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ramblingguy54 · 4 years ago

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Re Mabel, Lilith and Marcy getting flak— I wonder if it has to do with what seems to be a general aversion to female characters acting selfishly, especially if it has consequences. Like, I feel that's a huge part of why the live action Disney remakes fall so flat; women/girls *all* have to be "strong female character who never does anything selfish or wrong". So instead of being seen as what they are (great characters with strong arcs) Mabel, Marcy and Lilith get, as you said, demonized.

Disney remakes I'd say do contribute to the issue of how those interpret other female character depicted in a more flawed manner as simply selfish people and nothing more. However, that's simply a drop in the bucket being apart of a much larger issue of how female characters are depicted throughout stories. This isn't just a problem to be found in other Disney related material, such as their remakes portraying their iconic female leads, rather it's one rooted in shallow writing as early when the whole mantra, "Girl power!", became a an unfortunate trope some stories still utilize to this very day. Female characters aren't allowed to show weakness whatsoever. They've gotta be strong, unwavering, and perfect role models to follow, right?

See, therein lies a serious contradiction. It's not about gender whether you're male, female, or choosing to be both, depending on your lifestyle. They're all people and what do we undeniably share as a trait? Something binding us together symbolically?

Weaknesses. We’re all vulnerable, carry baggage, and even are capable of doing selfish stuff hurting people when we didn’t intend to. People follow what they believe in their convictions to be “correct” from developed ideologies. Buckets of grey, more or less.

Let me throw an example out here. Belle from Disney’s 2D animated iteration of Beauty & The Beast showed what a strong female lead can be capable of. She took none of Gaston’s shallow nonsense, was conflicted about her place in their judgmental village, and most importantly didn’t see Beast’s humanity, until being saved from the wolf pack attack. Belle was a role model who was strong, capable, and intelligent, yet didn’t rely on shallow ideas I mentioned above.

A consistent issue I’ve tend to notice is people zeroing in on a characters actions, rather than observing why they went about committing them, or simply ignoring outside forces, like other characters, playing a role in, too?

Mabel’s selfish desires caused Weirdmageddon!

Marcy’s fear of being alone got them all stranded in Amphibia!

Lilith is responsible for Eda’s pain and suffering with this curse!

Mabel being solely responsible for Weirdmageddon is a take I’ve seen people throw around leaving me absolutely puzzled by this mind set. How is it the girl’s fault when Dipper & Ford decided to keep that orb containing a dimensional rift Bill needed their little secret? Those two made a choice to keep something under wraps for their own reasons, which came back to bite them pretty damn hard. Mabel was terrified of the future, growing up, drifting away from her brother, and most importantly was scared of becoming bitter about it all. There’s a reason why Mabel stated to Dipper in A Tale Of Two Stans, “Can you promise me you won’t get stupid...?”, given it was foreshadowing her inevitable breakdown of trying to run away from these issues.

Bill Cipher took advantage of an emotionally desperate kid’s need for an uncompromising happy ending is what it all boils down to. Mabel’s only morally questionable action was not wanting to accept their reality, which Dipper had to snap her out of this self destructive behavior. Hiding away in some imaginative place doesn’t fix the problems you’ve got in front of yourself. They’ll only grow bigger. An important rule of life is allowing change to happen, but it’s equally so to remember how crucial a stable family connection is, too. Dipper leaving Mabel to struggle alone in life wouldn’t have been an ideal scenario for either of them. Something I’ve seen people seem to forget is after Dipper helps Mabel become content they think she’s getting her way, while he is giving up his dream. Yet, for some reason, people forget this small important exchange between the two.

“Hey, Dipper. I appreciate what you said back there, but, if you want to take Ford’s apprenticeship, I won’t get in your way.”

“And miss out on your awkward teen years? You wish!”

Mabel gave Dipper a third option to pursue his goals, if he genuinely wanted this dream of working underneath that author of those journals the kid was crazy about. However, Dipper saw Mabel, as well as the message of family ties, more important than anything else, even working underneath Ford. To Dipper, Mabel’s sibling bond was his greatest dream to fulfill. While Mabel may not be a character I gravitate towards, as Dipper is someone I relate to a lot more, she did experience a journey of emotional growth in learning to understand Dipper’s needs are just as important as her’s. The sock puppet episode encapsulated this idea of her developing maturity.

Marcy Wu’s entire arc in Season 2 was very interesting to see play out. There’s a defining difference in how Marcy’s a lot more independent, than she used to be when Anne watched over her at their school. While she still can be clumsy, Marcy has become very physically competent in taking on riskier situations demanding precise accuracy. Although, there’s a definite lingering fear of solitude when Anne was going to let the Plantars leave her behind in Newtopia. True Colors’ revelations completely add a new layer to it.

Knowing now Marcy didn’t want to be alone without Anne & Sasha re-contextualizes this moment of remorse from her. Sure, she’s sad to see the Plantars go too because the girl is also fond of them, much like Anne. However, another thing I’d say it’s because she didn’t want to see Anne leave, naturally. In spite of these conflicting feelings, Marcy reluctantly lets her return to Wartwood not only considering she knew they’d meet up again, but maybe it could be out of possible guilt for playing a part in manipulating Anne & Sasha into taking the Calamity Box. I wouldn’t put it past Marcy if this was part of her reasoning. After all, she was quick in trying to make amends, by saving Sprig from dropping to his death and sending Anne back home to protect her from Andrias’ wrath. Whatever thing Marcy could do to show her compassion she would gladly do.

If the theory of Marcy having a rocky relationship with her parents is confirmed in Season 3, I’m theorizing it’s more against her father than mother, it puts another weight of tragedy onto why she trusted Andrias so much with spilling her heart out to him. Marcy thought she’d finally found an adult, who wouldn’t undermine her beliefs, personality, and actions. Marcy didn’t view Andrias just as a friend, rather a father figure she felt comfortable venting her emotional issues toward. Andrias saw this kid with low self esteem issues thinking, “Yeah, she’ll be a perfect pawn to use and throw away when I get what I need.”, making Marcy Wu arguably the most tragic character in this trio of people used as a tool by a greater evil.

Marcy never intended to hurt Anne or Sasha. She only wanted to live a life free of pain, which her dream was mangled severely by Andria’s ambition for multiverse conquest. This girl was someone who wanted everything in their world. Marcy didn’t know the box would accurately work, even if she did use her friends in a highly morally wrong fashion. Although, the kid read about this box in a book, so Marcy did have an idea being somewhat aware what she was getting herself into. At least, more so than Anne & Sasha were, who thought it was a silly looking item to steal from a thrift shop.

Seeing everything fall apart for Marcy, as her friends back away from this haunting realization, is easily on my list of top crushing moments from the series. It rivals that of Sasha willing to fall to her death to save Anne’s in exchange. There’s such a poetic gut punch in bringing it full circle for Marcy. She wanted everlasting friendship, but now Marcy’s decision caused them to step away from her. In terms of lighting, I love the dramatic nuance of having a shadow cast over her. Marcy stands alone by herself to stir in emotional grief. No one there is gonna comfort Marcy, preferring to let their silence speak loudly.

Marcy Wu desired to have her cake and eat it, too. The poor kid lost her friends, trust in Andrias, and her own life, in spite of it being temporary, trying to make amends for all this guilt. She wished so badly to have freedom to choose, only to have none at all in the end. The moral of this story is be careful what you wish for.

Lilith’s whole issue she struggles to overcome is realizing how flawed and corrupt the Emperor’s Coven is, as well as the idea of Covens’ in general. Lilith’s mentality was all about order, control, and obligation to a greater magical cause. What added depth to Lilith’s character is her connection to Eda wasn’t an obligation of some kind. She loved being there for her sister determined to do anything to undo the curse Lilith placed upon Eda in their childhood. Belos saw a prime opportunity through Lilith to use her sister as leverage, so she wouldn’t compromise that oath to the Coven for Eda’s safety. Any episode focusing screen time on their dynamic you can sense the love and respect Lilith has toward Eda, regardless of their differing views on how magic operates. She still cares for her.

The tragic twist of Lilith being responsible for Eda’s curse shows the circumstances of their sisterhood being challenged by this very world they live in. Lilith only went through with cursing Eda because of Belos’ mentality about winning by any means necessary to justify the end result. It’s exactly why Lilith wanted Eda to join her Coven to heal this curse and make her abide by the laws she believes in, killing two birds with one stone. Lilith being bitter about Eda’s skills surpassing her own for that magical competition certainly played a part.

It’s made more than evident in their climatic confrontation in Agony of a Witch. Eda calls out Lilith’s incompetence, as their exchanging blows in finding it hilariously ironic she can’t be beaten at her worst. Lilith, having enough of being criticized, spills the beans about how it was so easy to curse her. Again, Lilith was only speaking out of bitter rage when she blurted the truth. She never took an ounce of enjoyment in hurting her sister, as you can clearly see the immediate regret and hurt written across this woman’s face. This isn’t the face of someone who relishes in their sibling’s suffering. It’s the face of somebody that has made a terrible mistake. A mistake Lilith never wanted Eda to find out about wanting to sweep it under the rug. To know your sibling has placed a curse on you in the most awful fashion would anger any person in that unfortunate position.

Lilith wanted to make amends, but the damage was already done. There wasn’t a chance Eda would hear out her sister’s pleas after dropping a bombshell of this magnitude. Eda had enough of Lilith preaching about order for the greater good when she pulled a toxic double standard putting something chaotic upon her. To have a curse placed, which can transform anyone into a mindless creature, endangering everyone you care about stings all the more to know it was her sister. It wasn’t someone with an evil master plan, like Belos. This culprit was someone Eda placed her trust into, since childhood. Who’d be there to the share that pain of scraping her knee had the gull to put her through this kind of Hell. The sad truth is, Lilith didn’t want any of this to occur. That curse was only meant to last a day and Eda wouldn’t have any more problems. A worst case scenario of something minor transforming into a larger issue.

It’s a disturbing reality check for Lilith when Belos, being the clever manipulator, uses the very knowledge she valued against her in justifying petrifying Eda. This flips everything Lilith held dear in her own values upside down. What she thought was “correct” for years only badly affected their world and citizens. Belos undermining her hopes for Eda’s cure defining it all under their Titan’s will to dispose of anyone, who doesn’t follow their rules, paints a genocidal picture to what Lilith viewed through rose tinted glasses. She wasn’t supporting an individual of equality, but one of a power hungry dictatorship. Belos was going to slaughter all people or any living sentient creature that stood in his way.

