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lore-of-the-silvereyes-rwby · 4 years

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Home is where the heart is

This is where Ironwood's loyalty to the Oz collective begins to waver and falls deeper into his Atlas brainwashing.

As stated before Ironwood more or less idolized Oz because of him being one of his heroes reincarnated. Specifically the Warrior King of Vale who from his POV had returned from the death to ask for his help.

Now Ozpin’s predecessor; the in between soul was the Oz that Ironwood knew and called Mentor and even friend. As well as the one who had set Ironwood down the path to power for his own agenda with Salem. In other words Ironwood is in a position of power because of Oz. Now obviously we would be loyal or at least respectful towards the people that have helped us achieve such great heights in society. Now what happened that caused Ironwood to lose respect and loyalty to Oz?

The answer: The Oz he knew died and Ozpin wasn’t him.

As discussed in a earlier section there have been at least 4 different versions of Oz whose action have affected the current events of the story; Their relation to Ironwood can be interpreted as this;

The Warrior King; Childhood hero

Ozpin's predecessor; Very Close friend and Mentor/Benefactor

Ozpin; An anomaly and disappointing mistake

Oscar Pine; 2nd chance for his mentor and friend to return properly

From this we know that Ironwood was closer to the 2nd Oz than Ozpin or Oscar. Due to the fact that the 2nd was the one who had elevated him to positions of power as well as feeding his ego and pride about being a chosen one. And given from specific dialogue Ironwood has said about Oz, it is quite possible that Ironwood has molded himself after his former mentor. This quote for example;

“I refuse to believe that a man that I've trusted for so long would act so... passively.”

—Ironwood, to Glynda Goodwitch in regards to Ozpin

Might tell us what kind of man the 2nd Oz was before becoming the passive Ozpin that Ironwood argues with. This quote and several other lines from Volume 7 tells us that Ozpin's predecessor was more active, straight forward, and demanding than Ozpin ever was. If this is true then Ironwood has tried his best to be and emulate the 2nd Oz for 1 of 2 reasons

He believes this to be who his hero was as he only met the second and doesn’t know what the king was like and assumes the 2nd is the overall default when it comes to handling the Salem threat.

He saw this as the most efficient Oz given the circumstances and the results surrounding the 2nd.

Either way it shows just what kind of bond these two had before the 2nd becomes Ozpin. And as even the series has gone out of its way to show Mentors have a long lasting impression on the students. Examples being;

Student/Mentor

Ruby Rose/Qrow Branwen; Shepherd of right and wrong

Blake Belladonna/Adam Taurus; Need for redemption

Weiss Schnee/Winter Schnee; Break your chains and be free

Jaune Arc/ Pyrha Nikos; Motivation to be better

So yeah the show does have some sort of narrative theme for its student/mentor dynamics. As for Ironwoods and the 2nds dynamic can more or less be summed up by something like this; Duty before self. Not a great dynamic but it was there dynamic. But what exactly changed this one has to wonder?

Ozpin.

Basically sometime after Ironwood's graduation in 29/26? B.F.B and before Team STRQ’s first year at Beacon in 23 B.F.B. the 2nd Oz has most likely died and reincarnated into Ozpin. The reason I say the 2nd has died by this point is from dialogue by Raven which makes it clear that Ozpin has already become the next man with 2 souls by the time strq attends beacon. This is further supported by Ironwood’s line in A New approach;

“That's never happened before.”

This tells us that Ironwood has already witnessed the reincarnation cycle in the case of the 2nd becoming Ozpin. There's an estimated 3-6 year gap for this event to happen, and by the time Ironwood has found his Old friend/Mentor he is more or less shocked. Not because his friend is back from the dead(again) but because he is changed and not what Ironwood expected of Ozpin.

Imagine this scenario;

You are set forward on the path of power so you and your mentor can better efficiently combat a malevolent force of evil. The mentor has practically given you everything you need to achieve this high position of power with the benefits that come with this newfound status. Things are looking well. Then all of a sudden the mentor dies. You now hold onto the hope that he would come back as he probably said he would, but you're a little skeptical of whether or not he would or could come back. Some time passes and you do find him again. Only to your surprise is he changed. Changed from the Active and efficient leader he knew to the passive, and lax anomaly that is Ozpin.

Now the way Ironwood talks about Ozpin’s predecessor in comparison to his onscreen interactions with Ozpin shows a great divide in their relationship. Ironwood saw Ozpin as this pale shadow of his former friend while he saw his predecessor as the ideal leader that he was loyal to. Once that was made clear Ironwood saw Ozpin as an ineffective leader and left Ironwood wondering what had happened to his proactive leader and mentor. And to Ironwood the problem was Ozpin and as such he blames Ozpin for not either merging properly with his predecessor or for being a falsely chosen vessel for his hero. Either way he did not have much faith for Ozpin.

As volume 6 had shown us each Oz was different in one way or another. Some were depressed and gave up, others were hopeful and continued onward and each one had their own way of doing things. For example the King Oz before the War you can say was more relaxed and diplomatic like Ozpin while the 1st Ozma reincarnation was more like Oscar wondering WTF is going on with this soul in his body and just goes along with it. With this in mind its different bodies with the same soul and memories but new ideas that are being explored in accordance with the current vessel's personality. As such we can guess the guy after the King was heavily affected by the great war either during or after it. Once the King had died and reincarnated into this new Oz he was more or less a mix of the idealistic Ozpin, and the Realistic Ironwood. Once he become Ozpin he leaned towards the idealistic side while Ironwood favored the realistic side

As the show clearly defines, Ozpin and Ironwood didn’t exactly have the best working or good relationship. Especially in comparison towards the other current known members of the Oz gang like Qrow, Glynda, Theo, etc. This is because Ozpin was more for living and enjoying life as opposed to Ironwood’s service before everything else mantra that he mistakenly got from the last Oz.

So yeah that swift in loyalty is pretty apparent. And it further grew and festered as Ironwood focused on the progress of Atlas. While Ozpin again was rebuilding his world status as the youngest headmaster of Beacon and as well as recruiting team STRQ to the cause. While the Wizards away the soldiers will play or in Ironwood’s case descend further into the toxic ideology of Atlas.

Now we go into what this section was originally meant to be about. How Ironwood grew to value Atlas above all else and how he eventually became the embodiment of Atlas itself. Carrying on the plans of the last Oz, Ironwood continued in the pursuit of power and control over Atlas as the figurehead in order to counteract Salem. Keep in Mind Ironwood was most likely a young officer with possible rank of a 1st/2nd Lt when Oz died and reincarnated into Ozpin. In other words without his only source of influence outside of Atlas Ironwood was left alone to achieve this goal. While being surrounded by the Atlatian superior man philosophy and authoritarian Ideology which he was already affected by during his youth. Now without Oz’s influence, he was further consumed by the inhuman influence of Atlas. Which had led to the blunt, arrogant and paranoid Ironwood that we see in the show.

With Oz’s plan in motion Ironwood would prosper among the ranks of Atlas and become the prominent leader of Atlas. Now it's likely that the whole world isn’t aware of Oz’s manipulation of Ironwood's career so most likely they assumed that Ironwood's success was due to his own ability, thus giving him praise for it. With this false sense of accomplishment most if not all of the Military were impressed and began to Idolize Ironwood. Now it's quite clear that the Atlas Military is loyal and respectful towards Ironwood to the point that they see him as a Divine Savior. Evidence by character interactions with him such as the Ace-Opts or WInter who have made it quite clear they side with Ironwood.

As well as his Character card from the semi canon(?) game app amity arena which is a in -universe app that is developed by Atlas scientists that specialize in combat research and analysis. Who seem to have an unhealthy obsession for Ironwood as evidenced by his card in the game.(Side note I wouldn’t trust whoever these guys are given some of their research and assumptions are questionable)

Below are a few lines from Ironwood’s Amity Arena card That highlight Ironwood's false divinity.

General Ironwood. The hero of our time and Atlas' greatest protector. Under the general, we have advanced to incredible heights, discovered new technologies, and created the world's first artificial intelligence.

Though horrifyingly revealed at Amity Arena, Penny is our proud foray into sentient AI, and Ada is the culmination of the machine learning we have long developed in our labs.

We say Atlas is the greatest, the mightiest... the city in the clouds, but what is first place when there is no competition? Yet, our kingdom and our General... we're the best chance that humanity's got... which scares us to death.

Basically the Military, the scientists etc all hold Ironwood in such high esteem that he might as well have been the god of the military to them due to his accomplishments. And see that the only reason why they have progressed and prospered as much as they have was due to Ironwood leadership. As discussed in earlier sections if we combine Ironwood’s Glory hound ambition along with his false sense of being chosen one hero and his unethical upbringing we can agree upon that the reason Atlas is the way it is now was due to Ironwood as a way or means to further his own agenda in his assumed winnable war against Salem with Oz.

It does seem very unlikely that Ironwood is responsible for everything that Atlas has become however seeing how the Ace-opts Winter those arena scientist and even how he believes that he can use his influence to declare martial law without the consent of the council it's quite clear that Ironwood can put his money where his mouth is if asked if he is responsible for the prosperity of Atlas and will take great pride in it. And this has been shown in the show actually.

As Ironwood is known to be proud of the advancements in technology developed by his nation, (or to be more accurate his own accomplishments) believing in only using the best and most efficient means of protecting (Warmongering) not just the people of Atlas, but the entire world as well.(More like control)

This is even seen in how he ensured that when Yang Xiao Long was given a specially designed prosthetic arm, only the finest resources available were utilized to make sure that the young Huntress was able to return in full force as soon as possible.(This might as well be manipulation and illegal recruitment but hey who wouldn’t want the rwby equivalent of a super saiyan on their side?)

He was also seen boasting through a holographic display of the advancements of the Atlesian Knights and Paladins and their capabilities, showing his belief in constantly advancing the means to protect the people to meet the constantly evolving threats of their enemies.(Welcome to the future people technologys great and everyone uses it, to kill each other and you have me to thank for it.)

Okay It's pretty clear that Ironwood has taken pride in his accomplishments and views himself as the main benefactor of his kingdom. And his kingdom in turn has saturated his ego to the point that Ironwood can view the City of Atlas as a monument to his glory. This is sorta similar to how the city of Volgograd was renamed to Stalingrad in honor of Joseph Stalin’s accomplishments in its defence against the White Army between 1918 and 1920. To better clarify this reasoning it has been stated in the by Ironwood himself in V7 episode 4 that by framing him for murder it would also by extension be framing Atlas as well.

“Slow success builds Character, but fast success builds Ego.”

For Ironwood he had put his heart and soul into the thing he valued the most and prided himself from; His Home Kingdom of Atlas and he would sacrifice anything to secure his legacy and glory no matter the cost.

Paranoia over reason

#rwby #james ironwood #general ironwood #rwby ironwood #world of remnant #rwby ozpin #rwby ozma #rwby qrow #qrow branwen #professor ozpin #headmaster ozpin #rwby atlas #rwby atlas soldier #rwby mantle #Ironwood analysis

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we-are-colleagues · 4 years

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It struck me, especially after 3x06, just how domestic this season of Killing Eve is. I’m not even saying that as a bad thing. I’m the kind of fan who genuinely gets excited about seeing Irina again and Kenny possibly being Konstantin’s son. But I never would have guessed we would see it, that the show would bother to dive into those story beats when there is this grand narrative of The Twelve to worry about.

I suppose it makes sense in a season so hinged on the idea of family, with Villanelle finding (and killing) hers, Konstantin trying to escape The Twelve and do the right thing by Irina (and V), Carolyn trying to mourn her son while working to understanding Geraldine (and like what the fuck is up with her kissing Konstantin?). Pretty much all the new cast are family (aside from bitter pill). Even Dasha, though she’s a part of the Twelve and the larger plot, she is also a mother figure for Villanelle. The way Eve confronted Dasha at the bowling alley (which I loved) felt more like a family drama, where the mother figure talks to the suitor she doesn’t approve of, more than a detective and known assassin having covert conversation.

And then there is Eve. She’s kind of left out of this narrative of family. Yes, there is her arc about Niko. But her wanting to return to him and be loved by him isn’t new (and there is another whole rant in there about Eve’s own psychopathy/sociopathy presenting in the way she views Niko). Ultimately, he rejects her, again. Just like V’s family do but we don’t see Eve having this alternative family or found family like V has with Konstantin and Dasha. If anything, Eve’s world is crumbling, she doesn’t trust Carolyn. The bitter pill gang aren’t her friends not in the way Kenny, Elena or Bill were, if anything she’s using them.

Putting the issue of Eve’s screen time aside, as a character and in this season, Eve just feels so alone. And considering the theme of family this season, I feel like it must mean something.

I’ve always thought Eve had a complex about her own darkness, that works like this: she’s not afraid of doing bad things and not even afraid of that dark part of herself. What she is afraid of is other people seeing it. Obviously, Villanelle has never cared about that. But Niko did, Kenny did, Bill did, Elena did (I think you get it). And in her professional life she was always motivated to keep her obsession and her darkness at bay. There are so many points even in S2 where Eve is freaking out about something but as soon as Carolyn doesn’t care Eve never thinks of it again, like V pushing that lady in front of a truck. And I think this is only exemplified by her being so unaffected by killing Raymond this season. No one knows, there have been no consequences. When other people’s eyes aren’t on her, she has little guilt.

