#and NEVER shows his true self expecting the audience to be able to understand & empathize with him based solely on what he projects

[blueskittlesart]

In defense of the original, while I do agree the episodic vibes were a bit much at times, and it was something I kinda had to work my way through slowly rather than binging all in one...

I do kinda prefer the more gradual approach to laying out the information; getting to know both the setting and who Vash is as a person and the different facets of both, before getting the context that lets it all click into place. Plus the main quartet having ample time to grow together so that later developments have stronger emotional weight.

I will agree that Knives definitely suffered in focus, and I am interested in how Stampede handles him, but admittedly he wasn't really what I watched Trigun for in the first place. ^^;

yeah my gripe is less with the way the setting and characters were handled and more with the way the. actual plot was handled. it honest to god felt to me like they realized about halfway through their run that they didnt have enough episodes left to get the backstory in in a cohesive way so they just shoved it all into one episode and pretended that that explanation didn't create more questions than it answered. you spend 20 episodes teasing your audience like "ooooh what is vash?? clearly hes not human!! clearly there's something going on!!! don't you want to know whats going on?? keep watching and you'll totally understand whats going on!!" and then your big reveal is that. He Is Not Human. which is something that any idiot who has watched the last 20 episodes has already figured out. the question the audience ACTUALLY has at that point in the runtime is what, EXACTLY, is vash, and what the context is behind the conflict he and knives are in. the backstory episode explains that Knives Is Here, and it gives context to the setting and everything, but it pissed me off that it STILL didn't answer the actual mysteries i cared about, i.e. vash's real identity and the thing with the gun and his fucking arm and knives's motivations and everything. maybe that gets answered in the last episode that i neglected to watch but personally I prefer a story where i UNDERSTAND WHAT'S GOING ON by the time the final confrontation hits. with trigun it got to a point where vash was going out for the final battle with knives and i STILL didn't know who vash was, who knives was, where they came from, or what the hell their motivations were. that just made that final confrontation seem so wholly uninteresting to me that i didn't even feel like watching it. it was like "hey look vash is fighting a cardboard cutout that he is Afraid Of. Why? lmao idk man. probably has something to do with that weird spaceship that shows up in one whole episode before this point. not going to tell you how tho." I think some writers have this tendency to think that mystery = good writing and that not revealing anything to your audience will consistently draw them in for more, but that only works for so long. after 20 episodes of virtually net 0 information it got to feel like I was being strung along and like my questions were never going to be answered, so I gave up on the show in the final hour. Again, i'm not saying it was BAD necessarily and i understand the context in terms of writing and production that led to the show being produced that way but i think it really noticeably suffers due to the fact that it refuses to give the audience ANYTHING but crumbs of information for about 80% of it's runtime. that being said. i did genuinely like a lot of it. it has its moments. im not trying to discourage anyone from watching it or anything lol i just think stampede is a little more successful in keeping the viewer engaged in the story throughout by constantly feeding you bits of information and actually answering your questions as they become plot-relevant.

[jamesbi-canonbarnes]

I'm having trouble connecting the emotional through line between episodes 2 and 3. In the therapy session Sam tells Bucky they can just finish the mission and then they're done with each other, after that it seems like things have cooled a bit and Bucky even starts to say, "I feel awful" before they get interrupted by Walker. Then in 3 things seems relatively fine between and they even (especially Sam) show some concern for the other?? And Bucky totally still not trying to understand Sam's POV

Ok ok mood. I’m not an expert on writing, but I do have lots of thoughts on this, so lemme talk this through w you (long post ahead). Some of these thoughts are going to be theorizing super hard about what’s going to happen in future eps so for sure take that with a grain of salt.

IMO for a show where the most interesting thing is literally just the emotional states of these two men and how they relate to each other through those emotions, their emotional arcs are not nearly pointed enough for my taste...I suspect that’s partly because we’re pulled back and forth between the more lighthearted banter and the more heartfelt expressions of their internal lives. But also bc, I think, the whole thing is that these two CANT communicate because if they DO, their emotional states will reach RESOLUTION too quickly.

And IMO, I actually think it’s the therapy scene alone that is throwing the balance off leading up to 3. I didn’t feel like threatening not to ever see each other again was earned, or at least it wasn’t clear to me where it’s coming from writing-wise. (Not that I wouldn’t support Sam cutting himself off from the toxicity of someone else’s unfair expectations, if this were real life and not a function of a written story). It just feels too far a swing of the pendulum compared to directly before and after. Sam just saved Bucky, and yes he never got to finish railing Bucky over Isaiah, but *because* that argument didn’t hit its crux, I don’t think it’s enough for most viewers to explain the kind of statement Sam makes in the therapy scene. Yes Sam does keep shutting Bucky down in a lot of ways, but we also know that before Bucky confronted him in episode 2, he was doing the opposite and trying to reach out to Bucky. So it feels a bit confusing to me. I don’t know what Sam wants, besides to be left alone, and that itself feels neither genuine nor like good enough motivation on a character level for this story. So. In lieu of any other story reason, I guess I think Sam’s reaction in the therapy scene is a way to artificially raise the emotional stakes so that the eventual resolution is more satisfying. That’s the only thing I can think, although if that’s the case, they started building back up extremely quickly.