While I wouldn’t call Lilith’s arc great, as Season 1 did suffer from Disney executive meddling with Dana’s vision of the series, it was certainly a good one, overall. There’s a real weight and somber symbolism to Lilith being a product of a flawed magical system. Season 2 could easily explore more of her redemption because denouncing your beliefs after holding them stubbornly to your heart isn’t an easy thing to process mentally. Lilith devoted herself to that idealism for so very long, where you don’t just move on from all that with a flick of a switch, so I’m very interested in seeing what Dana and her crew will accomplish next for Lilith’s development. They could easily very well remedy problems in pacing I had with Season 1.

To sum up this very lengthy answer of mine, please keep writing more complex female characters. Break the boundaries of stereotypes that women shouldn’t show vulnerability. It makes for a more introspective story, instead of conforming to stories following a silly status quo for women in fiction.

#the owl house #amphibia #gravity falls #i really went into a a long discussion here about female portrayal in fiction #time well spent lmao #lilith clawthorne #marcy wu #mabel pines #disney tva #disney shows #meta analysis #female characters can be so much more #amphibia season 2 #the owl house season 1 #gravity falls season 2

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yawmanzo · 6 years ago

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Yaws Personal Reflection on Touka Kirishima

I'd like to start of with this quote by Touka in the novels.

“What the hell do you know? It's all because I can't eat, because I could become a target at any time, all because I'm a ghoul! No matter how much I try, there's a wall I can never jump over, and there's happiness I can never have. But I'm still hanging on to life. Despite it all”

Followed by this from part 1.

And of course this from Yomo.

As you can see there’s a pattern, and if I wanted to I could indulge you with a fuckton more Touka quotes/panels to further exemplify these, but I digress because I ramble too much and words alone aren’t enough to truly encapsulate everything in its entirety😒.

Alrighty then, let’s get this long rambling journey started! I dub thee:

“Strength in weakness and Weakness in strength”

What makes Touka such an interesting character for me in terms of her writing is that there’s a lot of nuances to her that make her so fascinating to read. Because of these elements, I feel as though leads to a general misconception/misunderstanding of her character in favor of either completely overlooking or simply dismissing them and marking them as purely simplistic and well… not important/uninteresting. I for one believe that there lies a profound complex simplicity and simple complexity of sorts to a lot of these nuances that can be very easy to miss, but are of crucial note to consider, most especially the subtleties to her growth in :re alongside many important thematic elements of the story, other characters and herself.

Adjacent with this is her own personality, decisiveness , selflessness and immense sheer mental fortitude in the face of adversity; living while losing things, moving forward with the little they have, in the hopes of gaining as little or as much as they can towards a peaceful world where such a thing is virtually taboo for ghouls and humans trapped in the bird cage.

Additionally is her journey being the opposite to Kaneki, wherein he became more ghoul like than human in pursuit of strength (since human is normally denoted as weak). Meanwhile Touka underwent an opposite journey in which she became more human like than ghoul, and there’s a fine dichotomy/conflict for balance between the two that we see with the tribulations faced in the story. In other words strength in weakness (Ghoul- human) and weakness in strength (Human-ghoul) and the various connotations.

Moreover is the conflict she herself feels as a ghoul in viewing herself as a monster, thus wanting to be more human,

even when others view her in a different light in conjunction with the earlier harsh actions she would make for the sake of her survival and of others.

We even see how she saves Kaneki numerous times when she didn't really have any obligation to do so in the beginning after considering his own plight in the world as a half ghoul with no place to belong to via Yoshimuras explanation. It’s due to her caring nature that on the surface comes off as very “hard” due to the exterior she puts up as a result of the life she’s lived.

Special mention to when he almost ate Hide after fighting Nishki in his starving state and her stepping in,

thus saving the both of them, something that made Hide very grateful towards her for. (And Hide being hype wing man since chapter 1)

And although her threatening to kill Hide and Kimi in relation to their human relations with Kaneki and Nishki comes across as very cruel, its also due to the volatile position that they have in human society as ghouls for security and safety.

For all intents of purposes, their safety takes preference, and we see how this does change in her being able to trust them with their secret, because it’s a risky one that could lead to them losing everything.

Which as we know, that level of trust didn't exactly work out too well for her and Ayato as little kids that forced them to fend for themselves in the world.

There are several instances where she does come across as real vicious and as Kaneki says “scary”, but also very caring in her own way during many stages of part 1 when he needed someone the most in the world, which is something he remains eternally grateful to her for in his life. She provided that foundation for him in the ghoul world.

As Uta mentions, she's continuously walking a very tight rope between both worlds and there's a constant struggle faced with everything that she deals with in which she simply cannot afford even the tiniest of slips.

What Touka has wanted from the beginning is a chance at a normal peaceful life, away from the violent lifestyle she was forced into as a ghoul, and all the battles and killings she has had to partake in.

Her envy for the life that humans live, her hatred for herself in being a ghoul yet longing for peace and understanding between both species are ones that continuously drive her character forward. ([x]- @encase great explanation of this!)

It’s always been the characters of a set case between her and Kaneki as stated earlier. Kaneki a former human was forced into the ghoul world yet was already living a violent and miserable human lifestyle. While Touka lived a harsh ghoul life which initially had somewhat of a human like upbringing with Arata and Ayato, before that life was lost. There's also her curiosity in wanting to learn more and be a part of the human world. (@wishes-upon-dreams has lots of good novel shots!)

These are two symbolic thematic attributes of Tokyo Ghoul between these two alone, and all the complications that come with it.

Another worthy line from her in the novels is wherein she and Kaneki make human food for Touka to give to her friend Yoriko after a misunderstanding they had.

Touka remarks on Kaneki attempting to taste the food whilst being aware that he's no longer a full human anymore. Kaneki admits that in the moment that fact was lost on him due to how the food looked and of course him wistfully remembering being able to eat and taste all these types of foods. She comments on which scenario is worse between the two: one who's lost an ability, or one who never had the ability to begin with.

“Who has it worse- someone who was never equipped with a function, or someone who had it and lost it?”

AKA Kaneki losing his ability to eat human food, and Touka never having the ability to eat human food.

Well at least her pregnancy later on gave that nice little cake development parallel.

So... a lot tend to dismiss her as too weak or bland of a character, or how her relationship with Kaneki stripped away her own “independent” character. In other words, her role of importance got reduced. Which… yeah there were times that her appearances got sidelined and so forth in us not seeing her as much. But I'll mention that briefly later with regards to Ishidas writing style with some of his characters.

Firstly, with the “independence” part… a characters relations they have with others doesn’t make them weak that goes concurrently with their very own distinct development. (obviously depending on the circumstances mind you and how its established)

In fact the narrative in TG shows how taking things up solely alone leads to more suffering and increased burden that ultimately comes crashing down towards said character without the bonds they form with others. (Eg Kanekis main flaw that Touka opposes with selfish V selfless that she explicitly exposes him for in part 1 with the bridge scene) Note that there are semblances that both invoke and affect each with in a complementary/similar yet opposing way that I've talked about before in the Touken reflection.

Kaneki takes everyone's burdens by himself in order to protect them, but he's not really the selfless martyr he thinks he is. They never asked for his protection, in fact they want to help and be with him, but he's terrified of losing them, thus opting to shoulder all their burdens. He pushed them away and avoided them in order to protect them, AKA Hide and Touka. In doing so it hurts both sides immensely in not being able to really save the other.

Touka can not only see a bit of Arata and Ayato (soldier of Aogiri) in Kaneki with regards to the whole pursuit of power and strength by waging war and advancing violence to protect, but also a bit of herself in some her own actions done to protect those she cares about that they themselves did not ask for. She hits the nail right on the coffin with him because she knows how he is, because she has that affect on him.

This is seen in the novels to an extent with her fighting off students that made fun of Yoriko. Yoriko mentioned that she didn't want Touka to do that for her even though it hurt her. The situation simply just made her more sad, along with Yorikos own lack of self worth in feeling like she was a burden to Touka.

When Touka partakes in her revenge against Mado and the doves for killing Ryouko in order to protect Hinami

a similar thing happens (which wasn't all violence as seen by her trying to give misinformation to the CCG and stir attention away from them).

Hinami laments that she never wanted revenge, but was rather just sad. In both instances Touka doesn't understand why her protecting them through those means was wrong at first, but we see how it affects her in each case with regards to the feelings of those she cares about.

Touka mentions Ayatos reluctance in not wanting to learn more about human society and wanting to safely protect him when it's the same human society that led to their parents demise and one that is systematically established to kill them . After all, humans are just food to them as ghouls, and ghouls are monsters to them right?

With these genuinely selfless actions and ideals, she realized how they pushed the people she cared about. Actually it's quite sad how Touka is always getting abandoned by those she cares about in her life, such as Hikari,Arata,Ayato,Kaneki, Hinami, Yoshimura, Irimi, Koma, Yoriko etc etc. Obviously each of these throughout her life have different factors to them through her own actions and those of others that led to being left alone and or tragically losing them.

Along with this is generally her struggle in communicating/expressing her true feelings towards others through words alone which can often lead to ironic misunderstandings in the moment that she regrets many times.

(which is a trait she shares with Yomo and Ayato).

“I'm really bad at sorting out my feelings, and although I try to put up a good front, I'm incredibly immature, and I hate that about myself”-Touka

Man the novels really are such gems with extra insight to her character. In essence you can show how she does have good intentions. She really doesn't want to lose more of her loved ones and be alone, unless it involves letting go in certain situations and considerations.

I’m not necessarily justifying her relapse in actions here, but you can see just how pissed off she got with Kanekis tragic heroism vendetta

,that and well the man straight up lied about not leaving her alone. (thanks Hide for the chin tip).

Yes Kaneki does genuinely want to “protect” his loved ones,

but he's doing it all wrong in never even considering their own feelings in regard to his whole quest and them being unable to help him, hence being selfish and not wanting to be alone himself. As we see, it’s something he eventually realizes due to Touka’s effect on him.

(which is another thing that both share, fear of being alone that they express differently yet similarly) Cool how the whole rabbit motif is used to exemplify this too, since they can die from loneliness due to the strong relationship bonds they form.

Doing everything alone is a constant no no in TG. Cough Kenny boy, rely on your loved ones, they love you. Though we see how and why he and many others in the story become that way with the whole “you're weak and lack of ability” perception for power and strength. It’s very understandable for many of these characters and it’s quite profound with the many layers to it aside from just the physical that at times come across as very contradictory. “Weakness in strength and strength in weakness”

Tangent, but this also goes in conjunction with Uries development in overcoming that very same flaw he had himself to where he realized it faster than Kaneki did.

And of course the whole point of the dragon arc to show that people, in other words everyone (ghouls and humans) HAVING to rely on each other to combat a common threat and achieve coexistence when needed to even with the flawed prejudiced nature of the human world towards ghoul kind.