Now that Eve isn’t working for Carolyn in an official capacity and it’s personal. Eve has a duty to no one. She’s untethered. And she is so unrattled by everything this season. She’s basically accepted what happened on the bus and her feelings for V. Eve is less and less concerned with doing the right thing. There is no one left for her to pretend or perform for. Not even herself.

#killing eve #ke spoilers #killing eve spoilers #this started as a fun musing about the feel of this season and devolved into an analysis of eve ahaha

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villainever · 5 years

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Killing Eve + making worlds and workplaces for women

killing eve very frequently – and obviously quite rightly – gets discussed as a feminist screen text, but i feel like we often talk about the individual characters, how fantastic they clearly are, and how flawed/developed/multifacted/interesting they’ve grown to be. but another thing killing eve does phenomenally well is subvert power structures and institutions, and populate them with women in a way we rarely see. for example, in season 1, eve’s MI5 office is unusually gender-balanced for television (it’s her, elena, bill and frank), and when carolyn is introduced, she’s immediately painted as almost an urban legend – elena raves about how incredible she is and how much she’d love to work with her, and we’re positioned to view her with intrigue and awe. this “mysterious, unreadable, probably damaged but definitely utterly competent and slightly amoral” character would typically go to a man – probably a slightly misogynistic one who’d gradually form a “grudging respect” for the women on his new team, as the women act as a device to coax him into the New Modern World and soothe his trauma. but carolyn gives this archetype an internal makeover and new vitality, and neatly sidesteps stereotyping: she’s not a “bitchy boss”; she never yells, or insults; she’s at times eerily calm, and methodically works her way through problems. this is especially poignant when we think of male characters who rail against female leaders for being “too emotional”, and proceed to spend half the movie throwing tamper-tantrums. at the same time, though, she doesn’t feel emotionless to prove a point, or simply to be the stoic; we get a very real sense of her pragmatism and cold war-conditioning, and the interlocking mechanisms of her many layers. carolyn’s character (both her writing and shaw’s acting) are totally genius, but the main point im trying to raise here is that the parts of Mentor and Career Aspiration are inhabited by a woman, and 60yo woman going full-speed at that – not someone who’s barely 39 but treated as basically a retiree.

next, we’ve got carolyn’s boss, played by zoe wanamaker in 2x04. yes, she’s not in the show for long – although she may make a reappearance? not sure – but her value is more symbolic than anything. in her scene, we get the impression of her power (she gets to make carolyn wait :o), and while she’s also a severe older woman, she’s very much distinct from carolyn in personality, which is pretty unique; often, writers will prescribe bulk-identities to all their minor characters who fall into certain groups, out of a mix of laziness and ignorance. anyway, wanamaker’s helen is shown eating (another rant-worthy point is how the frequency and ease with which killing eve’s women are portrayed as actually eating food is tragically radical), and she lashes out at carolyn before soothing herself easily once again – she’s capricious and less reserved and measured than carolyn, but equally potent. we also get a strong vibe of a long and complex working relationship between these two, effortlessly implied by the writing and performance and even if we never double-back to it, it colours how we view carolyn and the system that i’ll (eventually) get around to making my argument about.

lastly, there’s julie, who plays the medical examiner in 2x01, and conducts the exhumation autopsy on allistair peel. she comes across as professional, capable, no-nonsense, but also warm and gallows-funny, hugging carolyn and sympathetic to eve’s slightly strange reaction to the corpse. like helen, she’s not in the show long, but it’s more her relevance as a symbol i want to discuss.

so what am i getting to by going on about carolyn and these relatively minor characters? well, i want to talk about how killing eve establishes for itself something of an ‘old girls’ club’. an ‘old boys’ club’ is the network of connections that form between (generally upperclass) men who went to the same schools or worked in the same companies, who get each other opportunities in a pay-it-forward kind of way throughout life; it’s one of the many ways that sites of privilege are maintained as sites of privilege. but with these older female characters, who all know and support each other, give each other second chances or off-the-books help, killing eve constructs its own version. through these interactions, we have the sense that carolyn is a part of a group of women across the government who ensure certain things happen at certain times for certain people.

even outside this senior boss ladies network, we have elena, eve and jess, who support and challenge and contradict each other – all successful women with different skillsets, trajectories, relationships, etc., and none of whom are white. not only does this show pass the bechdel test in under three minutes, but that conversation is between two women of colour. one of the many things i love about killing eve is that while it acknowledges (and even leverages) the disadvantages that marginalised groups face – e.g. villanelle is able to exploit conforming to the western ideals of femininity to lure men into a false sense of security; the ghost is able to pass through places unnoticed, etc. – it never makes that the core of the narrative. it isn’t focused on reinforcing these systemic barriers over and over, which is something a lot of shows do when they’re trying to be progressive, and all they end up doing is reminding us of the setbacks we face and how it’ll be a long, arduous struggle to improve things. instead, killing eve gives a nod to this sexist, racist, homophobic reality, but sidelines it, the way minorities are so often sidelined. rather than make all eve’s bosses and colleagues men “for the realism”, it throws a few male characters in there and then focuses on the women (look how much screentime kenny and hugo get compared to jess, another first-tier secondary character). it reimagines the chain of command as belonging to women, it takes power and allocates it how it sees fit. i adore this, because if someone said to the writers, “umm… i feel like there should be more men in charge… that’s just how it is…”, their response would probably be, “so what?” it wants to spend time with complex women in complex situations, so it just puts them there; there’s no spinning of the wheels to justify how so many women got to these high-ranking jobs in an institution designed to keep them in the lobby. it certainly never pretends women don’t have to cater to men and their sensibilities (take carolyn comforting frank in season 1), but it doesn’t get caught in ‘liberal’-dude-writer “look at these (skinny/pretty/fantasy-fulfillment) women push through the system and affect change from behind the scenes by showing their cleavage to *trick* men into doing what they want ;) girlpower, ladies”. it lets women BE the scene, unapologetically, without feeling pressed to explain or defend or negotiate by stuffing an equal number of male characters in. we get konstantin and aaron peel and various ambassadors or clerks who are men, but these are all characters on the outside looking in. killing eve isn’t arranging women as spaced out and in competition with each other; aside from villanelle, they’re all on the same side (and villanelle’s temporarily teamed up with them anyway), and they work together, while still being allowed internal tensions and clear relationships. i originally just intended to talk about how killing eve built us an old girls’ club, but i had More Thoughts, so that’s why this essay doesn’t stay totally on-thesis from here on, even though it is all about women and their positions in the narrative/workplace. another note – these women, for the most part, aren’t there to be love interests. we obviously have eve/villanelle, but they both have their own fully-developed characters, plus, their love interests are each other, not men. we have carolyn, but her affairs don’t control her storyline; they flit in and out, and are of far more signifiance to the men than to her – she’s an older woman who controls her sexuality, but doesn’t have any interest in letting it overtake her work (and we don’t have that ridiculous “uptight bitch learns to put relationship with basic bro above her lifelong career dream”). we have gemma, but while her narrative function is to give niko a final straw to leave, and to push eve further, she has agency in her arc; SHE is the one who pursues niko, and she does this in a respectable and understandable way. she’s not the “sexy temptress” who “lures” him away, and nor is she an “innocent” that he actively chases.

also, NONE of the women have their qualifications questioned. there is no “is carolyn experienced enough to have so much free reign?”, no “how did eve get to MI5?”. the way we’re always told to with male characters, the show expects us to accept that they’re fit for their roles. this is highlighted when eve kind of stumbles into being an authority on female assassins. she doesn’t have a phd in psych or anything, but she clearly has an affinity in her area, and she VERY quickly learns to own that. the first time carolyn calls her their resident expert, eve is a bit surprised, but then she’s just like, “huh, guess i am”, and runs with that confidence. these women are all tough, but they don’t have to dig out their own spaces. theyve got them, and the audience isn’t gently directed into wondering whether they actually should. we KNOW they should. unsurprisingly, considering much of killing eve is written/overseen by women, but this isn’t done for Woke Points. there’s no constant self-conscious grandstanding about how many women are in the series. the actors and writers talk about it in press, because theyre EXCITED, theyre THRILLED to finally have this, but that comes from a genuine place of joy to be involved in such a project, rather than a hapless grab for viewers. the female characters aren’t half-baked stocking-stuffers to net the 18-35W. theyre Actual Characters. bottom line is, isn’t it so nice? isn’t it so lovely to be watching something, and have women be in the foreground AND the background? to not have to smurfette effect, the “one of the main characters is a girl, can’t you just shut up now? smh so greedy”? to have minor female characters not as sexy set-dressing or rivals or “ew she’s ugly here’s what we don’t want our protagonist to be hahah amirite lads”? we get to see ourselves over and over, in so many different iterations. killing eve’s women aren’t just “empowered”, they HAVE POWER. they are in positions where they can use that power for good or bad or both, but they have sway and influence and we don’t have to watch a 22yo ingenue assimilate to a 98% male workplace. female characters in killing eve are REAL and PRESENT and we have an entire textured world that isn’t just modern, it’s extra-modern. we have our cake and eat it too: there are women throughout the workplace hierarchy but we still get a critique of how men manipulate the game, and both are managed expertly to ensure we get the social commentary AND get to enjoy the experience of watching women be intelligent and morally grey and sophisticated and manipulative and and AND. in conclusion, i will no longer be accepting applications from media that doesn’t have women in their cast because it “isnt realistic”. killing eve is tearing it up out there, and it’s almost overwhelmingly relieving to get to experience media like this.

*btw, im not trying to imply there are no women actually working at MI5. im sure there are many, but this is more a commentary on media interpretations (james bond, etc.), and the male dominated government landscape in general.

#killing eve #ke #killing eve s2 #killing eve season 2 #villainever #mine #villainever writes #villanelle #eve polastri #carolyn martens #ke analysis #villaneve #villanevest writes

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lightsandlostbells · 5 years

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Skam France season 3, episode 9 reaction

Okay, I finally did this one! I’m not sure how many people still care since Skam France S3 ended back in March, but I wanted to complete the whole season. Sorry for the delay, anyone still interested! I apologize if I forgot some crucial details in writing this since there was such a large gap between viewing the rest of the season.

Episode 9

Clip 1 - Guru advice for a sad boy

Lucas is lying on the couch after his rough night. Are they still going to make him sleep on the couch after this shit went down? Why is he even there anymore after he told them sobbing that this was his room now a few episodes ago? Or when he stumbled in with his boyfriend to fuck on the sofa and Lisa was like, yeah, make Manon sleep on the couch instead since she’s not getting any? Because I refuse to believe that Lucas chose to camp there voluntarily either when he was a) getting laid or b) in the throes of despair.

Mika checks in on him and tries to comfort him. There’s a nice, humanizing part where he says just because he seems happy all the time doesn’t mean he’s never sad, and just because he sleeps around now doesn’t mean he’s never been in love. Lucas apologizes for saying a dumb thing and Mika says it’s OK to be dumb when you’re sad. But don’t be dumb too long, meaning don’t be sad too long. He gives Lucas a kiss on the forehead. So at least we’re getting some of this affection between them later in the season.

Lucas asks Mika how you move on and Mika is just like … shrug. Like he literally shrugs. I mean, I get that there’s no easy answer, but you could have said that instead of leaving Lucas hanging, dude, give the guy a little relief.

Clip 2 - Lucas’ dad suuuuucks

Lucas is doing laundry and looking up bipolar disorder on his phone when Eliott sends him a picture, kinda similar to the one on IG of his raccoon fursona throwing away crumpled drawings? I think it’s be the same one. It’s like he’s trying to say something to Lucas but doesn’t know what. He sends another pic where the raccoon seems to want to call out to hedgehog but the hedgehog spurns him and doesn’t want to talk. Eliott then sends him a bunch of photos at once and Lucas texts him not to contact him because he's not dealing well right now. Which is kinda different from Isak’s reply to Even the night after? It might be lost in translation, but Isak was more “I don’t know what’s going on” and Lucas is like “I’m not dealing well with this,” so confusion vs. hurt/upset feelings.

More dramatic piano music as Lucas gets another text. not from Eliott, but from his dad, asking if it’s true he has a boyfriend. OK, so Dad is a homophobe? Because he sure took a while to answer his son (compared to Isak’s dad who answered him immediately). Like did he need almost a full week to process that his son was dating a guy, he didn’t text or call in the meantime? Dad says if that’s true that Lucas has a boyfriend, it’s not a good idea to bring him to church. He attributes it to Lucas’ mom not being able to understand, but this seems way more like Lucas’ dad’s problem.

Isak’s dad wasn’t a great guy, but I think he genuinely didn’t have a problem with Isak being gay, or at least not a huge one. He responded to Isak’s coming out right away, said it was nice if Isak had a boyfriend and he would like to meet him, and checked in with Isak about whether he was sad about breaking up with his boyfriend. It’s very possible he wasn’t 100% fine with it, but it seemed like he was awkward at worst rather than actually disapproving. Lucas’ dad feels like he is seriously not OK with it even if he’s trying not to come across that way. He waited almost a week to respond to his son coming out to him and then didn’t say anything nice like “I’m happy for you” on top of that, he just said went into how it wasn’t a good idea to bring his boyfriend to church. Lucas’ mom’s possible reaction felt like an excuse for his own problem. And I don’t think it was even her potential response as a religious person, but maybe the dad thinking that Lucas should keep his gay relationship away from the church as a general rule.