Bc you’re absolutely correct, immediately after that therapy scene, Bucky is upset but clearly wants to communicate that to Sam, contrary to any agreement to squash it and move on. And though there’s no time for dialogue then, they approach walker/Hoskins essentially a united (though frustrated) front. And then after that and all through ep 3, though they are functionally on opposite sides of the entire zemo argument in every way, Sam basically rolls over repeatedly throughout and actually ends up expressing more care for Bucky than we’ve previously seen and also opens up to him more... and IMO bucky breaking zemo out of prison without asking and with clear premeditation was a major violation of trust, for which Sam was not afforded the opportunity to express proportional ire. (For me Bucky’s speech there asking Sam to do it for him did not hit as reasonable motivation for sam). You would think after the level of ire sam expressed to bucky’s genuine (though self centered) vulnerability in the therapy session, the level of ire to bucky’s lies and even “betrayal” (as I see it) would be notable. It should be at least above essentially saying “you’re dead to me once your usefulness runs out” which I think is the dark but fair implication of “let’s just finish this and never speak again” or whatever he said in the therapy scene. Instead he says a reluctant version of “ok, I’ll do exactly what I just explicitly said I didn’t want to do, just because you asked.”

The thing is, clearly neither of them actually hate each other. They have both repeatedly shown genuine care for the other. So why is the animosity even happening?

The emotional throughlines should help us figure that out, and vice versa. So what I’m thinking is, a throughline has to have a beginning and an end, and figuring out those can help you figure out what the points in the middle should be. Here the beginning of Bucky’s emotional throughline w Sam is clearly from a starting point of straight up misplacing his grief and aggression onto Sam, bc he’s projecting Sam as the distant figurehead of stability to replace Steve. His not understanding Sam on a personal level is the primary obstacle to his realizing and resolving that entire emotional throughline, thus the end point of the throughline necessarily requires passing through Bucky understanding Sam’s POV and empathizing with Sam. In my prediction, that empathy leads to self actualization through purposefully accessing his own feelings (rather than letting his blocked emotions break through and then ignoring both the cause and consequences of them). Then he can start down a path of true restitution leading to his own healing through healing his relationships.

IMO bucky has never hated Sam. He has always fully just been jealous of him. Jealous of how happy he is, how few problems he pretends to have, and his relationship with Steve, if you want to go there.

So because Bucky does not hate Sam, there isn’t really anywhere to go after hitting the mark of seeing Sam’s POV... besides, essentially, restitution as resolution. Bc it’s through that realization>restitution that Bucky’s going to have to face the actual issue, of who he actually hates. Only then can he heal. He doesn’t have to forgive Sam. He has to forgive himself. So that he can restore himself, which he can only do after restoring Sam.

(And, if they’re really going to go there, he has to forgive Steve. I’m unsure if that’s going to be directly drawn for us or not)

I think that bucky’s throughline will resolve itself relatively quickly after Sam gets what he needs from Bucky, hence why he can’t have it yet. So in the meantime, Bucky comes off as frankly a bad friend who is self absorbed/entitled and unwilling to unlearn white supremacy bc it requires uncomfortable empathy with a Black man.

Sam’s emotional throughline as filtered through how he relates to Bucky is a little harder for me to grasp, I’ll be honest. Obviously the end point the emotional throughline has to underline is accepting the mantle of captain America (accepting himself?) So maybe that is woven among the throughline of his journey to accepting Bucky as an ally??, but I’m not sure what the starting point even is to be honest.

I do think that what is clearer (at least to me, and maybe this is only applicable to me?) about Sam is that we as the informed audience already know an important part of why he gave up the shield. It’s very much about race. Sam has not expressed that to Bucky, but we know it. Bucky has no idea that this is about race—or more accurately, that’s it’s about trauma regarding race. He hasn’t connected Sam’s ultimate motivation to Sam’s statements and experience re: race. Sam has certainly expressed anger and hurt, but he hasn’t connected them to race and then to the symbol of captain America for Bucky, whereas they’re already connected for many viewers. I’m not going to give Bucky a pass for not connecting them because that type of ignorance is not neutral. But he clearly does not know, and he DOES keep asking. He has asked multiple times in words why Sam gave up the shield. But instead of giving a direct answer, Sam continues to shut him down, each time literally by refusing to speak and walking away. Now I tend to agree with Sam that it’s none of his business. Sam shouldn’t have to bare his trauma to explain something to Bucky just because Bucky wants him to. Especially when Bucky has not indicated that he’s willing or able to empathize with the reason. And on top of that, it being something sam knows Bucky cannot fully understand? I mean, I’m on Sam’s side here.