Anyways, back to Touka chan.

I really do not believe Touka to be a “weak” character. In fact she’s very strong in her own way since there’s many different types of “strength” and complexities to many of these characters. One who’s strength does not solely rely on her physical abilities or quick thinking/hard work (I mean hell she caught up to years of school at a late age almost gearing up to go to Kamii university which is for proper smart students whilst working at Ainteku). And of course her curiosity on learning more about the world with regards to humans and ghouls that she later instilled in a rather practical sentimental manner as an “advisory” figure.

Ya’ll remember when she was basically hood AF in the streets with that underground ghoul dialect?

By the way holy hell she can speak two languages, that's pretty dope. Except for those skills in Japanese literature... lol that’s just a Rip😂

Point being there are many different testaments of complexity and strength she possess as her own character away from just “the physical”.

Growth

Touka’s character matures and grows a lot in :re becoming more passive, cool headed and wiser as the manager of :re. Like when I first read :re bruh, I was always like “woah this is Touka now? Damn she's changed so much” (and got more thicc)

even with some of her distinct traits still being there… Like her blunt and direct 0 fucks teasing sass, I love me some sass. She definitely lived up to Aintekus legacy and then some with Yoshimuras influence.

She valued the importance of peacekeeping as manager of :re, and its implied that her, Yomo and Nishki performed those roles, similar to how Yoshimura did with the bits of informants they had from others as well.

She became not just more empathetic but generally more sympathetic to an extent, understanding and kind towards others most especially those that wronged her, those she cares about and those she herself has hurt in the past. We see this time and time again.

Few examples include her giving Shinohara the flowers

tying into her forgiveness arc with Arata, the violent CCG perpetual cycle in general, and also got tied in with Juuzou

which got referenced as a point of contention for their characters during their encounter underground.

We see this with Shuu and her explanation for why cafe :re exists as an homage to Ainteku for humans and for ghouls to feel safe in (the spiritual home of coexistence) , as well as a place for Kaneki to return home to, as Yoshimura once wished for with Eto.

Touka prioritizes his well being and happiness over hers, even with the flawed situation wherein they both care about Kaneki in their own way and have differing viewpoints.

Shuu admits to Touka that she’s right in him being an egotist, alongside seeing her point of view when he fights Haise.

Touka also admits that she understands where Shuu is coming from, because she does desire for Kaneki to be with them.

Both parties raise valid points in their own way since they do genuinely care, however the difference in intent further shows that selfless nature of Touka in waiting for Kaneki to come back when HE needs to, not by forcing him when Haise had the whole Haise/Kaneki memory personality conflict that he needed to resolve himself that we see in the Rosewald and Cochlea arcs.

It’s also interesting to note how Kaneki in part 1 distanced himself to protect her from the ghoul world whilst being aware that she as a ghoul can never truly live with just being solely in the human world and the dangers that it possesses in it’s own right towards ghouls.

In :re she means for him not be brought back into the ghoul world due to his suffering in it for so long in order to protect his well being and happiness.

Yet the human world he lives in the CCG is also categorized by violence, suffering and conflict that Haise/Kaneki gets further thrown into. Plus we see how Shuu himself feels about that world due to what happened with his own family in their battle against CCG and Kaneki/Haise being a ghoul investigator. Both cases show how genuine and flawed these motives are, yet also painting the feelings they have in caring for the other in their own distinct ways that's not as straightforward black and white. “Selfish V Selfless”

She forgives her brother Ayato because she understood him to an extent with his faults (not that she ever harbored hatred for him in the first place because she loves him).

Touka sees why he did the things he did because. He wanted to become stronger in Aogiri and protect her, even though he hurt her, as Kaneki exposed to him in their fight. Cue 103 god damn bones.

“Does it hurt? I think Touka chan experienced more pain than that”- Kaneki

Yeah nah... That’s just tough😂 Later on we see how Ayato took this to heart by taking on the Black Rabbit persona in order to lure CCG investigators away from Touka, thus clearing her tracks.

With this she goes to assure him with sincerity in directing him in the right path moving forward despite everything, thus mending their complicated sibling relationship in their own Tsundere Kirishima way.

She gives Kaneki his will to live through her loyal love, influence and support spanning years and years of waiting with the undying faith she possesses towards those she cares about and to him. Not that she had to herself anyway since Kaneki always held her on such a high level of importance in his life throughout the whole story with ALL his personalities and their whole evolutionary dynamic as a whole.

That's another thing about her, that fierce faith is truly special despite the instances it isn’t rewarded.

I mean when this man was on the verge of losing everything and giving in on his plan to die in style, the thought of her and everyone else dying kept him going along with the Hide inner monologue during the Arima fight.

“It may not be stylish, but live”

She allows Goat and the lost ghouls (including the Aogiri children) to use cafe :re as their safety hideout away from CCG, that has CCG members themselves (AKA 0 squad). Once again reinforcing that spiritual home of coexistence.

Side note- another cool tidbit is seeing Toukas natural maternal instincts with children, something we saw bits of with Hinami and Ayato in part 1 as well as the novels.

Her taking care of the ghoul children with Hinami and reading to them were always super adorable to see in also foreshadowing her as a mother and just generally a very kind caring person which she's always been at heart.

Next big demonstration of her growth we see is the convo with Amon in which they both come to a mutual understanding of the circumstances that forced their actions in such a cruel world of kill or be killed.

alongside her offering advice to him about going to see Akira in relation to her feelings about Kaneki.

Then there’s the Akira convo with Hinami: which remains one of my favorites indications of how much she’s developed from part 1 (also because of how similar Touka and Akira are in many ways... I love em). Chapter 120 was one of the first major steps towards seeing how these characters can break the human/ghoul violent perpetual cycle with general empathy and even sympathy to an extent as difficult as it may be. To instill hope into their world, where all they knew was hopeless continuous bloodshed.

Being able to confront Akira directly with what happened, not being focused on continuing the cycle of revenge.

Going on to showcase some semblance of being able to relate with her own experiences and of their fathers in painting the cruel intricate nature of both sides in regards to the actions they take- be it survival, revenge, power to protect, or all the above. Thus slowly shifting Akira’s ingrained beliefs and perspective to it’s core.

It's interesting how Ishida mentioned inspiration from a war documentary applied in the reconciliation between Akira and Hinami , and Touka was the one that initiated that through her development and teachings from others and her own life experiences.

(Shout to Sen for the translations! @kenkamishiro)

Mind you this was a VERY complicated and tough situation wherein those wounds aren’t somehow magically healed between them, but at the very least the continuous cycle of vengeance was subverted in order to move forward.

She's often seen as a very forgiving person towards others in :re, too forgiving at times actually, which is one of her biggest strengths and weaknesses. Or that she doesn't “fight hard” enough and let's go too easily. But one can also see why she's like that, mainly due to the priorities she sets and well… she ain't got time to dwell on things like revenge, war and violence anymore even if it's completely warranted and justified. She's seen and experienced first hand what that does to herself and others time and time again. She knows the script and prioritizes moving forward away from that, even if it hurts her and them having to constantly pick and choose in the process.

As long as a situation of conflict can be resolved in any way, they'll continue to live and survive in the world. Mental fortitude is a big strength of hers when it comes to pressing forward in the face of adversity.

It’s even more notable to notice this development when looking back at the violent, angsty and tragic harsh life she lived as a ghoul with Ayato from childhood towards their teens years. After all it's a kill or be killed world, one where the strong take from the weak, and the weak are the ones that perish.

That and how viciously she lashed out at others, herself and the world through violence and rage due to that bloody ghoul lifestyle. The hard harsh exterior, soft kind interior continuously interchanged, intertwined and crossed several thresholds.

Highkey nice heavy parallel to Hikari and Arata though. As Yomo mentioned, Hikari used to be quite savage back when she was younger until she calmed down later on in life with her family, and where Arata was a really kind pacifist type ghoul, her death led to him later becoming a “monster” out of revenge that resulting in his downfall. In many ways also applying to both Touka and Kaneki with their own unique divergences. And of course the parallels between Ayato and Yomo in regards to their respective pursuits for strength and revenge.

“The world is power, let’s use power to decide who’s superior. Careless idiot. You are weak. So you lose. Just like father.”- Ayato

“Who is the strongest? I fucking am”- Kaneki

“...I want to become strong”- Yomo

“I also need to get stronger”- Touka

“Strength in weakness and weakness in strength”

“Strength” and “power” as a whole is extremely intricate, with all the different types of it in its many variations/forms that come with their own respective advantages and disadvantages.

So many of these different attributes and aspects we see to be something that many characters in the story come to admire from Touka as a person, a ghoul , sister, friend, wife and manager of :re/ fellow leader of GOAT along with Kaneki and right hand man Shuu.

Sure Ishida could have definitely utilized and actually showcased more scenes with her doing things in which we could see a lot of this development/moments onscreen, especially the first half of :re (as a matter of fact I’d be on the first train to destination MORE TOUKA STUFF AND WRITING EMPHASIS PLEASE)

But one can also deduce the salient impact of her smaller scale actions/motivations that attribute to the plot, many characters and the very essence of the story thematically and even that of her character. A phrase I always use to describe that belief is “Yo Touka is doing bits” which basically means how those moments may seem really minuscule at first, but are actually very meaningful.

This also includes her evolving personality from part 1 as a consequence of the melancholic and painful stoic adverse nature of the world that genuinely did affect her for many years on end. There’s also kind of parallel with her really. Second half of part 1 Touka scenes weren’t as much in favor of Kaneki and other characters development, but they were very impactful in their own moments, in contrast to the first half of :re with a similar sentiment.

Plus I mean well, one can see how much Ishida struggled with writing his main cast of characters in :re with part 1 characters and side characters with some getting more development/ specific writing priority over others in different fashions alongside MANY plot points and concepts. That and yes several plot points and character interactions with her did get dropped in the story/didn't get as much development on screen as they should have, which mind you isn't just exclusive to her character alone like in the case of several others. One little missed opportunity is the Yoriko reunion that didn't happen on screen which was really unfortunate as that would have been so emotional to see for them both, (and me since I kept waiting for it)

But at least she saw her wedding with Bujin to make sure she was ok

and them reuniting offscreen during the end time skip was good. Ichika loving aunty Yorikos bread and Mucchans apples is a blessing, so thank goodness for that.

And yes there's a lot of other stuff that could be mentioned as well that would have been great to see onscreen, but eh what can you do.