Lucas starts to type out that it was a joke (about having a boyfriend), but deletes the message and doesn’t reply, then seems about to cry again. So like Isak, he can’t bear to say it wasn’t real.

Also, by this point in Isak’s season, Isak had come out to both his parents, and he got his mother’s acceptance text right at his lowest point, when he needed it. So at least that weight was off his back. Lucas hasn’t even told her about having a boyfriend yet, so it’s just pure misery for him with no relief. He’s probably even more anxious about his mom rejecting him because of his dad’s text.

Clip 3 - Charles is THE ACTUAL WORST, NO EXAGGERATION

Manon and Emma are talking about Charles when Lucas gets home. Can we please inform the remake writers that this storyline is not even necessary in adaptations where the William actors don’t leave the show? Remember how much Noorhelm there was in S4? If it’s like this in S3 what will the Manon and Charles drama be in Imane’s season? Or will it be toned down in that season and is only more prominent in this one as a way to incorporate the girl squad more in a boy’s season?

However, Manon says Lucas can stay to hear about what happened with her and Charles, which is seriously a sweet moment since it shows how close they are and how much she trusts him. Additionally, he gets to return the favor (of sorts), because Manon supported him and Eliott and was there for him when he was falling apart, so now Lucas can listen to Manon’s story and support her in her time of need.

Manon tells her story. At first it was great with her and Charles, then he got busy working for his dad and Manon had classes, and she didn’t make many friends. I like that she’s all “not my strong point” to Emma; that’s nice continuity, since Emma was the first friend she made at her new school, and they bonded over not having friends, heh. Manon got summoned to testify against Nico and she was upset about it; Charles noticed but she couldn’t talk about it. Then Charles went back to Paris to see his mom and Nico was invited without warning. They talked, Nico cried a lot, he was depressed and regretted what happened. Charles thought Nico needed therapy, but prison would fuck up his life. Especially because Nico didn’t even rape Manon. Yes, that is what Charles actually said to Manon. The fuck.

Charles said he would support Manon in whatever choice but really, while he didn’t impose anything on her, he also didn’t support her. The day of the trial, she went to court but ended up leaving before it happened. Charles asked how it went and she told him the truth, but that she wasn’t coming home, either. Manon didn’t tell anyone what happened because she was embarrassed about leaving for London with her dream man and coming back after only a few months. She felt so stupid. Manon cries, Emma is supportive, Lucas suggests they all drink. Emma is like YESSSSS. Lucas is not surprised Emma wants to drink.

Manon is like, the last time I drank wasn’t exactly great. I mean ... good point, maybe not the best idea to remind her of Nico right now. Except Emma is like, I won’t make out with you, OK? Lucas is like, neither will I. Heh.

I’ll pay a compliment before I get into my rant: Marilyn Lima did a great job depicting Manon’s breakdown. I really felt for her. And that made me angrier at this narrative choice, honestly.

OK, I’m just like ... exasperated. And disgusted. I am not a Noorhelm fan. I didn’t like this story in Skam about why Noora left London. I think it illustrated why Noorhelm were not compatible as a couple, because the same mistakes were happening in S4 that happened with them in S2; just like when he ditched Noora at school when he heard from Niko and then ignored her texts telling him it was rape for days as she begged with him to talk to her, this incident again showed that William was not capable of supporting Noora to the degree she needed it. Sure, it’s a lovely moment when he holds her as she’s panicking, but what about when he cruelly removes that tenderness and love when he finds out why she’s panicking? It was her sexual assault, not his, and I know it’s more complicated because his brother was the perpetrator, but he still needed to put his own feelings aside and support his girlfriend, the victim. When he can’t do that, repeatedly, then we really need to question whether he is the right person for Noora. Not to mention that this issue was resolved off-screen, with Noora being vaguely like “we talked and I understand him so much better now” as if Noora’s failure to understand William’s feelings is the real problem here. Not to mention any other criticism I could say about Noorhelm. And in some ways I think Marles was worse than Noorhelm; there were times when Charles was more of a domineering asshole than William (the scene where he leaves Manon crying on the ground, for example, is even nastier).

So I say this as someone who doesn’t really care about the pairing … did they have to make Charles so much of an irredeemable asshole here?

Charles probably has some “good” reason for his behavior that we’ll find out later. Too bad I don’t give a fuck what it is. He minimized his girlfriend’s sexual assault because the attacker - his brother - didn’t technically rape Manon, because the brother is just so upset about it and crying and he needs therapy, not prison. Fuck Charles. Nico is probably manipulating him, or maybe Charles is doing this for his mother’s sake so her son doesn’t go to prison, who knows, but whatever the reason, he basically planted the idea in Manon’s head that Nico didn’t need to go to jail. He downplayed her need for justice. He downplayed her trauma. Like … the only acceptable explanation is that Charles was replaced by a pod person or an evil clone in Paris, and in S4 the real Charles fights his way out of the underground secret laboratory where he’s being held hostage and tells Manon the truth. That is the only way I will accept Charles and Manon endgame after this.

I would not have a problem with this development were I confident that Manon and Charles were going to break up for good. Okay, that makes sense as a factor that permanently separates them. I do still think it’s kind of frustrating and pointless, like why the fuck did we spend a whole season on their supposedly great and epic love if Charles was going to commit the same selfish and hurtful mistakes he did in S2? I think it would be fine to do a storyline where Marles/Noorhelm doesn’t work out because Charles just can’t be the guy Manon needs him to be, but like … that should be the story of S2. When they’re the focus of a season. When you can develop that idea clearly because the POV allows it. You could get them together earlier in the season and do an arc similar to Eva’s where the Noora realizes that while she loves William, it’s best if they break up because they don’t work as a couple (even if this might be a redundant storyline after S1, I think it could still have value in trying to portray girls not putting up with their boyfriends’ bad behavior). But not “we spent a full season trying to convince you they belong together, but something happens off screen and they broke up.” That’s narratively unsatisfying. And anyway, this whole rant is probably pointless, because my issue is that I don’t think they’re going to break them up for good. Charles will come swooping back later in S4 just like William did. He’ll likely have some weak excuse that we’re supposed to accept as justified for putting Manon through all of this pain. For fuck’s sake, even if, IDK, Nico was threatening Manon if she testified against him, or something dire like that, so Charles had to find a way to discourage her - in what world is it not better to tell Manon about this than to keep it to himself?

You know what? Even if you have sympathy for Charles, even if you think it’s understandable that he doesn’t want his brother to go to prison, however loathsome said brother might be - that still doesn’t mean he’s right for Manon. Maybe they love each other, maybe it’s not fair, but if he cannot support Manon entirely over his brother here, then this relationship will never ever be healthy. She is a victim of sexual assault; Nico is the one who assaulted her. There is no grey area to this situation. So if Charles cannot accept that, then he and Manon cannot and should not be in a romantic relationship; Manon deserves someone who can support her through her recovery of a harrowing experience wholeheartedly. I do understand if Charles has complicated feelings about the issue, but frankly then he needs to go to therapy and work them out with someone who is not the victim of a traumatic crime.

I mean, shit happens, sometimes you have to account for sudden unplanned factors, like when Thomas Hayes left the show. But Michel Biel didn’t as far as I know, so there was no reason to insert this frankly evil drama into the narrative. There was no reason to send Manon to London at all? She was going to move in with Charles. That was literally what was planned for them after S2 to free up a room for Lucas. It’s just so goddamn dumb.

I’m trying to consider if maybe the purpose of this crap was to make a parallel to Lucas’ situation, maybe to show Lucas how Eliott must feel to be abandoned by the one he loves by showing Manon breaking down? But nah. If that was the case, it’s really not highlighted enough, I don’t think we see Lucas clearly link it to Eliott. I know subtlety isn’t this show’s strong suit, but this would have been so subtle as to not be present at all (which is why I don’t think it was intended). And it’s also way too big as drama not to have drastic consequences in itself.

God. I just. Why. Whyyyyyyy.

Clip 4 - Pity party turns to pity rave

They’re all hanging out and drinking, nice to see all three season leads so far get a scene together. Manon’s lying in Lucas’ lap, that’s cute. They’re bemoaning their love lives and it’s Emma’s turn to vent about her relationship with Alex. Manon suggests talking to him to find out if he has good qualities other than sex. See, I would buy this if all we knew about them was that they were hooking up, but we’ve seen through social media that they do hang out together outside of the bedroom? They go places together enough to document their experiences on IG. So they would’ve attempted conversations already, they would’ve tried to bond. I think it’s time for Emma to call it like it is: a satisfying sexual relationship, nothing more.

Lucas is like, you’re lucky, you have a boyfriend unlike Manon and I. Dude, Lucas, come on. Emma is just FWBing it with Alex anyway, according to her. He’s drinking and getting sloppy and telling them about Eliott’s freak-out and him being bipolar and Emma is like, I have it worse. Lmao shut up, no you don’t. I get it in the sense that having a bipolar boyfriend is not a terrible thing, but Eliott’s manic episode is certainly a more drastic and serious thing than just being with some conversational dud who knows how to maneuver his penis. Even Lucas is like BUT MY BOYFRIEND IS BIPOLAR, though in his case I think it’s still the ableism peeking out.

Manon is like, excuse me, I have it the worst. They agree. I also agree. Charles is undoubtedly the worst.

Mika and Lisa come home and join in the debauchery. They put on a disco light and everyone dances. It’s very tonally jarring and I think it’s supposed to be kinda not actually happening? Or rather, some version of this is happening but Lucas’ POV is exaggerating or distorting it because he’s drunk. The lyrics are like “Take control” so I suppose this is his desperate way of reclaiming his messy emotional state

I do like the shot of Mika showing off his nipples and Lucas seeing it and being like … nope.

Manon and Emma make out and Lisa and Mika make out and I’m kinda cranky about it, because I don’t need more straight girl hawt drunk make-outs or a gay guy kissing his female roommate, like what a double dose of bullshit. More generously, I can attribute this to Lucas hallucinating and being out of sorts while he’s drunk and so imagining “wrong things” like everyone around him standing still, Manon and Emma kissing when they’re not a couple, Mika and Lisa kissing when Mika is gay, etc.

It’s all fun and games and party electronic dance makeouts until Lucas slows down and gets miserable. Things get blurry. He can’t drink his angst away, not for long.

There’s a shot spliced in of Eliott making eye contact with him on the dance floor in episode 3, as Lucas is coming down from his high. Nice inclusion as Lucas is trying to escape his problems but of course he can’t get over Eliott or his sadness that easily.

There’s possibly more you could analyze about the composition of the ending but the editing kinda gave me a headache so I only watched the clip once, sorry.

Clip 5 - Basile isn’t a dumbass for once

Lucas is very hungover at school on Monday. Yann is like oooo, night out with Eliott? Lucas explains that it’s because of Eliott that he got drunk. He says Eliott is bipolar as Arthur and Basile sit down. Arthur is like, Kanye West is bipolar. Maybe not the best example to use in 2019, bro.

Honestly they’ve ruined Basile SO FUCKING MUCH with his horrible creepy sexism that I can’t even enjoy this moment from him where he talks about his mom. I mean, this is easily the best Basile has been all season, and if they hadn’t made him so disgusting, it’d be a great scene for him. And I completely understand people liking him in this moment. Hell, divorced from anything else in this season, I like him in this moment! But I cannot get over how atrocious their depiction of him has been elsewhere in the story, like I’m glad he dropped some wisdom on Lucas but this isn’t some magical fix-it that will erase my negative feelings about him.

Like for example, Basile says the first time his mom saw a Tom Cruise movie, she fell madly in love with him and flew to LA and went to his house and got removed by the cops. And not to be insensitive since this is an example of her mania, but my first thought was, “Oh, stalking runs in the family.”

The rest of the dialogue is pretty similar to OG where Basile inquires about how Eliott is doing and he suggests Lucas talk to Eliott, Lucas is a dumbass for listening to Eliott’s ex, etc. Basile says it seems like Eliott really wanted to be with Lucas, and that there are times when it will suck, but if Lucas wants to be with Eliott, he’s got to do it, you have to take people as they are. I dislike the music intruding over the end - I don’t think it’s well-timed and it feels forced - but other than that, the message is fine.

Clip 6 - Bye bye foyer

I like how Lucas and Yann are kinda cuddled into each other as they share earbuds and the couch. Lucas is still wearing his ROMANCE sweatshirt despite being deep in heartbreak. I admire his commitment to love.

There’s a little meta joke because they’re watching a show on Yann’s phone, and he says it’s episode 9, and it’s almost over. Which is of course a reference to it being episode 9 of Skam France with the season almost over, heh.

Lucas gets a text from his mom about going to confession and how God forgives those who deviate from the path as long as they come back to it. This leads into the coming out from his mom, and THAT GODDAMN TINKLY PIANO MUSIC starts up again. I do think it’s been used appropriately at times, but at other moments it feel so soap opera-ish and overly dramatic. Sometimes it seems like Skam France is a really insecure show, like how they have characters state the obvious like they were afraid the audience wouldn’t get it, or they go for the OTT music as if the writing, acting, and directing won’t be enough to elicit an emotional reaction.