But the thing is, the show is setting it up so that Sam has to open up. He has to let Torres touch his machinery (metaphorically) he has to let Bucky get close to him (metaphorically). Sam has to let others in and he has to do it for himself, for his own healing. But I’m not yet sure why that’s so important for his journey, besides the obvious being this is a story about how to heal from trauma from every side.

So right now I think we’re just seeing Sam continue to drop hints both about what his trauma is and about the fact that he cares for Bucky, bc those are the important things for his resolution. This is continuing despite the therapy scene and not because of it, which I find odd, from a writing perspective. And we’re seeing Bucky miss a lot of those hints, bc he’s too busy being defensive to take them as genuine expressions of what they are, of exactly what he’s asking of Sam. That *does* make sense to me from a writing perspective. Because once he understands Sam’s POV, the throughline has to move forward toward resolution.

Idk. I just am not sure that I’m really getting Sam’s arc yet. That’s not to say that it’s not emotionally hitting, necessarily, bc I am firmly finding myself behind Sam.

And allllll of that is just to say: I agree that the emotional throughline feels a bit wobbly here, and I don’t have a way to reconcile it. I will take further suggestions if anyone has them.

[silvanable]

hey hey hey, vy from iksennw here and was hoping for ikesen headcanons for a female mc who came from the world of magic (think of fairytail?) or special powers for all WLs? if it's too much then could i request yuki, sasuke, mitsuhide, nobu, and hide?

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i am so honored that you made a request!

i decided to go with the specific warlords you requested & what their special powers might be, as that seems like a fun idea to play with. 

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↪  GUIDELINES

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ー MITSUHIDE AKECHI

i know you all are thinking mind-reading, but might i propose... doppleganger?

hear me outー

doppleganger’s are creatures that are capable of taking the appearances of others.

and what better superpower for our favorite kitsune to have than the ability to change his own face?

it fits rather well into his personality & even more so with the duties he has.

as nobunaga’s left hand, mitsuhide is a tricky and two faced as can be, he is the snake in the grass.

with the doppleganger ability, he would only further himself into the position of spy & information gatherer.

he could infiltrate any enemies ranks and never be caught because he never has to show his true face.

expect him using his doppleganger ability to tease people constantly.

half the fun for him will be seeing the heart-attack induced expression on his victims face as he, an apparent strange, asks about one of their secrets.

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ー YUKIMURA SANADA

i had a lot of debate for yuki’s power, mostly because things were suitable but didn’t quite fit.

i chose animal communications, however, because of his personality.

yuki has a very aloof & distant personality, he comes off as very rude and standoffish towards people.

i would argue that he has far better relationships & enjoys the company of animals more to humans.

he LOVES muramasa with all his heart can’t tell me otherwise.

i know all the warlords have their personal pets, but yukimura would have a deeper connection with animals.

he would be able to communicate & understand them.

also i just love the idea of yuki having a hoard of animals following him around the yard & all of them patiently waiting outside the audience chambers for him to come out.

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ー HIDEYOSHI TOYOTOMI

hideyoshi in my mind is an empath.

sure there were lots of other options i could have picked, but empath sticks out to me more because of how selfless & altruistic he is.

having the ability to read & feel others emotions at will compliment his personality & his nature.

we’d have mom-yoshi x10 on our hands because of it as he feels the moods in the castle and aims to help everyone.

though being an empath also means the ability to manipulate other’s emotions.

hideyoshi would never use that power against someone maliciously but that doesn’t mean he won’t be tempted to use it.

there’s an argument?

he can tone it down and mellow people out with just a couple words & his power’s influence.

though hideyoshi is too kind to actually use it on someone against their will unless the situation is dire.

he wants to help & understand why he’s feeling these emotions from people, not force them to joke it down and force a smile.

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ー NOBUNAGA ODA

nobunaga strikes me as the type to have pyrokinetic powers.

he is called the devil king after all.

a great twist to this would be he is not immune to being burned, so he has to be careful where he lights everything up.

while this can be a very destructive power, i see nobunaga being fairly wise with it and scarcely using it.

the most common place for his to summon flames or bend them to his will would be on the battlefields.

while he’s not anywhere near as battle hungry or bloodthirsty as kenshin, i can definitely see nobunaga creating rings of flames to trap his enemies.

or more unsavory things, he burns his opponents alive.

other times this is just a very handy ability to have.

no weapons?

fire blades.

no light?

instant torch.

you’ve seen hawaiian fire dancers & meet nobunaga, fire fan dancer.

nobunaga dances and with the additional prop of the fan, i can see a very beautiful display of fire wrapping around him or wisps from him as he moves.