While many favor her character in part 1, which is fair because my god she was fire AF🔥

it’s also important to notice all the subtle factors that led to her personality and growth shifting the way it did from a teenager to young adult whilst still maintaining her distinct “Touka” traits (then again I love her in everything so😅). That’s the whole point of it, to show how people change in life, what would be the point if she remained the exact same as part 1 in terms of writing?

Again, different strokes for different folks, but I personally appreciate both depictions and find them very fascinating in their own rights especially with their flaws that continuously kept me glued to her character even with the discrepancies in screen time.

In other words, I find her journey very interesting to read and interpret, particularly since there’s a lot of writing cues to her in favor of being designated in deciphering rather than explicitly stated in all lines of text and dialogue. Perhaps that’s the main issue with some aside from the whole her not being shown as much? The fact that a lot of the writing is nuanced in several ways and not as right in your face with text panels/ inner monologues and inner character thoughts emphasized and fleshed out? Either way, those visual cues/elements of show don’t tell and at times “less equals more” being implemented in the story are ones that always make me so passionate about her character. To ascertain her thoughts, feelings, actions and motivations when the narrative doesn’t state it as right in your face but rather deduced through the already established notions and elements that are set/keep getting set.

I have no idea if I’m making sense😑

But yeah that’s how I see it. Like something as simple as her just not saying anything, or words being omitted in favor of emphasis being placed on subtle visual representation in a panel just makes me want to always see more of her and decipher her thoughts without her even having to state all of them outwardly. This conveyance without the need of many words (which don’t get me wrong would be greatly appreciated in many instances!) doesn’t really hinder her as boring to me, rather very intriguing, but again each to their own you know?

Continuing on her desire to be with those she loves and not be alone, in other words to gain as much as she can with the little available while losing things. She told Ayato the same sentiment which can ESPECIALLY be meant for Kaneki too.

“Rely on others for a change”

An aspect of her strength stems from her ability and strong personality in which she carries herself when all the odds are against her, and when she herself is very limited to what she can achieve by herself alone in the world, yet continues to fight either way. In other words… she’s realistic in seeing the world as it is with all ones flawed strengths and weaknesses in the face of the tribulations they face and the choices they must make for better or for worse, positive and negative. It also shows the priorities she places in fighting reactively, in other words when she HAS to or in regards to those she cares about where she would rather avoid using violence to solve conflicts in :re unless pressed to do so in response to something or when pressed.

Eg. Saving Shuu from CCG investigators that were on his ass.

The Kirishima family and Banjou squad Cochlea fights to save Hinami thanks to Kaneki’s aid.

Versus the Arima squad members

Sneaky sister save as mask 33.

and versus Arima himself (which honestly that's just a Rip for the whole family).

Being aided by Eto to push on forwards.

Fighting off Special class Kyoko Aura, Mougan and other CCG members with the other ghouls namely Yomo, Banjou, his squad and Hinami when they themselves were already fatigued. And of course protecting Ayato

showcasing her emerging two wings with that based Hikari Yomo lightning ⚡⚡

Later combining forces with Kaneki and 0 squad to escape.

Then there's her fight against Mutsuki that endangered not just her and Kanekis lives, but led to the destruction of :re. The whole shit underground wherein they got attacked whilst already starved and with little resources, forcing retaliation to survive.

And of course operation save Kenny and Tokyo with dragon. (Title drop)

That doesn’t necessarily make her “weak”, or one who doesn't do much fighting because she's a damsel, particularly when she’s PREGNANT from 128 to the 170s. She fights only when pushed to do so.

Again in 123-124 she held her own against Mutsuki (who’s very strong) when her cafe got destroyed by the oggai and kept her cool, suppressing her emotions when taunted with Yorikos fake “fate” in an attempt to get her all triggered (once more showing her development in :re as part 1 Touka would have definitely lashed out in justified rage)

We see she's clearly hurt by this in 124 despite her trying desperately to subvert that fact and not showcase that much emotion when Kaneki asks if she's ok. She's obviously not as another home/dream of hers got crushed, and its conveyed so effectively yet subdued without her even saying much via her vulnerable posture and her switching the subject to Hide in order to deal with her own feelings about Yoriko, but also that of how Kaneki felt about both Hide and Touka in this painful situation.

Both distanced themselves from their friends in order to protect them, yet yearned desperately to see them. Kaneki did the same with Touka and Hide, Touka did the same with Yoriko and Haise/Kaneki, and as was revealed via talking about Hide- was something he couldn't do anything about. Because if he thought about it, he'd just be consumed by the desire to see them again. Cue Akon “Lonely, I'm mister lonely” and them rooting like rabbits.

You can see how without even saying anything through her facial expressions how Touka feels,

She’s able to connect everything in regards to how they mutually feel the same about this with their friends and their own feelings for each other. Both were terrified of the other dying.

Which of course led to them finally being able to close that gap of loneliness and pain in which they made love and consummated their relationship.

Despite all the fuckery of the world around them, all the war that they were in, for just one moment they were finally able to experience happiness in the darkness that both had craved for so long with each other, and it speaks volumes to one of the most important and emotionally resonate symbolic messages of the series. Breaking the barrier between both worlds.

Ghoul-Human

Hell speaking about the unplanned pregnancy, let’s go back to the human esc journey. The narrative has explicitly explained the dangers of human food consumption for ghouls since the very beginning.

In her fight with Ayato, it’s clear how this type of lifestyle has considerably weakened her full ghoul potential in reference to her one Ukaku wing

and lack of that cold ghoul intensity she used to have as Shuu states.

As mentioned before, Ayato finds her wanting to be part of human society (that denotes weakness) to be idiotic and dangerous due to what happened with their parents and Arata’s upbringing.

Leading his pursuit for ghoul strength and hatred towards humans in Aogiri (which does change through his own development later on)

Yomo also criticized this during their training via her eating Yorikos food to fit in so much at school (novels and part 1)

and the Itori talk to Kaneki about the failures of ghoul-human hybrids which also gets referenced later with the flawed half humans.

Later we see Touka ask Kaneki about how Eto was kept alive with Yoshimura a ghoul father and Ukina a human mother. The difference of course is the reverse in the situation for a ghoul mother.

And of course Mutsuki’s taunting during their second big fight where Touka was at a clear disadvantage.

SHE KNOWS human food is bad for her body due to its weakening effect. It's been a reoccurring thing for her ever since her upbringing with Arata and what influenced her curiosity in wanting to understand humans and the world they live in. Simultaneously it’s almost like she herself is fighting against that known fact and still trying desperately to fit into some kind of normal human esc style of life as a ghoul when she knows she realistically can't.

To be able to enjoy things like cake, burgers and so forth when her ghoul body prohibits this. After all as ghouls they have no choice but to eat humans. Kaneki himself is even baffled by the lengths she would go just to uphold Yorikos feelings over her own. I mean she could easily just lie and not eat the food at all right?

And yet she still goes the extra mile to not only protect Yorikos feelings whilst endangering herself because she cares so much, but also fight against the notion of her being a ghoul to an almost foolish extent.

It’s why the whole “don’t die, push through me, live” as she’s forcing herself to eat human food to try save her unborn child Ichika is so powerful in contrast to the strong will by Ukina (a human) who actually can digest and cannibalize human meat for her hybrid child Eto.

For a ghoul to eat human food, is essentially like hell, and if she didn't, her body would naturally consume the foetus, furthermore adding to the perception of her being a monster by taking her own child's life. Her chance at becoming a mother and starting a family would be lost. That's why she’s willing to do anything to give her child even the faintest 1% chance of survival, regardless of how it may hurt and weaken her or how slim the possibilities of success are. [x- great commentary by @mamasaiko and @lilacflamesss !)

That’s why her becoming pregnant didn’t hinder her character to me, it restricted her full potential absolutely, but it also presented the opportunity to put her into extremely constrained dangerous scenarios wherein her immense fortitude and willpower would be tested to its limits with regards to her ability to always make choices, for better or for worse. Again it’s that strength we see numerous characters admire from her. The hybrid pregnancy is something that should be a very positive thing and very well is as with the whole hope and symbolic aspect of the series for some semblance of light in the darkness.

It presented the main core message of coexistence in breaking away from the tragic cycle that several characters looked towards, yet it was also one due to situation/wrong timing that added more struggles and tribulations to be faced. THAT’S THE CONFLICTING DILEMMA that was so damn enthralling and stressful AF to bear witness to!

Her being able to make tough choices time and time again whether she likes them or not. The underground alone had her being forced to lead the ghouls (including children) out of danger and leave her loved ones in order to protect herself, her unborn child and the lives of those ghouls. From Yomo,

to 0 squad,

to Hinami all in quick succession… SHE DOESN’T WANT to leave her loved ones, she hates doing that with them having to protect her and being abandoned. But in the situation it’s something she HAS to do by trusting them with that faith. In fact we see in her situation with Hinami how desperately she tries to aid her even with her weakened condition by getting all pissed off.

It was only when Hinami told her to go protect the children did she finally make that choice.

We don't even see her clouded facial expression or her thoughts, their blocked, which further adds the front she's trying so hard to put in order to remain strong and keep going even though we know it's absolutely killing her inside. She tries to reach out Hinami, but she knows she can't waste more time in hesitating with her decision given the situation, because if she did… well they'd all get fucked.

It's also quite poignant to note the arcs of both here. Hinami herself is still by all means a child of sorts, or rather a young adult protecting her older sister figure, as Touka did for her in part 1 and the novels.

Hinami's character development is one for strength and self worth, and it was depicted very beautifully yet sad with her monologue about her own perceived weakness she expressed to Ayato and how she viewed Touka and Kaneki in being a burden to them, hence seeking strength by joining Aogiri.

Hinami was able to fight side by side with Touka in her weakened condition, both watching each others backs.

Which is something that makes Touka proud in how much Hinami has grown, yet it also adds to the whole “living while losing things” in that situation in trusting her strength against such volatile odds in order to press forwards with her own survival, that of her unborn child and that of the other helpless ghouls when she hates doing so but has to do so. Like Ryouko did for Hinami.

Special mention is Hinamis admiration for her stemming all the way from the beginning “strong, delicate, beautiful”. You did wonderfully in becoming all that and more with your development too Hina👏

When she sees Yorikos letter, SHE WANTS TO SAVE HER and you can see how shocked and pained she is her just by her facial expression

but given Goats very volatile position and Kaneki “dying” at the time, she simply can’t as it would jeopardize their whole organization, and thus she chooses her family, Kaneki and their child when Kaneki himself struggles with his own indecisiveness that could have truly been a trap to lure them into action not based on fortified assurance.

This is another instance Kaneki greatly admires in contrast to his flaw in being indecisive and choosing.