I mean I realize it is Bad and Wrong to compare Skams but remember in the original version of this scene where Isak just sat and typed out this entire, very long message, and it was silent except for the cafe noises and the camera stayed still on him the whole time, because Julie trusted the audience not to fidget and for Tarjei’s acting and the importance of the scene to hold everyone’s attention? And in Skam France we get the music and the camera will not stop moving like they assume the audience is made of easily bored toddlers who need stuff swirling in front of their eyes at all times. Speaking of, WHY ALL THE FUCKING PANS, why does the camera need to move so much, whyyyyyyyy. It’s distracting and doesn’t even fit for the emotional tone of the scene, really? Like isn’t he actually pretty steady writing this to his mom? Shouldn’t the cinematography reflect that?

Lucas starts to type a text about how he met someone and don’t get mad at him, but he deletes it and just types out a message saying he’s gay, sorry if it hurts or disappoints you, see you on Friday, love you. And Lucas’ mom texts him back immediately to tell him she loves him, too, and that she’s proud of him.

Heavy sigh. I feel bad being negative about this scene because it is important and beautiful for Lucas to hear, he’s profoundly touched by his mother’s acceptance, but boy oh boy did they minimize the impact of this scene, even aside from my gripes with the cinematography and music.

So the Religion clip was the catalyst for Isak coming out to his mom, and he specifically uses Sana’s words to come out to her. None of the S3 remakes seem to understand that clip’s importance to the Isak character except that hey, talking about religion and homosexuality is good! It aggravates me because it makes it seem like the writers missed a basic connection within the story; they think stuff just happens in the season Just Because and don’t get the cause and effect (like the generalization dialogue earlier in the season, something both France and Italia included without really seeming to get why it was there other than “the message is important”). And I mean, you can adapt the religion scene so it’s not the same! You can adapt the message, it doesn’t have to be verbatim. But not connecting the religion clip to Lucas coming out to his mom makes that relationship between Lucas and Imane less meaningful. It makes the scene more of a tangent rather than an important stepping stone in Lucas’ coming out narrative. It’s just there.

Again, I hate being sour about this but it just makes me grumpy, like I feel this is a demonstration of the differences between Skam and Skam France. Skam did this simple, quiet coming out scene where we just lingered on the actor for a while and which was built up to within the narrative by a prior scene that linked the two thematically, and which delivered the “punchline” with some excellent pacing (where Isak’s mom didn’t reply until when we least expected it, and with powerful timing and execution, when Isak most needed to hear it), and Skam France flies by this pivotal scene and does it in under two minutes like it’s getting it out of the way, with nothing remarkable about pacing and timing, but with dramatic music and camera movement.

Part of my problem is that honestly, I feel like Skam France kind of ... doesn’t care about this moment. Consider the amount of time given to Lucas’ coming out to his mom and her acceptance, versus the amount of time for the foyer stuff that takes up the rest of the clip. I feel like other than Yann’s random initial rejection, all of Lucas’ coming out stuff has been so smoothed over and easy, not just from an outsiders’ perspective, but from a personal psychological perspective. And it’s not that I expect CONSTANT TORMENT but it feels massively oversimplified, like these scenes are just obligatory. I hate to say this because I know the screenwriter is gay and I don’t want to diminish any personal anecdotes on coming out he brought to the story, whether this reflects his own experience. But I almost feel like they knew the Evak fans would flock to this season (which is true, we know with all the behind the scenes stuff and cast interviews they were doing that were blatantly to appeal to shippers) and so they allocated some screen time to getting in the shippy romantic content while pushing aside some of the pesky, less exciting stuff that doesn’t have to do with romance. Like for instance, coming out to one’s mom.

I do like that when Lucas is crying, Yann asks him if he’s OK and Lucas is just kinda like, yeah, I’m fine, and Yann smiles at him. It’s a simple, nice moment.

But here I go again. Just the fact that this incredibly pivotal and meaningful scene is cut off so we can get to the fucking common room drama?? The common room is more important that Lucas coming out to his mom?? They could have at least made the coming out moment a separate clip from the foyer stuff with the principal. It’s not like they haven’t been doing that all season, splitting up big scenes into two or more clips. (And yeah, Isak’s coming out to his mom didn’t have its own clip, but the content surrounding it was at least extremely important and concerned Isak on a very personal level, compared to the foyer stuff.)

The principal storms in and yells because the students have been snatching the Wifi. Daphne takes the blame and gets in trouble for it. Then the principal hears giggling from another room and there is the nerd dude who set up the Wifi and Chloé’s friend Maria, getting cozy on the mattress. They get up and run off when the principal yells at them. Okay, who the FUCK thought it was a good idea to put a mattress in a room behind a closed door, in a school full of hormonal teenagers??? Did you not think this is where it would lead? Idiots.

The principal is roaring mad and yells at Daphne more. What’s next, a Fight Club (lmao, I wouldn’t be surprised) or a heroin den? He singles out the mural as peak bullshit and tells the students to pack up their things. The foyer is closed. And they have to come in on Saturday to repaint the mural.

Lucas is like, no, that’s where I lost my virginity! It’s a monument to my first experience with gay sex! No, actually he just defends it as an homage to Jackson Pollock. Yann defends it more calmly, but the principal gives them both detention. Well, that’s not fair, Yann didn’t deserve that.

Imane stands in front of the principal and gives a speech about how they all participated in the mural and how it means something to them and represents their differences, difference races and sexual orientations. It shows how they can all live together. And now he wants to paint over the mural in white, of all colors? It’s a good speech not because she means it, because L M F A O they did not all paint that fucking mural, Lucas and Eliott splashed some paint on the wall before fucking against it, but because it appeals to the principal’s sense of self-preservation. Does he really want to erase the mural that represents his marginalized students and the harmony and diversity of the school? Does he really want to risk the backlash?

The principal backs down from the mural and leaves. Wait a minute. Imane didn’t actually mean that speech did she? Because lmao, this mural did not mean anything about diversity. There’s an ass print on the wall, for fuck’s sake.

I think she was definitely manipulating the principal and going over-the-top, but the issue is that the rest of the season then tries to play her words as sincere, like that’s the whole point of them standing up for the foyer in the finale, that it’s a place that brings different people together.

Anyway, they’re all sad. The foyer is closing! Daphne says there will be a solution, the others comfort and reassure her.

Maybe because I’m in a bad mood from the coming out part of the scene but: I do not care about the foyer. Actually, I care about it a tiny bit in that Daphne would be sad if it closed and Daphne is my girl but other than that? Nah.

And you know what? The principal had a fucking point! Multiple points! They did host a party after school hours where dozens of students broke into the school and potentially caused mess or damage. They were stealing Wifi to the point where it was slowing down the network. They did have a room with a mattress where two students were just caught in the act of trying to hook up. He was being petty about the mural, but other than that? He’s not wrong. I love Daphne but looking at it from the POV of a meanie adult, she’s enabled a lot of irresponsible actions with this foyer regardless of possible negative consequences.

But mostly? I don’t care about this. I’m weary of how the foyer has encroached on Lucas’ season the way the bus took over Sana’s season. I only gave a shit about the bus because as it meant something to Sana with reconciling her Norwegian culture with her Muslim/Moroccan culture, and because I wanted to see the girl squad have fun in the bus, not because I cared about the bus in itself and how big it is or whether it has certain features or if they can afford a bus as opposed to a van. Likewise, I care about the foyer only in how it relates to the main characters, and so far mostly it’s just Daphne’s investment in it. Lucas’ investment in the foyer is mainly that he and Eliott did the mural and fucked there, a scene that was ridiculous in itself, so I have a hard time caring about it.

But like … if Lucas really cared about this foyer instead of seeming just along for the ride for most of its development? It would make more thematic sense in the season. Like if he and Eliott were more actively involved in fixing up the foyer all season instead of just the mural scene, if it really represented something to them. Say he and Eliott had more meetings and flirtations in there. Or Lucas secretly crashed here when he was having problems at home. If this foyer really felt important to Lucas. Because honestly, I feel like his involvement is mostly “the girls asked him to do something and he did it because he had nothing better to do/got railroaded into it.”

He does text later that the mural is all he has left of Eliott. But the mural is now safe? The principal backed down from painting over the mural. So again … who cares.

IDK, I feel like there were so many ways this could be better. For example, if the foyer was more actively a place that represented diversity and LGBT rights and anti-racism and political activism. If the mural had some legitimate political commentary behind it, or they’d hung a pride flag somewhere and the principal came in and told them to take it down. Or maybe he just got word that a gay couple (aka Lucas and Eliott) were being snuggly in here - not that they banged, just that they were kissing and holding hands in a place that made them feel safe and welcome, and he came in to shut it down in a way that was loaded with microaggressions against them. Then the foyer would genuinely feel like something that needed to be protected. As it is, I’m just like … he’s not wrong about anything he said, lmao, and the idea that the foyer is some haven of diversity and different people coming together feels totally tacked on.

Clip 7 - Lucas’ mom is great

Lucas goes to church and meets with his mom. His mom greets him warmly and hugs him, so that’s very sweet. But it turns out Lucas’ dad isn’t coming. Mama blames it on leaving too many voicemails for him, and that she thinks he doesn’t want to see her anymore since the separation. Nah, I think Lucas’ dad is just a turd, and probably a big homophobe.

Mama says people are the way they are, you can’t try to change them, they have good qualities and their faults. We just need time to understand. So kinda similar to what Basile said earlier about taking people as they are. Lucas ponders that and they go inside the church.

I’m kinda ehhh on them using a church for this scene, considering there hasn’t been as much religious symbolism in this season? Lucas’ mom did send him Bible texts, and there was the Lucas light/dark stuff, but that didn’t seem explicitly tied to religion the way the Isak birth/rebirth stuff was through the 21:21 reference, or the baptism imagery, Even’s Halloween costume, the presence of Christmas? However, I could totally just be missing something. And I don’t think it’s wrong for them to use a church, just that I think it’s a church because it was a church in Skam, rather than because they built up the religious symbolism in this season.

Clip 8 - Run for your love

Lucas and his mom are in church. There are some shots of candles so I guess that’s a tie-in to the light/dark imagery. Or that Lucas is finally seeing the light, heh.

The mass starts and soon Lucas gets a text from Lucille about how no one can find Eliott and they’re freaking out. So Eliott himself doesn’t send Lucas a text, let alone a goodbye text. He’s totally gone off the grid.

We get a montage through Lucas and Eliott’s relationship as the priest talks about how believers can find peace and comfort in God, God gives us the strength we need. No matter your sorrow, God accepts you and you’ll never be alone because God is with you. The church is your shelter. Mixed in with the priest’s words are images of Eliott, so it comes across pretty clearly that Eliott = God in this scenario? Lucas finds peace and comfort in Eliott, he gets strength through him, he’s not alone with Eliott.

I think this would come across a bit stronger if they had built up that religious symbolism throughout the season, because otherwise the Eliott = Lucas’ God thing is a little ... random. I get that they probably just wanted the priest’s words to resonate with Lucas rather then trying to say Eliott = God as a metaphor, but it’s one of those those things where they could have subtly planted connections all along. (I don’t remember any but I’m also finishing this recap like two months later, so I could’ve forgotten something.)

The montage is kinda funny if you consider that Lucas is in church, flashing back to the better times of him boning Eliott. I mean ... who wouldn’t, really.

I enjoy Seinabo Sey and appreciate Skam France using so much of her music, but at first I wasn’t sure how I feel about this choice of song. Is it too on the nose (“I’ll remember you” for a flashback montage)? Skam used plenty of songs with lyrics that described what was happening on screen. Does it fit the church setting? Eh, I don’t think a church scene needs a religious soundtrack. So the song choice has grown on me a bit since then.

I think the reason I was somewhat hesitant about the montage is that Lucas gets a text that Eliott is missing and he just sits there for a few minutes flashing back to the good ol’ days instead of reacting immediately like oh shit, Eliott’s disappeared. Even if they’re not in a relationship, that’s still cause for concern. Whereas with Isak, he didn’t quite understand Even’s text at first; he just smiled and sat down because Even loved him and he read the text in a purely positive way. It was when he realized Even’s text was a possible suicide note that he left the church to go after him. I guess because Lucas was remembering his relationship with Eliott, he was able to figure out where Eliott might be? But still, seems like he should’ve reacted instantly to Eliott possibly being in trouble.

Lucas decides to go and tells his mom. They exchange I love yous, which is sweet and a great closing note for this relationship. The shot of him walking down the aisle feels like a direct homage to OG.

“Remember me under the sun” - OK so I guess that’s another light reference.

The growing intensity of the music is good and I was getting into the scene but dear lord, the slow mo of Lucas running is ABSURD. Why did this turn into Chariots of Fire all of a sudden? Why is Lucas running through the actual street and not the sidewalk, he’s going to get by a car!

OH MY GOD HE ALMOST DID GET HIT BY A CAR, WHY WAS THAT NECESSARY, I STARTED LAUGHING MY ASS OFF

Like was that some outtake where Axel Auriant almost got mowed down because they asked him to run in the fucking street and they decided to keep it in for the ~drama? Talk about a mood killer.

I do like that Lucas knew where to go because he knew it was a place special to Eliott, and to the two of them. And that he found Eliott in the dark and that Lucas brings the light on both of them (literally, with his cell phone). Maxence does a nice job of crying and looking heartbroken.

This scene isn’t bad (except for the running and almost getting hit by the car…. why) but it does makes me think the remakes really need to start from scratch with the climax of this season. Not just recreate an O Helga Natt-ish clip with similar setting, music, dialogue, or story beats, but to look independently at what the themes of the season are - not OG, their season - and then build up something that’s consistent with that. That’s a big part of why O Helga Natt is such a masterpiece: It ties together Isak’s main lessons throughout the season, as well as paying off foreshadowing and incorporating multiple motifs and threads of symbolism that have been developed along the way.