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ー SASUKE SARUTOBI

i see sasuke as someone who has psychic/energy related abilities, specifically a psychic shield (or force field if you will).

he is a very intelligent person, which i believe would play a big role in psychic abilities, especially if the power relies in the mind.

his abilities would manifest in a form of protection, as while he is a ninja & has grown in the arts of battle, i still see sasuke as someone who tries to avoid real conflict unless absolutely necessary.

these psychic shields would be like a manifestation of energy & strength would be based on mental state at the time.

sasuke would use these more in self defense than anything because shields.

i cannot get the idea out of my head though, that sasuke would form a bubble around himself when kenshin gets into his stabby mood.

he’s out of harms way and building up that mental fortitude at the same time, it’s a win-win.

it depends, but the shields could also have a capacity and distance.

as in the shields are stronger the closer they are to his person and the farther they are, the more it takes to keep the shields there.

again, a very mentally tied ability that would rely heavily on someone’s strength of mind & will to have continuous use, especially for distant or large defenses.

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this was super fun to do! i would also love to hear everyone else’s opinions on this topic as it has so many possibilities!

[iamtaran]

Notes on episode one

Sometimes when you’re feverish and hopped up on Niquil you just gotta rewatch the Witcher and type out your feelings in the notes app on your phone. “Writing down things I noticed” quickly became “writing more meta”, so! A look at how Geralt is different in this episode, and his relationship with Renfri the Shrike, Witcher dogma, and choice.

(in my defense i tried to keep things short by writing in bullet points but lol that’s cute)

-Geralt is so much softer in this episode. He is more open. He is by no means chatty or friendly, but he wears neutrality well. It’s obvious he expects people to treat him badly and turn him away just as much (or more) than he expects cooperation, and he is willing and able to accept either. He is a man doing a job. He asks for the alderman’s house, is inoffensive and neutral when the man chases off the helpful barmaid and tries to turn away. He tries to de-escalate— just tell me where it is and I’ll go. When that still doesn’t work and they threaten him, leave or on the end of the rope, he rolls with it, even jokes, “not a hard choice.” He isn’t angry, doesn’t even seem more than slightly annoyed, really. He’ll go. He had been open to the possibility of things working, and to the possibility that they might not, so he takes the hand dealt. This Geralt is so different to the one we see in future episodes, who is much more jaded, cynical, even bitter. He’s not quite as able to meet people with that same neutrality.

-This Geralt is much more ready to accept the outstretched hand. He jokes in this episode. Look at his first interaction with Renfri when she helps him. He is slightly wary, but accepts the beer she buys him with curiosity. At her self-deprecating mention of a horrified mother, he jokes, “Our secret, then.” Earlier in the episode, there’s his humor and scorn for Stregobor, “All the good predictions rhyme.” He listened to all Stregobor’s bullshit with neutrality, likely trained as Witcher’s are to hear out people even when the job isn’t one a Witcher does. He doesn’t pander; he is straightforward, but also not purposefully offensive or aggressive until it is deserved. Even then, he works to remain even tempered— his greater and lesser evil speech, his blandly delivered disdain for Stregobor’s admissions of kidnapping and killing innocent women. His emotions break through now and then, but he gets them back in check. He keeps his distance.  But the humor. We see Geralt’s sense of humor in later episodes as well (“these views” to Triss comes to mind) but it is so much more freely given in this episode. Or it’s less surprising compared to his more open stance. He is utterly charmed by Marilka, he enjoys the back and forth with Renfri, he smirks when they cross verbal blades over what it means to be a monster and she tries to get a rise out of him. He is amused when she posits “what is they come after you?” Because for him that’s a given; that’s part of the Witcher job description! Of course people fear the mutant warriors. Of course he gets chased away, turned away. Of course they have come after him, and he was trained to be ready for that eventuality and to accept it like any other part of the job, not with violence and resentment but with a shrug and then to move on. So much of what changes between episode 1 Geralt, who is maybe in his mid forties, and later Geralt, in his 50s-80s, is that he is not as readily able to keep that neutrality in him. He is not able to keep his carefully trained emotional distance, no matter how badly he wants to or how well he puts up the front. He has become jaded to the fear, the hate, the misunderstanding. (And it goes the other way, too, with softer emotions. He is definitely not keeping his distance when he fights to be allowed the save the Striga princess, when eh tries to gift Renfri’s brooch to her, for instance.) And a lot of it starts here, in Blaviken, where Geralt saved the innocent citizens of the market by killing a woman he had in fact liked and understood to an extent— and still he gets a stoning for it.