The circumstance itself places this cruel obligation on her to make those choices, but she makes them either way because she has to, otherwise as we’ve seen in TG, failure in making a choice leads to more tragedy. Shit even MAKING choice or choosing not to MAKE a choice can still very well result in that. She COULD have very well elected to save Yoriko, similar to how they went to save Hinami in cochlea (with Ayato, Yomo and Banjou squad) or save Kaneki when he get got captured by Aogiri

in contrast to how she elected to save Kaneki in the dragon arc (joining forces with CCG and the ghouls). These are all separate choices due to different circumstances and considerations that she makes within those emotional situations, and I love the little line in 148 that she says to Nishki.

“What should I do?”

She contemplates all the factors and elements available in making a choice. Can they with just the ghouls save Kaneki and Tokyo at large? How do they do that in the first place with the limited resources they have? All she’s known is loss, so... should they just carry on living with that for their own survival when Tokyo is in danger? [x]

Like… there's a lot of unspoken suffering that she was going through in that whole arc alone. Her very own husband and father of their child who called her a monster in the beginning,

became one himself in order to protect them and see her again by devouring most of Tokyo consisting of humans, ghouls and children when they were all on the brink…

That's tough... and really fucked up. But given the pushed situation (that sure could have been subverted prior), a choice had to be made once again in which they'd face the consequences either way.

Whilst I’ve said that a defining trait of hers is that decisiveness and ability to choose, she herself always contemplates her choices and the consequences thereof even when they are purely emotionally driven. Should I do this? Should I do that? What if I had done this? What if I had done that? In fact that’s the thing about TG in general with MANY characters. As a matter of fact it applies to the whole cast in general really.

The choices they make, and how it’s not always about whether they are “right” or “wrong” but about how they’re made and how one continues pushing forward from said choice. “Forever choosing, forever being chosen”

And of course the dilemma between one's desire for even the tiniest semblance of happiness opposed to the tough predicament they face and all the outcomes that results from it that prohibit such.

“Why do things have to be like this?”

Her breakdown at the end of part 1 added greatly to that during the Ainteku raid where they lost everything. She wanted to go help everyone, she didn't want to lose them, yet Yomo stopped her because they had to choose not to in order for them to keep on living with Yoshimura, Irimi and Komas sacrifice, otherwise it would have all been for naught. “Live while losing things”

Kaneki chose to go fight in order to aid/protect everyone because he was tired of not being able to do anything anymore. As a result, it led to his subsequent “death” and tragedy (with the exception of buying time for Irima and Koma v Arima)

In fact he ponders what if he had chosen to stay away and gone with Touka and Yomo. Perhaps he'd have been able to work with them in the new cafe?

Perhaps if Touka and Yomo went to fight with Kaneki they'd make a difference? Perhaps if Kaneki didn't go all alone in 143 of :re the situation may have played out differently in contrast to how Furuta exposed him?

The answer is yes, no, maybe, maybe not. No one knows, and it's easy to continuously contemplate every single possibility and theoretical outcome. All that matters is how they have to make those tough choices and live with them, no matter the cost.

Also the fact that we only rarely see her true vulnerable, insecure and visible emotions other then when she's like... angry or something is another trait I find very interesting. Because when we do, it’s impactful and hits home just how much she tends to internalize within herself. In other words, the front she puts on. Her always suppressing her emotions with that strong mental fortitude speaks volumes of the struggles she continuously undergoes internally and externally.

That emotional breakdown was just building bruh.

The fact that we don’t have to be told exactly what she’s thinking or how she’s feeling, but are rather shown how she’s trying to hold herself together even with her face either turned away from the reader or her turning her back in several panel illustrations denotes so many melancholic elements to be interpreted within the story.

Another side note- some are actually quite funny and aesthetically appealing to me. She just looks so tired/bored and like... done with everything with those half lidded eyes that convey so much (Idk I just relate heavy AF with that😂)

Hence always looking for those subtle details in her character that add so many layers. Ooo also the times when we get to see both her eyes (true feelings), that's super cool.

Relying on the strength of others is not weak in wanting to help protect them. I mean nothing is wrong at all in wanting to become stronger by yourself for the sake of others, but going completely solo and shouldering all those burdens with just one's own strength is completely detrimental to the highest degree.

In fact her fighting with that pregnant condition when she shouldn’t have and being able to fend for herself before said condition along with her Ukaku stamina issues, stress, lack of sleep and starving inevitably prohibited her full potential is in itself also inspiring. Like dude wtf she's out here fighting with all those disadvantaged restrictions that endanger her? That's badass. Being faced with the predicament of WHAT TO DO versus WHAT ONE CAN DO with limited means. And yet with all that, she still dug Kaneki from dragon by herself after fending off Mutsuki

and the dragon clones

with the timely aid of Urie, Saiko. Even Mutsuki, the one she fought prior and tried to reach out to peacefully given the dire situation and not their own personal differences.

Symbolically the wife of Kaneki, and children of Haise Sasaki came together to save him in that instance with the foreshadowing of the Qs and dragon.

Touka was key to the dragon arc in general. That was the point of the whole arc, further showing the fruits of her development as well, combining strength with others, both humans and ghouls. All elements needed each other to succeed. There’s a reason Hide went out to look for Touka in the ghoul camp.

Not to mention how crucially important these two are throughout the narrative in reference to the fool's journey namely the Magician (Hide) and the High Priestess (Touka) to the fool (Kaneki)

“The Magician and High Priestess are absolutely equal in importance and value. Each is necessary for balance” [x]

He himself was extremely vital in gathering all the different sides and information for the pieces to be in place such as Marude, Urie, Kimi with the CCG, recruiting Amon and Akira, and of course Touka with the ghouls.

Touka leading the ghouls there after being ignited by Shuus emotional fire speech

and all the assurance to combine their strength and efforts with the CCG was a true indication of that. Great stuff by all 3 Aces (Touka, Hide, Shuu) right there. [nice catch! @kanekikenunot]

Touka coming up with the ring idea was of extreme importance, in fact it was the very idea that kick started the whole operation in the first place!

Beforehand was her translating the underground ghoul dialect thanks to Ayatos adventure underground

in order to form the pieces necessary to ignite the operation by condensing the seemingly impossible search for Kaneki to being more focused and fortified to the point that they could track him down with Shuu and Mirimos influence with the metal detectors.

Worthy note is the perception she emits to Hide in always not being able to save Kaneki and him always saving her. We know she has saved him numerous times physically, emotionally, and mentally and the same with Kaneki to her, but it's important to note how she mentions “this time”.

It's like despite all the times they've saved each other with all those different aspects, something always caused them to get separated or to face more and more suffering painting all the times as somewhat futile. And this time, given the monster he's become, she means to truly save him at all costs no matter what.

And my god, chapter 160 is one of my favorites due to the parallel with 145 where Kaneki lost control becoming dragon with it having no dialogue whatsoever in favor of pure visual storytelling.

You could just feel the sheer immense strain, pressure, rampant despair and pain of Touka desperately trying to save her husband.

A Silent Scream is what I call these two chapters that I talked about before, wherein the omission of words paints the whole “a picture is worth a thousand words”.

Her breakdown was so emotionally resonate with how we hardly see her like that. Referencing back to the visuals without having to be shown lines of text or dialogue. Something as simple as her finding Kanekis hand grasping her parents ring (the bond that ties their own marriage together) in pressing forward like a centipede with Touka as his sole motivation and strength, is definitely something that destroys her in which you can just hear the horrifying scream she emits.

Because she's not just reminded of her impending failure with the current situation, but also the tragedy that befell her own parents, and the cycle of revenge she was a part of with Mado that aided in her ability to empathize with Akira and Amon. [good eye! @dreamofcentipedes]

It's these little tiny details that are always there, and while sure some may be a stretch in providing more depth/ over reaching, they remain considerations that add so much. For a moment she ponders if the tragic cycle is something they'll never be able to break free from, whether it's something that will always keep them trapped in the birdcage, unable to fly towards a clear blue sky, something she always looks towards in many panel illustrations. [x]

And yet despite it all she never gave up, her faith kept pushing her forwards to continue the mission. And she was able to succeed. Her efforts and choices were not in vain.

Yo... scope this little line here.. “Don't push yourself ok”

Touka… Dude… We don't deserve you honestly. Finna say that after all the fuckery you just went through in pushing yourself... smh

Still out here not resting waiting for your man's to wake up and be ok.

Top tier I swear...(PLS GET SOME SLEEP)

Which then shows another instance of that non verbal communication during her embrace with Kaneki. Within that one swift motion and the “thump” sound effect presumably of their hearts beating, she conveyed all she needed to without having to say anything.

Thank goodness she was finally able to rest by the end and chill with Saiko is best Saiko, because honestly… She needed that.

And although she had to continue waiting (god how long has she had to that ?) for her loved ones to return,

that fierce faith was fortunately rewarded with Ayato and Kaneki returning in the end.

Like I said, one of the many reasons I admire Toukas strength so much is that it strays away from the typical norm that would usually warrant a narrative tool in making one “weaker” via the ghoul-human journey just for the sake of it or for her to be “helpless”.

“Go, you are not just some onlooker, nor are you powerless. You just have other things to protect right?”-Yomo

And I just… really want to root for her to overcome all the odds that are placed in her and everyone else's paths in whatever way they can. “Strength in weakness, weakness in strength”

It’s not exactly an underdog story classification, but instead to me points out an interesting conflict between ones seemingly futile (at the time given the high failure rate) yet deepest desires/ wishes for some semblance of hopeful happiness in the world. And ones need to survive by any limited means often being forced to make hard to impossible choices accordingly so to protect and live with the few means available to them that they can achieve by themselves alone, and or with that of others.

Bruh… I could go on rambling forever and I'd still be missing several points😓 that many others have mentioned too. But essentially her undying love, selflessness, compassion, faith, and strength are qualities that have always stood out to me in their own right since the beginning until the very end. And in general it’s just truly satisfying that by the end all her suffering, waiting and perseverance paid off. Although it was never explicitly stated, many (including myself) speculate that she did open up another coffee shop by the end, which would be a really nice ribbon bow touch to that as well. 3rd times the charm?

She was finally to gain the normal life that she never thought possible with the combined efforts of both sides, the worlds that Kaneki found a place in. Being able to peacefully live with her family, husband, baby girl Ichika (with another boyo on the way) and loved ones.

Her wish for happiness was granted.