So for example, just a small observation: Lucas tells Eliott he’s not alone anymore. Which is of course a line from O Helga Natt, and a line that does have a powerful meaning in this context. I’m not saying it’s a bad line in the slightest. But in O Helga Natt, Isak was saying it as a direct response to Even’s text message, in which he says “everyone is alone anyway.” And also in response to something Even said back in episode 5, about “the brain is alone” and being alone with your thoughts and the only way to escape is death. And to some degree in the hotel clip when Even said the alone way to have something forever was to lose it, just after they were talking about Isak and Even in infinite universes, as if Even was talking about losing Isak and being alone. It was established that Even had a fear of being alone. Here, Eliott does not send Lucas a text, so “You’re not alone anymore” is not a direct response to anything. And I don’t remember Eliott saying anything about being alone in episode 5, having that line of Even’s, or in episode 8 (Again, I took a long break between recaps so it’s very possible I just forgot Eliott’s prior comments about being alone to Lucas, feel free to remind me.) So while the line is sweet and supportive and powerful, IMO it lacks the extra punch that Isak’s “You’re not alone” did simply because Skam’s writing was tighter. I mean ... if Isak hadn’t said “You’re not alone,” would Lucas have said it to Eliott? Might he have said something else relevant to their relationship, rather than recreating an existing iconic line? I don’t know if I’m explaining myself clearly, and I truly don’t mean to make a mountain out of a molehill, because the line is perfectly fine here. It’s just that I think the remakes need to not lean on O Helga Natt so much, and instead rely on their own ingredients in the season to craft this climactic scene, if they want to create something with the most impact.

Social Media/General Comments:

Lucas doesn’t text Mika after the boat clip, he texts Manon. Which seems completely in line with those relationships, in my opinion. Isak texting Eskild and Eskild dropping everything to go home after the hotel is a testament to that relationship’s strength, but Lucas and Mika still don’t seem to have that degree of closeness, even if their relationship has gotten stronger. It’s Manon who Lucas seems closest to, the one who can cry with him and sit in silence together just for comfort.

However, Lucas doesn’t give Manon the details or even imply something is wrong in his text to her; he writes a (typo-filled) draft where he explains what happened on the boat and then deletes it. I’m assuming he told her afterwards, but this is a really good detail! Skam France and other remakes sometimes miss innovative ways to use social media to enhance the story, and I think this small touch is quite clever. Lucas is shaken and distraught after the boat and writes this messy draft of a text to Manon, spilling everything, but he deleted it and went with a neutral text, holding back the information. The reason I think he deleted his explanatory text is not just because of how messed up it was, but because writing out everything - Eliott disappeared, he’s bipolar - would make it more real, and Lucas cannot handle that it the moment, it’s too much.

Mika sends Lucas a link to a sad song, for help with his wallowing, I guess. Maybe not the best thing to send tbh, but it was kindly meant. And Lucas posted on his IG story that he was listening to it, so perhaps it helped him.

The pity party was documented quite well on IG. I wonder what Eliott thought if he saw any of it? Lucas drunk and dancing ... could go “he’s upset” or “he’s glad to be rid of me” which tbh I could see happening in a depressed mindset.

Eliott posted colors to his IG - like just colors - and deleted them really fast. Which is another good use of social media here, possibly to illustrate his changing moods, to hint at his mindset (like his depression being just a dark gradient) I’m kind of like ... why didn’t they do something like this last week to hint at his mania?

Lucas contacted Eliott via text, saying he wanted to see him or talk. That would’ve been good to see in a clip, really.

People using Imane’s BS speech on IG to promote the common room cause = LMAO.

Lucas says the mural is all he has left of Eliott, which is at least some reason he’d care about protecting it and the foyer. The boys encourage him to go to Eliott’s place, and Lucas is hesitant, saying he was told to stay away. However, then there’s an IG story of Lucas outside Eliott’s building.

Lol, OK, that’s something that definitely would be better as a clip rather than a stalker-y IG post. I mean, when you think about it, isn’t it kind of weird for him to broadcast that to the world? I guess he hoped Eliott would see it and know Lucas cares and wants to talk to him?

But sooo many questions. Like ... did Lucas try to ring the bell or contact Eliott while he was there ... or did he just stand looking up at his window like a creep ... how long was he standing there ... I don’t think they thought this one through. Yeah, absolutely should have been an actual clip so we know what the hell happened.

Ok I realize it is sooooo after the fact, and regarding this topic that has already been discussed to death, I hate to come back with another rant like AND ANOTHER THING!!!! but at some point I came to another realization about why Yann’s reaction to Lucas’ coming out is bad and stupid and I wanted to get it out because it has been bugging me.

Yann’s reaction is bad and stupid because the “you weren’t honest with me/told everyone else but me” reaction is often fake and disingenuous. Like I hate to generalize and I’m sure that somewhere in the history of the world, someone has genuinely been hurt that their friend came out to other people before them, but also, sorry, I don’t think it’s a common authentic reaction. It’s a smokescreen for homophobia.

So let’s talk about Please Like Me. Please Like Me is one of my favorite non-Skam shows ever. Like Skam S3, its protagonist, Josh, is a young gay man just accepting that he is gay and coming out (although he’s older than Isak). Like Isak, Josh has a mentally ill mother. Like Skam S3, Josh gets into a relationship with a mentally ill person. It’s less idealistic and more painful than Skam, but still completely worth a watch, I highly recommend checking it out.

At one point in Please Like Me, Josh goes with his boyfriend, Arnold, to Arnold’s birthday party with Arnold’s family. Arnold is not out to his family yet and is planning to come out to them at the party. However, in a previous episode Arnold told his friends that his dad has said he doesn’t like gay people and told Arnold to quit singing in a choir because people would think he was a (homophobic slur) and beat him up. So, Arnold’s dad is an established homophobic asshole!

At the party, Arnold announces to his family that he’s gay and dating Josh. Arnold’s brother and mom are like “Yeah, we knew,” which is not the best thing to say but they’re overall chill and supportive. Meanwhile, Arnold’s dad stands there with a sour look on his face. When he does finally speak, he says that he’s been “backed into a corner” - presumably because the rest of family supports Arnold, and because they have other guests with them looking expectantly at him waiting for him to say he’s OK with Arnold being gay. Like he’s basically saying he doesn’t have the freedom to react negatively. You know, something a total non-homophobe would say! Then he starts going in on Arnold for lying to him, and saying the biggest problem is that Arnold didn’t feel he could be honest with him. (Then he knocks over a croquembouche.) Arnold’s dad leaves, but not before telling his wife that Arnold should be gone when he gets back.

Why am I bringing up Please Like Me? Because Please Like Me, created-written-directed-acted by real-life gay man Josh Thomas, is smart enough to recognize that homophobes often direct their disapproval into other excuses to be upset when someone comes out. Arnold’s dad didn’t stand there and rant about how homosexuality is wrong or gross. He didn’t say anything about homosexuality at all. Instead, he funneled his feelings into the weaselly excuse of “you weren’t honest with me.” (This right after Arnold has said, in his coming out speech, that his best chance at happiness is to be honest. Honesty in this case acknowledging he’s gay and has a boyfriend.) But let’s be real: if that were the case, if Arnold’s dad were upset about the lying rather than his son’s sexuality, would he really get that angry? Enough to effectively kick his son out of the house? To knock over a goddamn croquembouche? No, this scene is obviously about a father being pissed that his son is gay. But he feels “backed into a corner” and it’s not like he can say he’s upset that his son is gay in front of everyone else, in front of the guests, his son’s boyfriend, his wife and other son who have known for a long time and are fine with it.

Circling back to Skam France: we had Yann upset enough with Lucas coming out to him, for Totally Non-Homophobic Reasons, to walk away from him because he was hurt Lucas didn’t come out to him first. And I do believe the writer intended for Yann to not be homophobic at all! But it’s such a shitty, cheap excuse for drama, such a flimsy rationale for Yann’s reaction, one that doesn’t fit his prior behavior at all, that frankly, it pings too close to a smokescreen. Like Skam France is trying to pass off this blatantly artificial reaction as genuine. If someone reacted like this IRL, my gut feeling would be that they were a fucking homophobe. They’re most likely homophobic but aware that openly saying bad things about gay people, openly expressing their disapproval, is not a good look for them. Or they’re homophobic but trying to tell themselves they’re not by channeling their disappointment into other reasons that don’t rely on discomfort with homosexuality. It’s completely plausible and even probable for people to have some homophobic hangups under the surface, that in theory they were OK with gay people but when your best friend is staring you in the face telling you he’s in love with another man, those hangups might suddenly rise up.

And if somehow we give these reactions the benefit of the doubt, that someone is truly upset because “you lied to me” or “you didn’t tell me first?” - that person’s still a selfish asshole. Think about it. Your friend is confessing an extremely vulnerable secret about themselves, something that may have caused them great internal stress and pain, and you’re mad that they didn’t tell you sooner? Fuck off.

Anyway. The point I’m making is: in a Doylist sense, I think Yann’s reaction is not homophobic. The Skam France team really didn’t think of it that way. In a Watsonian sense, I call bullshit. Yann walking off during the coming out scene is most plausible if Yann actually had a homophobic reaction to Lucas’ coming out, and needed some time to process it before accepting Lucas’ sexuality. His explanation to Lucas is weak and unlikely. If it is true, that makes Yann a self-centered asshole. I know people don’t react perfectly and obviously Yann stepped the fuck up for Lucas afterwards but let’s acknowledge it for what it is, prioritizing one’s entitlement to someone else’s deepest, most painful secrets over their comfort and safety in keeping those secrets.

To be clear, I don’t hate Yann, not at all, and I attribute this mess solely to bad writing. It’s one of those things where the intent is different from the finished product. In analysis of Yann or Skam France or whatever, I’d acknowledge the intended purpose of that creative decision to make Yann walk away. But I’m also acknowledging that this creative decision is some stupid shit, lmao. And I’m aware the screenwriter is gay, and for all I know this is based on personal experience, but for now this scenario feels fake and manufactured only for drama, and inauthentic to how people would genuinely think and react in these scenarios. Someone who walks out on their friend when said friend comes out is probably homophobic to some degree, or else self-centered as fuck. Simple as that.

I am not French, so please feel free to correct me on any translation or cultural notes that I missed.

Like I said, I took a break from recaps, so I also might have forgotten certain details of this season, feel free to remind me of any of those, too!

If you got this far - and if you are still reading this after all this time - thank you very much, I love you!

#skam france reactions #skamfr reactions

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douxreviews · 5 years

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Charmed - ‘The Replacement’ Review

“They've taught us their game. Now it's time we beat them at it.”

‘The Replacement’ features some exciting developments where the season’s biggest stories are concerned, but its plot of the week is total filler. At this late stage in the season, screen-time wasted on such inconsequential action is a little frustrating.

With a Harry shaped hole in their lives, the sisters attempt to adjust to their new normal; a thorn in their side in the form of an overly strict whitelighter, Tessa (or Regina George, as Mel decides to name her). Sent by the elders who think Harry bit the dust following their punishment in the previous episode, Tessa spends most of this episode berating the girls for not focusing on their magic. I immediately thought of Natalie from the OG episode ‘Blinded by the Whitelighter’. Though she comes off similarly to Tessa, minus the try hard millennial vibe, Natalie’s desperation to abide by the rules gets her killed. We don’t get that far with Tessa, and I’m curious to see how this new dynamic will play out as the Vera’s attempt to save Harry behind Tessa’s back.

They may need a serious amount of power to free him from Fiona’s grasp. She killed most of the Sarcana (off-screen), with only Jada surviving thanks to her half-whitelighter side masking her from Fiona’s tracking spell. Jada splits town and advises Mel to do the same, but naturally Mel wants to stay and fight. Which is good since it looks like Fiona will be pretty hard to beat. Jada says that she’s the only person who has the power to match the Charmed Ones. We’ve seen this power in action already so I don’t doubt it. I just don’t know how this might tie in with the Source. The prophecy mentioned in the pilot hasn’t been fully completed yet, but given the death of several elders at Charity’s hands, it looks like it won’t be long before all the signs have shown themselves, and Fiona may be instrumental in that.

Niko also got pretty close to discovering the Sarcana’s lair. It took Mel opening up about her magic to get Niko to stand down. I’m not surprised Mel has finally dropped the anti-magic charade with her ex. The more questionable choice will be when does she spill on the spell she cast to remove herself from Niko’s life. Something tells me it won’t go over well. I do hope it happens soon though, because I’m actually genuinely upset that they’re being kept apart like this, especially since Jada and Mel have ended their own relationship.

The plot of the week here is pretty thin; a demon that hitched a ride home with Galvin who finally returned with everything Macy might need to rid of her demon side. They kill it pretty quickly after it possesses Galvin. Thanks to Maggie’s expanding abilities she was able to hear his cries for help and leads Mel and Tessa to Macy’s side. It’s not them who save the day though; its Macy’s darkness. I almost felt bad for Galvin, who went half way across the world to help Macy, only for her to come to the decision that she wants to keep this side of her. It’s obviously a risky move, but it makes sense; it’s already helped save the day a few times over. It could be a key weapon in the fight against Fiona, and maybe even the Source.

