wary, but not accusatory. I do think, terrified as he was by the implications of what Vash and Knives are and that sheer level of power, he does understand that Vash was being used and not in control of himself. I expect this is probably why he took the "grudge against Knives" angle - he recognizes Vash's anger and says "me too" - drawing a line of commonality between them.

But as the gap widens and Vash demonstrates clear differences that are unexplainable or otherwise threatening to Wolfwood, he becomes more discomforted and antagonistic as a result.

It all boils over after the Rai-Dei fight. At first, Wolfwood doesn't interfere in the fight because a) he knows Vash is competent, and b) he's a jerk sometimes and clearly thought him having a gunfight against a swordsman was funny. But that changes when it's revealed the GHG have located and are going to target Vash's home. The sunglasses get slipped back on. That's the point at which Wolfwood starts to go for his gun. Vash has turned deadly serious, and has told Rai-Dei to get out of his way, and Wolfwood probably assumed that this would be the exception to the rule - that's what he keeps saying, after all, that people will kill to defend those they love.

Instead, Vash tells Wolfwood to stay out of it, knowing he is intending to shoot Rai-Dei, and I do think that's the moment the conflict went from disagreement to actual anger.

What Wolfwood is not seeing is that Vash doesn't kill to defend the memory of someone he loved. That's not information Wolfwood is privy to, so while they are both protective people, the way they go about protecting is entirely different, and it's been there since the beginning.

This is a really cute scene, first of all. He's good with those kids. He crouches down to their level, splits the coins up evenly between them. It's kind of like saying "we're in this together"... and it's notably very different from what Vash does - that distance he maintains, and the way he probably would've given everything. Wolfwood keeps some for himself. As he puts it, for the sake of the orphanage kids, he has to stay alive, and that means prioritizing some lives above others, something that Vash refuses to do. But I think Wolfwood misunderstands that Vash sacrifices so much not because he "isn't human and therefore can", but because doggedly pursuing Rem's ideals and protecting humanity from Knives is just about the only thing keeping him going. Wolfwood doesn’t understand that Vash needs to believe that kindness exists in people’s hearts because he cannot understand how one could go on living otherwise.

Neither of them really have lives of their own, nor do they value themselves much. But they both continue to survive out of dedication to the paths they’ve chosen. Wolfwood kills to save the living - specifically, the kids and now Vash (it also assures he has a reason to keep fighting for his own survival - he can’t protect them if he’s dead). Vash refuses to kill to preserve the memory of someone who has died, Rem (again, this assures his survival, at least to a certain point - he can’t stop Knives if he’s dead). There’s something really interesting in that contrast, that leads them both to a “better me than them” mentality - Wolfwood the role of the weapon and Vash the role of the shield. But either way, this is, I think, why it’s hard for them to understand where the other is coming from at times, even though they see each other’s pain so clearly. These are worldviews they stick to stubbornly, born out of trauma; their respective ways of processing their continued survival from all that has happened to them.

Wolfwood is afraid to die, but he also has no hope for himself. While deeply conflicted by his actions, he has to believe there is necessity to them. So when Vash is confronting him, telling him he’s been crying out against the role he’s taken on this entire time, it shakes him, because he’s pushed all that down for so long, and it’s true. And I think he wants to believe that Vash’s sentiment is possible, but to him it just seems like false hope, even if he doesn’t want to be hurting people either. But if Vash is right, then that is even more distressing. It means that maybe he didn’t have to become a “devil”. That justifying the use of lethal force by necessity was never a justification at all. He goes from sinner with a cause to just a sinner. In that sense, him taking his own gun and putting it in Vash’s hand, aiming it at his own head and telling him to shoot if he really thinks he’s wrong… it reads as a punishment.

Not a bit of this would’ve been as effective if we were left to wonder about the characters’ intentions. Wolfwood being a bad liar, or really, not bothering to lie much, is interesting character wise and focuses the conflict on his and Vash’s internal persons and motives, rather than the external situation. I find it works much better to highlight Trigun’s themes that have cropped up so far.

Ok. I’m going to stop here because this is very long. Holy shit sorry. I just really like his character a lot and I’m excited to see where this conflict goes. They both raise some really good points that are difficult to reconcile.

I hope this actually made sense lol. We’ll see if it holds up when I get further into the manga.

#yes this is the post that i deleted by pressing ctrl z like a moron. do you understand my pain.#oh well i actually think it turned out better this time around so. maybe it's fine actually.#it’s still horrifically long. It just. Kept going…#trigun #trigunbookclub #trigun meta #trimax #nicholas d. wolfwood #storyrambles #<- ugh I need to stop.

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pettyprocrastination · 3 years ago

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I know Silco repeatedly mentions on how you can trust nobody because they will all fail you and has a very “Us vs Them” mentality given his upbringing and the betrayal from Vander, but the insane amount of trust he has in not only Jinx but ALSO Sevika is so telling for his character.

Like Sevika is really pushed off as a middle-man but she does everything. Silco relies on her more than anybody else, maybe even more than Jinx. Because he knows when Jinx fucks up, Sevika is the one who will clean up the mess and get shit back on track. Sevika is the one going on jobs with Jinx to try and keep her in line.

Like, it could very well be just the plain arrogance Silco has of being a man in power, thinking he’s so untouchable that nobody could ever harm him or betray him, but that doesn’t make any sense since he has been betrayed and deserted, and it seems to be a rooting anxiety of his/main character trait.

So that leaves the notion that he not only trusts Jinx but he trusts Sevika entirely. So much that he had never considered the notion of her betraying him, something so deeply rooted in his personality he expects it from nearly everybody, except those two.

I’m just stuck on his reaction to sevika killing one of the chem barons in front of him and the terror that went through him right after this moment

His face when she slashes through his chair?? That is not the composure of a man who knew what she was about to do.

And silco doesn’t show emotions often, especially fear,in front of his adversaries or business partners. He doesn’t want to give them that power, to show vulnerability around anybody aside from Jinx, who he considers family. But in that moment?

That’s shock, fear, his eyes are wide and hair unkempt and hes slouching down in a ‘oh my fucking god i nearly just died’ because he never even thought of her betraying him. That’s how much he trusts her.

Anyways I think Sevika is great and really seems to be the beat-down character, but is actually such an integral part of Silco’s life and the success of his company.

#tj talks #arcane #arcane spoilers #not really but just in case #silco #sevika #i love them so so sso much

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4ragon · 3 years ago

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Hey, I would love to hear your Kazuma Asougi essay

Hey guys. You'll never guess what just happened. :D :D :D

Y’all Ready For This [loud techno music]

I'm finally done with my replay of The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles, and it has been quite the trip getting to re-learn who the characters are and what makes them tick. I feel like ALL of my thoughts and opinions have changed since the last time I finished DGS all that time ago, on every single one of these characters (in part because it was really hard to find a translation I could follow when I first went through DGS the first time).

So without further ado:

Kazuma Asougi.

Asougi Kazuma.

A man after my own heart.

(Btw this is mostly going to be spoiler stuff so putting it under the cut)

Wow is Asougi a complicated character to parse down. Because there’re so many different parts and pieces to him that can feel so gosh darn contradictory at times, that have to be put together to create one guy, and I think it’s hard to look at all the pieces in one playthrough and fully understand just who he is.

As a writer, I like looking at characters through a couple of different lenses. Sometimes it’s stuff like how they talk, how they move. You would not believe how many times I’ve gone into the AA wiki to just look at the spritework and figure out how they hold themselves, or just glance at the transcript to try to get the cadence of how they talk.

But at the end of the day, the most important factor is trying to understand Who this character is. Who are they? Why do they make the choices they do? Not just character motivations, but at the core of their being, what makes a character who they are?

And I think that part of why I love Asougi so much is that he’s got so many extremes to him, tugging him in different directions. He’s intelligent, and confident, and well spoken. And he cares so much about Ryunosuke, so much that he was willing to risk everything to save him.

But he’s also the most arrogant motherfucker on the planet.

I’m not willing to call him an outright bad person for all his ridiculous machinations. He said many times he was never planning to actually hurt anyone. Because he was Kazuma Asougi, and he could handle everything himself. He thought he had the upper hand the entire time. He was going to go along with an ASSASSINATION PLOT to right all the wrongs he’d ever experienced, and he never once thought about the danger to himself or to others because of course he could handle it he was Kazuma Asougi.

He had no idea that the assassination plot was what almost killed his best friend before they even stepped on the boat.

Like, man, he was so sure he could handle things. He was so sure he was the one pulling the strings. It was him vs the world, him vs all the corruption and lies that killed his father, so sure of himself that it didn’t occur to him that he was being played.

And honestly? Given what we know about Asougi’s background, I understand how this came about?

In case 2-1, the journalist Mamemomi tells Susato that no one in Japan knows about what happened to Asougi. And I just keep coming back to this because it really sort of drives home an interesting point: Asougi has no family, but he also has no friends other than Ryuunosuke.

And I should clarify, he has the Mikotobas as family, and I do not want to discount that. HOWEVER, as much as he clearly cares deeply for them, I think the discovery that Yujin lied to him absolutely destroyed so much trust that Asougi had.

He’s had to rely on himself for ten years of his life. He couldn’t go to Yujin about the anger festering in him, because Yujin had betrayed his trust, justified or not. And he certainly couldn’t go to Susato, considering she’s a sixteen year old girl and was probably still in the single digits when Asougi got that letter. (I think? Can’t find the exact year he got that letter. Someone fact check me, I can’t find a transcript.)

So he bottled everything up, and spiraled down this horribly disastrous path, relying only on himself, caring only about avenging his father’s death. And he didn’t have time for interpersonal relationships, didn’t have time for friends. How could he, when his entire being was serving thing higher purpose?

And to that point, just think about his plan. Go to England pretending to be an assassin. Avenge his father’s death. And then...what? You were hired as an ASSASSIN. If they’re willing to send Asougi, we have every reason to believe they’d hire someone else to silence him when he stabbed them in the back. But he agreed to this plan anyway, with no regard for his own safety, because he didn’t care about anything past getting justice for his father, not even Having A Future.

And then he met Ryunosuke. The one person he almost threw away everything for. The one person he felt like he could rely on.

I’m going to put a pin in that though because I think if I start talking about their relationship I’m going to write another fucking essay because I have SO MANY FEELINGS ABOUT THEM

anyway

The point is, I think Asougi is such a massively interesting guy. Because at his heart I DO think he’s a good person. The Asougi we met in 1-1 was not some sort of mask, it was just one piece of a very complicated guy. He’s a good guy, with a sharp wit and strong sense of justice, and life circumstances took those traits and twisted them until he almost brought everything he cared about to ruin. And that is such an interesting character.

#asougi kazuma #kazuma asougi #ace attorney #the great ace attorney #spoilers #ace attorney spoilers #am i opening the floodgates?

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adifferenttime · 4 years ago

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Andrew Ryan vs. Robert House

On almost every House post I make, someone in the notes will reliably reference Andrew Ryan. I totally get it - they look similar, they're based on the same guy, the parallels are so clear that the NV dev team added an achievement for killing House with a golf club - but I think these commonalities tend to engulf both characters, blotting out some of their more interesting ideological/personal differences. It's useful to examine them in relation to one another, but part of that is figuring out what distinguishes them, which is just what I’ve attempted to do.

It's difficult for me to talk about Randian objectivism because I don't think it's sound enough to address on its own terms, but considering this is the philosophy Andrew Ryan has adopted, I kind of have to. What I’d identify as the core premise of Randian ethics is this: altruism is a moral wrong. Some Randians have argued that isn't really what they believe - that the real point is anything resembling altruism is self-interest in disguise - but they're departing from the beliefs of their icon when they make those claims. Per Rand:

The irreducible primary of altruism, the basic absolute is self-sacrifice – which means self-immolation, self-abnegation, self-denial, self-destruction – which means the self as a standard of evil, the selfless as a standard of the good.

The way Rand defines altruism is by linking it to self-sacrifice, which she uses to differentiate it from kindness or benevolence. Aiding others at no cost to yourself is benevolent, but not altruistic, and therefore not evil. Sacrificing your happiness to help another human being is, from Rand's perspective, evil, as is any philosophy that prioritizes the other at the cost of the self. This whole idea has been broadly rejected by most scholars on account of it being really fucking stupid. What justifies the leap from "man is naturally selfish" to "selfishness is good"? If selfishness is moral, wouldn't the most moral behavior be to exploit others through whatever means necessary, favoring force over the market? Rand defines happiness as "using your mind’s fullest power," achievable only when you "do not consider the pleasure of others as the goal," but why is this the only definition? What if your only options are self-sacrificial in nature? How do you weigh them if neither sacrifice is linked to values, individual achievement, or "your mind's fullest power" at all? Rand didn't care because she was too busy trying to ethically justify cheating on her man with her best friend's husband, but nonetheless, this is the philosophy Andrew Ryan’s adopted. He claims that "Altruism is the root of all Wickedness," in what's almost a direct quote from Rand herself.

To that end, Ryan builds a system that doesn’t just accept selfishness but actively incentivizes it. Every other principle he expresses is subservient to the ideas that selfishness rules man, and that for Ryan to act on his own selfish impulses is the highest good in the world. His lesser political principles (individual liberties, negative rights, the creation of a stateless society) don’t matter to him as much as the central precept from which they stem: that selfishness is his moral imperative.

What is the greatest lie every created? What is the most vicious obscenity ever perpetrated on mankind? Slavery? The Holocaust? Dictatorship? No. It's the tool with which all that wickedness is built: altruism.

It doesn't come as a particular surprise to me when he starts imprisoning dissidents or executing rivals or banning theft (standard practice in most societies, but not what an egoist would pursue; if you can get away with taking it, you deserve to have it, or so the thinking goes). I’ve seen him described as a hypocrite, but I don’t think that’s necessarily true considering everything he does is in line with his opposition to altruism. He'll adhere to his other principles only if they don’t sabotage his pursuit of personal power. This is evident in the fact that he only adopts a negative perception of Fontaine when his own interests are threatened, but doesn’t give two shits what Fontaine might be doing to sow conflict and harm people before that point. A guy named Gregory asks Ryan to step in against Fontaine early on before Fontaine's fully established himself as a threat to Ryan's power, and Ryan's extremely blase about it.

Don't expect me to punish citizens for showing a little initiative. If you don't like what Fontaine is doing, well, I suggest you find a way to offer a better product.

Contrast this with how he reacts when Fontaine has risen as a genuine business rival. This is from the log titled "Fontaine Must Go."

Something must be done about Fontaine. While I was buying buildings and fish futures, he was cornering the market on genotypes and nucleotide sequences. Rapture is transforming before my eyes. The Great Chain is pulling away from me.

This double standard is the natural outgrowth of his prioritization of self-interest. If your most deeply-held belief is that you should never give up your interests for others, ancillary rules become flexible in times of personal crisis, and Bioshock makes the case that putting someone like that in charge of a city will leave you with a crumbling, monstrous ruin.

Superficially, House has some similarities. Ryan executes political rivals; House has you blow up a bunker of his ideological opponents. Ryan is the highest authority in Rapture; House is the absolute monarch of Vegas. Their goals and moral codes, though, are almost diametrically opposed. When you ask House why you’re expected to trust him when he’s openly admitting to installing himself as the despot of the New Vegas Strip, he says this:

I have no interest in abusing others... Nor have I any interest in being worshipped as some kind of machine-god messiah. I am impervious to such corrupting ambitions.

Most of his resources are devoted to large-scale, impersonal projects, aimed either at building the power of Vegas or securing his long term goal of “progress” as he sees it. He’s rejected selfishness as a moral good because House is very far from Randian objectivism. He's a Hobbesian monarch.

In that respect, he shares an outlook on human nature with Ryan that I deeply disagree with (that human beings are essentially selfish), but in terms of what that means for the structure of a utopian society, House takes a very different position. From his perspective, human nature breeds suffering, not industriousness, and the only way to stamp out conflict - and, in a post-nuclear age, ensure the continued survival of the human race - is through a strong sovereign. The purpose of a state as laid out in Leviathan aligns very, very closely with the one House expresses.

...the foresight of their own preservation, and of a more contented life thereby; that is to say, of getting themselves out from that miserable condition of war which is necessarily consequent, as hath been shown, to the natural passions of men...

The monarch's successes are reflected in his society and the well-being of humanity as a whole. To subvert his goals is to subvert society's goals, and to doom humanity to the war, death, and suffering that exist in a state of nature. When you destroy his Securitrons/kill him, he doesn't plead for himself or get offended on his own behalf. He accuses you of betraying not him, but mankind.

Single-handedly, you've brought mankind's best hopes of forward progress crashing down. No punishment would be too severe. Fool... to let... personalities... derail future... of mankind? ...Stupid! Slavery... the future of... mankind? What... have you... done?

An important corollary of this idea which again distinguishes House from Ryan appears in Leviathan’s description of the political/moral responsibility of a monarch to his subjects:

...that great Leviathan, or rather, to speak more reverently, of that mortal god to which we owe, under the immortal God, our peace and defence. For by this authority... he hath the use of so much power that, by terror thereof, he is enabled to form the wills of them all, to peace at home, and mutual aid against their enemies abroad.