Personally Toukas character journey has truly been a pleasure to witness over over the course of the series, and it’s one that has forever put her in such a special place in my heart, compelling flaws and all😄

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arkus-rhapsode · 7 years ago

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What If Azuma Turned Good? A Fairy Tail Discussion

Hey there guys! Rhapsode here, and this is something different I wanted to try. After being inspired by other creators like MasakoX, I wanted to try my hand with the “what if” scenario game only with Fairy Tail. I thought it would be nice to start of with an interesting villain character that sadly didn’t get much done with him so I thought I would ask the question, ‘What if Azuma turned good?” I don’t know if this’ll be a permanent thing, but if you want to see more stuff like this done by me, please send feedback. Also, I need to put this as a disclaimer.

This is completely a fan based work, this isn’t me saying the series of Fairy Tail would’ve been better with this change. This is just simply me wanting to explore a scenario for fun. Also in terms of context this will be me building off what Mashima has already made, there won’t be any drastic changes in canon from before this what if, so for good r for ill thing like Lisanna still being alive, Jellal still having been controlled by Ultear, and Juvia being gaga for Gray still exists regardless if I think they were good story choices or not. With all that said, let’s ask, what if Azuma became good?

So we open all the way back on the Tenrou Island arc, where Azuma makes his first appearance easily defeating Rune Knight and Pantherlily. Azuma at this point shows himself off as cold and unfeeling to things that stand in his way. He meets Mirajane and Lisanna, provoking Mira into a fight. Though instead of a bomb Azuma just captures Lisanna in branches saying that he’ll crush her, which causes Mira to attack.

After a brief scuffle, Azuma comes out on top, securing himself as a threat to FT, but shows a level of nuance to his character by refusing to kill Mirajane out of respect for this fight that she gave him. This moment is crucial for Azuma as character as it illustrates he is not another cut and dry villain, but has a layer of depth that separates him from guys like Yomazu, Kawazu, Kain, and Zancrow.

Eventually we get to the climactic battle where Azuma and Erza fight, stating that his purpose for join Grimoire Heart was find himself a worthy opponent and he sees that in Erza. After a long battle, Azua looks like he has the upper hand and Terra Clamare on Erza. This results in and almost decisive win for Azuma and he gets a scene where he turns his back a utters some catchy badass anime warrior thing like, “You fought well, Titania”. But Erza survives and with her last ounce of strength she strikes and cuts through Azuma.

Now in canon, this is where Azuma dies, but in this universe, Erza still wins, but her slash doesn’t kill Azuma, but rather cuts of his right arm. This way we don’t diminish the badassery of Erza’s comeback, but we don’t make it so overblown that it seem like overcompensating. This also is symbolic for Azuma as not only has he tasted defeat at someone who is stronger than him, but Azuma also now has lost right arm thus crippling him and significantly breaking his pride as a warrior. With Azuma not dying, he and Erza manage to talk for a little bit, with him questioning how she got so strong that not even lost magic could beat her. Erza states that it was due to having a place that she could return home to, that she didn’t want to let down Fairy Tail. Azuma hears this and says that it must be some great place.

When Azuma asks to be killed, Erza refuses, showing the same respect Azuma showed Mira, but Azuma does manage to pay her back by revealing the part of the Grimoire airship that stores Hades’ devil heart. (Which when we think about it makes more sense why team Natsu would take the fight to Hades’ airship). The battle still commences with Azuma, after patching himself a bit, leaving Tenrou before Acnologia shows up, I mean, Ultear and Meredy made it out of Tenrou and in filler Rustyrose did, so it isn’t farfetched that Azuma couldn’t. And here’s the big moment, Acnologia “kills” FT, with many like Lahar, Mest, and yes, Azuma watching.

We go 7 years into the future, with Romeo coming back to FT after a mission, and I mean the first FT building, FT never lost it. We see Romeo return to FT, but he is harassed by a few Twilight Ogre mages who make fun of the fact FT has kids working at it and all of their mages are weak now if their best couldn’t beat a dragon. Romeo is stopped from fighting by Master Macao who says to not deal with them. Here Romeo highlights the actual problem with this universe’s FT and not because they are financially struggling, but rather they have no respect and are seen as a second rate guild by the tabloids and big name guilds like Sabertooth.

However, we see another big change with this universe and it is an Azuma who is doing missions for FT. Azuma is now an ally to FT, but not a mage for FT, rather he did work in their time of need after Tenrou was destroyed as a way of paying back Erza, however he is not a member of FT. As Azuma’s sense of honor is why he is working to support FT, but his sense of guilt for what he did to members like Pantherlily, Mira, and Lisanna still haunt him.

I have to imagine Azuma looks different as well given the whole time skip redesign. My image of him is that he has shaved his hair, but kept those two little hair locks in front of his forehead and still has his goatee. Also his outfit having changed, still rocking the baggy pants, but his top resembles loose short-sleeved African-style robes, still with his green and orange color scheme. The biggest change in his appearance he now has a wooden arm that his manipulates with his magic (and this will come into play later) Azuma also now lives in East Forest close to Porlyusica and she doesn’t mind him as he is one with nature, making a hut out of trees with cutting them down and living off self farmed food.

An issue with Azuma being an ally with FT and not a member also crops up as while FT is grateful for what he has done, they are now looked down even more as “outsourcers”. When someone , lets just say Jet, suggests getting rid of Azuma, the person who comes to the defense of Azuma is Laki. Yeah, I wanted to take some time to at least re introduce some of the FT cast who was the background cast, and while guys like Nab having a running gag, Jet and Droy being tied to shadow gear, Macao and Romeo being already helped members of the guild and Max fighting Natsu, there really is nothing to reintroduce Laki except that she is also the other female in the group. So why not give her some tether to a Azuma, and the reason why… Well let’s dive into that later.

Suddenly, all of FT is off with BP who have revealed the re appearance of Tenrou with Azuma also coming along. They all meet and there’s definitely some awkward reunions with FT and Azuma. Erza isn’t quick to jump into forgiveness and Mira is still pissed after the whole almost crushing Lisanna. Laki seems to be the only one who speaks up for all the good Azuma has done and Laxus even states that they should forgive Azuma if they were capable of forgiving him and if what Laki is saying is true then Azuma has done more for the guild than Laxus has. However, while guys like Natsu, Happy, and Gajeel take to Azuma easily, there is still conflict between him and Mira.

We then get an eventual goading into the games as each of the tenrou FT members realize just how outclassed they are now: maybe Natsu meets Sting and Rogue Early and is shaken by learning that they could beat a dragon while he couldn’t, Gray meeting and sparring against Lyon only to discover that he can’t lay a finger on them, Erza seeing Jellal again and feeling how much more power he has now etc (there’s a whole bunch of ways that team tenrou could’ve come to realize how far their star has fallen. This leads into them wanting to train and instead of Ultear just hacking their bodies to grow even stronger, they do actual training. Speaking of Ultear, she knows of Azuma’s involvement with FT, but knows he has no interest in destroying Zeref and rather has something else, which we will get to.

Azuma offers to train team Fairy Tail, putting them through a trial that’ll hopefully make them stronger for the tournament. While this happens, Makarov is able to speak with Azuma and questions why he’s done all this and Azuma reveals he still holds a great respect for Erza and what she has done for him is worth being paid back a hundredfold. He states that he also sees Erza as his one true rival and that he refuses to fight her again till she is at her best, thinking that beating her now would be unsatisfying. This shows Azuma still has some of his old habits like his lust for battle, but now it isn’t the only thing about him. Finally, the GMG comes and all of team FT shine with their own events, however during the end of day one, something very important happens. Erza meets Kagura as well as Azuma. Erza is deeply troubled by meeting Kagura, feeling her enormous power and conviction. Azuma meeting Kagura results in him feeling the same sensation of setting her sights on Erza as he has had.

When Azuma begins to talk to Erza they both discuss her ability and that she can beat Kagura. Erza is still doubtful as Kagura’s sword style is almost the opposite of her magic, this leads to Azuma showing Erza his fake arm and recounts a tale when he first began assisting FT. Remember that Laki loyalty? Well the reason why is in the first few months of helping FT, Azuma was working with only one arm. Laki had followed him and witnessed Azuma’s arc of the Great Tree. Laki really is impressed by the wood magic and reveals her Wood-Make skill. Laki shows him the basis for remaking his arm with his wood. It isn’t crazy as Ur was able to remake her leg from ice. Azuma with his new arm developed a whole new fighting style with his tree arm. The moral of his tale is that what seems like a weakness can lead to developing a whole new skill. Overhearing this is Mirajane who still is uneasy about Azuma.

On the second day, Mira does snap at Azuma when he says the she might want to use her satan soul sitri. Mira wins without the use of sitri (and lets be fair Jenny isn’t that tough). Eventually we get to the dragons where Azuma and Ultear met again killing hatchlings. Ultear knows why Azuma has also helped FT and states that she knows the limit of the arc of the great tree and that’s Azuma will become a tree eventually. Yeah, did you think I forgot about that little limit to Azuma’s magic. This creates Azuma’s goal outside of seeing Erza as a rival and that is he is searching for a way to stop his magic from turning him into a tree.

Eventually GMG ends and we go to Tartarus, but not before a little exchange with Warrod in the Sun Village when Erza mentions that Azuma is a tree mage like Warrod, but when saying Azuma uses arc of the great tree magic specifically, Warrod reveals the sad part of that magic and how after prolonged uses of it it’ll eventually turn him into a tree. Erza, who also fought hatchlings realizes that Azuma’s new style wasn’t only to to regain his arm, but also to limit how much of his magic he uses. As well as there being a double meaning to Azuma’s story of your weakness being turned into a new skill.

Before Tartaros we also might get some lip service as Azuma is off searching for that ability to stop him from becoming a tree and that’s why he doesn’t show up for a while. But it just so happens that when FT is looking for the councillors Azuma is in the same town as Elfman and Lisanna. (Hey plot convenience still exists) Azuma she’s the now Macro controlled Elfman and when trying to stop him, Sayla wants Elfman to defeat Azuma as Sayla flees with Lisanna.

Azuma subdues Elfman, and while he brings him back to FT to warn about Tartaros, there is a bomb dropped on the FT building, but thanks to Cana, everybody is safe. While many go off to fight their own battles, Azuma and Elfman go to save Mira and Lisanna. This leads to Sayla and Lamby fighting the two, but not off the cuff. Sayla offers both Azuma and Elfman chances to join Tartaros as she can take away Azuma’s fear of becoming a tree, but Azuma says he won’t throw away all he’s done with Ft and justifies this by saying that he’s “dying to fight an etherios”. Eventually Mira joins Azuma in fighting Sayla while in Sitri form. Elfman goes to help Lisanna with Lamby, because he won’t lose his little sister again. Azuma and Mira come to terms with each other as they beat and Sayla and this means that all members of FT now forgive Azuma from Tenrou. However, the good times don’t last as After Tartaros, FT is disbanded.