Elsewhere Maggie’s struggles with her newfound heritage are handled with care in a genuinely lovely side plot. Given the madness of the past few weeks, Maggie hasn’t had time to stop and think about her newly discovered father’s side of the family. In light of her overdue tuition, she decides to put herself forward for an African-American scholarship; a decision she backs down on in the end, though she does vow to return the BSU. It’s great to see the series address this type of story and do it justice. It’s also great to see Macy and Maggie discuss this so naturally. Out of all the sisters I like the Macy/Maggie dynamic the most and it’s great that the series is exploring this side of their newly found discovery with such compassion.

Potions and Notions

We don’t see Harry (or Fiona) this week. You really notice Rupert Evans’ absence. He’s such a great part of the cast.

Chloe Bridges is fine as Tessa, though I wish the series would stop pulling from the same CW talent pool all the time.

The Yoruba demon kills Mama Roz, which is a shame since she was an interesting source of magical information for the sisters.

Spells and Chants

Mel: “It's bad enough we have to assume the Elders are watching our every move, but now Regina George is our whitelighter?” Maggie: “Regina George. Much better nickname. Anne Hathaway does not deserve that.”

Mel: “Harry didn't expect us to be robots. He let us have personal lives, and he trusted us to know how to manage them.”

The major narrative keeps ‘The Replacement’ afloat, with the Sarcana/Fiona drama still keeping me invested in this series and the end game its building towards. Perhaps the change in show runners might help the series next season to focus on the supernatural elements that work and ditch the shoddy filler material that made this episode a bit of a drag.

5 out of 10 Yoruba demons.

Panda

#Charmed #Maggie Vera #Melanie Vera #Macy Vaughn #Charmed Reboot #Charmed Reviews #Doux Reviews #TV Reviews

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littlemisssquiggles · 6 years

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Pinehead Headcanons: Oscar’s Legacy: The Pinerose Children

keyenuta asked “Hey meister squiggle, what do you think oscar and ruby’s kids would look and act like in your opinion. I am really interested in your thoughts. And as a bonus how wiykd oscar and ruby’s future relationship be like? “

Squiggles Answers:

@keyenuta Aah yes, the RoseGarden future kiddos.

Lots of fellow RG-shippers have their own interpretations of Oscar and Ruby’s potential offspring. And funnily enough, so does this squiggle meister so I’m glad you asked me this question, Key. Gives me an opportunity to share my ideas for the RG kids. So let’s get into it:

Alright, so I kind of have an inkling of a story for a Future RWBY AU. I’ll call my version, N.O.V.A because it’s the name of the huntsmen team that one of the RoseGarden children is a part of. If RoosterTeeth and the CRWBY ever decided to expand the RWBY franchise and give us a spin-off series taking place years later that follows the children of Team RWBY and JNPR, then I think that could be another awesome way of growing the RWBY universe. But that’s just me.

In my N.O.V.A universe, Ruby and Oscar got married ten years after the Death of Salem and like most couples, settled down to start a family together under the last name: Pinerose, a combination of their surnames as a symbol of their union.

“What would Ruby and Oscar’s future relationship be like?”

Well, in my interpretation, I’d imagine Ruby and Oscar having a pretty great marriage. I mean I don’t expect them to have the most sugarcoated, cardboard cut-out, dream house perfect marriage. They’ll still have their fair share of trials and triumphs and occasional disagreements like any average couple would. However in my head, Ruby and Oscar share a nice, comfortable and happy marriage that’s built on a strong relationship of trust, honesty and loyalty that started from since they were young huntsmen training and fighting alongside each other as brethren-in-combat. And this bond only strengthened when they became husband and wife.

And of course, there is the unyielding love they share for each other. The kind of love where if one of them suddenly died or disappeared off the face of Remnant, not only will the other be devastated by this loss but they would also become determined to do everything in their power to find their lost companion.

The idea I had for N.O.V.A is that prior to the story, Ruby Rose sacrifices herself during an incident that almost destroyed the Beacon Academy for a second time in Remnant history. She was then never seen again after that night. Though many believed the former Silver Eyed huntress to be dead, since her corpse was never salvaged from the wreckage of Beacon, there is an underlining mystery surrounding her untimely demise that sets the stage for the plot of this future AU of mine.

My concept is that N.O.V.A takes place a year after Ruby’s alleged death. It is told through the eyes of one of the Pinerose children who is our main protagonist and follows their story as they start their first year of huntsmen training at the new Beacon Academy. Beyond this, the narrative also touches on storylines that highlight how Ruby’s family and closest friends (like her former teammates of Team RWBY and JNPR) are coping and moving on with their lives after losing her all wrapped up in a strange enigma that begs the question, what really happened to Ruby Rose.

That’s the idea I had. Speaking of Pinerose family…

“What do you think Oscar and Ruby's kids would look and act like in your opinion?”

Aww yeah, here’s the fun part. So for me, I pictured Oscar and Ruby having four kids: two boys and two girls. In N.O.V.A, the names of Ruby and Oscar kids are Ozma, Scarlett, Oliver and Ivy.

The Pinerose Siblings:

Ozma II

[TBD]

Scarlett

Scarlett Pinerose is the second oldest of the three Pinerose children. She got her name for her most striking feature---her long, wavy scarlet red hair that’s almost as long as she was tall. When I picture Scarlett, I see her having hair so long that it would give Weiss Schnee a run for her money since Weiss has the longest hair of any character I’ve seen in RWBY so far.

As a matter of fact; at some point in Scarlett’s childhood, her aunt (and godmother) Weiss had to intervene in her upbringing when her parents allowed Scarlett’s hair to get so long, the girl was practically tripping over her own hair at some point; insisting she got a haircut, something that Scarlett didn’t like at first. In my head, Scarlett isn’t fond about cutting her hair, a sentiment and understanding she shared with her Aunt Yang. Fortunately, her Aunt Weiss had decent hair styling skills and would often help educate Scarlett on how to care for her long hair since she herself is no stranger to long luxurious locks.

In terms of appearance, I pictured Scarlett more taking after her mother in looks. The only exception is the colour of her skin. I imagined her skin tone being a mix of her parents. As a matter of fact, I pictured both Pinerose girl children sharing a complexion that is closer to their father’s tanned skin tone while the son, Oliver, inherited his mother’s lighter skin tone.

In regards to Scarlett, older Oscar would always joke and say “…At least one of my kids turned out more like me but I’m happy she’s as beautiful as her mother though…”

This is going to sound odd, but another idea I had for Scarlett is that, she was like Pyrhha Nikos reborn as Oscar and Ruby’s first daughter. As a matter of fact, in N.O.V.A, Scarlett’s full name is Scarlett Pyrhha Pinerose with Ruby honouring her former huntress by give her first daughter her name. She had originally wanted to name her Pyrhha but since Jaune wanted to name his first daughter after Pyrhha, as she was his teammate; Ruby decided to make it Scarlett’s middle name instead.

So in N.O.V.A, both Ruby and Jaune have daughters sharing the name Pyrhha. Double the tribute to their former friend.

However, the irony is that Scarlett is more like Pyrhha than Jaune’s own daughter Pyrhha. Personality-wise, Scarlett shares Pyrhha’s selfless and kind-hearted nature making her quite friendly and sociable. She is also an exceptional fighter.

Scarlett is also much like her father, if Oscar inherited some of Ozpin’s personality traits after their fusion into the Wizard. Such as his calm and collected nature and his ability to remain resolute even in the direst of situations

At nineteen years old, Scarlett is a third year huntsmen studying at Shade Academy. In the story I concocted, Scarlett was originally a full-time student of Beacon Academy until the school was destroyed for the second time, rendering half the compound in shambles. It took almost an entire year for the school to be restored and during that time, the students had a choice of whether or not they wished to wait for the school to be repaired or continue their training elsewhere in one of the remaining huntsmen academies.

Scarlett, like many of her fellow third years, decided to temporarily continue her studies elsewhere during the year long hiatus and opted for Shade Academy since Vacuo was the closest kingdom to her family’s home in the Patch near Vale.

Another trait about Scarlett is that she was born ‘mute’ due to a complication during Ruby’s first pregnancy. Despite this, Scarlett never allowed her disability to hold her back. I got the idea to make Scarlett a badass mute after seeing how cool of character General Amaya from the new Netflix series: The Dragon Prince is.

For N.O.V.A, Scarlett is also the leader of her huntsmen team: Team SLVR and one of her teammates, a boy named Victor is also her best friend who acts as her ‘voice’ amongst their group. Despite lacking a voice of her own, that’s never stopped Scarlett from making her presence known. I imagined Scarlett to be fierce, determined but above all else, she is a kind and compassionate young woman who strongly values her friends and family because she considers them her greatest strength.

Speaking of which, Scarlett is especially close to her family. Being the first born child and big sister, she shares close ties with every member of her family household. She is especially close with her siblings, more so Oliver than Ivy since the two are two years apart. Scarlett was also once close to her mother, Ruby, which was why her ‘death’ hurt her just as much as everyone else.

Though she never allowed it to break her down too much especially after seeing the pain the news took on their father. As the oldest, she had the responsibility of being the pillar that kept her household from falling apart.

There was even a point when she considered quitting becoming a huntress in order to care for her family since firstly, her father, Oscar, was a complete mess, spending most of his days in bed following a meltdown over losing Ruby that left him, less of himself.

Secondly, her little sister hadn’t started combat school as yet and still needed to be looked after whereas lastly, Oliver was in his final year of combat school and…wasn’t doing so well himself emotionally since their mother’s passing left him more angry than anything and he would often get himself into reckless trouble while trying to cope with that anger.

So because of this, Scarlet had to become the glue to hold everyone together as best as she could.

But it was eventually the wise words of her Aunt Yang and the encouragement of her grandfather Tai Yang and great-uncle Qrow that convinced Scarlett to resume her training under the implication that it’s what her mother would’ve wanted for her to do. Yang told Scarlett that her sister would’ve wanted her oldest daughter to honour her memory and press on for the greater good of mankind rather than allowing her to be what holds her back.

So Scarlett returned to school with the promise from Yang, Qrow and Tai that they would keep an eye on her family while she focused on her training.

Tai looked after Ivy, Qrow dealt with Oscar and Yang knocked some sense---I mean disciplined Oliver.

Oliver

Oliver Pinerose is the only son of Oscar and Ruby. In appearance, Oliver takes the most after Oscar of all his children. You can almost say that Oliver is the spitting image of his father at seventeen years old but with Ruby’s hair colour. Like his father, Oliver is freckly and shares a face full of freckles.

Oliver is also the only one of the Pinerose children to inherit his mother’s Silver Eyed powers. However the idea I had is that for the longest while, no one believed Oliver was a Silver-Eyed Warrior because technically he doesn’t have silver eyes. On the contrary, Oliver’s eyes are hazel brown with a bit of grey around the iris. But just as how Yang’s eyes used to turn red like her mother’s whenever angry, Oliver’s eyes would turn silver when channelling his Silver Eyed power or…at least that’s the idea I had in my head.

I also figured that, as a tribute to Ozpin, Oscar would give his son Ozpin’s original name. I’ve had this long-standing theory that Ozpin is only an alias that the old wizard carried for himself and shared with his successors. I figured that like his many other forms; Ozpin too had an original name before becoming Ozpin. I figured once Oscar learnt that name, he’d give it to his only son so that a piece of Ozpin’s legacy would carry with his son as well. So Oliver’s full name would be Oliver [Insert Ozpin’s true name here] Pinerose.

At seventeen years old, Oliver is the proclaimed ‘wild child’ of the Pinerose Family. Though he looks the most like his father out of the three siblings, Oliver shares a lot in common with his mother in terms of character. Like picture a gender-bent version of Ruby Rose only more hyperactive, more prone to trouble with a bit of hot temper and tendency to perform daringly crazy stunts when provoked enough.

If I had to surmise my concept for Oliver’s character in one phrase, it would be ‘…A huntsmen eager to be the hero whose heart is always in the right place and while his actions mean well, often times, the way he decides to go about things is what puts him in the most trouble…’

For example: Oliver would be the type of guy who would willingly go out of his way to return a wallet to a person after being stolen. But would also secretly swipe a few hundred lien from said wallet to give to the homeless person he noticed the wallet owner callously refusing to give money to for food earlier on.

But more times than none, the way he chooses to go about helping others and the lengths he’s willing to go to accomplish that---while some might call Oliver heroic. Others, especially the people who care about him the most and acknowledge his rash nature, like his father, might find him dangerous. A lose canon. A hazard to himself and if not to careful, others who might look to him as an ally.

It’s for this reason why Oliver and his father, Oscar, don’t often see eye to eye. In N.O.V.A, Oliver and Oscar have a somewhat strained relationship as father and son. Both Oliver and Oscar share very different ideologies of what it means to be a hero and what needs to be done for the greater good of protecting others.

Don’t get me wrong, Oliver and Oscar are close, as close as any father and son could be but their different ways of thinking often cause them to butt heads. Sounds familiar?

This doesn’t mean Oliver hates his father (though he often acts like he might) nor does it mean Oscar loves his son any less than he does all of his children. Their relationship is just, very complicated and it was only made worse by the events that took Ruby.

Ruby meant a lot to Oliver. To him, she was more than just his loving mother that would bake his favourite chocolate chip cookies whenever he was sad or stay up till way past his bedtime having pretend sword fights with him where she pretended to be the dastardly villain to his valiant hero.