-Geralt just all around feels younger here. When do Witcher’s first leave Kaer Morhen to walk the Path? 18? 20? 22? The way he describes his first monster to Roach and the line “Yeah... I thought the world needed me, too;” I can definitely believe he was that young. (Imagine 18-20 year old Henri Cavill as Geralt. Imagine, I dare you. It’s darling.) So he’s been on the Path for 20, 25 years maybe. Wandering with his horse, seeing much of the continent for the first time, taking jobs and facing down monsters, many of those for the first time, too. A heavily trained young man who had been prepared for a hostile world, for monsters and money, to live a job and take what is given. Witcher training is quite practical and unromantic when it comes to how they are trained to view and interact with the world. But it is still a romantic version of young Geralt we find in his tale. So ready to save a young woman, hotheaded and with messy strikes against a mere human when the Geralt we know is shown as nothing less than controlled and precise. The quite unromantic response of the rescued pokes fun at himself, completed with his self deprecating jibe, “yeah. I thought the world needed me, too.” Grown up from his first days on the Path, this Geralt is still young, comparatively. Before the episode is done we see him grow up a bit more. Also, just the way he interacts with Marilka rings so much like an older brother. That little smirk!

-So Geralt is younger, less jaded, more open. He is also more vulnerable, or at least he reads that way. Rewatch that kiss and tell me that their closeup doesn’t frame Renfri as the initiator and Geralt as the vulnerable, soft-eyed receiver.

-dang it, he just likes Renfri. Almost immediately. Maybe two lines into their dialogue and his wariness fades. Renfri is young, but she burns brightly. She is fierce and firm in her handling of the situation and her men, wry and a little sardonic, she isn’t afraid of him and even teases him— shouldn’t have taken the back roads, should buy some new clothes. Then she draws closer and flirts as she pours him another beer when the barman refuses to serve them both. (And that line before Marilka interrupts, along the lines of “Seems everywhere I go I find more and more monsters these days,” its so obvious she was about to broach the topic of Stregobor with him. Or is that just me?) In the woods, her presence doesn’t alarm him when she approaches. He lets her keep his back, even knowing what Stregobor had told him. He goes back and forth with her on the matter of monsters and one’s own actions— which, phew, the commentary that gives on Witchers. An inherent conundrum of being taught that they, mutants, are inherently monstrous compared to humans yet must in their line of work, as traditionally neutral parties, remain neutral or risk acting the part of the monster. Their strength should not be turned against anything that is not a monster and a danger or it risks becoming monstrous, being used to monstrous purpose. “Great power, great responsibility.” Regardless, he enjoys going back and forth with her. He liked her fierceness, respects it, sympathizes with her and views her as the wronged party in the affair with Stregobor. Yet still he tells her, the responsibility is hers to walk away from the violence. Go live your life. A truly Witcher response. He doesn’t stop her following him to his camp. He doesn’t even stand when she floats in on his heels, lets her sit with him, listens when she speaks. He seems pleased when she admits that she will be leaving, receptive. Look at how his face softens when she speaks of her mother. Remember, this is the young man whose mother abandoned him at the foot of Kaer Morhen. It’s still raw all this time later, and will be a few decades on, as we see when he confronts her hallucination/vision. Geralt understands at least part of Renfri on a terribly personal level. He turns and lets her kiss him, not the other way around. Of course, she lied. He dreams, or hears from within his dream, her prophecy. I’m not completely clear as to whether the show meant to imply that she used some kind of magical ability to put him to sleep, and if inside that spell her inadvertent prophecy came through. Regardless, he is beyond grim when he goes to town to stop her, and I do believe his expression when given the ultimatum by her men is very speakingful. If not enough for you, however, then of course there is his quiet, resigned, disgusted, “Fuck.” But a Witcher accepts what comes from humans, good or ill. They walk away from attacks and hostility when they can, but defend themselves when needs must, and here it does. But that’s the catch, see. When he decided to come into town, Geralt wasn’t following his Witcher training. Think of what he told Stregobor— it wasn’t his problem, Witchers don’t deal in human affairs, and Geralt himself prefers not to choose at all when faced with lesser, greater, middling evil. He would rather be the true neutral. But he likes Renfri, empathizes with her even as he disdains and dislikes Stregobor. Geralt is the kind of man who was a young hothead bent on saving the world one young woman at a time. He likes bold, impetuous children and horses. His base instinct is to protect people and to side with the victims— we see its suggestion in this episode, and it is realized in full during the season. He isn’t neutral, as much as he wants to be. So he chooses, and hates himself for it, because he will never know if he was right. (And it doesn’t matter if he was right. Because right or wrong, killing Renfri wounded him and he carries it for decades.) It reinforces his belief that it is better not to choose at all. He was wrong to have chosen. He believes he should have walked away, let human affairs fall as they may, and yet we the audience know he will never be able to walk away from a massacre, do nothing, and still remain himself.