We get to the Avatar arc after one year and Natsu runs across Azuma after a tip he got from Lyon. Why Lyon? Well as a rival to Gray, I think over the one year where Azuma travels to find a way of preventing his magic from turning him into a tree, Lyon and Azuma met and bonded over the rivalries they have with FT members. Now, Azuma is still struggling to figure out how to prevent himself from becoming a tree, but Natsu comes into ask him to become a full fledged member of FT. Azuma says he can’t do that, but Natsu shuts him up and says that everyone forgives Azuma and accepts as well as being together means they could help him search for a cure to his magic. Azuma is silent and Natsu says they need to speak to each other a different way and that’s via a battle. It is short, but ultimately Azuma accepts the offer to joining the new team FT. They also bring back Gray in the assault on Acatar and all that jazz with Ikusa-tsunagi. Azuma is now an FT mage, but still searching for his cure saying if he does find it, he wants to fight Erza.

Azuma doesn’t go to Alvarez to pick up Makarov, but an important event happens with Dimaria’s introduction as Brandish and Dimaria’s banter leads to a small nod about Dimaria being unable to to fully call her magic her own. A little foreshadowing to God soul and possibly something else, perhaps?

Another important moment is the assault lead by Ajeel as Erza’s participation in it is what DImaria takes interest in and sets her sights on DImaria and is why she wants the southern front, because that’s where Erza went. Azuma also ends up in the southern front with Wendy, Gray, Laxus, and Juvia. Also in the south is Lamia Scale so not only do we get a reunion with Wendy and Chelia, but also a small cameo of Lyon and Azuma interacting.

We see, Dimaria killing a bunch of people with her besting Kagura after we see Dimaria drink from an odd liquid. This liquid is odd as she drinks from it right before she attacks. When Dimaria learns that Neinhart lost to Erza she goes after her, but Azuma, Wendy, and Chelia interfere. This leads to the reveal of Chronos and the time stop. Ultear reappears saving the three and states that she became one with time thanks to Last Ages that she used in the GMG arc. Azuma is stunned by this, but the CHronos attacks, who also starts to seem different from the old DImaria. We see Chronos take a swig from that same odd drink and she begins to sound like Dimaria again. Dimaria reveals that god soul is different from other take over as the take over is able to retain its individuality. (We saw this in the manga with a sudden personality shift from her normal self to more Chronos like in Chronos form) The liquid we’ve seen her drink is actually an element to negate Chronos from fully taking over, saying it was harvested from some rare fruit or lake with the ability to suppress a certain quality of magic.

Chronos wipes the floor with the three, Wendy getting beat to the point she can’t continue. Chelia knows that she stands the best chance, but Chronos is too powerful. Azuma then knows that last ages performed a miracle, at the cost of becoming one is the magic, so Azuma decides to sacrifice all restraint by using all of his Arc of the Great Tree and becoming a tree. When Wendy yells at him over what he is doing the states it’s okay and that if he’s going to die here “He’s going to do it against the most powerful challenge he’s ever faced giving everything he has”.

Super Azuma and Chronos fight and it is big, with tree manipulation and clock hands made of magic flying and explosion. Azuma gets to the point where he knows his limit so he ennares Dimaria in a massive tree trunk piston and has Chelia finish her off with her Sky God power. This works as Dimaria falls, but Azuma slowly becomes a tree. Chelia tries to grab the liquid Dimaria was using to make Azuma human again, but being a spoilsport, Dimaria destroys the liquid and says that Azuma can rot. Azuma becomes a tree, but thanks Fairy Tail for giving him more than he possibly would have wanted. Chelia feels very bad, but during this Wendy says that if Dimaria has been using that liquid for long, then she can go find where it is made in Alvarez and get it.

Wendy tells Azuma to wait, but she goes off to Fight with Irene and uses Azuma’s sacrifice as extra conviction of not wanting anyone else to die her in this war.

Finally, Azuma gets one little cameo as team Lamia Scale is hanging out by his tree form before FT arrives at Hargeon and says they need Fairy Sphere. We get the huge holding hands moment with Meredy even connecting to what is Azuma and in the epilogue we see Wendy and Laki embarking to Alvarez to find a cure for Azuma.

So that’s my idea of what would’ve happen if Azuma had became good. Please, tell me what you thought, and if you would like me to do more stuff like these, let me know. Hope you had fun and I’ll see you next time.

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salarta · 7 years ago

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I’m going to say some things nobody wants to hear. Good chance that nobody cares about either. Oh well. This is my Tumblr.

Every company and creator telegraphs their intent well in advance of what they do. It’s not just a matter of watching what they’ve said and done, you also have to look at what they don’t say and do. What they don’t say and do is often where the real revealing hints lie.

With X-Men Blue and Polaris, we had two glaringly obvious hints via what wasn’t said. We had an editor who was briefly supportive of Polaris suddenly go silent for months, and we had a writer who couldn’t be bothered to talk about Polaris at all but could muster enough enthusiasm for writing Havok that he giddily teased it weeks in advance.

In poker, these are tells. You can make a very good educated guess from these bits alone.

X-Men Blue #8 came out this past Wednesday and while apparently everyone else loved it, I was absolutely pissed. Everyone else focused on Polaris simply busting down a wall and ignored the much more important tells: dialogue and text box. These two bits of actual writing placed Lorna’s value exclusively on being Magneto’s daughter and Havok’s ex-girlfriend.

They backed up the tells we already had prior to the X-Men Blue #8, particularly Bunn’s much stronger interest in Havok than in Polaris.

Now here’s the part where I explain why that’s a huge problem.

For most of her character history, Polaris having anything to do with Havok has screwed her over. Because Marvel, and more specifically Chris Claremont, decided she needed to exist mainly for Havok’s benefit, every ounce of her potential was stripped away across decades.

She lost her spot as one of the X-Men. She lost her relationships with Jean Grey and Iceman. She lost her tough feminist attitude in favor of a weepy scared girlfriend that needs men like Havok to rescue her, and what toughness she did have was vilified with Malice possessing her to ensure any return of her tough feminist attitude was seen in a negative light. Before Claremont was through with her, he even stripped away her power over magnetism and turned her into a generic bruiser type.

Because of Claremont, Polaris had no origin story until 2012. That’s 44 years without an origin story. She also didn’t get to lead a team of her own until 2014. All of this loss is because of Claremont, and who did Claremont use most often as his instrument of character assassination?

Havok.

Right now, Havok is a symbol of decades of mistreatment and lost potential for the character. Yet, his heavy promotion by Claremont in contrast to tearing Polaris down means a lot of fans who grew up on his work and have a lot of nostalgia for his run believe he treated these two right. They believe Havok is a golden boy who deserves countless opportunities, while Polaris is some loser supporting character for Havok who deserves nothing good for herself.

Note: I am NOT saying all fans of Havok think this way, and I am NOT saying all people who happen to like the Polaris and Havok relationship think this way either. I’m talking about a specific subset of fans who grew up with Claremont and see every single thing he did as the holy grail of all things X-Men.

Right now, how Bunn has talked about Havok, not talked about Polaris, and how he’s written both their introductions in X-Men Blue sends this message: “I agree with Claremont that Havok is better, Polaris is worse, and I believe he treated each the way they should be treated.”

If he didn’t think this way, he would have been at least as eager to talk about Polaris as he has been with Havok. He would have introduced Polaris either before Havok or at about the same time. He definitely would not have given Havok nearly two full issues of development before Polaris, and then made the first words out of her mouth about their relationship, as if that’s the only reason for her to be present.

But he doesn’t want to talk about Polaris. He chose, consciously or subconsciously, to introduce her as a character with no motives or interests outside those of the two big men in her life.

This is where some people might think I’m overreacting. This is where I defend why I’m taking this so goddamn hard.

For years now, I’ve said loudly and repeatedly that Polaris and Havok should remain apart for at least 10 years. This wasn’t an arbitrary number to “punish” Havok or the relationship. I chose this time frame deliberately.

Every single goddamn time they’re put together again, Polaris and every ounce of her potential gets thrown under the bus for Havok’s sake. Every goddamn time. With a lot of thought, I came to the conclusion that it’s not the relationship itself that’s the problem, it’s that Marvel’s never permitted Polaris to have enough development in her own right without Havok around for it to work.

Ten years apart for Polaris and Havok was meant to give them a chance to actually work as a couple some day.

We’ve only had 6 years with them apart, not counting Havok’s appearances on All-New X-Factor, before Bunn said “Fuck that, I wanna write them interacting again.”

Or at least, I gather it’s Bunn’s fault. His excitement to hype up Havok and complete lack of enthusiasm for Polaris tells me this isn’t just editorial forcing something down his throat. He wanted to write this in exactly the way he’s writing it. I’d have given him benefit of doubt if he had shown one iota of interest in Polaris in the months before X-Men Blue #8 hit shelves.

But back to the topic at hand.

Choosing to write Polaris and Havok heavily interacting again, and being so happy about it, comes with only two possible interpretations. Neither are flattering.

One, the nicer one, is that he’s cocky as hell and thinks he can do it right after only 6 years when many other writers before him failed miserably. I can say right now with absolute, you-can-kill-me-if-I’m-wrong certainty: it will not work. In the miraculous fantasy land scenario where Bunn somehow doesn’t fuck it up like anyone would (seriously, I wouldn’t even trust Neil Gaiman on this), someone else after him will. Most likely someone assigned to do it by Tom Brevoort.

Two, the far worse interpretation: Bunn actually wants to ruin Polaris and can’t wait to do it. He might try to make their first encounter look like it’s for Polaris’ benefit, but that would be a cover for future plans to tear her down. Which is the Marvel way. Marvel gave Polaris a good presence during Secret War, then threw her into forced limbo for two years. Same deal. Initial good appearances to undermine calling out future poor treatment.

“Polaris interacting with Havok is bad and they need to stay apart for 10 years first” is not a challenge to prove me wrong. It’s a statement of fact. It will end poorly for Polaris.

Their relationship was 6 years into those 10 years needed apart, if I generously exclude Havok’s appearances on All-New X-Factor and the past 2 years of forced limbo for Polaris.

As soon as X-Men Blue #9 comes out, Bunn will have officially reset that clock. The clock doesn’t start back up until they’re separated again. Then we have to wait 10 more years.

One more note: People at Marvel only pull this “Polaris and Havok need to be around each other” shit when it benefits Havok.

Recently, Havok was a star on Uncanny Avengers. He got to be in Axis. He got to be on one of the covers used to celebrate the X-Men franchise’s anniversary, and it was him as he was introduced in the 60s, alongside four of the original 5 X-Men.