Hobbes and House give the monarch virtually unlimited power but match it to the monarch's duty, which he lives to fulfill. His obligation is to speak for the people, act for them, and protect them from all threats, internal and external. House generally abides by this, orienting his decisions around his goals for society irrespective of the personal cost (the negative consequences of his actions are a product of his fucked evaluations of what’s best for society, not personal greed). It’s not just a departure from Ryan’s philosophy but a complete refutation of it. He's almost died for what he's misidentified as the greatest good.

Given that I had to make do with buggy software, the outcome could have been worse. I nearly died as it was…. I spent the next few decades in a veritable coma.

This is not the behavior of an egoist. This is the behavior of an extremely arrogant but marginally altruistic (from a Randian perspective lmao) guy. This is some distorted “from each according to his ability” shit if you’ve managed to convince yourself your abilities exceed those of everyone else who has ever lived and that you can get the Mandate of Heaven by being really good at statistics.

The reason these guys develop such similar structures and hierarchies despite the ideological gulfs between them is because both of them are elitists who’ve experienced a massive failure of self-consciousness. They’re unable to conceive of other people as being fundamentally like them. Ryan separates people into the clearly-delineated classes of “producer” and “parasite,” ignoring the fact that everything he’s ever “produced” was reliant on a huge, coordinated effort between workers, architects, accountants, middlemen, and others, all of whom, in conjunction, contributed more to the realization of his dreams that he ever could have alone. Rather than realizing his own position is more parasitic and reliant on other people’s labor than that of anyone else in Rapture, he adheres to his doctrine of selfishness even when it’s not reflective of reality and is ruining the the lives of an entire city of people. He deludes himself into believing he’s a superman among ants instead of one flawed man who is reliant on the goodwill of others to help him survive, as are we all.

House, too, thinks he’s exceptional. Unlike Ryan, he acknowledges the necessity of the worker to a functioning society, but while he’ll accept his reliance on that labor, he doesn’t trust the laborer enough to share political power. House knows he’s invested in humanity’s survival and the creation of a better world, but he refuses to consider that he might not be alone in this goal. He chalks up the existence of the Legion to fanaticism/the ambitions of a sultanistic dictator and attributes everything the NCR has done to greed, without it ever occurring to him that the massive harm these nations have done was partially motivated by the same goals he’s devoted himself to - and that the atrocities he’s committed since his rise to power are, in some respects, very similar. House knows himself to be invested in the well-being of humanity, but he’s too arrogant to ask himself if his methods are wrong or trust other people to build a new path, one that doesn’t necessitate his complete control over the land and people of the Mojave. Ryan and House’s worldviews are distinct, and their flaws, as highlighted by their respective narratives, say some interesting things about how each set of devs view power and the pitfalls of elitism.

Anyway. If you put these two men in a room, they would probably try to murder each other, and I think that’s great.

#Robert House #Andrew Ryan #fallout meta #bioshock meta #fnv #bioshock #fallout new vegas

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innovativestruggles · 4 years ago

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Daisuke and Suzue’s Mutual Trust - A Mini Analysis

***(Edited version with additional information re; Daisuke’s parents and Haru)***

Hey gang, so I had this nagging thought to write this awhile back and it just escalated after I watched Episode 10. So now my brain won’t leave me alone until I’ve shared this with you.

I would again, like to reiterate that only FOUR TIMES in the entire 10 episodes of FKBU so far, has Daisuke shown a soft, genuine smile. This man has been incredibly traumatised since childhood. He is apathetic, frustrated and emotionless and essentially an asshole at best. He has lost all reason to smile. The post traumatic stress sits very heavily on him.

Considering how he grew up as a happy kid, it was absolutely heartbreaking when that happiness was taken from him. So to see Daisuke show any type of soften emotion was incredibly profound. It shows a vulnerable side to him, because that side has been severely repressed.

I don’t want to go all social workey on everyone here but I just want to explain something. In those who have experienced significant trauma, they no longer view the world as a safe place. So Daisuke’s suppressed emotions were the only way he saw fit to survive in a ‘hostile world.’ When positive emotions are expressed, it makes the trauma survivor vulnerable. How? Because in Daisuke’s case, as a child, positive emotions were associated with feeling unsafe. He grew up happily along side his parents, only to witness his father murder his mother.

So any time a trauma survivor wants to show positive emotions (be it consciously or subconsciously), they must feel safe, because it makes them vulnerable.

The only four times Daisuke showed any sort of soft, genuine, smile-like emotion were:

When he came home. Given his unstable relationship with Grandma, I can make an educated guess that returning home was not for her or mostly for her. And we are not going to include the butler because that relationship was more professional.

Directly after this scene, Daisuke proceeded to cook for Suzue (and only her). In other words, I can take a guess that he was happy to finally return home to placate Suzue’s worries and be mostly in her company.

When he made food for Suzue. This man was so proud of himself istg ... just look at him .. but y’know, we have seen him with a proud smug face before, but this one was a soft and genuine one.

When he reassured Suzue that he will make it home alive.

When he carried Suzue in the OP

So what am I trying to say?

They are all related to Suzue in some way or another.

Suzue made Daisuke feel safe enough to express vulnerable emotions (in this case, positive ones). Throughout the anime, the dynamics between Suzue and Daisuke were solely based on trust. Daisuke trusted Suzue with his life. He knew she will always be there for him no matter what.

In that above scene where Daisuke reassured Suzue he will return home, Suzue, despite knowing the dangers, trusted him to follow through and keep himself alive. There was a hidden promise in the words he used and the way he said it.

Can I also add something too?

Compare the above two scenes to the two below

What do you see?

Daisuke does NOT like being touched.

Sure, Daisuke was visibly injured in the scenes with Haru, but he was not injured enough that he could no longer fight or walk on his own. What this meant was that Daisuke did not shove Suzue away or remove his hand from hers because he was not physically injured. It meant he has an immense level of trust in her. Daisuke may have initially been uncomfortable and unsure with Suzue’s actions, but he eventually allowed her to remain on him.

(Edit:) I’d like to explain the above part a little better as I realised it can get a bit confusing. Some of you may think that Daisuke pushed Haru away because he was physically weak and injured and therefore vulnerable. Which means you may also think that he did not push Suzue away or remove his hand from hers because he was not physically weak/injured at the time.

This was not the case. Daisuke simply did not like being touched because of his trauma. How did I speculate this? Daisuke was able to fight pretty well, despite being injured, so in essence, if he truly did push Haru away because of his injuries, he should not be able to fight or function for the sake of being physically vulnerable. That would be more of a probable explanation. But instead, Daisuke was still strong enough to walk and push on, which meant the likely explanation to refusing physical assistance was: Daisuke’s trauma

Remember this. Trauma survivors do not often like being touched, particularly when they have witnessed/experienced violence as a child. They view the world as an unsafe place.

(Edit:) So in other words, it was not because of his injuries or physical vulnerable state that made Daisuke push Haru away, it was because he did not like being touched by someone who has not earned that high level of trust. If Suzue was in Haru’s place on that boat scene, Daisuke most likely would have allowed her to assist him because she has earned that high level of trust.

This does not mean Daisuke does not trust Haru. As we saw in Episode 10, Daisuke grew to respect and trust Haru. But not at the level where he was comfortable with being physically touched. That’s literally a whole new level. (And no, a bump into the ass or brush on the shoulder does not count as proper physical touch).

When you have been betrayed as a child, and you view the world as an awful place, the idea of ‘trust’ does not exist. You won’t understand what that means because you will think there is no point in trusting people - they will just betray you. It’s more significant when this breach of trust occurred as a child.

So rebuilding trust for trauma survivors take a very, very long time. They have to learn to trust all over again, and even then, they may not trust just anyone. In Daisuke’s case, he ticked all the above. To have earned that level of respect where a traumatised Daisuke would trust someone with his life, Suzue must be one incredible woman. She must be so damn important to him, even though it may not be obvious all the time.

(Edit:) I’d also like to briefly add something here. There may be other significant reason for the bridal carry in the OP. It may indicate that Daisuke is indeed comfortable enough to have Suzue that (physically) close to him.

Seeing how I have seen quite a lot of anime where there are significant trauma involved as the storyline, I can definitely see the same patterns emerging with FKBU re; Daisuke’s story.

So I would like to end it on something.

In the above scene, Daisuke’s indirect way of showing he cared for Suzue was not out of the ordinary for someone who has been traumatised. There may not be a direct apology (or maybe there was behind the scenes??) we could see, but trauma greatly suppresses proper emotional development (and particularly when it happened to him as a growing child).

So Daisuke may not fully understand the right way to make amends or how to resolve the situation. He may not even think what he did was wrong, so his way of trying to amend things (whether with an apology intended or without), was to make food for Suzue.

Needless to say that Suzue was very forgiving and so extremely patient with him. Patience, support and empathy are key to supporting trauma survivors. Fuck. The more I analyse this, the more I realise how deeply profound Daizue’s relationship is ❤️

EDIT:

Daisuke’s Parents and Haru

Someone asked me a very interesting question about Daisuke’s trauma, his father and the photo frame of his parents on his bedside table.

Without delving too much into the complexity of trauma, the likely plausible explanation would be that Daisuke still has some form of attachment and love for his father. Trauma survivors can still love the person who betrayed them, despite holding a grudge towards them at the same time. It is not an unusual/uncommon thing. This would be a lot more significant for those who experienced childhood trauma. So to me, it sounded like Daisuke loved and got along well with both his parents.

The picture on his bedside table may be a representation of what he has lost - a happy childhood, so he still kept it there, not necessarily as a reminder, but as a form of subconscious attachment he has for his parents.

Haru vs Daisuke

The same person also queried about the differing traumas between these two. Whilst it is never an appropriate thing to compare traumas, I’m happy to explain this for the sake of understanding.

Haru’s trauma occurred during a one off incident that ended up spiralling into some form of post traumatic stress. Whilst we do not know about Haru’s past, based on his personality and some tiny hints along the way, Haru most likely grew up in a relatively normal family. So Haru was able to bounce back and overcome his trauma relatively well (as we saw in Episode 10, he finally fired a gun!).

Daisuke, however, is a different story. Daisuke’s trauma is extremely complex because of the age he experienced it, and the type as well. Trauma involving close families that end up in violence and murder is one of the biggest betrayals of trust, particularly for a child.

As I stated earlier, Daisuke no longer viewed the world as a safe place. His trauma was deeply ingrained and it shaped his emotional development and his interactions with others. If you look at Grandma and both Daisuke’s parents, you can see that they were relatively ‘normal’ in terms of emotional development. That is, you can see that they showed more varied emotions and their interactions with others were not ... weird.

But if you compare them with adult Daisuke, it is very different. Immediately you can say that there is definitely something wrong with him. And I am not talking about how he grew up rich, because that is a separate thing. I am talking more about his emotional responses to people.

#i solemnly swear i shall never bring my work life into analysing character trauma ever again #but i also solemnly swear that i cannot promise this #because my brain just goes into overdrive when it detects trauma in a character #suffice to say the story creators did a great job in depicting trauma #i really love the subtle hints in it #it makes it really real #and gives an accurate representation of what living with ptsd is like #the more i do this psychoanalysing shit the more i just love daizue #their rship is just so out there #omfg #ah fuck so many grammatical errors and typos #sozzies i cbf fixing it loool #daisuzu #daizue #daisuke kambe #suzue kambe #balance unlimited

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intelligent-trash · 4 years ago

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Jo, Kate, and their parallels with the Orpheus/Eurydice myth

Okay, so I know this may seem totally out there, but bear with me on this - I promise, I have a point, and I am really interested to hear your thoughts on these parallels.

So I just wrote this all out once only for tumblr to delete it as I was about to post, so like, yay for that. Also I’m on 4 hours sleep and very brain frazzled from recently submitting my dissertation, so apologies if there’s any nonsensical aspects. I will preface this with a note that I am by no means a Greek mythology expert, I just really love Hadestown and subsequently the Orpheus/Eurydice myth, and noticed there were some significant parallels between it and the Kate/Jo story which I wanted to draw.

For those not particularly familiar with the Orpheus/Eurydice myth, I’d give it a quick google, but I’ll be drawing comparisons between that story and Kate/Jo’s here.

Orpheus is a talented musician, whose musical gift was said to entrance even nature itself. In a slightly less mythical but no less impressive fashion, we have Kate, whose known proficiencies and dedication to the anticorruption cause, even after she leaves AC-12, make her stand out as an exceptional detective. Orpheus meets Eurydice and is instantly drawn to her beauty – she is drawn to his voice, and they soon fall in love. It is not Kate’s voice that draws in Jo, but the promise of freedom she offers with her anticorruption background that initially draws her in – we know from 6x06 that that is why Jo initially hired her. With Jo, I think Kate finds a kindred spirit (plus, who are we kidding, Kelly is bloody beautiful) to whom she connects with and is drawn to. Much like Orpheus and Eurydice, who seem almost magnetised in how they are drawn to one another, I think there are definitely some parallels in how Kate and Jo are drawn to one another and the chemistry they share, despite coming from very opposing backgrounds (Jo as the coerced daughter of an OCG boss, forced to do their bidding in secret VS one of the most dedicated (ex-)anticorruption officers)

Orpheus and Eurydice decide to marry, and have a brief moment of wedded bliss before everything goes downhill. Whilst I’d love a flemson wedding, I can’t see that in the near future, nor is it relevant for the parallels being drawn – I would instead draw attention to their Frederico’s date, the intimacy shared there, and the proposed weekend date, where they existed in a bit of a honeymoon state of excitement surrounding this somewhat illicit close connection.

Of course, this can’t last. Aristaeus’ love for Eurydice, and jealousy of Orpheus, drives him to chase the pair down, intending to kill Orpheus and take Eurydice for his own. Aristaeus is more of a metaphor for the OCG controlling Jo, rather than any one individual – by Jo getting close to Kate, it threatens the OCG’s concealment, and thus Kate must be eliminated so they can regain control over Jo. As Eurydice and Orpheus run to escape the OCG, a clear parallel could be drawn with the man-hunt of 6x06.

Eurydice stumbles and falls, and as Orpheus turns he sees she has been bitten by a deadly viper, and has died. Whilst Jo does not literally die at this point in the story, her imprisonment could represent a metaphorical death – she is no longer able to act freely alongside Kate, her relationship with Kate is irrevocably changed after the whole murder attempt fiasco, and Kate will struggle to get through to Jo even more than before now she is in jail – and, as the viewers are well aware, in the jail with the two dodgy prison officers who pose a clear threat to her.

At this point, Orpheus, driven by grief, appeals to his father, the God Apollo, to permit him to go to the underworld and seek his wife from Hades, in a somewhat hair-brained but brilliant scheme. We are yet to see this play out in 6x07, but the trailer appears to suggest some kind of attempt to get Jo out of prison, for which AC-12 become involved – specifically, Kate. I anticipate that, despite the murder attempt, Kate will be deeply affected by Jo’s imprisonment, and likely will be part of the driving force to prove she isn’t bent – like she has been, all series, in spite of all the proof staring her in the face. I imagine Kate will be prepared to put herself in a dangerous position within this, fully aware of the Lakewell incident, to help save Jo – and I wouldn’t be surprised if she is the one to suggest or somehow initiate this operation. The crazy part of it comes from the fact they are well aware of what happened to Lakewell, and are likely having to develop some sort of crazy plan to try and get around that – quite possibly, intentionally drawing out the OCG in the process.

Orpheus approaches Hades, asking for entry into the underworld, for which he receives no challenges. When he approaches Hades and Persephone, he sings to them of his desire for Eurydice to be returned to them, and convinces Hades to return Eurydice. However, there is a condition – he must walk back towards the world of the living, and she must follow him, and he cannot look back, or else she will be trapped in the underworld forever and he will be unable to reach her. Essentially, Orpheus must trust that Eurydice will be following behind him, will have chosen to return with him to the land of the living. Eurydice is demonstrating her faith in him by allowing him to lead her out of the underworld. This aspect of the story is highly speculative, as 6x07 is currently yet to air – but Kate has to place some trust in Jo, that she will follow through with their plan, that she won’t betray her again. Jo had demonstrated some basis for being trusted, with placing her prints on Kate’s gun and taking the fall for her in. 6x06, but now it is imperative that Kate trusts Jo to follow through – likely on providing information – so Kate can free her from her past OCG ties, hopefully in some kind of witness protection as opposed to jail.

But the story of Orpheus and Eurydice is a tragic love story. Orpheus, having reached the light himself, turns to look upon his wife. In doing so, he seals her fate – she is trapped in the underworld forever. How this translates to the story of Kate/Jo is unclear, but my speculation is that there is some incident where Kate’s trust in Jo briefly falters, which ultimately proves fatal to Jo – and it will turn out, Jo WAS trustworthy all along, but Kate’s hesitancy to believe in Jo (understandably so) was the tragic flaw in their relationship, particularly as up to that point they had implicitly trusted one another. Orpheus has a brief moment where he sees Eurydice before she is returned to the underworld – for Kate and Jo, I imagine this will be a moment of “I was never pretending” style confessions before Jo’s tragic end.