She was more than the woman who trained him to be a scythe wielder just like her and never got angry with him whenever he’d mess up during his training; especially during the two times he accidentally shot Grunkle Qrow trying to use Crescent Rose for practice.

More than the woman who would act out stories of her most daring adventures to him and his sisters when they were children. More than the woman who once shouted from the rooftops of their house in the Patch of how proud she was of her son when he got accepted into combat school when she was still pregnant with his baby sister, nearly giving both his father and his grandfather joint heart attacks. More than the woman who was also his best friend.

She was his hero. The person who inspired him to become a huntsman in the first place and was the most supportive during his years of combat school training. Even during the times he messed up really bad. She was the one that saw past his so-called ‘dangerous’ persona like his father once described him and saw him for what he truly was---someone still worthy of being a great hero in spite of his flaws.

Oliver loved his mother and when she was taken away from him and his family, he was beyond crushed. He was furious. And unfortunately, losing his mother consequentially hurt his relationship with his father even more. In Oliver’s head, he believes his father had abandoned their mother. Even when Oliver disclosed to him his suspicions that Ruby was still alive somewhere and practically begged his father to help him find her, what did he do?

Well first, he lay around in bed all day like a pussy (as Oliver put it) forcing his sister to quit school to do his job as head of their household. But what honestly hurt and angered Oliver the most was that even when he recovered, all Oscar did was return to the title that, according to Oliver, was apparently more important to him than being husband to the best huntress in Remnant and his own father. Being the great and powerful Headmaster of Beacon Academy.

However, being headmaster doesn’t mean that Oscar neglects Oliver. On the contrary, Oscar spends more time worrying over his son (and by extension his huntsmen team) than any other student at Beacon. So much so that his own vice headmistress has to often scold him for his lack of professionalism in differentiating his duties as a headmaster and as a father.

Oliver’s reckless persona coupled together with Oscar’s own misunderstanding of his son’s actions often causes him to be more protective of him. So as a result, Oscar is stricter with Oliver and more prone to keeping a watchful eye on him as opposed to his sisters. This, in turn, results in Oliver misunderstanding his father’s overbearing protectiveness for either not trusting him or not believing in his abilities as a huntsman. And the fact that Oscar happens to be the headmaster of the same huntsmen academy his son attends with all the power and ties in Remnant to put reigns on him doesn’t help either.

As mentioned, in the N.O.V.A universe, Oscar is the current Headmaster of Beacon Academy (because of course he would be), following in the former Ozpin’s footsteps. At Beacon, Oscar even prefers for the staff and students of the school to refer to him as Professor Ozpin reserving his real name: Oscar Pinerose for only his family and most trusted allies.

That doesn’t stop Oliver from referring to him by ‘Oscar’ (or more rudely, ‘Ass-car’) whenever speaking of the headmaster though. He doesn’t even call him ‘dad’ anymore. Just straight cut to his real name or a cruder nickname.

I know I make Oliver out to sound like a real brat but…at his core, he is a great person; I swear. Like I said, he’s a lot like Ruby. It’s just that when it comes to how things are between him and his father coupled together with Oliver’s obsession in finding his alleged missing mother, it brings out a different side of him that could either be interpreted as good or bad. That’s the concept I have for him.

Oh and as a final note, if you haven’t already guessed, Oliver is part of Team N.O.V.A that my RWBY Future AU is based on. He’s not the leader though. Then again Oliver never aspired to be team leader. All he desired was to be a part of an amazing group of huntsmen who would become his most trusted allies both on and off the battlefield, and who would ‘see the good in him when others don’t’ and/or ‘help him to stay on the straight path if he ever wavered’. And fortunately for Oliver, that’s exactly what he got and more.

Ivy

Last but not least, there is Ivy Pinerose. Full name Ivy Summer Pinerose. At thirteen years old, she is the youngest of the Pinerose Siblings---the baby of the bunch.

Appearance-wise, Ivy is a mix of both of her parents. Some days she looks more like Ruby however on most days, she resembles a female version of Oscar. Like her father, she has tanned skin (a little darker shade than her father’s complexion) and short black hair like her father’s that’s the same length as her mother’s hair when she was a teenager.

She also had freckles. Oliver and Ivy are the only two of the Pinerose kids to inherit their father’s trademark freckles though Ivy just has a couple on her nose and shoulders while her brother got the most of the freckle gene.

I also had this idea for the Pinerose kids inheriting their father’s eye colour. Oscar’s signature hazel eyes are on the most striking things about his appearance so I really love the idea of his children gaining that trait from him.

In my head, both Scarlet and Ivy have hazel eyes just like their father’s. The only exception is Oliver who takes after Ruby. Qrow did mention back in the canon series that having silver eyes is a rare trait. So out of the three kids, Oliver is the only one to gain his mother’s ability (despite technically not having silver eyes).

In terms of personality, I picture Ivy being pretty brainy for her age. She loves learning about everything around her. She’s very curious, sometimes to inappropriate levels. Because of her curious nature, growing up she had a habit of breaking things, like her toys (and sometimes her sibling’s things) apart in order to understand them better. Don’t worry. She always puts them back together after she fully learning understanding how they functioned…but only if her folks managed to catch her in time before she tried to ‘upgrade’ said object or use its parts towards an experimental project of hers. Ivy had a lot of those growing up. However her true love is huntsmen weapons.

Ivy loves admiring huntsmen weaponry just as much as she enjoys trying to craft her own as a hobby. Who do you think helped put mom’s Crescent Rose back in one piece after Oliver accidentally broke it when he was her age---an incident that coincidentally also led to Ivy assisting her brother in building his trademark scythe. It’s one of the ways, the two siblings bonded as kids. As an added note to Oliver’s character, he shares in his baby sister’s admiration for huntsmen weaponry but lacks the brains and skill to make his own. At least he can draw. Hence the appreciated sister from his brainiac, weapon-genius younger sister.

Making Oliver’s signature huntsmen scythe was one of the fondest memories Ivy had hanging out and collaborating with her big brother and sister while he was still at combat school. As the younger siblings, Ivy is close with Oliver and the two often keep in contact while he’s at Beacon Academy with Oliver confiding most of his adventures in his little sister.

When it comes to a battle of intelligence, Ivy’s main weapon is her mind…and her sass. But despite being smart, Ivy isn’t the most sociable person in the world. She’s outgoing enough get along very well with the members of her family but immediately becomes uncomfortable when having to interact with others outside of her family.

She isn’t the best at making friends…at least with anyone who wasn’t related to her in some shape or form. However for some strange reason, communicating with animals or animal-like creatures have never been a problem for Ivy.

I say animal-like creatures since animals, though existent, are also quite scarce in Remnant for some unexplained reason. We see more of the Grimm and the Faunus than we do of any actual animals. Makes me wonder if there is a connection to that but…I digress.

Anyways, it’s her introvertedness that made Ivy quite nervous about attending combat school. The story I had for Ivy was that she was supposed to start her first year of combat school while her brother and sister went off to their respective huntsmen academies. But due to anxiety which only worsened following the ‘death of her mother’, she decided to not attend combat school reconsidering to become a huntsman at all.

So for the time being, until she could make up her mind on what she wanted to do, Ivy is staying with her grandfather, Tai Xiao Long while the rest of her family were away from home. At this stage, Tai would be retired, both from being a huntsmen and a teacher over at Signal.

But that doesn’t stop him from wanting to help his youngest granddaughter. When her nose isn’t buried deep in a book or piece of tech, Tai would encourage Ivy to practice her fighting skills. So the two would often spa together like how Tai was with Yang in V4.

Because of this, Ivy is pretty decent at hand to hand combat, courtesy of her grandpa’s training.

Fortunately for Ivy, due to her grandfather being a former teacher of Signal Academy, Tai was able to ‘pull some strings’ to ensure that Ivy didn’t lose her spot at the academy. The current headmaster of Signal Academy was understanding enough of Ivy’s predicament (after hearing of what happened to her mother) to give her one full semester to make up her mind about joining the school. So for the time being, Ivy is with Tai while the retired huntsmen does his best to help her through whatever grief she’s going through while the rest of her family were absent.

The idea I had is that, of the Pinerose Siblings, Ivy is the one who is the least sure about becoming a huntsman. Unlike Scarlett and Oliver who both aspired to become huntsmen from since before they were Ivy’s age, Ivy was never quite sure if the huntsmen lifestyle suited her.

She knew she definitely wanted to help people---well more so animals than people since she got along better with animals than actual persons who weren’t her immediate family. But she wasn’t sure if becoming a huntress in order to achieve that goal was the path best for her.

So that’s the dilemma she has to face in her side of the story in N.O.V.A.

To conclude:

And…that’s all folks!

That is my version of the RWBY RG Future AU. I hope that best answers your questions Key. Thanks again for asking and giving me the opportunity to share my ideas for this. Let me know what you think if you can and the same goes for anyone who reads this.

What do you guys think of this squiggle meister’s version of the RoseGarden kids as well as the crumbs of the N.O.V.A storyline I sprinkled throughout their character notes. I’d like to hear your thoughts on my thoughts.

More Squiggles’ RWBY Content

~LittleMissSquiggles (2018)

#keyenuta #oscar pine #ruby rose #oscar and ruby #rwby rosegarden #rwby #rwby future au #rwby remarks #pinerose children

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runephoenix6769 · 6 years

Text

Winter Solstice Part 3 C

NaNoWriMo, 08/11/18

Teenage Winter Schnee fic..

Chaps 1 -4 here

https://archiveofourown.org/works/16500653/chapters/38646758

Hope you enjoy.

Part 3 C *unedited*

Wearing her first place sash over her chest and with large silver shield in hand, Jacques began to parade his daughter round the room. Each time they stopped at a group of people so they could congratulate her on the win, he would gloat about her dedication or how he pushed her to be the best she could be.

The way he carried on it was as he had won it himself.

Each time the conversation would drift to business or politics. Again, for the fourth time, she heard the same boring topic,

“Surely Jacques, a man in your position can’t deny that the economic disparity between Atlas and Mantle is astronomical?”

Like he was holding court, the practised CEO controlled the narrative, guiding it in the direction that benefitted the conglomerate. Making sure that the people he deemed necessary over heard what he wished them to.

“We at the SDC are friends of the faunus and are doing our best to help facilitate economic growth in the area. “ Jacques’ took the diamond cute tumbler of Mountain Glen whiskey, “Why just yesterday, the Schnee Family made a large donation to the fund. My wife is on the board of directors, which I’m sure you know.”

She rankled at his use of her mother’s for his own end.

At the other side of the stage Winter watched with seething jealousy as the other teenagers hung about, laughing and joking with each other, playing games on their scrolls, relaxed and carefree after such an intense number of months.

Why did she have to stand here, like an Atlesian automaton?

“You look bored shitless.” A whisper came in her ear, causing Winter to startle, Cassandra Nikos laughed encasing her in an over the shoulder hug from behind, “Accents of red suits you like that, you should try incorporate it into your motif.”

Cast in the same ballot, the overly affectionate red head had been the only person out of their peers who had seemed genuinely thrilled that the Schnee Heiress had been taking part in the competition.

Strict rules demanded that all competitors must remain in the village with an assigned roommate. No exceptions to the rules, no matter how her father fussed. Three roommates had made requests for a transfer until Cassandra had breezed through the door, dumped her bag and dived onto the bed. At first Winter had been cautious, afraid that she was a hanger on, or worse, a competitor looking for an edge, but over the last few months sharing rooms at the numerous competitions, the girl’s genuinely friendly demeanour had won her over and it could almost be said that Winter considered the Argus girl a friend of sorts. Up until recently the two girls had kept a scroll correspondence back and forth, keeping the young teenager abreast of new music and swapping hair and make-up tips, some which had ended with disastrous results.

“Why don’t you come join us?”

Winter shot a glance in her father’s direction, following her eye, Cassandra nodded knowingly.

“Oh, right…. But he can’t do anything about me staying here.” She retrieved her scroll from her pocket, finger making a pattern in the screen,“- How come you deleted your Grimmstagram?

At the question, Winter shifted uncomfortably. What could she tell the only person who had shown any interest in her past her money, name or status? She could hardly tell her the vulgar messages and comments that had flooded her inbox describing in detail all the ways she and anyone she was associated with were going to die. How as a Schnee, she deserved to be violated in the most vicious of ways. It would only serve to frighten off the only person Winter could think of as a peer. Attempting to play it off as cool, she cryptically parted,

“Oh, I just wanted to take a break from social media.. You know, just concentrate on the tournament.”

“So you haven’t heard what Ralph Adel did then?”

Ralph Adel, from one of only a few families on Remnant who could come anywhere close to vying the vast amounts of wealth the Schnee family possessed, was a CCT sensation, renowned for his antics in the playgrounds of the affluent. More often than not, he was caught on the wrong side of the law only to get let off with a slap on the wrist. He could often be found smiling down from gigantic billboards or strolling the cat walk at Atlas Fashion week, modelling his mother’s creations, when not doing yet another court mandated stint in re-hab.

Rolling her eyes and going against her better judgement, she asked,

“Go on… Tell me what the cretin has done now.”