-Stregobor is the worst and that’s all I have to say about that.

-Renfri’s stepmother was 100% a lying turd and I will bet hard cash on that. “Yes her step mother told me she did this awful stuff, proving the mutation i had already decided existed anyway. Obviously she wanted to protect her own children so she hired me.” Are you???? Fuckin kidding me dude???? “Beep boop good thing there are no cautionary tales about jealous or cruel step mothers who hate their royal step children. Good thing no one would ever want to nerf said royal step children to open up the royal throne to their own get by, say, telling some teeny weeny lies to a gullible sorcerer who drinks his own koolaid” I s2g

-OH oh I almost forgot, one more thing. Just. One more. Fucking. All of Henry Cavill’s acting in the final scene and fight with Renfri. That hurts, sir. Every look and expression screams how badly he does not want to do this. I’ve said it before in another meta (and, like, in countless tags) but the terrible, breathless vulnerability and dread in Geralt’s face when Renfri reveals herself and her hostage? How slowly and carefully he draws closer, sword turned down and away, free hand open and soothing, as he tries to convince her to stop? Tries to use axii on her, and the softness of his voice, the clench in his jaw that says even as he seems to plead and beg with his eyes for her to stop that he is preparing for what will happen if (when) she won’t and despises every moment of it? It’s like the culmination of the audience’s introduction to What A Witcher Is (or perhaps better, What A Witcher Does). We see it throughout the episode. What a Witcher is, is neutral. They take what they are given. What they do is their job and nothing more. They kill dangerous monsters that threaten others and themselves. With humans, they defend themselves when necessary and that is all; necessity. There is no choice, it is simply what a Witcher does in a world where they know that sometimes the worst reaction a person can have doesn’t stop with angry words and threats. It is just another part of the life. They will back out, they will leave, they will sleep in the woods when they know they’re not welcome. They don’t push. They have been trained to avoid fighting humans wherever possible. They are not the aggressors, when blows come to blows. It is not what they do. Renfri cannot stop. Geralt must know this, after the intensity of their conversation in the woods. It is not Geralt the Witcher who made the decision to follow her to town; the Witcher would have left. Geralt the man, well, we know what he would do because we see it. When Renfri attacks him, however, he reacts as a Witcher does. As he did against her men. Controlled, precise, eliminating the threat. No cruelty or hatred. Just training. -Unlike his fight against the men, which is largely one long, smoothe dance, the fight against Renfri is riddled with pauses, stalemates where they lock eyes and we are shown closeups of their silent, intense exchanges. Neither wants to be there, but neither is willing to back down. -In my last meta I mentioned how Geralt clearly had the upper hand throughout their fight and doesn’t utilize multiple chances to finish the fight and critically injure Renfri. He instead tries to de-escalate-- strikes out with a slap, pins her, parries, defends, disarms her. These pauses in the fight for their eyes to meet and the little moments of silent communication seem an extension of this. More so, if I’m going to work with the Geralt the man vs. Geralt the Witcher dichotomy, then I would say these moments are Geralt the man breaking through. Communicating how he can’t let her go through with her plan. Begging her to reconsider, to walk away. Frustration, dread, a nonverbal don’t do this and don’t make me do this. Especially that last closeup. With Witcher efficiency and neutrality, he reacts to her final attack by turning her dagger back on her and sinking it neatly into her throat. Threat eliminated. Save... they both react with a long pause of breathless shock, before he wrenches it back out and she begins to bleed. There is a final close up from over her shoulder, her hair half obscuring Geralt’s face as he gazes presumably into her eyes, as he brings one hand up to her cheek— Geralt without speaking makes very clear how much pain he is in. He does what a Witcher does, but even as his hands did the work he is himself a gutted man. Regret. Pain. Love, of a sorts, whatever love can grow for someone you’ve known in such a short time yet felt such empathy and enjoyment and appreciation for. That is the young Geralt we saw, vulnerable and open and humorous, and this is where he ends. Look at his face as he leaves Blaviken. Geralt has become who we will follow for the rest of the season. -(If you look, really look, Marilka is not angry when she tells him to get out of Blaviken and never come back. Her eyes are soft, and sad. She is a clever little girl in a village too small, who knows the people there better than Geralt, and who knows he will never get more than a stoning. Maybe Geralt would have fought Stregobor for Renfri, maybe not. But Marilka tells him to leave, and he does.)

[ghost--apple]

I feel as though I won't be able to move on from Ossan's Love and proceed with my life normally if I don't write what I feel about it so I need a place to dump all my feelings about it... 