Orpheus is heart-broken by the incident, losing the joy that had previously characterised his music. Kate’s music, in this case, is her faith within the anticorruption cause. Whilst I don’t think she will lose it entirely, I think she will become a lot more cynical and unconvinced regarding its success, particularly as they were so close to saving Jo before they lost her, to what in Kate’s eyes was her own struggles with trusting Jo would follow her into the light (ie. freedom from the OCG). But Jo was following her the whole time.

The comparison between Jo/Kate and Orpheus/Eurydice highlight how Jo/Kate’s story, at its heart, is a tragic love story – obviously, dependent on the outcome of 6x07, which could render this completely obsolete. But I just thought the parallels were really interesting, and I would love to hear others thoughts on this. (I will say, my initial post of this was much more in depth, but tumblr decided to delete it, so I rewrote it from memory as best I could). Obviously, it is entirely possible this is all coincidental, and that I am just simply drawing from my love for Hadestown and projecting it upon one of my other favourite shows. However, if Jed DID intend to have some loose parallels, that is really interesting and very telling to how Jo/Kate’s relationship was intended to be perceived. Plus, it’s pretty fucking poetic too.

Anyway, I would LOVE to hear your thoughts on this, so please let me know! I apologise if this reads as rushed or messy or anything, it was just an idea bouncing in my head this morning, and I really wanted to see what people thought!

#flemson #line of duty #bbc line of duty #Kate fleming #jo davidson #Joanne davidson #my content #line of duty theories #jo x kate

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ichika27 · 3 years ago

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OnS Chapter 106

Well... this chapter is making me ask questions lol. At last though, we’re back to seeing what Mika is doing but is also continuing from where the previous chapter left off. So many things happening at once.

The 2nd Progenitor Rigr Stafford vs. 3rd Progenitor Lest Karr and 5th Progenitor Ky Luc. Lest is having trouble and is worried due to facing a 2nd progenitor while his companion Ky is enjoying himself and feels confident he could win against a their enemy. Rigr realizes in the middle of battle that Ky is probably Urd's right hand man since Ky's ability surpasses that of a regular 5th progenitor.

Rigr aims at Ky's eye. Ky realizes he can't dodge it anyways so he just went straight ahead to land an attack himself. Now the two of them are too connected to each other which worried Lest since he's about to use a lightning attack. Ky just tells him to go for it.

Ky gives his sword as much blood as he could give to make sure Rigr couldn't get away when Lest uses Heaven's Fan. When the attack is done, Ky sustained a lot of injuries.

It seems the attack had worked and had injured the 2nd progenitor as well. I felt pretty suspicious at this moment cause there’s no way these two could easily beat a 2nd progenitor. Plus Rigr wasn’t really that worried despite saying so cause he doesn’t always mean what he tells them. I thought there must be a trick.

2nd Progenitor Urd Geales finally makes an appearance! Lest tells him of what had transpired and Urd isn't amused and tells him that it's impossible for a vampire to escape the cell (he made it so himself). He then tells Rigr to stop messing with his subordinates.

With a clap of the hands, Rigr is back in the cell. Rigr reveals that the entire fight was nothing but an illusion that he learned from humans. lol I knew there was a trick but I didn’t think it was all an illusion. I thought he’d easily regenerate or something.

You know what, Rigr’s teasing nature and laid-back attitude in the middle of battle reminds me of Ferid. They might not be blood-related but he is the one who turned Ferid into a vampire so it’s close.

The two former friends have a little reunion. Ky apologizes for the trouble but Urd tells him it wasn't his fault as Rigr is of a higher rank and can't be helped.

It seems he still cares...

Rigr asks Urd what the latter has in store for him and Urd says that if Rigr doesn't answer his questions, he might just kill him. Urd asks what Rigr’s plan is and Rigr tells him that his revenge plan against the 1st Progenitor hasn't changed yet after all these years so there’s nothing to say.

Urd says that in betraying the 1st, Rigr had also betrayed him and Rigr offered to be killed. He mentions he hasn't forgotten about Urd and has thought about him everyday when they were separated.

I’m sorry... these lines are getting to me. They must’ve been really close friends for them to be this way with each other. They kinda remind me of Mika and Yuu in a way except these two sort of became rivals or something.

Urd then asked Rigr about this revenge plan and how it's going.

I’m guessing the original question is asking about what the plan is specifically but it’s changed to asking if it’s going well. I wonder if Urd had realized what it might be before asking?

Meanwhile, Mika is still inside Yuu's heart. In front of him is a strange eye and he's trying to figure out what this one is exactly.

Mika touches the eye to peek into what's in it. He's then transported to this strange place and in each of the containers inside is an eyeball each. Mika finds himself possessing one of these eyeballs.

I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who recognized this from the Ancient Greece flashbacks several chapters ago.

It’s tiny Yuu-chan! It confirmed that this is Mikaela's room from back in Greece thousands of years ago from the flashbacks. Yuu visits here many times to try and wake up the "sleeping" Mika inside the glass. This is probably a later scenario from Ashera’s flashbacks cause this Yuu isn’t borderline emotionless and acts like an excitable child unlike the Yuu that Ashera first met.

Noya tells him it's pointless as Mika is dead but Yuu tells him that Mika will certainly wake up. It's Yuu's job to wake him after all. Noya comments that Yuu's exact duty is to be the sacrifice to awaken Mika. Yuu didn't hear this and continues to call Mika which annoyed Noya enough and in the end, Yuu was killed.

Okay, so I don’t remember if Yuu had been calling Sika Madu “Father” from before or if this is some new development because I think he just called him “Master” back then? Also, I guess this means Yuu and Mika are connected more deeply than we thought. I wonder how Yuu would be sacrificed.

Noya then uses one of the eyeballs and turned it into another Yuu. The new Yuu could talk but knows nothing. He kept asking so many questions that Noya got annoyed again and killed this one, too. Ashera tells him that it's not right and Noya just says that he just has to get used to it. Plus no one would notice how many had been killed if they made another Yuu.

We’re finally shown how they make Yuu-chan clones. I wonder what changed or how this is done as the new Yuu clone acts like the previous one: loud and excited. He’s totally not like the Yuu that Ashera met who is quiet and sort of emotionless. I thought they would start out like that quiet Yuu first and then learn to be normal but it seems the clones are more like the new version of Yuu.

The next Yuu Noya had created is the one Mika is currently possessing. Of course, this “Yuu” wouldn’t act the same as the others since Mika is possessing it. Noya didn’t question this or at least, he seems to not and just leaves this Yuu be.

So either he’s just faking and realized that there’s something really different (as that look is suggesting) or the personality of the Yuu-chan clones differ from one another that this is a possibility. Also, since Yuu-chan is a clone, who was he cloned from? Was there an original Yuu-chan? What was he then? So many questions...

The 1st Progenitor and the others have arrived. Raimei scolds the kids for entering the room without permission but Byakko just tells her to go easy on them as they're just kids.

The group (minus the 1st Progenitor) looks like their demon selves: from the outfits to the horns). Does this mean they’ve been turned to demons at this point? Also, Byakko’s personality doesn’t look as serious as he seems as he currently is as Byakkomaru. By the way, I don’t think I’ve ever heard their original names being used so not sure if these are right. I got them from the wiki when I was looking at the correct name spellings for the other characters.

Back to the present, Rigr offers Urd the choice to join him in revenge. Rigr tells them that his preparations are ready and apologizes for taking too long with it. He asks Urd if the latter has any hostages and it's revealed that the people Urd was carrying earlier are Shinya and Kureto and so Rigr asked about their demons (which are their former vampire companions).

This is making me wonder what Urd’s plan is. At first of course I thought he’s asking Rigr about this revenge thing cause he wants to know if he could stop it or change Rigr’s mind. But now I’m confused cause the way he’s asking seems like he’s... interested? And Rigr asked about hostages which Urd already has and coincidentally (or not...?) they are Shinya and Kureto who are the contractors of Byakkomaru and Raimeiki. Rigr even asked about the demons.

Like if Urd turned out to switch sides and becomes Rigr’s ally, I don’t think I’d be surprised. The current arc is just everybody switching sides and backstabbing everyone else or having ulterior motives in the stuff they do. How many opposing groups do we even have now lol.

Switching back to the past, Mika continues to observe the others through the clone Yuu. Sika Madu seem to have realized what he really is though and addresses him directly.

I’m betting this is the real Sika Madu cause he’s already left Shinoa. Plus if his other demon companions could go to another demon’s world, there’s no doubt he could do it, too since he’s the most powerful of them all.

Sika Madu tries to put Mika to sleep. A struggling Mika hears Yuu's voice telling him that in order to escape they must work together. If they devour one another, Mika would become Yuu's demon. As Sika Madu continues to use his powers on Mika, Mika finally accepts and lets himself become Yuu's demon.

Finally! I guess if this goes well (which there’s a high chance this would go well unless the author decides to prolong the drama), Mika would finally become a demon weapon. it’s also another sword if I remember correctly. I wonder if Yuu will use it now that Asuramaru can’t be trusted? Speaking of which, I suddenly remembered the cover art for one of Owari no Seraph’s artbooks wherein Yuu is shown with his sword and the reflection in it is Mika. Foreshadowing or coincidence? Probably coincidence since it’s the reverse in another artbook. Still it’s cool.

The Vampire side of the story is slowly connecting to the protagonists’ side of the story. It looks like whatever it is that Rigr is planning, it’ll involve the demons residing in a majority of the main casts’ weapons. They’d cross paths sooner or later.

Shinya and Kureto got caught but where are the others? Where are the rest of Guren’s squad? I wonder who the demons are that’s inside of the weapons of the others...

I’m still sad they chose not to use the nickname Mika had for Yuu. “Yuu-chan” is distinctly Mika’s nickname for him (it’s even Mika’s favorite phrase according to one of the fanbooks haha). Plus since they never use any honorifics for the way everyone else calls Yuu (Yoichi’s “Yuu-kun” and Shinoa’s “Yuu-san” are just “Yuu/Yu” now), there’s no difference. Mika calling Yuu by a specific nickname even became a plot point when one of the human soldiers trusted Mika because of how he calls Yuu. Like, I get why they’re not using honorifics in the official translation but it’s still a shame. Now everytime I see Mika call Yuu or refer to Yuu, my mind fills in the missing honorific. It will always be “Yuu-chan” to me.

Anyways, the last page of this chapter never said when the next one would come out. I wonder why? I’m hoping it’s not a hiatus but it can’t be helped if it is. I’m kinda excited for what’s to come next. I wonder what happened to everyone else? Are we ever gonna get POVs from them or are they also just left to the side since they’re not part of the main conflict? I mean they seemed to have completely dropped Narumi since I haven’t seen him in a while.

Thanks for reading this if you did!

#owari no seraph #seraph of the end #ons #manga #sana_post

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misssilencewritewell · 4 years ago

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Overall review of wizards. Spoiler warning. This is just my opinion. If you enjoyed it, I’m happy for you. I think it was far too rushed.

Five episodes in we finally started to get introduced to interesting characters. But the pace never slowed down long enough to understand their role, their personalities, purpose, etc. It was a quick flash of ‘Oh that’s cool-and they’re gone...but I wanted to see more and understand...’ The quick glimpse of Angor Rot (my boy 😭) Why did he fish Morgana from the river? He hates humans...I’m confused??? He has magic. Did he learn from the evil magic squad?

The graphics are incredible. It looks amazing but I feel like for me to have a connection to this part of the story it had to have been longer. Another ten episodes of us getting to know Douxie in Arcadia would’ve been nice. When you dump as much information and new things on viewers it’s just too much for us to handle. I was so distracted by going “the heck is happening” to ever bond with Douxie. This makes me sad because I was enamored with him in Trollhunters. Also, he went from super suave bad boy to derpy bard boy. Not necessarily bad...but personally, I enjoyed his confidence in Trollhunters. Straight up hit a gum gum with a guitar. Not a magic one...just a regular guitar. Chad move. But this...felt weird. I personally think it would’ve been a much better plot twist had he been Mordred. Would’ve given him a darker edge, a vendetta, an interesting character arc. His goal to be to avenge his mother Morgana and kill Merlin/Trollhunters. Instead we find out that he’s basically a edgy, awkward bard. Which isn’t bad but not enough character development for me to be excited about any apparent growth or newly discovered powers.

Steve Palchuk (while I love his character) was unnecessary to this plot. I would’ve preferred Eli. His brains would have been helpful and I think his comedic relief would’ve fit better than Steves. Steve’s jokes just didn’t seem to land. The comedy relief was not timed right. Again, I absolutely loved Trollhunters and 3 Below...but there was never a moment to stop and catch your breath to know the world and characters which made it difficult to enjoy.

I still don’t fully understand how magic works. Douxie taught Claire for a minute and that was it and now he’s her teacher? Morgana and Merlin walk to the other side and say that sorcery dies with them but Claire and Douxie are left. Magic is...emotion? Kinda? Idk they never explained. 🤷‍♀️

Arthur’s character was...confusing to say the least. He misses his love and hates “dark” creatures because they killed her. But he comes back from the dead...to atone for his sins...by being evil? That didn’t make sense to me. Same with Morgana coming back and him being like sup sis! Know I tried to kill you but we are blood family! His super quick switch to asking for trolls help and loving his sister again was unexplained and made 0 sense. Just make him a dislikeable character and leave it at that. Sometimes it’s better to keep things simple. Over complicated plots can be messy and unenjoyable.

Morgana going from villain to hero was expected but executed poorly. She would flip like a switch and I just couldn’t sympathize with her as much as I did when she was a villain. I enjoyed her passion while being dark. Her redemption arc could’ve been handled so much better. Her having a romantic thing with Merlin and Merlin betraying her becoming the true villain while she is thirsty for revenge would’ve been top tier world building. We got butt jokes from Steve instead.

Strickler and Nomura. I want to see them. Especially back then? Oh they would be so evil and dark and I LIVE FOR IT. Especially since we love them now. It’d be cool to be reminded of their past. Back to the Jim smelling of human without being a changeling. Could’ve seen more on that and an interaction with him. They’d be fascinated I’m sure. Morgana created changelings but that could’ve easily been explained that she was working behind Arthur’s back the whole time. Working with Gunmar and creating changelings to infiltrate the castle while pretending to be submissive in court to Arthur and Merlin. It would explain why Changelings value cunning even more so and it would’ve been more believable than her talking to Claire one time and saying “yes! I’ll just tell my bro he crazy and needs to stop! Thank you kindly foreign hand maiden with dark magic!” Like there’s no reason for Morgana to trust her. Use her...sure. She would want Claire power, but Morgana’s character was far too rushed to make sense. I miss it when she was just a villain.

Also...Jim gets stabbed by a blade and they don’t call his mom? They don’t let her know her son could be dying? She’s a doctor. She doesn’t know much about the dark Magicks but she’s so smart and Strickler is her boyfriend. She should’ve been told. She should’ve shown up. I love her character and she adds a lot to the dynamic. Steve was the focal point far too often.

Bular. (Inhaled deeply). I missed him so much. It was cool to see Gunmar and Bular again. Bular I feel could’ve been interesting to build more too and I’m grateful for what we received. He obviously was more impressionable than his father. Morgana saved him and he immediately vouched for her while touching his fathers shoulder saying softly “she spared my life.” Like...Bular is an excellent character because even when fighting Jim in his final moments, Jim talks to him about dad issues and you can see Bular think about it and ultimately decide his fate. Just...ugh yes I missed the angry tall charcoal man.

Confusing part though...Gunmar and Bular declare that forest their own. Jim and Deya are there and watch as they scare off Arthur. You’re telling me they just let them go??? When they’re trying to recruit trolls for the war? They just go welp...see ya. Nah. There should’ve been dialogue there. The strange troll that smells of human but isn’t an impure. Cue the changelings. Could’ve been an awesome Segway into the life of the gum gums because honestly...Arthur was a douche and I sided with the Gum gums. Like yeah they eat people but Arthur was so...weird and uncomfortable to watch that I’d rather see the Gum gums who make no qualms over what they want or who they are.

The...giant dragon that’s the familiars dad. No reason for him at all. An attempt at a quirky dad character that landed flat. He went from oh lemme get you a cup of tea to DONT ChALlenge Me BoY I KnOw KaRAte!!! And I was like...ummmmm excuse me??? And then he went on to give a lesson on grief and show pictures of his son and I was like Soooooo we aren’t burning Douxie to a crisp? We are just going to throw in a quick ill timed lesson on grief?

The fight between Krel, Claire and the gang vs evil Jack Frost, eye ball raven, and evil Arthur electric boogaloo. Instead of showing the fight they did a recap. That fight would’ve been so awesome to watch and instead we got a recap of them getting their booties kicked. It’s an effective time saver but lazy story telling.

The fawn earth bender woman is important because she was part of the secret magic club and decided she didn’t want to kill people anymore...or something. As if her club ever lied to her about what they were about to do. Like Oh we are killing people? I thought you were joking for millions of years.