Where was Polaris in all of this? Where the fuck was her chance to appear on Uncanny Avengers, to take part in Axis, to be acknowledged for her long history with the X-Men that predates Havok?

Nowhere. She got none of it. When it was about Havok getting the spotlight, Marvel couldn’t give a single shit about their “great relationship” and what Polaris offers.

But now, when Fox is about to feature Polaris as part of The Gifted? Suddenly Marvel thinks it’s absolutely essential to force the relationship on her. Suddenly, it’s absolutely essential to Marvel to make sure everyone knows Polaris has this long history of being a supporting character for Havok.

Suddenly, when the shoe’s on the other foot, Marvel thinks it’s vital to make sure everyone thinks Havok is the most fucking important thing about Polaris and everything else about her doesn’t even matter next to him. It’s just so crucial in Marvel’s eyes to rob Polaris of any chance to build her own character, all to put this blonde white man on a higher pedestal he doesn’t deserve.

Because ~nostalgia~! Fucking nostalgia.

I don’t trust Bunn with Polaris anymore. It’s as simple as that. He saw the biggest thing that shouldn’t be done right now and did it. He did it without the slightest semblance of care about Polaris herself.

I can’t trust any writer who looks at the damage Havok’s done to Polaris across decades, sees how much development Lorna needs in her own right before having anything to do with him again, and says to himself, “I just gotta put them together again.” Anyone that’s put real thought into what Lorna needs right now would know better than to do this.

I expect Bunn to crash Lorna’s character in a ditch, try to destroy all the progress she’s made, possibly ruin Magneto for her in the same way Claremont ruined Havok, and then proceed to throw Lorna away and focus entirely on Havok. The character he actually cares about.

This is where I usually say I’ll apologize if I’m wrong, but I already know for a fact that I’m not wrong. This is what’s going to happen. Bunn already told me with his tells. At this point, I’m just waiting for him to do the things I already know he’s going to do so I can react to them as I already plan to react to them.

I’m not here for petty beat-Havok-up revenge fantasies in X-Men Blue #9 to cover up future issues royally screwing her over. I’m here for Lorna. If revenge fantasies meant more to me than seeing my favorite character get the respect she deserves, I would’ve looked for an artist that’s cool with drawing Lorna beating the shit out of him a looooong time ago.

Lorna is not merely an extension of the men in her life. Stop treating her like she is and let her be her own character with her own values and interests and motives for fucking once.

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dillongaggiaa2media-blog · 8 years ago

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Evaluation Question: Comparison

“In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?”

Although the definitions of codes and conventions may be common knowledge at this point in my media career at A2, it is important to keep in mind exactly what they are, so I know what I should use as reference when creating my own content.

Codes are simply devices used in media products, (also called micro elements) that make up the whole, finished product (also called the macro representation). These include symbolic, technical, enigma, institutional and referential codes and they are everything that the audience sees, hears, thinks and feels. For example, institutional codes make the studio that created the film known to the audience in the form of titles appearing at the beginning and end of a film. Enigma codes, however, are within the film itself and make the audience ask questions, keeping them captivated. Conventions could be described as ‘generally accepted’ ways of showing things - they define what is ‘okay’ to do and what is not and work together with codes to create the entire film.

Main Task - Short Film

In order to ensure that I cover every aspect of my short film in terms of the way it uses, develops and challenges forms and conventions of real media products, I will break it down systematically into its core elements; location, costume/props, cinematography, editing and narrative. I will show how I have taken inspiration from, developed further or challenged the conventions of each respective element within the genre.

Location

My short film is set in the modern day. The genre of the film is leaning towards comedy, although the focus of the film is a fantasy-type world that the character lives in. Nevertheless, the general setting is everyday locations such as a suburban house and a school. As most media texts of this genre share this setting, my short film is conventional.

^ This image shows the location of the protagonist’s house. It is a quiet area, showing that the he and the other characters in the short film are all ‘normal people’. This was the intended setting for the film, as it allows for the plot to occur (it allows the protagonist, Will, to enter and exit his dream world and return to the normal one, thus creating the comedic effect). Many comedy films are set in the modern day, as they allow for the creation of everyday scenarios that the audience can relate to. For instance, a comedy set in either the future or the past would have to make reference to elements of the modern day in order for humour to be understood or even created.

An example of a modern comedy film that is set in the modern day is Office Christmas Party:

^ Released late 2016, Office Christmas Party follows all the conventions of a comedy film, the setting included. It is set in modern day, in an office building, where the majority of the film takes place. This is an environment that is common to and is visited by many people everyday - the audience will understand e.g. office etiquette and the hierarchical system of employee and employer, allowing a film in the comedy genre to take advantage of this and break these conventions to create humorous situations that would otherwise need more context or exposition to be understood.

The same is seen in my short film, except I have not limited myself to just one location; my short film takes place across a wide range of locations, from an ordinary suburban house, to a school, to a library. In this way, the setting appeals to every kind of person. Although the intended audience for my media product is young adults, especially as the protagonist of the film is themselves a young adult, the scenes in the film are set in areas recognisable by everyone, where comedy can easily be created by subverting conventions of everyday social situations without explanation as to why what the audience is seeing or hearing is funny - it is easily understood.

Costume / Props

Costume

The mise en scène costume codes are both conventional and unconventional for the kind of short film that I am creating. For example:

^ The protagonist, Will, is wearing clothing that is appropriate to the time setting of the short film. He is wearing a hoodie with jeans and trainers, so his costume not only matches the current time period, but also the conventional/stereotypical clothes of people his age. However, the colour of his clothes is what truly characterises the protagonist - the colour grey is commonly associated with darkness or depression, along with black, but instead of creating a sombre atmosphere like one might suspect, it serves to represent the difference between Will and the rest of the characters in the film world. Whereas everyone else is wearing ‘normal’ clothes, i.e. modern clothing, Will seeks to be different.

Additionally, Will’s apparel changes all throughout the film, depending on which dream he is in. In each of the dreams, he is dressed as stereotypically as possible to represent the character he is supposed to be. For instance, when Will is dreaming of being a spy, the audience would be able to connote from his outfit that he is in fact a spy due to the mise en scène costume code of a black trench coat and fedora.

Another example of appropriate mise en scène costume codes in my short film is when Will is dreaming about being a professional footballer;

The audience can easily tell from his outfit what he is supposed to be - he is wearing a standard ‘football kit’.

Props

The props used in my short film this year are a lot more involved than last year, making them a lot more conventional as well. For example, I wanted the protagonist to be the kind of person that is interested in fantasy. The way I decided to show this was physically, in the form of a prop.

^ As one of the ‘dream sequences’ that the protagonist was to go through involved him being dressed as a spy, I thought it fitting to merge the genres of fantasy and a spy-thriller in a comic book prop. However, as I was not able to find any material that I could deem usable for the short film, I had to create the comic book covers myself. As it was not necessary for the audience to see the inside of the comic book, only the creation of the exterior was required. As the prop was only to be seen by the audience for a short amount of time, simplicity in the design was crucial, so the audience could tell immediately what type of comic book it is - therefore, I named the comic book “SPY”, in large letters on the front. The small details add a lot to his character and helps conform to the convention that the main character of a film is usually a little bit different than everyone else. I have made another blog post on the creation of the covers.

Another example of a prop that was required for one of the dream sequences was an electric guitar. This is as Will dreams in the short film that he is playing the riff of a song (”Layla” by Eric Clapton) on the guitar.

^ This is from the shortest dream in the short film, and occurs when Will is walking to school, listening to the same song. The guitar was required for the verisimilitude of this scene.

This scene does not necessarily challenge the conventions of other short films, but the audience does not expect it; a character listening to music is something you might see quite often, but having them play the song they are listening to is unique to my short film and feels more natural due to the fantasy-comedy genre.

Cinematography

The cinematography of my short film is quite conventional of comedies. There is a mixture of all different types of shot. This is as there is not a specific theme required that the shots have to follow, but rather that the shots I used had to be the most appropriate for the situation. For example, an audience might expect to see many close-ups or extreme close-ups in a drama film, as that is the best kind of shot to evoke emotion from an audience, as the they can clearly see the character’s facial expressions, whereas in my short film, many different shot types were required to match the situation and to give every scene a different feeling/emotion/atmosphere.

^ One of the few close-ups in the short film, used here in a conversation between Will and another character.

^ A still from Titanic (1997), where a close-up is used of the protagonist Jack, incorporated through an over-the-shoulder shot. In this way, the cinematography of my short film uses conventions that are seen across various media products, adapting them for my use.

Editing

Continuity

I made use of continuity techniques all throughout my short film in order to ensure that it was smooth and enjoyable to view.

Here, match on action is used to continue the shot of Will walking up to the sign on the bookcase to the next shot where he points to the “sport” section. Match on action is a very conventional editing method and is seen across all kinds of media products. Another editing technique that I made use of was shot-reverse-shot.

Shot-reverse-shot is used during a conversation between Will and Ben in the library. This technique allows me to show which character is speaking and also allows me to show the facial expressions / reactions of a character to what the other person said. Above, Will and Ben talk about a football game that they saw, with the first shot also incorporating an over-the-shoulder shot of Ben. This is a very conventional method of editing and can be seen in many media products (like the example above from Titanic).

Additionally, I used continuity to show the protagonist’s interest in sport, or specifically, football. In Scene 1 in the bedroom, various football trophies are visible during the establishing shot on the character’s window sill;

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Moreover, the character’s duvet is a West Ham United one. Then, later in the short film, when he is dreaming of being a footballer, he is wearing a WHU football kit. Every film and short film uses continuity like this in order for it to be more believable - it adds to the verisimilitude of the film. Therefore, I made sure that I paid attention to these smaller details to make the character and the film world more alive and real.

Narrative

The narrative of my short film could be viewed as conventional, as it follows the life of a teenager in the modern world. It is conventional, as my short film is a comedy, and many films in the comedy genre are also set in modern times, so that the humour and jokes contained within the film can be more relatable to the audience. Contextual factors play a large role in the creation of comedy and one could argue that they are the foundations of comedy. For example, many of Shakespeare’s plays contained jokes or situational humour that a modern audience would not understand and therefore not enjoy as was intended; they would not decode the preferred reading that Shakespeare had in mind when writing the plays as humour and language have evolved over time.

Overall, my short film is quite conventional in most aspects. This is as I had limited opportunity to challenge what would normally be considered conventional, because of the fact that I chose to create a comedy. Although the setting (modern day, past, future) is more flexible in terms of changeability, almost everything else has to conform to preset conventions in order for the genre to work.

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