(Spoilers ahead)

Basically, I have been experiencing horrible withdrawal symptoms after the drama ended around three weeks ago. I mean, I spent seven weeks looking forward to each episode and watching it in real-time (via live-stream) so of course after it ended I was like "how to proceed with life????" XD I didn't think I'd get THIS attached to the series and I seriously blame Hayashi Kento for it. A little backstory: after getting addicted to HIGH&LOW last year, I spent many months watching almost all dramas I could find with Masataka Kubota in it (since I fell in love with him after that, thanks Smoky!). And when there's nothing else to watch, I proceeded watching Hayashi Kento's dramas next since he became my number 2 favorite in H&L after Masa. So since I've been stalking them, I'd regularly see news about them in Twitter. Last March, when I saw the news in Twitter about Kento starring in a new spring drama called "Ossan's Love" (shortly after I got hooked on Masa's winter drama "Unnatural"), I immediately got intrigued because apparently, it's the drama version of a special one-episode “BL” drama that already aired in 2016.  

SO KENTO IN A “BL” DRAMA??? KENTO AS A GAY CHARACTER AGAIN??? YES PLEASE. So I immediately researched about the SP and in doing so, I realized that Kento didn't appear in it at all so initially I was like "WTH???" but still I watched it because I'm a fujoushi HAHAHA. And OMG I loved it, it was so insane and hilarious and just really a feel-good show!! I realized after watching it that Kento will actually replace one of the main characters (Hase) as an entirely new character (Maki), while the two other main characters will be played by the same actors (Tanaka Kei and Yoshida-san) reprising their roles from the SP (Haruta and Buchou). I already liked the character that Kento would be replacing but fortunately I love Kento as a person and as an actor so I was like "I hope Kento will do a great job in the drama so I will not miss Hase that much~" and it made me more excited to see how the drama version will unfold with Kento and the entrance of his character this time around.  (This is why I get quite sad when I read comments from other people who watched the SP that they're disappointed that Hase will be replaced, that the “new actor is not as cute as Hase” (EXCUSE ME!!!) etc etc~ T_T I was like “Kento is a wonderful actor, give him a chance!!!!”) 

AND SO THE DRAMA SERIES STARTED AND I IMMEDIATELY FELL INTO OSSAN'S LOVE HELL RIGHT AFTER THE FIRST EPISODE. So yes, why do I love it so much??????

Reason#1 HAYASHI KENTO AS MAKI

I'm not being biased when I say that Kento did an amazingly wonderful job in this drama as Maki. For me, he exceeded all expectations and proved all the doubters wrong. He was so great I almost immediately forgot that an SP prior to the drama ever existed (this is coming from a person who really enjoyed the SP and really liked Hase). No doubt he managed to capture a lot of hearts with his portrayal of Maki~! (*A*) I mean, while the series was being aired (and even now), he would consistently win in popularity polls regarding who's your favorite character in the currently airing spring dramas (or 2018 dramas), and he's not just winning, he's winning by a large margin even against people from Johnny's. Maki is already a great well-written character to begin with, but the way Kento played him, it's almost impossible to not root for him. AND HE'S SO PRECIOUS AND BEAUTIFUL AS MAKI I WANT TO HUG HIM SO MUCH AAAAAAHHHH. 

No seriously, Maki is a wonderful character (did I already say he’s wonderful???). He doesn't really show or say what he truly feels, he acts tough and okay all the time but actually has a lot of insecurities, prioritizes the happiness of the person he loves (read: Haruta) over his own happiness and I think these make us viewers really empathize with him. Maki never had any internal dialogues (unlike Haruta) so the audience only had to rely on Kento's acting-- his body language, the movement of his eyes, the sound of his voice -- to be really able to understand what Maki truly is going through, and I think Kento's acting was super effective as he was able to truly make me feel Maki's pain when he's suffering and Maki's joy when something good happens, even with just the slightest change in his facial expressions or voice. I can actually feel his emotions even in scenes wherein you can only see his back or silhouette!!! He's that great, his whole body is acting, but in a very natural way. 

For me, Maki is a complex character and I think it's a shame that we only get to see him mostly through Haruta's point of view, but I really love him because he's so self-aware, so strong yet also so vulnerable. While the show was airing, fans would mostly tweet "please be happy, Maki-kun!!" because seriously, he's a character who deserves all the happiness in the world!! I even came to a point when I was like "I don't care if Maki ends up with Haruta or come back to his ex-boyfriend Takekawa-san as long as he's happy!!!" because really, the screenwriter loves making him suffer, my poor child. And eventually, after finishing the drama, I came to understand why it seems Tanaka Kei would often say in interviews that the drama (drama's success??) relies on Kento's Maki (one of the directors even calls Kento something like "genius chihuahua bearing the future") because I seriously think Maki is the backbone of the story and how the viewers will accept Maki and eventually his relationship with Haruta (especially those who are already fond of Hase or who already love Buchou since the SP) will depend entirely on Kento's interpretation of this character. Haruta may be the face of the story, Buchou may serve as the arms (don’t know if this makes sense but whatever) but for me it's Maki who truly kept the story together. I've seen a lot of jdramas over the past thirteen years but I can say Maki is one of the most amazing characters I've ever come across. No seriously, I'm being overly dramatic but he's really special for me. *__* I'm really glad that Kento was chosen to play Maki in the drama version, bless the person who decided on this casting. (*A*) 