They all need her back to do...something evil that I can’t remember which I assume the movie will be about. I want more lore on evil Jack Frost and eyeball raven. They just were like “Congrats Morgana! We are the cool super old magic squad. We are the dopest thing in this show and we won’t say anything about ourselves besides a vague description in under 3 secs that leave our viewers confused and disappointed because they want more.”

Like seriously. They were the best part. Their intro was on a flying castle and I kinda hate that their intro was Merlin yelling “Oh no! Them!” Like we are supposed to know what and who they are. Build up is so important for an aundieces understanding. Like who they are? What they want? What they are? I spent the first half of the show mostly confused and the last half moderately confused and bewildered.

In conclusion, not my fave. It lacked the charm and quirkiness of 3 below and the depth and character development of Trollhunters to deliver a mediocre segway to a film. I really want this film to do well...but they will be on a time crunch and I was not impressed with how they handled this one in ten episodes. Fingers crossed the movie does better.

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mego42 · 4 years ago

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207 Discussion Q’s

shout out and thank you to @pynkhues for putting these together even though she wasn’t gonna be here this week

1. What was your favourite scene of the episode? Tell us why!

obvs the dubby but underrated fav is Ruby and Jane in the closet, idk exactly why but I am starved for the families interacting with each other content (screw the timeline, the most unrealistic aspect of this show is that they aren’t constantly in and out of each other’s houses with ben and sara continually being called on to babysit) so this little snippet makes me levitate

2. Was there any scene that missed the mark for you? And if so, how?

the annie and noah scenes for sure. I mostly feel betrayed bc I really liked them the first time I watched (i have a lot of built in affection for sam huntington let me live) and now I’m like BEGONE FOUL BETRAYER and feel pre-emptive fatigue over annie’s taste in men and how that’s not going to get better any time soon

3. I know time does not exist in the Good Girls universe (or in reality anymore), but let’s start with a timeline question! The implication of the opening montage is that a bit of time has past since Beth strongarmed the partnership with Rio at the end of 2.06. How long do you think it’s been? And more importantly, what do you think these early days of their partnership looked like?

I tend to lean towards at least 2 months, maybe more based on:

the number of shoeboxes and how many times Beth’s shown making a closet deposit

how lived in their annoyance over Beth’s dividing her time and Rio pushing back feels

the implication (at least how i read it) that Rio’s annoyance stems from having to track Beth down which presumably implies they’d grumbled their way into a semi-functional working relationship prior (supported by their ease with each other in 208) and if the montage has only been a month, that would be a maximum of 4 meetings and I don’t particularly think that’s enough time for them to get over being extremely prickly with each other

the fact that Beth goes to Rio for help when Jane’s missing (again, to me implies a longer period of time to get over some of their antagonism than a max of 4 meets)

I imagine their initial partnership went something like Beth being a smug brat about forcing her way in, Rio being deliberately unhelpful and trying to force her to admit she’s in over her head (while still keeping enough of an eye on things that his money isn’t jeopardized), Beth stubbornly refusing to and finding ways to rise to the occasion, Rio being grudgingly impressed, Beth being annoyed with herself for how pleased she is over that. Lather, rinse, repeat until they’ve worn a cantankerous but bizarrely comfortable groove into each other.

meanwhile, Mick, Annie and Ruby are absolutely disgusted by everything happening in front of their eyes.

4. The first scene between Ruby and Turner in this episode is a really dynamic one! It’s pretty clear that Ruby’s afraid of Turner, but what do you think Turner thinks of Ruby?

I think he sees a big cartoon canister labeled "Beth Boland Bait"

5. Taking the kids to the drop was a pretty big mistake! What do you think Beth should’ve done in this instance? Do you think saying no again to Rio was an option?

CALLED BEN OR SARA FOR A BABYSITTING ASSIST. For fucks’ sake.

And yeah, I think she could’ve said no to Rio but he would’ve kept her cut of that drop and, even worse, would’ve been able to hold the fact that she didn’t deliver that one time over her head forever more.

6. The krav maga teacher offers some sage advice telling Dean to not order the hit and instead just divorce his wife, haha. Do you think that he thought the baby hitmen would come through for Dean? Or do you think he was deliberately setting Dean up to get robbed?

I choose to believe the krav maga teacher knew exactly what kind of an idiot Dean was and set him up because the dude clearly had at least two brain cells to rub together and anyone with two brain cells to rub together would never get tangled up in a murder plot with Dean standing on the street corner telling random bystanders in detail how he wants to kill the guy that fucked his wife what do you mean established means and motive Boland.

7. During Ben and Annie’s tense conversation, Ben tells Annie that she’s hard to keep track of - she’s parent mom, cool mom, sketchy mom. In a lot of ways, this feels like a parallel to Ruby talking to Beth in the last episode and calling her ‘drug Beth, gun Beth, human trafficking Beth’. What do you make of this? And how do you think it relates to the show’s themes?

I defer to @foxmagpie’s answer because I like it a lot.

8. The scene with the girls in the house! Tell me all your thoughts please!!!

I love this scene a lot

Beth’s channeling Rio in general but also specifically in 201 you will never ever change my mind

Sometimes I lie awake at night wishing Rio had seen it

Prayer circle that he sees a version of it in s4

Can you imagine the nightmare level of boner he would get? The sheer narcissism!!

Ruby’s obvious wish for new friends is The Most Valid

I really love the main drug den guy, I love Blake Shields’s energy, it makes the scene crackle, and I wish they’d bring him back purely bc he’s gr9

9. Annie meets Noah in this episode! What do you think of their introduction to one another? And how would you rate Noah on the scale of ‘Garbage Annie Love Interests’?

at least he’s not her therapist I guess

10. Beth has two pivotal and emotionally revealing fights this episode - one with Dean and the other with Rio. How do these fights compare? And what do you think they tell us about her respective relationship with them?

UUUNNNNNFFFFFFFF

I L O V E how hard the show goes on Dean’s obsession with Beth and Rio as the primary source of his angst

the fact that he’s trying to rope Stan into murder while looking for Jane who isn’t even MISSING but Dean had NO IDEA bc instead of giving a shit he went straight to HOW CAN THIS BE THAT GUY’S FAULT

I love how clearly they delineate that it isn’t about Beth but specifically about someone else ~*~taking~*~ Beth from him and how emasculated that makes him feel (something something something the storyline opens with the krav maga guy choking him out and then telling him to divorce her and Dean being like I reject your rational and logical solution bc it doesn’t punish the man who touched my property, idk i have a half baked thought there but i can’t pull it out of my brain)

and then it’s all underscored how little Dean’s worried about Beth and her safety by him bringing her work up specifically as a gotcha (which, unless I’m forgetting something, is p much the only context Dean ever brings it up in besides maybe the sit down fight but that’s again, about Beth acting out vs genuine concern)

Meanwhile, this is contrasted with:

Beth flipping tf out at the mere suggestion Rio would ever hurt her children, showing how deeply and instinctively she trusts him in regards to her children aka what’s been established as her Most Important Priority over and over (in the same breath that she rips into Dean for losing Jane in the first place)

which is doubled down on her immediately going to Rio for help

and he is FURIOUS at her, but the thing he leans hard on isn’t how she could have jeopardized the business deal (aka his money, what’s been established as his Most Important Priority over and over) but how she jeopardized herself and how badly she can fuck up if she doesn’t take this seriously

putting himself in a vulnerable position (presumably burning a connect, letting on that Beth means something to him beyond business) to look out for Beth’s emotional well-being

And then, just to drive it home a little further, @sothischickshe pointed out the Beth and Rio fight over Beth’s self preservation is directly paralleled with Stan freaking out at Ruby over the IA stuff because he’s worried about her and I had to go and stare at a blank wall for a few minutes to calm down.

anyway, draw your own conclusions.

11. Ruby takes Jane being missing as an opportunity to try and find evidence on Beth for Turner and, in the process, finds Jane too. How do you think this scene captures Ruby’s moral dilemma? And do you think it’s a satisfying turning point in the Ruby-Turner arc?

I struggle a lot with the Turner and Ruby plot specifically because I HATE that Turner’s ruthlessly leaning on Ruby as the weak link but I’m also ferociously attracted to him so I’m less bothered by it than I feel like I should be so mostly I just try not to think about any of it.

Idk, I see it in some ways as a continuation of Ruby’s fight with Beth and Annie in s1 where Annie said she isn’t blood. They put Ruby on the outside but when push comes to shove, Ruby still puts the two of them above her own family. As far as I’m concerned, Annie still owes Ruby a massive apology for that. Beth I let off the hook a little because by the end of the season she’s ready to turn herself in to make it all go away for all of them (I think, unless I’m misremembering, which is entirely possible bc I don’t think I’ve ever rewatched all of 213)

12. RIO GETS BETH THE DUBBY!! That’s it, that’s the question. Please discuss.

I think a lot about how the gesture is so baldly honest neither one of them can face it either at all (Rio) or without taking a shot first (Beth) which, now that I’ve typed it out, is also an interesting flip of their general MO bc under normal circumstances I’d put Rio down as the one that, of the two of them, is more willing to face stuff whereas Beth’s the one that hides from it.

#gg rewatch #gg 2x07 #gg related #shut up meg

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rosaxlunar · 5 years ago

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❝ I WOULD TAKE A BULLET FOR YOU, JUST TO PROVE MY LOVE, ONLY TO FIND OUT YOU WERE THE ONE HOLDING THE GUN❞

&&. ( melanie derrieux ) was just spotted in amsterdam. rumor has it ( she/her ) is a ( 900 / appears 34 ) year old ( angel of light ) who resembles ( lea seydoux ). ( she ) has been said to be ( dedicated & creative ) but also quite ( aloof & naive ).with all the chaos surrounding the magical underworld, ( she ) has chosen to align with ( angels of the light ). ( she ) is currently serving as ( a fashion designer ). hopefully the city doesn’t devour them whole.

001 ✟ THE BASICS

NAME: Melanie Derrieux AGE: Nine Hundred appears Thirty Four DOB: July 12 - Cancer GENDER: Cis Female SEXUALITY: Bisexual NATIONALITY: French SPECIES: Angel of Light ALLEGIANCE: Light Angels THEME SONG: Young & Beautiful - Lana Del Rey PERSONALITY TRAITS: ( + ) Affectionate, Dedicated, Creative & Loyal ( - ) Aloof, Melancholy, Naive, Spoiled

002 ✟ IN DEPTH

there are few things melanie derrieux remembers from her time as a human. she knows she was the only child of étienne and fleur derrieux and as such she was the sole focus of her parent’s affection. she knows she was born in paris france, and that she never left her birthplace except to visit the countryside every so often. she knows she was happy and intermingled with some names and faces are the vague recollections of little instances of a mortal life, of fleeting romances and rebellious charisma making the most of every day. however time was a funny thing, and for the immortal it became more of a blur as time continued on. she kept forgetting more and more of life as a human. replacing those faint memories were the vivid ones made as an angel. she doesn’t know why she was chosen, can't even begin to recall how she died and what exactly deemed her worthy enough to continue the afterlife as one of god's faithful servants but she was honored. originally trained as a healer, she spent her afterlife traveling the world and helping heal the warrior angels in all their battles.

it was as a healer that melanie first met the headstrong and formidable angel, sanem. never in all her years, would melanie think that a brief interaction where she helped heal the wounded angel would in turn result into one of the best things to ever happen to her. sanem became more than just a warrior angel mel would occasionally help, she became her confidant, her best friend, a missing key that opened her life to a plethora of happiness. after that, it was rare to see one without the other, each intrinsically linked to one another.

melanie didn’t think anything could get better until she found herself in a whirlwind of a romance. her soul finally meeting its match, her other half, her soulmate. she fell for another light angel and it wasn’t long till she promised her heart and herself to him, as he did to her. after all the courting and affectionate rituals they could share in, the completed the most sacred one. to unite under the eyes and grace of god, and publically share their loyalty only to one another. they were married and she wore his ring proudly, delighted to call herself a mrs. for so many years she was content, fulfilling her purpose as a healer, seeing her husband continue to thrive in his mission to rid the world of darkness and evil, as well as her best friend. she was so caught up in her bliss, she didn’t see the signs that something was wrong, and would brush off the concerning observations brought up by her dearest friend sanem. it was just inconceivable, the notion that the man she had trusted would ever betray her. not after all they've been through, not after all the promises.

however, it came to a point where things could no longer be brushed aside and in an ugly twist of fate, melanie felt her bond shatter, not only because of the single betrayal of him having found comfort in another being, which was already painful enough, but worse still was him having the nerve, the utter gall and disgrace to fall and leave her behind without confronting her about it. even if she hadn’t caught them with her own eyes, seen it play out as he sipped the blood his putain had offered him, she would have known of his falling. for her soul felt an indescribable pain, a separation, a splitting of one back to two. and worse still, she could feel an echo of his presence that was no longer there, a coldness seeping in where there was once only warmth.

it's only been a few years since that fateful day and her whole way of life has changed. she was lucky that she had sanem to help her pick up the pieces of the utter destruction done to her heart but even with her around, the walls that came up around melanie transformed her from a once sunny and vibrant personality into a cool distant one. she weathered the side glances and the gossipy whispers of those who knew the fate of her marriage, tried not to let the remarks and questions bring shame to her the way some intended. she wasn’t the one who broke the promise and she wasn’t the one who chose a cowards way out. yet it would be a lie if she didn’t admit that she often asks herself, in the quiet moments of pure isolation. just what exactly was so wrong with her, that a mere mortal was enough for her soulmate to drink the forbidden blood and fall. why was she not enough? why did she not even suspect that he was so unhappy with her?

she walks with her head held high, a cool gaze and with an expressionless face when in public, but in reality she feels so distraught. Time hasn’t healed the emotional wounds yet and she now clings to her best friend, as a source of comfort and love, the only one she doesn’t doubt while everything else around her proved to be a lie.

in an effort to escape the stigma that her failed marriage has brought her, melanie relocated to the city of amsterdam when the truth of what they are came to light. to this new city she was a stranger, only the other angels knew of her past and it was a breath of fresh air that for the most part, she could go about town and not feel the pitying stares follow her every move

003 ✟ FUN FACTS

after her marriage and connection to her soulmate was destroyed, melanie found herself too distracted and in a fog of grief to continue as a healer. her superiors quickly realizing that until she was better, she would be no good to them or their armies. melanie took a step back from her healing duties.

always a creative soul and very good with her hands, melanie found a comfort in sewing. from then she began to teach herself how to work with different fabrics and then at the encouragement of her best friend, she started trying to create the outfits and designs she would originally just doodle. now melanie is opening her first boutique, where everything is custom made by her and her little team of seamstresses.

melanie has an immense love and respect for flowers and fauna, the fragile beauty always called out to her and she loved the process of planting the seed and seeing them bloom. its not rare to see mel picking flowers or having the motif around her, her clothing, her accessories and the like. she used to tend many gardens up above and now that she has settled on earth, she is in the process of making her own little magical garden.

melanie’s new boutique is named MAISON DE LA FLEUR FAE - an ode to her love of flowers, and her belief that were she to be any other creature, she knows she would be a fairy.

melanie is absolutely clueless about the fact that her best friend, sanem is not only deeply in love with her, but was the puppet master behind her husband being lured to the dark side all in an effort to have melanie to herself. to melanie, sanem is her rock, and she cannot see how manipulative the other angel can be.

004 ✟ WANTED CONNECTIONS

ex husband: this character will be a wanted connection soon, is currently a happy fallen angel, might feel guilt over how shit went down but it will be utp if they have any lingering feelings for melanie or not. melanie does not know that she chose the city where her ex lives, lots of drama when they see each other again. even more drama should he reveal that sanem had a hand in everything that went down.

friends: sanem is her best friend and she feels a connection to adonis because his partner fell too. I would love to plot with any other light angels to think up how our bbs know each other!

anything else: even though melanie can be very flirtatious, the minute it can resemble anything real she retreats. so hookup culture isn’t her thing but it can be fun to play around with that, i would also love to explore all the snark and unfriendly interactions of vampires vs angels, and fallen angels vs angels. so lets have fun with our bbs not liking each other! as well as potential clients at her boutique!

#nhqintro #muse: melanie #meet my heartbroken bb who is still trying to heal

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explodingcrenelation · 6 years ago

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Tony Stark and the Messianic Archetype in Avengers: Endgame

* * * * * S P O I L E R S ahead for Avengers: Endgame * * * * *

From a purely analytical standpoint, I don’t have anything against Tony’s character arc in Endgame culminating with his death. His last moments in the heat of battle weren’t rushed, poorly written, or unearned. If Tony Stark was going to die on screen, of course he’d do it like a goddamn badass—and he did.

At this point Marvel is telling a single story to millions upon millions of people and there’s no way they can craft a narrative to suit every single person. When I say Tony's death didn’t work for me, I do so knowing that Marvel wasn’t writing the story for me anyway. And I'm not trying to disparage the creative team's efforts and storytelling choices. They made a call. I don’t agree it was the right one.

For me, Tony’s death traps him inside a Messianic Archetype that doesn’t elevate his character in a wholly satisfying way and doesn’t fit the themes of the established, team-centric universe. In this essay I will…

…actually write a fucking 4000-word essay, so buckle up and read on if you’re in for the ride.

What Is the Messianic Archetype?

The Messianic Archetype is a messiah trope. It’s exactly what it sounds like—one person (usually (but not always) white, usually (but not always) male) who sacrifices themselves for the greater good.

Here’s how TV Tropes puts it:

In media, the Messianic Archetype is a character whose role in the story (but not necessarily personality) echoes that of Christ. They are portrayed as a savior, whether the thing they are saving is a person, a lot of people or the whole of humanity. They endure a sizable sacrifice as the means of bringing that salvation about for others, a fate they do not deserve up to and including death or a Fate Worse than Death. Other elements may be mixed and matched as required but the Messianic Archetype will include one or more of the following:

- The Chosen One. - True Companions who follow him. - Betrayal by one of those followers. - Persecution by nonbelievers. - Crucified Hero Shot (or other parallels to the Passion Play). - Figurative or literal resurrection. - A Second Coming. - The initials JC.

Some examples of Messianic Archetypes in popular narratives are: Gandalf in Lord of the Rings, Spock in Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan (or Kirk in Star Trek: Into Darkness), Harry Potter in The Deathly Hallows, Superman in Batman vs Superman, or Neo in the Matrix trilogy. The Doctor in Doctor Who is frequently and repeatedly presented as a messiah figure. Multiple incarnations of Sherlock also follow suit in multiple imaginings of the the Reichenbach Falls scenario. (I won’t go into details with any of these characters. I trust the Messianic Archetypes here are obvious to anyone familiar with these stories.)

In the Marvel Cinematic Universe itself, we see Messianic Archetypes popping up all over the place—like daisies! Steve plays this part when he sacrifices himself in The First Avenger to stop Red Skull's plan to bomb several major American cities. His time in the ice is a kind of death from which he is subsequently “resurrected” in modern day New York. To a lesser extent, he also offers himself up as a sacrifice to save Bucky in The Winter Soldier.

T’Challa follows this pattern in Black Panther when he’s betrayed by W’Kabi, defeated by Killmonger, and subsequently resurrected within the safety of M’Baku’s tribe.

In the first Thor movie, Thor is betrayed by Loki, sacrifices himself to the Destroyer to protect his human friends, and he comes back from near-death with the return of Mjölnir, having proven himself worthy of the hammer.

Carol Danvers destroys Mar-Vell’s engine in Captain Marvel to keep enemies from getting their hands on tech that could harm millions of innocent people. Her human life symbolically ends in the subsequent explosion, and she’s effectively reborn with superpowers.

Pepper Potts is betrayed by her former colleague Killian in Iron Man 3, selected as his “chosen one” for the Extremis injection, and she dies and is reborn from fire.

Yondu in Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2—

Well, I could go on for a long time, but... you get the idea.

The Messianic Archetype isn’t particularly new to popular media, let alone the MCU.

This trope is deeply, almost subconsciously, woven into the fabric of popular western storytelling. There's nothing inherently wrong with that. Tropes are tropes for a reason—they speak to us on a cultural and instinctual level. We want to hear these stories over and over, replay them in new ways and look at them from different angles precisely because there is something meaningful in the narrative.

And Tony Stark's narrative is no exception. His repeated acts of self-sacrifice fit into the Messianic Archetype very, very well.

Proof That Tony Stark Has a Heart

The MCU kicked off in 2008 with the first Iron Man movie and Tony Stark has ostensibly been the main character of the franchise from the beginning.

The Iron Man movies establish early on that Tony has a savior complex to match the size of his ego. Our genius playboy billionaire philanthropist is a deeply flawed hero who started out his career as a maker of WMDs. He was widely known as “The Merchant of Death” before he saw the error of his ways. Tony understands he has done many Bad Things and he must atone for those Bad Things—with his life, if necessary.

“I shouldn’t be alive, unless it was for a reason. ... I finally know what I have to do and I know in my heart that it’s right.” —Tony Stark, Iron Man

The first Iron Man movie climaxes with Tony ordering Pepper to blow the Arc Reactor to stop Stane’s rampage, even though Tony might perish in the process. In Iron Man 2, Tony is actively dying from palladium poisoning, but he faces down Vanko (sans Iron Man suit) on the speedway of the Monaco Historic Grand Prix. In the first Avengers movie, we see Tony put his life on the line to get a nuclear weapon out of New York.

This is a repeated pattern for Tony, and like an addict, it’s one he struggles to break. Over and over Tony flings himself into the fray, believing he’s the one who makes the difference—he’s the willing sacrifice whose blood saves the world.

Tony selects himself to be “the chosen one” because he sees himself as the one at fault for bringing evil into the world.

“We create our own demons. Who said that? What does that even mean? Doesn’t matter, I said it cause he said it. ...So why am I telling you this? Because I had just created demons, and I didn’t even know it.” —Tony Stark, Iron Man 3

Iron Man 3 shows us just how deeply responsible Tony feels for the wrongs of the world. Because he made naive (and selfish) mistakes when he was young, Tony blames himself for creating villains that plague the earth now.

We see this best in the aftermath of the destruction of Tony’s mansion in Malibu.

“Pepper, it’s me. I’ve got a lot of apologies to make and not a lot of time. So first off, I’m so sorry I put you in harm’s way. That was selfish and stupid and it won’t happen again. ...And I’m sorry in advance because I can’t come home yet. I need to find this guy. You got to stay safe. That’s all I know.” —Tony Stark, Iron Man 3

Yes, Tony absolutely provoked the Mandarin, a known terrorist, and the result is the complete annihilation of Tony’s home. Tony accepts responsibility for the destruction as though he was the one who shot the missiles himself. He goes so far as to volunteer himself for a solo mission to find the Mandarin without even bothering to contact SHIELD or the Avengers for help. He made this mess, he’s going to clean it up. All the while he suffers through crippling anxiety and panic attacks, demonstrating that the burden he’s put on his own shoulders is, in fact, too much for him to handle by himself. Still, Tony denies himself the comforts of home and family until he can atone for his wrongdoings.

Miraculously, Iron Man 3 gives Tony a respite when the tables are turned and, for once, Tony is the one ultimately saved by Pepper. After her rescue (pun intended), Tony gives up the armor, commits to having the shrapnel taken out of his chest, and he starts rebuilding the literal ruins of his life—both physical and metaphorical.

The respite doesn’t last, of course, because recovery doesn’t go in a straight line—oh, and also the franchise isn’t over and the MCU kinda needs Iron Man. And so Tony slides back into familiar, self-destructive patterns.

"Few years ago, I almost lost [Pepper], so I trashed all my suits. Then, we had to muck up Hydra. And then Ultron. My fault. And then, and then, and then. I never stopped. 'Cause the truth is, I don't wanna stop.” —Tony Stark, Civil War

Tony taking on the mantle of the Messianic Archetype once more in Endgame falls perfectly in line with his established need to compulsively and perpetually atone for his sins. As a perfectionist who needs to assuage his guilt for his ongoing (and perceived) failures, Tony simply can’t stop himself from offering up his life in penance. Statistically it was bound to catch up with him, and in Endgame it does.

And not only does Tony give his life in true Messianic fashion, we are “treated” to a hyper-realistic and painfully extended sequence where his life drains out of him as his loved ones gather to witness him gasping out his last breath. (Thanks for that, by the way, Marvel. I’ll put this scene with the dead baby bunnies my childhood cat used to bring home as gifts. How thoughtful.)

Maybe the reason for the intensity of Tony’s death scene is to make the audience believe his death is the Real Thing, not some comic-book-superhero-movie trickery that he’ll be back from in a few minutes’ time. Perhaps it’s the only way to ensure we commit to the emotional depth of the moment. Perhaps the filmmakers see it as an homage to RDJ’s acting talent and commitment to the role. Regardless of the rationale behind the camera’s unflinching gaze, Tony’s excruciating death hammers home the brutal and lonely reality of the Messianic Archetype: it’s cruel to put the fate of the world on one person’s shoulders.

But Tony embraces that end. He throws himself into the machinery of fate, convinced he’s the cog that will make it all work.

And he does make it work.

So why is that a problem?

The Team-Oriented Universe

The problem with Tony doubling (tripling? quadrupling?) down on the Messianic Archetype at the apex of the franchise is that the MCU is an ensemble, team-oriented universe.

“You think you're the only superhero in the world? Mr. Stark, you've become part of a bigger universe, you just don't know it yet." —Nick Fury, Iron Man

Fury tells us from the get-go that Tony isn’t the be-all-end-all of the MCU. It’s possible for Tony—for them all—to become something greater than the sum of their parts.

“There was an idea, Stark knows this, called the Avengers Initiative. The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people, see if they could become something more.” —Nick Fury, Avengers

The entire first Avengers movie is dedicated to establishing this premise, to getting these knuckleheads to work together because, alone, they’re too wrapped up in their own bullshit to adequately deal with the forces that threaten the planet. Things don’t start to go right for them until they set aside their personal issues and act as a unit.

As we all know, our team passes the test and they establish an important principle of the MCU: teamwork is powerful and it’s more effective than working solo.

True, Tony’s self-sacrifice in the context of the Battle of New York helps save the day; but it’s only one part of a coordinated effort. Tony chucking the nuke into space would have been pointless without the added efforts of Steve to coordinate civilian safety, Hawkeye to relay enemy movements, Thor to separate Loki from the scepter, Natasha to close the portal, and Hulk to subdue Loki and ultimately catch Tony as he fell from the wormhole. The team achieved a better outcome together than they each could have achieved separately.

But even in the shared afterglow of winning the Battle of New York, the individual members of the team struggle to perfect their dynamic. New challenges present themselves. There’s always room for the team to grow and become stronger together as the franchise progresses. That’s the whole point.

Tony, for his part, waffles back and forth between his desire to be the savior mechanic (to fix everything by himself) and his desire to work cooperatively with his found-family of superheroes for the common good. This internal conflict plays out over the course of the franchise as Tony takes on the Mandarin by himself in Iron Man 3. The issue then escalates in Age of Ultron when Tony convinces Bruce to help him create Ultron, unbeknownst to the rest of the team. Murder-bot problems and team drama ensue. Tony’s cycle of guilt perpetuates itself in the wake of the disaster in Sokovia, which prompts Tony to adopt the Sokovia Accords. He submits himself and the team to UN governance in Civil War. More team drama ensues.

The logical progression of this escalating team conflict should have involved Tony confronting his deep-seated compulsion to destroy himself for the sake of others. This is exactly the problem Pepper keeps trying to point out to him—his Messianic tendencies have started to cause more problems than they solve.

“There is nothing except this. ... There's the next mission, and nothing else.” —Tony Stark, Iron Man

Tony has struggled from the beginning to find the right balance between personal sacrifice and sharing team effort.

Pepper frequently tries to remind Tony that he doesn’t live alone in the world, he can’t do it all by himself. And there are people who want him to live.

“You’re all I have, too, you know.” —Pepper Potts, Iron Man

Imagine how emotionally satisfying it would have been to see Tony outgrow his need for sacrificial penance and internalize a better lesson: that the savior can be saved, the burden can be shared, and life can go on.

A Better Ending for Tony

The MCU had the perfect opportunity to give us an ending that would be happier for Tony and a better fit for a team-centric universe.

In Guardians of the Galaxy we see Peter Quill and his team survive the power of an Infinity Stone by working together to share the burden of its energy.

Peter Quill is the son of a Celestial—he’s basically immortal up until the end of Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2. That’s why he and his team could hold the stone without any ill effects.

Also, they only had to channel the power of one stone. Not six.

That’s a fair point.

But by the time Tony had all of the Infinity Stones in Endgame, the battlefield was chock full of all kinds of superheroes. Wanda and Carol by themselves are embodiments of two of the Infinity Stones. Hulk had managed to bear all of the stones by himself earlier in the movie. Steve, T’challa, and Bucky are enhanced super soldiers. Thor, Valkyrie, and the other Asgardians might not be Celestials, but they are gods—and there were a lot of them on that field.

And we’re supposed to believe none of these characters could offer any help to Tony whatsoever? None of them could hold Tony’s hand for a single minute to save his life?

There are plenty of arguments that could be made: Tony was too fast, no one knew what was happening, or everyone else was occupied in battle. But at the end of the day, it’s a choice the creative team made. Tony died because they wanted him to die.

And not much would have to change to save his life.

Imagine this: Tony gets the stones from Thanos and, in true Messianic Archetype fashion, he commits to making the snap, fully expecting it means his death—but then Pepper is there and Pepper has always been the one asking Tony to stop offering up his life to pay for some imaginary debt he thinks he owes. He hesitates, and it’s just long enough for Carol and Wanda swoop in, putting their hands on him and taking the brunt of the energy. Thor and Steve and Bruce and Clint pile on. Peter Parker links up, too, and on and on until the entire rest of the team, all across the battlefield, are in contact with each other and alight with power, channeling the energy of the six stones, keeping Thanos and his monsters at bay.

Tony can still have his ultra-badass “I am Iron Man” moment as he stands at the center of this surging and fluxing cosmic energy—but this time he does it with support. There are people who care about him (and each other) on all sides. And there are so many of them. Tony isn’t the only one who matters, he’s just the lynch pin that holds it all together.

Tony is Iron Man.

More importantly? Together they’re all the Avengers.

*SNAP*

The universe is set right.

Maybe Tony doesn’t escape entirely unscathed. Maybe he loses his arm as suggested by this post. Maybe the others all leave with their own scars, too. But Tony’s alive and he’s finally, deeply aware of what it means to transcend the limits of personal sacrifice and share the hero’s burden with others.

He knows now exactly what the Avengers are capable of. Oh, and by the way? That protective shield he wanted around the world in Age of Ultron? Here they all are. All these wonderful, powerful people are going to protect the Earth. And you know what? They don’t need Tony Stark’s myopic self-sacrifice to do it.

Tony finally feels like he’s done enough—and maybe now he believes there are other heroes out there who can do better than he can. Anyway, he gets to go home to Morgan and Pepper and he finds that it’s not so hard for him to let the new kids do the tough jobs now. He happily goes back to his role as “consultant” for the Avengers, he’s a mad inventor helping change the world for the better, and he also gets to have the long adventure of being a husband and a dad. He doesn’t have to choose one identity over the other—he’s Iron Man. He can redefine what the job means whenever he wants to.

(Also, he finds a way to rescue Nat because she didn’t deserve to be fridged like that. Just saying.)

This ending, or any number of variations like it, would have allowed Tony to finally show real growth at the end of his character arc, instead of succumbing to the same old self-destructive pattern we've seen from him time and time again. And it would have reinforced the theme of teamwork and its power to elevate all those who participate.

Maybe it’s cheesy, but you know what? It’s the ending I wanted. I know I’m not alone.

Tony’s Not Really Dead, You Say?

“There’s no need to be upset about Tony’s death,” some might say. “Tony’s gonna come back!”

Resurrection is a huge part of the Messianic Archetype—and it might be that the filmmakers do intend to bring Tony back in some later movie. It might be they simply want Tony’s death in Endgame to sit a little while longer so it has a greater impact. (Gotta push for that best picture Oscar, right? The Oscars hate superhero movies, but they do love a sad ending.)

While I’m wishing for things, maybe Marvel will also release the multiple alternate endings they filmed for Endgame, essentially creating a “choose your own adventure.” Maybe we’ll all be able to pick the ending we like best and forget the rest exist.

But I can’t make a judgement based on what might be, I can only say how I feel based on what we were given in the theater—for all intents and purposes, that’s the official story Marvel wants to share.

The Endgame narrative insists there’s only one possible path to victory against Thanos. The “one possible path” is basically the equivalent of the creative team saying, “Don’t @ me.” There certainly must have been an impossible number of endings they could have put on film. Tony’s death is the one they picked.

So, sorry for @ing you, Marvel, I guess, but there’s just one more point I want to make...

A Personal Note

RDJ acted the hell out of Tony's final scene. He acted the hell out of the whole franchise. Tony's death was powerful and intensely moving. I wanted to ugly cry in the lobby after the movie was over, and I was upset for days after.

So. Good job, Marvel. You got in some surprises and you wrung out some feelings from viewers like me. Now that the movie’s taken the world by storm, the surprises will play themselves out. So, I guess the big question is: Will audiences want to revisit this adventure and the feelings you ultimately left them with?

For me? My reluctant answer is: no. I don’t want to see Infinity War or Endgame again. Not really. Not in their entirety. I didn’t mind the slog through Infinity War in 2018 because I thought, Hey, maybe this is leading to an ultimately happy and satisfying conclusion for these characters I care about so much. And, to be fair—right up until the last 15 minutes of Endgame, I was ready to say, “All’s forgiven.”

There’s this thing in storytelling called “payoff.” It’s when you deliver a satisfying resolution or fulfillment to your audience after they commit to your narrative journey. Payoff can be extraordinarily subjective, so, again, I acknowledge that there’s no way to please everyone.