Reason#2 HARUMAKI

I think I'm in the minority this time since I prefer HaruMaki instead of MakiHaru. *coughs* Well... one of Maki's official character traits is being a "do-S" but actually I think he's just a tsundere. XD And he’s an extremely sweet person, almost an angel, how can that be do-S??? XD I get it that Maki's the one who's always doing the first move but I think that's primarily because he's the one who's sure of his feelings and sexuality. Haruta is still confused with all the things suddenly happening around him (since he’s dumb sometimes haha, but at least a lovable one) but I guess as soon as he's able to fully understand and come to terms with his feelings for Maki and the nature of their relationship, it will be easy for him to really start showing his affection for Maki and initiate ~things~. This is why I'm so thankful for that scene in the last episode!! Haruta going on top of Maki to kiss him with that smug expression on his face!! That just screams "HARUMAKI!!!!" to me and made all my dreams come true (well almost haha)!! Initially I felt sad that Maki had to suffer a lot because of his feelings for Haruta, but I know he really loves him and so I’ve been waiting for that moment when Haruta will finally return Maki's feelings and make him happy. Fortunately we see them getting the happy ending they deserve~!! The drama really did a great job showing all those funny, sweet, and bittersweet HaruMaki moments, until now I still keep on re-watching almost all of their scenes together. T_T (And OMG those kiss scenes seriously, Kento should be illegal!!!) 

Reason#3 TAKEMAKI

Okay so Ossan's Love is the only series that ever made me multi-ship!!! Since I watched the SP, I was so sure that I will be shipping Maki and Haruta hard and that they’re going to end up together (following the Hase+Haruta route in SP)... but then Takekawa Masamune happened HAHAHAHA. Takekawa-san was portrayed by Mashima-san whom I became fond of after watching another drama (TonaKazo) wherein he played as a gay character in a relationship with a younger guy too (my precious WataSaku!!!! but that's another story) so when I learned that he will be in Ossan's Love as well, I thought "wow, the more reason to look forward to it!" So some hours before the second episode aired, TheTelevison website posted this off-shot photo of Kento and Mashima-san and I was like "ooooh I can support this if it happens!!" jokingly since I love Kento and Mashima-san and they looked good in the photo together. And then as fate would have it, after the 2nd episode, the preview for the 3rd episode showed them finally interacting with each other with Takekawa-san shouting at Maki and kicking a trashcan!! And from there a lot of speculations arose-- does Takekawa-san like Haruta that's why he's angry at Maki, or he's actually Maki's ex-boyfriend?? I was praying for the latter because a lot of characters in the drama are already in love with Haruta (Buchou, Maki, Chizu)!! So somebody has to be in love with Maki too and make Haruta jealous so he'll eventually realize his feelings for Maki!! D: And then poof, THAT TAKEKAWA+MAKI “HAND-GRABBING” UNDER THE TABLE SCENE HAPPENED!! I almost fell from my seat while watching that for the first time and was like "HOW CAN THIS SCENE BE SO EROTIC?????" And so from then on I started officially shipping Maki with Takekawa-san too (although I call them my “guilty pleasure ship” since I love seeing them together but I want HaruMaki to end up together). And then it turns out they were really ex-lovers so I couldn't help wanting to know more things about when they were still in a relationship, why they broke up and so on. I keep saying this but really, I need TakeMaki spin-off of their time together!!! 

Reason#4 Everyone's acting

I know I gushed over Kento's acting a lot already, but the rest of the cast’s acting was so good as well. All characters complement each other that's why they’ve been such a delight to watch! Their interactions can be so funny and heart-warming that I just kept on wishing that each and everyone will be happy in the end! And plus points to Tanaka Kei for having extremely perfect comedic timing!!! Like other people said, Haruta can be an idiot sometimes (or most of the times?? XD) and can be borderline irritating occasionally, but Tanaka Kei makes the character adorkable and lovable despite all his flaws~ ^^;; I already watched him in another series I think two years ago (Kosodate Play) and his character there was almost similar to Haruta so I’m not surprised anymore about how extremely funny he is! ^_~

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Wow, that’s gotten so long... I guess I should save my rant about things I’m not so fond of in the drama in another entry...