For me, there’s no reward in the resolution of Endgame that makes the slog to its conclusion worth it. Tony’s ending is so needlessly sacrificial, so unnecessarily brutal, that it erases much of the enjoyment I otherwise had in watching the entire rest of the film.

Don’t get me wrong. I like sad movies and scary movies in their own context. I like them when I can choose them and know that’s what I'm getting myself into. Sometimes I want the catharsis of being utterly terrified or brought to tears. Sometimes we need stories to give us the chance to feel deep and scary emotions in a safe environment. That’s an important function of creative work.

And, I mean, truly, Endgame gave us some great acting, great effects. Amazing talent. Really fun and creative moments. I’m not trying to disparage all the work that went into its making.

But I feel like someone took me in a limo to a high-class restaurant to eat caviar and watch sad arthouse theater when all I really wanted was to go into town with my friends for some ice cream and a fun movie.

I didn’t need rainbow-colored sprinkles on my ending, but something a bit sweeter would have been nice. So, well done, Marvel. But also—no, thank you.

As it stands, Endgame was too bitter for my taste.

#avengers #endgame #spoilers #negativity #long post #meta #my rambling #tony stark #iron man

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ahsporn · 6 years ago

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Cody Fern Interview for Out Nagazine

Out: What is it like to play the Antichrist?

Cody: It’s been the greatest privilege of my acting career so far. Between this and Versace, if for some reason the apocalypse came tonight, I’d be pretty happy with what I’ve done.

Out: How much did you know going into the season?

Cody: I didn’t know anything, I didn’t even know the theme, we found out when everybody else found out. We did know obviously that there had been an apocalypse, but I found out that I was playing Michael Langdon two days before we started filming. My first scene was the interrogation with Venable. All that Ryan had told me was that I’d be wearing a long, blonde wig and that I would have an affinity for capes. I went into the piece thinking I was the protagonist.

Out: Do you think that in a way, Michael is the protagonist of Apocalypse?

Cody: I think he is, but that’s from my perspective. I understand that the witches are the protagonists, particularly Cordelia. It’s in many ways a continuation of the Coven story, but running parallel is the story of how I see Michael, which is this very betrayed, broken, lost young man who finds his way into the apocalypse because of circumstance, not because of destiny.

Out: There’s a conversation of nature vs. nurture: we know from Murder House that there was evil in Michael from birth, he wouldn’t have been murdering his babysitters if there wasn't, but it’s become clear in the latter half of the season that he’s lost and is being manipulated by people with their own agendas.

Cody: We see him at 15 when he’s grown 10 years overnight, and the way that I always played Michael was that the murders are an impulse that he can’t control and he doesn’t understand. His consciousness is that of a 6-year-old boy when he’s a teenager, but he’s struggling to come to terms with his body and his desires, but he’s not fully formed. When you follow that, to me Michael’s story is a parable. There’s two ways of looking at the story of the devil: the way that people have interpreted the bible, and this polar opposite that Lucifer so loved god that he refused to bow down before men. Here we have god’s favorite angel in this kingdom of heaven, who was then made to bow down before god’s next making, and ultimately that leads to him being cast out of Heaven, and it wasn’t like Lucifer was wrong. Man then goes about destroying the earth. That’s what we’re doing right now, we’re destroying planet Earth, and it seems that there’s no remorse for it. I really leaned into that with Michael, this young boy who was cast from the kingdom of Heaven, who was cast out of the normal rigors of society, out of what people find acceptable, and then is used and abused and abandoned and broken, and what happens when you have no love in your life, where does that energy go?

Out: One of the ways I’ve been reading this season is a commentary about the state of gender politics. The warlocks essentially bring about Armageddon by attempting to topple the matriarchal power the witches have over the coven. Michael in a way is this avatar for misogyny and male entitlement. Was that intentional?

Cody: I absolutely believe that was intentional. The thing about Ryan Murphy is he’s able to weave these incredible social commentaries into this fascinating world he’s created. Certainly in this season we are looking at bringing down the patriarchy, about what happens when a matriarchal society is enforced and the hubris of men begins to take flight. It’s not dissimilar to what’s happening in society today or what has been happening for hundreds of years. Ryan certainly weaves that into his writing. The gender battle is being fought and Michael is the avatar for it but is certainly not a part of of it. He is manipulated into this gender battle but he himself is not misogynistic, but there’s certainly something to be said for the fact that he needs a very strong mother figure in his life and has mommy issues. His mother tries to kill him in the Murder House, Constance commits suicide, Cordelia takes away Mead and he has this robot who he has to program into loving him. I think he has an enormous respect for Cordelia. He needs strong women in his life, and if he just took Cordelia’s hand when she offered it, if he just overcame his insatiable thirst for revenge, he could’ve gone another way.

Out: One of the standout episodes of the season was “Return to Murder House,” what was it like to find out that not only was Jessica Lange returning but that you’d get to act opposite her?

Cody: My ovaries exploded. I can’t begin to describe to you how overwhelmed I was. The first scene I shot with Jessica was the scene where Michael finds her dead body after she’s committed suicide, and I was so excited and nervous and afraid of that scene that I spent the whole day shaking like a life. When we got to it I was so excited and overwhelmed, it was very hard for me to drop into the chaos around what I needed to go into. Sarah, who is just the most exceptional human being in the world not to mention the hardest working and the most talented, took my hand and said, “Don’t be afraid of this, you’ve got to really go there,” and then jokingly, “Imagine that at the end of this if you didn’t get it that Jessica would think you’re a bad actor.” It was terrifying! I was certainly able to move past a wall, that’s what was blocking me, I was so afraid of judgement, that wasn’t coming from Jessica of course, it was coming from myself and my own process. Working with Jessica will go down as one of my life’s greatest achievements.

Out: What was it like to not only act alongside Sarah Paulson but to be directed by her in “Return to Murder House?”

Cody: One of the greatest joys. As an actor, to step into the director’s chair, you have a certain upper hand because you understand how actors work and how to communicate with actors. Sarah very much comes from a place of absolute respect for the emotional process of the artist. First and foremost she’s looking out for you as an artist, which elicits such extraordinary performances because you have so much trust in her, so you’re willing to give her anything and everything. She’s got such a deft hand as a director, watching it was gobsmacking, and was working under the most extreme pressures imaginable. Not only was she playing Billie Dean and Cordelia in another episode in the same time as this was filming, she had to film 72 scenes. In contrast, the episode before had 32, so she was filming almost double what any other director on the series was filming, while playing two other characters in two other episodes with under one week of preparation, it was truly a feat.

Out: She certainly wears a lot of hats...speaking of which, you had a very special hat yourself. Let’s talk about that wig.

Cody: I loved that wig. If I could wear that wig on a daily basis I would. Wearing that wig was everything.

Out: How long does it take to get into the Rubber Man suit?

Cody: It takes about 20 minutes and a lot of lube, and once you’re in it you’re in it, you can’t take it off. So I was in that suit for 16 hours. I think I held the record for being in the suit the longest.

Out: Can you settle this debate: was Michael the Rubber Man suit who has sex with Gallant?

Cody: No, not physically anyway. The Rubber Man is also a demon, so when someone is wearing the suit, they become the Rubber Man, but when nobody is wearing the suit, Rubber Man — through the power of Murder House — becomes a demon, and that demon is in many aspects controlled by Langdon. Langdon uses every means at his disposal to warp and manipulate and draw out the innermost desires in a human being, he draws out their shadow self and he’s able to play with that shadow and create scenarios that tempt a person into giving into the evil inside of them. Because the Rubber Man is there and then Gallant realizes he’s killed Evie. There’s some mind games going on there in how Michael reveals Gallant’s innermost desire, which is deeply Oedipal, because we [we wonder], is he fucking his grandmother? Because the realization is that the Rubber Man is Evie and he’s just slaughtered her in his bed. There’s so many layers of darkness there. That’s certainly how I thought about it.

Out: I’m sure you can’t reveal anything about the finale tonight, but can you tease a bit about how Michael’s journey ends?

Cody: There’s something deeply beautiful and tragic about the way that the story ends for Michael. It was genuinely one of the hardest scenes that I shot in the series. The end of the series, knowing that this was going to be the last time I — I’m getting sad about it now — I loved Michael so much, the past nine days since we finished filming it have been very hard. I loved Michael so much and I wanted so much for him, I just wanted love for him. The way the series ends for Michael is very moving.

Out: Are you open to returning for another season of AHS?

Cody: Oh my god, in a heartbeat. The experience is beyond comparison. Moving forward there will hopefully be great triumphs in my career, hopefully I’ll get to play characters that are as complex and layered as Michael, but this will forever have been the most formative experience of my acting career and of my development as an artist. To work with these extraordinary women at such an early point in my career, to work with Sarah Paulson and Frances Conroy — fuck me, Frances Conroy is one of the most talented, hard working, fierce actresses. To work with Kathy Bates and Joan Collins, the list goes on and on. To be in the same room as Billy Porter, who is an American treasure. The entire experience was so exceptional and magic. I know I’ll never have that back, that moment, it’s gone. I would come back in a heartbeat.

#american horror story #ahs apocalypse

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cienie-isengardu · 7 years ago

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Bi-Han & Sektor... and the Lin Kuei deal with Quan Chi

Warning: this is long text. Really long, even for my standards.

This is something that sits on my mind for long time now. The deal between Lin Kuei and Quan Chi plays more or less important role in Mythologies: Sub-Zero (1997), Mortal Kombat (2011) and Mortal Kombat X (2017) and affects deeply Hanzo, Sub-Zero brothers and Sektor’s storyline. To put all details into right perspective, I looked closer at sources.

In Mythologies:

Bi-Han was sent on mission to steal Map of Elements from Shaolin Temple. Unknown to Sub-Zero, Scorpion - a ninja from rival assassin clan - was also hired by Quan Chi for the same task. Bi-Han killed Shirai Ryu ninja during fight for Map, though the dialogue indicate that Hanzo knew in advance about Lin Kuei warrior:

Quan Chi: Ah yes, your Japanese counterpart. It's unfortunate that you happened upon him in your battle with the pesky Shaolin monks. Sub-Zero: Scorpion was tipped off... he knew I was breaking into that temple, and if he weren't there - there wouldn't have been a battle! You are responsible for this sorcerer! Quan Chi: I admit... I also retained Scorpion's services. In case you failed, I needed some assurances.

After returning to Lin Kuei Temple, Bi-Han learned who hired him (Quan Chi) and how sorcerer paid for the service of Lin Kuei:

Quan Chi: Oh yes, I almost forgot... In this bag are bones of your arch nemesis, and leader of Scorpion's ninja clan, the Shirai Ryu. Grandmaster: And, this is the skull of the leader of the Shirai Ryu? Quan Chi: It most certainly is... I stripped it of its flesh myself. Grandmaster: Ho! Our ancient foes have been vanquished in one transaction. Quan Chi: I've personally made certain that every last remnant of their clan has been eliminated... forever.

And here is Quan Chi’s proof:

(As a gamers/viewers we must take at face value that Quan Chi did not cheat and really brought with himself the bones of Scorpion’s clan leader but I hope that in-universe, Grandmaster sent someone to check that for sure. Lin Kuei are supposed to be assassin clan in bussiness for ages, please tell me that Grandmaster wasn’t so stupid trusting)

Bi-Han from the start disliked Quan Chi; as much as I don’t think he regretted killing Scorpion then, he was for sure angry at sorcerer and his treacherous act that lead to unnecessary battle that could cost Sub-Zero life / the success of mission. Still, he had no other choice than fulfill next task - to infiltrate Temple of Elements and get amulet Quan Chi’s so badly wanted.

After beating all four gods of water, fire, earth and wind, Bi-Han learned truth about Shinnok’s amulet from Quan Chi (who once again turned out to be treacherous sorcerer; Shinnok’s release would destroy Earthrealm, thus Lin Kuei clan was in danger):

Quan Chi: The amulet... I have Shinnok's amulet! Sub-Zero: Who's amulet? Quan Chi: He is my deity, ruler of the NETHEREALM and soon destroyed of your Earth realm. This is definitely Shinnok's amulet! Sub-Zero: What are you talking about? Quan Chi: This amulet is the key to Shinnok's power as an Elder God. When returned to him he will retain his powers and be freed from the confines of the Netherealm.

Raiden forced Bi-Han to go to Netherrealm to set things straight. There, Bi-Han met again Scorpion... or more precise: Scorpion’s angry soul:

Warrior: Escape is not possible. Sub-Zero: Who are you? Warrior: I am a dead man. But somehow you have retained your mortality, which would mean you are vulnerable to death. Sub-Zero: Wait... I know your voice. Scorpion: Yessss... I am Scorpion. You killed me in cold blood. Sub-Zero: I had no choice. If I had not stolen that map I would be the dead one. Scorpion: But my clan and family would still be alive! Sub-Zero: What?? Scorpion: It wasn't enough to kill me... you had to destroy every last remnant of my being... you are responsible for the massacre of my entire clan! Sub-Zero: You're mistaken... Quan Chi is responsible for their deaths! Scorpion: Words will not save you Lin Kuei warrior... prepare for your final battle!

Either, Hanzo does not have memory of this meeting or this never happened in Alternative Timeline. In the end, Bi-Han did sucess and brought back Shinnok’s amulet to Raiden. After coming back to Lin Kuei Temple, he is told that another sorcerer get interested in his service and that’s how Shang Tsung hired Sub-Zero (and Cyrax & Sektor) to MK Tournament.

I guess, some Mythologies events get alternated (or ignored) to fit into new game(s), but things that happened for sure:

Bi-Han killed Scorpion during mission

in exchange for Lin Kuei services, Quan Chi exterminated whole Shirai Ryu ninja clan (confirmed by Sektor, in MKX)

Bi-Han defended Earthrealm from the Netherrealm armies of Shinnok and Quan Chi (confirmed by Raiden, in MK9)

Mortal Kombat 9 does not talk in direct way about the deal between Grandmaster and Quan Chi yet it provides an interesting details and raises some question.

By no means, Scorpion is shrouded in mystery. Shang Tsung alone presented him as “Scorpion! Specter of the Netherrealm! Resurrected by the sorcerer Quan Chi!“ While Hanzo himself is very vocal about his desire for revenge:

Where is the Lin Kuei Sub-Zero? He killed my family and clan. I will have his head!

Yet to fight against Scorpion in Tournament Bi-Han had to officially change sides and became one of Raiden’s champions (x). Otherwise, the fight would not have any sense story-wise, since both men representated Outworld and like hell Shang Tsung would allow his subordinates to kill each other before his Outworld victory would be guaranteed. Later, yeah, they may kill each other, not his bussiness, really.

Oddly enough, during Scorpion’s introduction (by Shang Tsung and Hanzo’s own words), Sub-Zero is not seen with fellow Lin Kuei warriors. We may only guessing why - beside the obvious requirement of the plot - he wasn’t there. For all we know, he may already fought somewhere else at the same time. But if Bi-Han changed the side, why Lin Kuei warriors weren't angry nor worry? What I think comes down to Quan Chi, and how he betrayed Lin Kuei.

It’s hard to tell, how much Sektor and Cyrax knew about Lin Kuei dealing with the sorcerer. Sektor was son of Grandmaster, so he may have better access to information about current clan politics, but even if not (there is no info that as a son of Grandmaster he was granted any special privileges), Bi-Han should have know the truth about massacre of Shirai Ryu clan. Since Hanzo Hasashi lives as an angry specter looking for revenge against Sub-Zero - a top assassin of Lin Kuei - Quan Chi did not not fulfill his part of the contract (”I've personally made certain that every last remnant of their clan has been eliminated... forever“).

Mythologies!Grandmaster may say how one can trust a sorcerer sometimes, yet Quan Chi three(!) times in row betrayed Sub-Zero, and by extension, Lin Kuei as a whole. Hiring Scorpion when he already hired Bi-Han, using Sub-Zero to get amulet to free Shinnok that would destroy Earthrealm and, by extension, Lin Kuei and now, keeping one of Shirai Ryu ninja as his specter against contract terms.

Sub-Zero may as well just leave the real mission to Cyrax and Sektor and changed the side to deal with traitorous yet powerful client and/or direct danger for the Lin Kuei clan (Scorpion). What I think is reasonable explanation why:

Sektor is not angry nor suspiction of Bi-Han’s action (not like later he was with Cyrax’s) and does not mention it at all

Cyrax keeps talking about Cyber Initiative; the argument free will and thinking for themselves (the ability to improvise & making hard decisions) vs blindly obiedence could be brought by Bi-Han’s action. In this case, focusing at hidden danger than at current mission.

Cyrax is both protective about Sub-Zero and sure of his win, even if the fellow Lin Kuei changed sides during mission. What can be oberved during the short interaction between Cyrax & Sektor and Hanzo:

CYRAX: Your inferior clan is dead. Soon you will join them. SCORPION: My clan may walk the Earth once more. [...] CYRAX: Your obsession with Sub-Zero ends here.

Still, it raises question how much Bi-Han, Cyrax and Sektor really knew about Lin Kuei deal with Quach Chi?

Like I wrote already, when Scorpion was presented the first time by Shang Tsung, and what alone he said about his revenge, Bi-Han wasn’t around to response. Cyrax and Sektor accept that Shirai Ryu clan is dead - but did they simply trust Scorpion’s words, or heard that somehow from Grandmaster / Lin Kuei officials before they were sent on this mission or did Bi-Han provide them details, since (if!) he witnessed the exchange between Grandmaster and Quan Chi? It’s hard to tell anything about Sektor (he is so withdrawn here) but at least Cyrax seems to know / believe that Sub-Zero is NOT responsible for the fate of Shirai Ryu clan. Your obession with Sub-Zero ends here, he said to Hanzo, what for me implies Cyrax didn’t take seriously Hanzo’s claims. For him this was just(?) misplaced obsession.

Of course, Mythologies!Bi-Han could provide both men needed information; yes, he killed Hanzo Hasashi, but no, he didn’t eliminate the whole clan. Quan Chi did. Here come next questions then:

In Alternative Timeline, is Bi-Han even aware of Quan Chi’s part in Shirai Ryu’s extinction? If yes, why he (nor Cyrax or Sektor) didn’t use that knowledge? The best way to mess with Quan Chi would be turning against trecherous sorcerer his own specter by telling Hanzo the truth (like in MK4 Scorpion & Sub-Zero endings). Frankly, Sub-Zero could at least try that tactic (and using some cold logic, since both were on the same mission far away from Japan). Not that Hanzo would listen, not when Quan Chi messed up with Hanzo’s mind with fake “memories” of Shirai Ryu clan massacre, but it would be a heart wrenching addition to MKX’s reveal of truth for Hanzo to realize that Bi-Han actually didn’t lie to him before death. Just saying.

Also, if Bi-Han was really so powerful to kill the whole clan of trained assassins, for sure he would mock Shirai Ryu for being weak and useless in front of Scorpion. To frustrate Hanzo, to make him as unbalanced as possible, to take advantage of situation. Yet Bi-Han did not take credit for killing Shirai Ryu,the same as ektor & Cyrax did not claim that as victory - the sign of Lin Kuei superiority - over long-time enemy. Frankly, all men only acknowledged extinction of Hanzo’s clan (”Your inferior clan is dead. Soon you will join them.”, “To hell with your [dead] clan”) but not Lin Kuei part of it. Like I said, Bi-Han, Sektor and Cyrax could mock Shirai Ryu, could brag about Lin Kuei’s victory/superiority in Hanzo’s face. Could be all smug and happy from Scorpion’s suffering for pragmatic and selfish reasons, yet none of them really acted like that. They were uncaring and hostile toward Hanzo, yes, but was there any (in universe) reason, why Bi-Han, Cyrax or Sektor wouldn’t / couldn’t make it clear that Lin Kuei found a way to eliminate once and for all its deadly enemy? After all, that was the last chance to mock Shirai Ryu ninja in the face, since everyone else from rival clan was dead.

The hellish, immortal Spectre of course could be a threat to Lin Kuei, but Mortal Kombat Tournament already proved that one may fight Scorpion as any other enemy. Sektor and Cyrax witnessed Shirai Ryu undead ninja fight against Kung Lao and Nightwolf. It was just matter to find a way to kick his ass, for good. And if Bi-Han knew about Grandmaster deal with Quan Chi, he could also use that knowledge to form alliance with Shang Tsung, as a way to deal with common enemy. The sourcerers disliked each other and any advantage would be a great assest for Tsung in their rivalry for Shao Kahn’s favor. If Bi-Han knew about Shinnok and his desire to destroy Earthrealm, that for sure would be important information for Shang Tsung. In exchange for privy data, the dark magic of sorcerer could be useful for Lin Kuei, as a way to eliminate the specter born from Hanzo’s seeking revenge soul. So Scorpion, even with his unearthly abilities, was not an invincible threat to Lin Kuei.

Yet, despite the supposed knowledge from events of Mythologies the only one thing Bi-Han said during his final fight with Scorpion was “That is not me!”

What makes me wonder that Bi-Han, Cyrax and Sektor may only knew that Shirai Ryu clan is dead and were not privy at all to all details of Grandmaster deal with Quan Chi (and Shinnok??). Which probably means Mythologies at this point either differs from Alternative Timeline or this is just plot-hole (looking at younger Sub-Zero’s ending in MK9, where he learned from Raiden the truth, that the Lin Kuei were ultimately responsible for the deaths of Sub-Zero's and Scorpion's families seems more like plot hole. If Bi-Han changed the side, it makes sense how Raiden knew about that and Grandmaster’s plans for Cyber Initiative).

What about other Lin Kuei warriors?

In MKX, Kuai Liang said to Hanzo:

For years, I had thought you had unfairly blamed the Lin Kuei for the deaths of your family and clan.

and

Had I known of my clan's complicity in the Shirai-Ryu's extinction, our history would be different.

What means Kuai Liang alone never knew about his clan’s complicity in Shirai Ryu’s extinction nor had any reason to even think it may be the case. Understable, since he never was told what really happened during MK Tournament nor how his brother really died:

SMOKE: If only they had been more forthcoming with the details of your brother's demise. We will find Shang Tsung. He will tell us all he knows.

Shirai Ryu clan was destroyed just before Tournament, most Lin Kuei (like Smoke & Tundra) may not be told about that in any specific details. It’s not even sure if they were told anything at all. Even if Grandmaster announced basic info that rival ninja clan finally stop existing, no Lin Kuei warrior had a reason (beside simple curosity, I guess) to care about Shirai Ryu’s fate beyond that. Bitter enemies, after all.

(Then again, why Lin Kuei warriors wouldn’t be told about that? The extinction of whole Shirai Ryu clan sounds like a good thing to celebrate, after all. Why was it keep secret? Did Grandmaster knew that allying himself with Netherrealm sorcerer to eliminate the whole rival clan was somehow against Lin Kuei traditions / accepted terms? Did Grandmaster was affraid of his subordinates reaction? Some opposition? Disgust that Shirai Ryu fell not from Lin Kuei’s own hand? Why eliminate Shirai Ryu now? What was going on Grandmaster’s mind??)

Later, Lin Kuei allied with Shao Kahn, when cyber warriors captured rogue Sub-Zero. In in exchange for allowing Cyrax and Sektor take custody of Kuai Liang, Emperor gained powerful and loyal servants:

SEKTOR: We request that we may return him to our temple for judgment. SHAO KAHN: And what do I gain from granting this bold request? CYRAX: The Lin Kuei's loyalty and service. SHAO KAHN: Very well. He is yours.

Sektor at some undefined point betrayed Grandmaster and took control over Lin Kuei; in that scene it doesn’t sound like it has happened.

During Outworld Invasion, Sektor was leader (and supervisor) of Cyber Lin Kuei warriors. He was seen (along with Cyrax) at Kahn’s War Council, worked closely with Noob Saibot (a servant of Quan Chi) and had access to important information.

As far, as was shown on screen, Cyber Lin Kuei did not take orders directly from Quan Chi - but they for sure cooperated. Noob Saibot was seen along Cyrax and Sektor discussing progress of Invasion (both Cyrax & Noob were sent back(?) to Earthealm by Sektor), and later, thanks to Cyber Sub-Zero, turned out that Sektor had data (orders?) about Quan Chi’s plan related to Soulnado, including where captured soldiers were held and where they should be trasported:

While working for Shao Kahn, Cyber Lin Kuei had various task. Some stuff for sure benefited Quan Chi. Of course, Shao Kahn’s favored him now for bringing Sindel back to live (and making her properly obedient) and did promise Earthrealm’s souls as payment for sorcerer’s service. But since we know that Netherrealm sorcerer & Shinnok manipulated evenst behind Emperor’s back - while supposedly having a deal with Lin Kuei at the same time - it makes me wonder how much Grandmaster (and by extension, Sektor) really knew about Quan Chi & Shinnok’s true plans and for whom Lin Kuei truly worked for. For Shao Kahn, and just did additional work for the sorcerer? Or Lin Kuei worked always for Quan Chi, except undercover, while pretending to be loyal to the emperor? Regledless for answer, Grandmaster & Lin Kuei allied themselves with invaders and supported Outworld’s effort in enslaving / destroying Earth.

But Cyber Lin Kuei part in aiding Earthrealm’s enemies end there.

During Netherrealm War, Sektor was most likely the Grandmaster of Lin Kuei. Despite his lack of love for (inferior) organic beings, Sektor did not allied himself with Quan Chi, nor supported his effort to free Shinnok and/or destroy Earthrealm. And the fallen god for sure would bring destruction to human race, while cyborgs - the soulless machines - were more or less safe against dark magic. We may only wonder how much Sektor knew for sure that and how much suspected or assumed by analyzing the Lin Kuei current situation & the course of events happening on Earth.

From Johnny & Sonya’s Netherrealm War glimpses we know there was no cyber Lin Kuei in the service of Quan Chi. Even Cyber Sub-Zero was turned back into human form. Sektor did not help Quan Chi & Shinnok, what was confirmed in MKX, when Kuai Liang showed Hanzo small part of Sektor’s cyberperserved memory:

QUAN CHI: The Lin Kuei need to abide their agreements, Sektor. The Grandmaster gave Shinnok his word. SEKTOR: Shinnok's currency is lies. As is yours. QUAN CHI: Payment is due. I exterminated the Shirai-Ryu as promised. SEKTOR: Hanzo Hasashi lives. He's your spectre, Scorpion. QUAN CHI: I created Scorpion from Hasashi's soul AFTER he died. We observed the agreement. SEKTOR: The letter, not the spirit. You are owed nothing.

So much things going on, so let's break it into pieces:

Quan Chi made a deal with Grandmaster (Sektor’s father). In Mythologies, Bi-Han didn’t know the whole deal - only the price Quan Chi paid for his (Lin Kuei) service. The question is, did Grandmaster know what Quan Chi’s true motive was? Did he know about Shinnok and his desire to destroy Earthrealm? And if yes, did Cyber Initiative was a plan not only to perfect warriors but also to preserve Lin Kuei when Shinnok get free and destroy human race? I don’t have idea what was going on Grandmaster’s mind, nor how he was tempted or intimidated to serve Quan Chi. Did he really believe that Shinnok & Quan Chi soon are gonna take over the world and wouldn’t care for machines and/or spare Lin Kuei?

Sektor believed in Grandmaster’s Cyber Initiative project yet his willingness to continue father’s rule ends there. He did not renew the alliance Lin Kuei with Shinnok nor abide by their original agreements. More, the Cyborg outright called the fallen god and Netherrealm sorcerer a liars. And here I finally come to what I intended to talk: the relationship of Bi-Han and Sektor.

Grandmaster didn’t have a reason to call Shinnok & Quan Chi the liars. Shirai Ryu was destroyed, as promised. Assuming Sektor took over Lin Kuei somehow between Outworld Invasion and Netherrealm War, the man himself didn’t live long enough to see what happened to Earthrealm after Shinnok was freed or how Lin Kuei were treated by fallen god. And if Grandmaster really made a deal with Quan Chi & Shinnok, there is nothing to accused them of lack of credibility.... beside Bi-Han’s death.

Except the more I’m thinking about the whole story - from Mythologies to MKX - the more details indicate that despite Bi-Han’s death (Quan Chi’s breach of contract) Grandmaster / Lin Kuei actually still took care of the employer's interests.

Some time ago, I talked about Bi-Han’s death and who gained the most on that. Quan Chi is the winner, of course, since he get a new, dangerous servant in the form of Noob Saibot AND personal revenge against a man that spoiled previous attempt to free Shinnok. Grandmaster lost a powerful warrior (tool) but at the same time, one uncontrollable factor that could pose danger for Cyber Initiative was removed. We don’t have idea how MK9!Bi-Han felt about being changed into cyborg but looking at various sources, elder Sub-Zero overall has never been presented as someone relying on technology. Between the three warriors sent to MK Tournament, he was the one who relied on his skills and ice powers alone (sharp spikes on the forearms are the only additional tools to his visible gear) while Cyrax used some low technology (bombs, energy nest) while Sektor utilized advanced technology (flamethrower). In Mythologies, Bi-Han’s idea of climbing on an extremely dangerous rock wall was, well... just climb without any protection, while in one of old comics, Kuai Liang actually described Bi-Han as “stubborn in many ways, refused to utilize modern technology on his missions”. And even though elder Sub-Zero was among Lin Kuei’s finest, due to such behaviour he was fast becoming obsolete.

For me details points out more in direction that Bi-Han was not supporter of Cyber Initiative project. He was too traditional, and for people like that being change into machine may seems as insult rather than progress (Noob Saibot vs Cyber Sub-Zero may not be the most convincing example, but there is possibility Bi-Han accused Kuai Liang for not being good enough to wear Sub-Zero’s name because in his (now twisted) mind, machine didn’t deserve such title. While he, with still organic body AND without human emotions, was the perfected version of his old self). It can’t be said for sure, of course, and frankly (alive) Bi-Han never had a chance to express his opinion on the matter. Cyrax mentioned some “debate” between Lin Kuei warriors about Cyber Initiative project and how openly he spoke against it. But if that happened before Tournament, Bi-Han most likely was on mission for Map of Elements and/or Shinnok’s amulet.

But if he truly was so attached to tradition (like Cyrax), Sub-Zero posed a danger for Grandmaster’s plan. One Kuai Liang destroyed old/cyber Lin Kuei in the span of few years to (maybe) a decade. What kind of destruction would happen if both ice brothers decided to revolve against Grandmaster’s plan before first cybernization happened? What kind of position Bi-Han had, as the most cunning and one of best Lin Kuei warriors in the clan? Would other join him, if he said fuck that stupidy, it’s against Lin Kuei tradition? Kuai Liang, Smoke and Cyrax were against that too. On five “introduced” in MK9 Lin Kuei, only Sektor was die hard fan of C.I. project, three were more or less vocal against and even (rude and asocial) Bi-Han doesn’t seem like someone who would voluntarily give away the soul, especially not after trip to Netherrealm and Raiden’s warning.

And here comes problem number two: if Grandmaster and Quan Chi truly had agreement and all the time worked closely behind everyone’s back, Bi-Han already once effectively stopped Quan Chi’s plan to free Shinnok (for a year or so, but still). Raiden could thunders with anger how much he wanted, but he couldn’t sent Bi-Han to Netherrealm against his will. Bi-Han agreed to unfuck the whole mess because no one else could do it, and the whole situation put his clan (Kuai Liang) in danger too.

If Grandmaster knew the truth behind Shinnok’s amulet, and still agreed to sent his best warrior after it, Bi-Han’s action violated deal with Quan Chi. Not only that, elder Sub-Zero acted on his own, temporarily allying himself with Thunder God that usually was hostile to Lin Kuei clan. Bi-Han might forget to mention his trip to Netherrealm, but if Grandmaster worked for Quan Chi, there is no way the sorcerer would not complain how Sub-Zero just went straight to hell full of demons, kill who knows how many of them, stole the amulet and came back to Earthrealm without much problem. That alone should rise awarness how dangerous Bi-Han was and how unexpected he may be.

Of course, why then Grandmaster didn’t punish elder Sub-Zero after his return to Lin Kuei Temple? And here comes the dehumanization of Lin Kuei. Bi-Han still was a good tool. Shang Tsung wanted to hire Sub-Zero, so what was the point of killing him then, if there was still a way to use him? Especially since:

Quan Chi was manipulating events behing Shao Kahn’s back and he wanted Outworld to win Tournament and/or invade Earthrealm. Thus Lin Kuei presence in Tournament was a nice addition to his (back up) plan.

Shang Tsung in Mythologies get interested in Sub-Zero because Bi-Han’s “recent exploits have caught the eye” of the sorcerer. Quan Chi and Shang Tsung have never been friends, but they trade informations (and favors) between each other, as long as that benefit them in any way. Either, Shang Tsung kept eye on Quan Chi’s activity (after giving him needed info of Temple of Elements) or Quan Chi did tell him about Sub-Zero, as a way to encourage Shang Tsung to hire the Lin Kuei warrior. Both ways, Grandmaster was for sure properly paid for Sub-Zero’s service.

If Grandmaster really plotted how to get rid of Bi-Han, Tournament gave him the opportunity and good payment from Shang Tsung at the same time. Really great deal.

Either Quan Chi manipulated Shang Tsung into hiring Sub-Zero, or was informed about it before Tournament. Regledless of how that played out, Quan Chi brought with himself Scorpion, resurrected wraith interested only in Bi-Han’s death. Keep that in mind, I will expand this detail soon.

For tournament were sent three warriors, including Sektor, Gradmaster’s son and die hard loyal subordinate, while Cyrax and Bi-Han already showed bigger or lesser signs of insubordination (stopping Quan Chi’s plan, talking publicly against C.I. project). The only Sektor’s fight on screen during that time was teamwork against Scorpion (a fight that in-universe doesn’t make much sense, unless Shang Tsung tried to eliminate Scorpion before he had a chance to kill Sub-Zero) and one confrontation with Cyrax. There is a chance Sektor was actually there more to keep eye on two suspected of treason warriors to report to Grandmaster about their progress (behaviour). I personally don’t think Sektor was granted any special treatment due to his biological ties to Grandmaster, but if he truly was destinated to be heir of Lin Kuei, sending him to Mortal Kombat Tournament as one of kombatants sounds as dangerous thing to do. Because well, he could be killed in fight and thus all the years of grooming future leader (especially when Sektor already is adult person in his prime while Grandmaster is getting older & weaker(?) with each passing year) would be in vain.

So, in general, Sektor (pro-cyber project) and Bi-Han (stubborn traditionalist) may not be the closest people at that moment. Especially if Bi-Han was aware that something is going on and he is more likely doomed person. What may be one of factors why he agreed to fight for Earthrealm in the first place. If Grandmaster worked for Quan Chi, Bi-Han was standing on thin ice since he returned from Netherrealm.

If my assumption about Bi-Han’s change of side in favor of Raiden is true, Sektor’s lack of reaction may be explained in various ways, including these two options:

Sektor has access to top secret informations and /or is told by Grandmaster to ignore Bi-Han’s betrayal, because this course of the situation has been taken into account and appropriate measures have been made (Quan Chi’s Scorpion) or

he didn’t have any more idea than Cyrax what is going on and, due to Bi-Han’s explanation, he came to conclusion that Quan Chi’s treacherous nature and Scorpion were treat to Lin Kuei that needed to be taken care of, regardless of current mission.

I’m keeping mentioning Scorpion, so it’s time to talk how Grandmaster (the leader of Lin Kuei) protected Quan Chi’s interest throught the course of MK9 and what kind of role played resurrected Hanzo Hasashi in regard to Bi-Han and Sektor.

Please, keep in mind, all my rambling is based on the assumption that Grandmaster made a deal with Quan Chi - a deal the leader of Lin Kuei was faithful to from (pre)Mythologies to end of his life.

Like it was already said, Scorpion’s solely reason to take part in Tournament was a chance to fight (and kill) Sub-Zero, who was supposed to be responsible for extinction of Shirai Ryu AND death of Hanzo’s wife and child. This is something that bugged me for a long time.

When Quan Chi intervened in the fight between Scorpion and Sub-Zero, he said "Have you forgotten?" before showing false vision of Shirai Ryu destruction. That suggest, this wasn’t the first time when Hanzo was told or more likely forced to watch his family and comrades being mercilessly killed by Lin Kuei warriors lead by Sub-Zero. Yet Scorpion desired only Bi-Han’s death?

In old comics Mortal Kombat: Blood & Thunder the iconic feud between Scorpion and elder Sub-Zero was about fight one on one, when two warriors from rival clans were set against each other to test who was better. Sub-Zero killed his opponent in fair combat. Frankly, Scorpion's revenge is less about being killed per se and more about proving himself to his ancestry he is worth to join them in afterlife (because for some reason they decided that Hanzo’s death was unbefitting for one of Shirai Ryu). Comics!Scorpion is so fixated on his task, the undead wraith actually promised to kill ALL of Sub-Zero's FRIENDS and FAMILY before he would kill Sub-Zero himself. And he did kill Hydro, the comics!Lin Kuei warrior that seemed to be really close with elder Sub-Zero.

Let’s be real here, Scorpion was always bent on revenge, one way or another. And I’m supposed to believe that after seeing massacre of his whole clan and family, he is interested only in Bi-Han’s death while totally ignoring Sektor and Cyrax? The two other Lin Kuei who - at least in Cyrax’s case - doesn’t even bother to hide their hostility for Hanzo and disrespect for Shirai Ryu. Like, really?

SCORPION: Where is the Lin Kuei Sub-Zero? He killed my family and clan. I will have his head!

No sharp taunts at Cyrax and Sektor standing within his eyes? No threats how they will pay for Lin Kuei’s crimes? Nothing, really? Just Bi-Han? One of many warriors who slaughtered Shirai Ryu clan?

That is why Scorpion seems like a good tool for both Quan Chi and Grandmaster. If Bi-Han didn’t switch side, Lin Kuei were gonna help eliminate potential obstacle before Outworld Invasion. If Sub-Zero once again would try harm the “employer”'s plans, there is resurrected Scorpion to remove problematic person for good, while at the same time Hanzo Hasashi was not a threat to Lin Kuei as a whole. What may explain, why Grandmaster wasn’t so bothered by fact Quan Chi did not stick to the deal to the last letter.

Later, when Kuai Liang actually beat Scorpion and was going to finish him, Cyber Lin Kuei ambushed him. If Hanzo’s resurrected soul was so big problem (argument) for Cyber Sektor, why he didn’t wait few second more that day? Kuai Liang could kill Scorpion and then get ambushed, yet Cyber Lin Kuei’s action spared Quan Chi’s wraith.

So far seems like Grandmaster (who must be aware of Bi-Han’s fate during Tournament thanks to Sektor’s report) wasn’t concerned by Scorpion by any means - yet Cyber Sektor used it as a way to break the contract with Netherrealm rulers. Why there is so different approach, since Sektor:

until now blindly fulfilled the will of Grandmaster (MKX: After you and I were freed from Quan Chi's control, I sought out my clan. I had hoped rebellion from within would have quashed the Grandmaster's plans. But Sektor had realised his father's vision).

had a chance to finish Hanzo (or at least to send back him to hell for some time) during Outworld Tournament.

Why human AND cyber version of Sektor wasn’t that much concerned about Scorpion in the service of Quan Chi UNTIL he took over Lin Kuei. Why so suddenly working for Quan Chi and Shinnok (two powerful beings very close to enslaving / destroying Earthrealm) was not an attractive arrangement anymore?

Scorpion after all killed only Bi-Han - a man that most probably posed some danger to Cyber Initiative; a project supported by Grandmaster and Sektor alike. So, in a sense, Sektor may as well benefit from Quan Chi’s doing. Of course, maybe it’s cold pragmatism of machine mind - the sorcerer lied and Bi-Han’s case proved how treacherous the man can be... but frankly, it didn’t stop previous Grandmaster before, nor troubled (visibly) Cyber Sektor during Outworld Invasion to work with Netherrealm.

And here comes one more suspicious thing:

Cyber Sektor’s reasoning would have been much more down-to-earth IF Scorpion at least played bigger role during Outworld Invasion.

Because the moment Quan Chi get Bi-Han’s soul and resurrected him as Noob Saibot, Scorpion was immediately ousted and forgotten. It’s Noob that accompanied the sorcerer in the quest to resurrect Sindel. It’s Noob who was seen joining the Emperor’s War Council (and barred Kabal’s way) after body of Montaro was brought. It was Noob who was shown along Cyrax and Sektor talking about progress of Outworld Invasion. It was Noob who was helping Quan Chi to cast the spell for Soulnado.

Scorpion didn’t matter anymore. Nor then, nor during Netherrealm War.

In Original Timeline / comics, Scorpion was presented quite often as a leader of (undead) army. In MKX’s war flashback though, there is little of Hanzo, the proud Shirai Ryu ninja. He doesn’t lead an army, doesn’t have any power over other Revenants, doesn’t have any special position between them (as the first, the longest serving Quan Chi wraith, for example). In MK9, Hanzo was unbalanced by anger and grief, the whole time manipulated and emotionally abused by Netherrealm sorcerer, but he has some agency. Misguided one, but still agency. He could talk and interact with other characters, showed emotions and pride/love for Shirai Ryu. But during Netherrealm War? Hanzo Hasashi was broken man, a shell of former self. He may once belong to Shirai Ryu, but he did not represent the clan anymore. His existence was more crude joke now than anything to worry about, especially in Sektor’s case. Scorpion did not seek anymore personal revenge, did not show any intention of hunting down every last Lin Kuei, didn’t have any agency, really. He was just Quan Chi’s attack dog who returned to the master's favor most likely because Noob Saibot either was lost (inaccessible) since Soulnado happened or he outright betrayed Netherrealm.

So why Cyber Sektor decided to screw up Quan Chi and Shinnok over Scorpion’s existence, really? Especially if he took over Lin Kuei soon after Outworld Invasion (or during its last stage?) when there was still much to do and the deal with Quan Chi & Shinnok - who had serious chance to conquer Earthrealm in the nearest future - could somehow benefit Lin Kuei. Cyber Sektor does not care for organic beings nor for Earth, so for sure he didn’t do that for altruistic motives, loyalty to humanity or because of remorse.

The only bad thing that happened to Lin Kuei due to Scorpion was... Bi-Han’s (unfair) death.

And I can’t stop to think how ironic is the whole situation.

Both Grandmaster and Quan Chi used elder Sub-Zero as a tool for their own plans and then killed (as it seems) without remorse when he posed a danger to them. Sektor, even as organic being, had very dehumanized view of world. The dehumanization though did not limited only to people targeted to kill or his own comrades (whose life, dreams, ambitions, fears mattered nothing compared to Grandmaster’s wishes and/or needs of Lin Kuei clan). Sektor saw himself in such inhuman way. MK9 didn’t show much of his own personal fears or opinions. He was pretty much withdrawn during MK Tournament, all Cyrax’s arguments were cut down to “We are Lin Kuei [...] We will obey the Grand Master's commands.” There is little room for debate, for individual wishes, for improvisation. On the surface, Sektor and elder Sub-Zero seems to be drastically different people. But that may be a false impression.

Despite how little we know about Sektor and Bi-Han, most likely Sub-Zero didn’t share his love for technology / C.I. project. The absolute loyalty to Grandmaster is also one of the thing that separate them from each other. There wasn’t much interaction between those two characters, beside the little bit of them (after change) working together for Shao Kahn. Yet I think they had much more things in common than Sektor had with the rest of presented Lin Kuei warriors. Most likely, the strive for perfection. Even if their idea of perfection actually is diverging, Sektor and Bi-Han are the (most likely) only two presented on screen Lin Kuei who dedicated their lives to self-improvement above morality and interpersonal relationships, and because of that adjusted quickly to their new bodies and minds, changed via magic or technology. Who not only accepted the new form, but also see it as progress rather regress (Smoke called Cyber Sub-Zero’s new form hideous, Cyrax was determinated to keep his humanity (soul) and pretty depressed without it in both timelines, Kuai Liang saw himself and Noob Saibot as shell of their former self) while Bi-Han/Noob & Sektor embraced the change. When their emotions (humanity) was finally cut down, in a way they became embody of Lin Kuei’s sense of perfection.

Their respective changes, from Bi-Han and Sektor’s point of view, perfected them... but that means both men had before “human” flaws that were needed to be eliminated. Sektor claimed that The Cyber Initiative will eliminate insubordination. Something that both Bi-Han and Cyrax showed at some point... even if both men saw their “bad” actions as using judgment. Yet Sektor, despite his dehumanized point of view, had faith in his comrade(s) even when they get emotional and/ or were accused of betrayal. Like in Cyrax’s case.

Cyrax was protective of Sub-Zero (who most likely “betrayed” their client, Shang Tsung by siding with Raiden / Earthrealm), get into fight with supposed ally fighting for said sorcerer & Outworld (who also was servant of Lin Kuei’s important customer, Quan Chi) and after Bi-Han’s death even went to look at the remains of the deceased, the same as Raiden did. From their dialogue, it’s easy to tell that Cyrax wanted revenge against Quan Chi’s wraith (”Scorpion will pay for this!“) and Sektor, as a fellow clan member, is most likely aware of Cyrax’s bubbling emotions. Cyrax doesn’t have a good track record there, and let’s not forget he publicly spoke against Grandmaster’s C.I. project before too. Sektor may be as well sent to Tournament not only to kill Earthrealm Champions, but to keep eye on suspected of treason Lin Kuei. Yet when Shang Tsung didn’t deny attempted murder (something that Sektor did not comment or get angry about) and accused Cyrax of betrayal, Sektor still believe in his comrade's loyalty:

CYRAX: Sektor, we need to talk. Our host tried to have me killed. SHANG TSUNG: You were speaking with the Thunder God. Your indescretion has jepordised my plan. SEKTOR: Cyrax is Lin Kuei. He will complete his task.

Of course, Cyrax did not kill Johnny Cage and soon was confronted by angry Grandmaster’s son - it was actually the first time(?) Sektor’s human emotions were so visible:

SEKTOR: You were commanded to kill Johnny Cage. You disobeyed. CYRAX: I eliminated him from the tournament. He didn't need to die. SEKTOR: You have broken your oath. CYRAX: I used my judgment! SEKTOR: The Cyber Initiative will eliminate insubordination. CYRAX: We're not machines, Sektor. I chose to serve the Lin Kuei. But I will not surrender my free will!

Despite the anger, Sektor’s words may be seen as another (clumsy) attempt to talk Cyrax into following Cyber Initiative and/or proving why Grandmaster’s vision is so necessery, if even the finest warriors (Cyrax, Bi-Han) are hindered by emotions and conflicted thoughts. Cyrax disobeyed, broke oath. It’s bad, but C.I. project is gonna remove the flaw, it’s gonna “fix” Cyrax and allow him to be the perfect Lin Kuei, like he should be in the first place. Like all of them should be.

Sektor, as Grandmaster’s son, never had a chance to make real decision about his own life since “it was never in question that Sektor would join the Lin Kuei.“ It was excepted of him to be assassin, and one of the best at that. He wasn’t taught or allowed to question his father’s decision, blindly loyalty and obiedence is more likely forced on him from the day he was born. What probably means, he never had a real understanding of Cyrax’s arguments, who had some autonomy to make decisions (like joining & serving Lin Kuei) or why free will (humanity) mattered to him, since it wasn’t anything of value to Lin Kuei clan. Smoke, Cyrax and Kuai Liang were connected to people (family) & humanity more than to cold perfection and were ready to walk off from clan the moment it either betrayed them or its own traditions. Something that Sektor probably never coud do, never thought about.

Backing to main topic, did Cyber Sektor care for Bi-Han’s death that much to break deal with Quan Chi & Shinnok?

On the surface, seems like Sektor did not care - and who knows, maybe even knew about Sub-Zero’s hard situation and that he was destinated to die by Scorpion’s hand. On the other hand... Sektor is specific character. Despite his emotional detachment, he had done stuff that frankly doesn’t sound as pragmatic things at all; his stubbornly way to keep Cyber Cyrax close around himself is example of such clinging to some people... or at least to the delusional idea of how things should be between them.

Could be there something more to Sektor and Bi-Han’s relationship, then?

Out of all Lin Kuei warriors, Bi-Han was the only one “brother” that Sektor did not have to fight (and lose to) and despite their personality difference and changes (death & resurrection, cybernization) they worked well together. They adapted to the changes, adjusted to things that others found either hideous or cruel and simple moved on from that like it was nothing. And once freed from humanity (not complete, though), both had ambitious plans. Sektor came to conclusion that Grandmaster (his own father) was not fit to rule Lin Kuei anymore, while Noob was serving Outworld & Netherrealm not for blindly obiedence or lack of free will, but because it suited his (unknown) purpose.

Up until Sektor decided to murder his father, he loyalty served the Grandmaster. He fulfilled his vision to turn all Lin Kuei warrior into cyborgs (and killed those who would not be converted), to perfect them all, including himself. Yet when Sektor took control over clan, he broke the deal over small (not really important) detail without any attempt at bargaining. He called Quan Chi & Shinnok liars, even if previous leader of Lin Kuei did not care or do anything about the fraud. That of course does not have to mean, he cared for Bi-Han as a person or saw him as close brother (although I suspect even for Sektor, Lin Kuei was a sort of brotherhood, and in spite of his repressed feelings, he felt bonded with at least some people and who knows, maybe he did not like how Bi-Han, one of finest Lin Kuei, was “stolen” from the clan by Quan Chi). Maybe during Outworld Invasion Noob actually talked Cyber Sektor into siding with him for the unknown purpose, he mentioned to Kuai Liang? Or maybe Sektor, once freed from human attachment & instilled obedience, trusted more Bi-Han (Noob)’s recognition of the situation (deal) with Quan Chi & Shinnok than Grandmaster’s delusional(?) one? After all, it was Bi-Han who visited Netherrealm before Tournament and had acces to it and was more privy to Quan Chi’s plans, as the new favorite wraith. Maybe both simply came to conclusion, that Quan Chi and Grandmaster actually are threats to their new ambitions?

In all fairness, there is not a clear answer so far what Sektor and Bi-Han’s relationship - as humans or cyborg and wraith - really is. The deal between Grandmaster and Quan Chi / Shinnok brought a lot misery to Lin Kuei. The brothers were either separated by death (Bi-Han & Kuai Liang (+Smoke?)) or divided about what really means to be Lin Kuei (Sektor & Cyrax) and for what clan should stand (Cyber Sektor & resurrected Kuai Liang). All of five presented assassins lost something personal through the course of story. In spite of that, Bi-Han/Noob and Sektor are the only one who may be called content with their personal changes... at least on first look.

#mortal kombat #mortal kombat 9 #mortal kombat x #mortal kombat mythologies #sub zero #my analysis #bi han #kuai liang #hanzo hasashi #sektor #cyrax #quan chi #the lin kuei deal with quan chi #bi han and sektor #i have so many feelings about #lin kuei #i finally wrote it

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