Glad to be the messenger of the salacious gossip, Cassandra animatedly began,

“He’s only gone and crashed his father’s yacht off the coast of Silas somewhere. He was drunk or something. Ran it a ground.. .. 10 million lien, down to the bottom of the deep blue sea.” Cassandra showed her pictures on her scroll, “Look at that!” The images flicked quickly as the girl continued to prattle on, “- He tried to claim the White Fang stole it and then that a Grimm attacked the ship. .. He got an extra million followers for his troubles”

If I did anything like that, my father would thrash me, Winter thought. If she so much as split a drop of water on the upholstery on the furniture she got a dressing down of a life time.

“So what’s the story with you and the faunus boy? “

Catching her off guard, Winter sputtered,

“What? … Nothing… I don’t know what you’re talking about…”

Cassandra giggled, teasing good naturedly,

“I saw the way you were looking at him… You fancy him!”

“No, I do not!.... I don’t have time for such childish…. Idiotic… Notions… Dating is stupid..”

“I think the lady doth protest too much!-“ A mischievous glint appeared in Cassandra’s eye causing Winter to internally panic,”- You won’t mind if I call him over then?”

“Cassie… Don’t..” Winter hissed.

It was too late,

“Khenet!!” Using her extra height, Cassandra waved over the crowd. “Over here!”

Winter watched with dread as the faunus boy began to saunter over, holding up a plate over flowing with food as he navigated the his way through the crowd followed closely by his fencing instructor. As he drew closer, Cassandra pulled an over the top comical face, before nearly skipping over to him,

“Hey, Khenny,” She stroked her fingers down his arm, breathing in a flirtatious voice “-Winter was just telling me how much of a magnificent swords man you are.”

“Finally admitted did you?” He wiggled his eyebrows at her,

Winter bit back,

“I said nothing of the sort.”

Graciously, he offered out his plate and Winter caught the way his eyes roved over Cassandra as she made a huge display of being unable to decide between a delicate Valish cream puff or a beautifully crafted Mistrali sushi roll. After making her selection, he offered it out to Winter. All the different foods on offer were piled on top of each other. Carefully, Winter reached for what looked like a safe bet, a plain cheese sandwich with the crusts cut off, only for Khenet to ever so slightly pull it away in jest.

“Why am I not surprised!”

Winter the small white bread sandwich from the top of the pile, biting back the urge to stick out her tongue. Taking a superior tone,

“I don’t want to risk food poisoning. It is my sister’s birthday and I want to be able to enjoy the birthday cake. We flew in a pastrie chef especially from Vale for the occasion.”

“You’re such a snob!”

The President of Remnant’s Fencing Commission suddenly appeared, accosted the trio before an argument could erupt.

“There you are! I have been looking all over for you three.” She beckoned over a photographer, “ A picture for the wall and for the Atlas Times.” Taking the plate from Khenet, who comically skewered another piece of sushi, she asked, “Where are your coaches?”

From behind her tripod the photographer gestured for them to stand closer together. Khenet’s coach gulped his wine, to stand rather unsteadily behind his charge in his light blue sash that clashed with the colours of his garments. Cassandra’s mother, stunningly beautiful and statuesque, took place beside her daughter, fretting over the gold chains that dangled from her daughter’s head dress. Winter took the middle, brandishing the large shield in front that threatened to swamp her. Plastering a fake smile on her face she tried not to think about Violet, how proud she would be, how she deserved to be up here having worked just as hard.

“Where is your coach, Miss Schnee?”

Her father’s voice came like a knife down her spine, as he stood behind her,

“Unfortunately, Miz Hildebrand had a rather important prior engagement to attend to.”

The Vacouan instructor muttered,

“What, more important than seeing her first champion crowned?”

Winter tried to stay erect as she waited for his heavy hands to rest on her shoulders. Instead a warm arm pulled her into a hug and Cassandra pulled a goofy face. Khenet burst into laughter and the photographer began clicking away, the flashes flickering in quick succession as the trio took their pose. Cassandra planted a kiss on Winter’s cheek and not to be out done, Khenet placed one on the other.

A chorus of awws and the flutter of applause at the display of sportsmanship, rippled through the small gathering of those that witnessed the intimate moment.

Satisfied, the photographer began to search through the images.

“It’s for the Atlas Times, is there anything you want to say?”

Determined that her father could not make good on his threat to ostracise the woman she held so dear, Winter mustered her courage,

“Yes…. I want it said, ‘I could not have done this without my coach, Violet Hildebrand,” She peered over the photographer’s shoulder, making sure she was getting everything done word for word. “- And an intrinsic part of who I have become, she taught me strength and perseverance. It is after careful consideration that, Violet, my Father and I have come to the decision that I am to retire from fencing in this capacity and progress to the Combat Sabre, and I hope to be ready as soon as the President of the Commission sees fit as to give me the all clear. It is due to this mutually agreed upon decision that we have sorrowfully parted ways. Thankyou.”

At her words, Cassandra’s green eyes widened and her grip on Winter’s waist became painfully tight,

“Jesus Schneester, he’s going to kill you.”

“Probably.. But at least it shall be for a good reason, rather than crashing a yacht.”

Casting her eyes over the small gathering as her words began to ripple through, she spied her father attempting to smile and nod as various people congratulated him on such forward thinking.

“Yes, yes.. My daughter takes after her Grandfather. He was also a famed Combat Sabreist.”

His dyed white moustache twitched at the left hand corner, as he held out his glass to be refilled. Never taking his eyes off his daughter, he began to approach. For a moment, Winter went to take a step back, thankful that Cassandra’s arm remained as the red head called out,

“Daddy!”

A short stocky man with a barrel chest and heavy muscular arms that looked as if they were ready to burst out of the seams of his Atleasian style shirt strolled over with an a swagger that belied his small size.

“Pumpkin!” He exuberantly bellowed, encasing both girls in a bone crushing hug. “So proud of you.”

For a split second Winter was afraid to exhale in case it was the last lungful of oxygen she would ever suck into her lungs. The man let go giving both girls a gentle pat on the back with his Ursa sized hands. Cassandra still cuddled him close round the middle and Winter could not control the small flash of jealousy at the affection that she would never have.

Auber Nikos turned, held up his flute that looked so tiny in his rather large hand.

“Gele! A toast to the victors of today!”

“Nikos,” Jacques tone came out clipped, “I go by the name of Schnee now.”

“Oh .. yes.. How could I forget,” The russet haired man’s green eyes twinkled with mirth from out from under his bushy eyebrows as he leaned down to Winter like a conspirator, “We used to pal around at boarding school together.”

Listening intently as Auber Nikos began to regale the group with stories about the high jinks they would all get up to as young boys, much to her Father’s chagrin, Winter began to wonder if that was the reason by he was so adamantly refused to allow her to attend such a place. Finishing off a tale about scaring the daylights out of a young Jacques with a fake Grimm costume that had caused him to run screaming like a little girl through the dormitory, much to the amusement of everyone in attendance, Auber’ s shoulders shook with mirth.

“My eldest boy couldn’t wait to go.”

Jacques added, drily,

“Yes, a place that prized brawn over brains, if I recall.”

If Auber Nikos heard the snide insult, he didn’t outwardly show it, instead he let out a booming laugh, causing most of the people in the room to look in their direction.

“How are your brothers? Perry and Gunther, right?”

“Gunther took over the family business as was expected.”

“Grapes wasn’t it?”

“A vineyard!” Her father corrected.

Khenet butted in,

“It’s still just grapes though isn’t it?” He gave Winter a cheeky wink as he stuffed a truffle vol-au-vant in his mouth, Winter swallowed a smirk that threatened to spread across her face as her father bristled. Khenet spoke with his mouth full of pastry, making the motions with his sandals, “I ..erd … hoo squiv…em.. wiv. Bare . feeet?”

Jacques glared daggers at the young boy.

Mrs Nikos diplomatically cut in,

“We saw Pierre recently.”

As Mrs Nikos’ gushed about her uncle, Winter watched her father’s knuckles take on a hint of white as he gripped his drink. They hadn’t seen him in years, preferring the company of men, her father had taken great pains to create a distance between him and the family name in case it tainted it somehow.

“It must be something to have such an accomplished ballet dancer at your disposal?”

Taking a controlled sip of his drink, Jacques replied,

“Quite… Unfortunately, as you can see, Winter doesn’t quite have the stature for it, her sister, Weiss on the other hand is coming along exceptionally well.”

The insult cut to the core. It wasn’t her fault that her physic had taken after her mother rather than her father’s.

“I never had the aptitude for it.” Winter spoke in her defence, “I much prefer horse riding and gymnastics anyways. Both instil and encourage a great sense of balance and low centre of gravity.”

Mrs Nikos’ gave the young girl a pitiful look as Auber said,

“Oh I don’t know, what was it you said Cassie?”

Hugging Winter to her, the teenager said,

“She is so small and nimble I wasn’t able to land a hit on her.”

Before her father could reply they were interrupted by a boisterous shout,

“If it isn’t my old master!” The Senior World Champion clapped the Vacuoan coach on the back, “- I see you’re still milling about.” He nodded at Khenet, “-Well done, lad. I hope your keeping him on his toes?”

Clasping the young man in a hug, the coach grinned,

“Blue, my boy, I see the military suits you well. The last time I saw you, you were a pigeon chested runt.”

“Well, if it wasn’t for you I would never have been a champion in the first place,” Blue parted, “Stick with him lad. I was absolute fodder before he got a hold of me.”

“Excuse me, Mister.” A timid voice asked, “Are you a Huntsman?”

Blue looked round to find the source of the question. Cassandra ushered a carbon copy of herself forward. Wide green eyes looked up at the Huntsman in awe.

“Well…” He paused,

“Pyrrha.”

Grinning, he continued,

“In the military we refer to ourselves as Specialists. But yeah, I am a Huntsman.”

“Is that what you use to hunt monsters?”

Resting a gloved hand on the pommel of his sword at his hip, he gave a nod,

“Would you like to see?”

Pyrrha began to vibrate with excitement.

“Ok..” He held out a hand, “Stand back. Wouldn’t want it to mistake you for a Grimm, now would we?”

In amusement at his display for the benefit of the little girl, the teenagers created a bit of space. Satisfied they were at a safe distance Blue unsheathed his sword with a flourish. Light running along the steel’s polished surface it gleamed as he turned it slightly to show off the razor sharp edge. It looked to Winter like a living thing and she could imagine it calling out, itching to be used and vanquish it foes.

Even Khenet couldn’t hide his admiration of the blade as his ears gave him away, swivelling and twitching, though he tried to look disinterested and unimpressed. Winter internally scoffed as Cassandra’s eyes never left the handsome soldier’s face.

Could she be anymore blatant?

“This ..” The Specialist began to explain, pointing at a barrel beautifully crafted to be hidden and protected behind the coquille, “- is where the dust cartridges go..” He gave the empty barrel an experimental flick. It clicked as it smoothly spun in the wheel house. With a gloved finger he pointed to a slight groove that ran the whole length of the steel. “- The dust travels down along here to the tip… and when I’m ready .. I slice!” He turned, pointing it away from the youngsters before giving a demonstration… “Then BOOOOMPHHCHCH!.. the monster explodes!”

Pyrrha stared up at him with rapt attention as he sheathed his sword,

“Do you want to be a Huntress?”

Barely able to contain her enthusiasm, Pyrrha nodded enthusiastically.

“I want to go to Beacon or Haven like Cassie.”

“You’re going to Haven? “

At suddenly being the sole focus of his attention a blush crept across Cassandra’s cheeks and she nervously plucked at her nails,

“I haven’t decided which yet, but I’ve put myself forward for an early admission.”

“Can’t sway you to join Atlas, no?” With doe eyes, Cassandra shook her head, “And you?”

Khenet scowled,

“I’ll stick to Shade, if its ok by you?”

Blue laughed off the boy’s sullen demeanour,

“It pays for a young man to know his own mind.”

Grousing, the Vacouan instructor plucked a sandwich of a platter on a nearby table,

“Why is it all my best students leave to go to all those infernal academies? Just for once I’d like one to stick around!”

Sticking out his chest and standing at military ease, Blue proudly announced,

“When duty calls, one must answer.”

Resting a firm hand on Winter’s shoulder, her father smoothly interjected,

“My daughter knows all about duty as she’ll be taking a position at the SDC once her education is complete. Huntsman and Huntresses, it’s a noble cause to be sure. Its keeps our borders safe, but it is hardly a profession befitting a young lady. This swords play is merely a hobby for her.”

As a body guard whispered something in her father’s ear, Winter could feel their eyes on her making her ears burn. She willfully returned their gaze. Jacques addressed the group,

“Everybody, I bid you good evening. We must be going if we want the airship to take off before the storm hits. Come along Winter.”

Her father set off across the room with long strides, his body guards clearing a path as if he was some great king and they his subjects. Winter politely shook hands with everyone, catching Cassandra silently motion, ‘call me.’ As she began following her father the teenager heard just on the edge of earshot, Mr and Mrs Nikos’,

“What a horrible man….Can you believe he said that about his own daughter and in front of her?”

“Yeah, I’m not surprised. He always was a nasty piece of work. There was a reason why we dusted him to a flag pole.

“That poor girl.... Cassandra darling, make sure you keep in touch.”

#winter schnee #weiss schnee #jacques schnee #berdea cid #khenet chausie #cassandra nikos #auber nikos #pyrrah nikos #willow schnee #schnee dust company #sdc #rwby #winter schnee headcanon #winter schnee fanfiction #rwby fanfiction #nanowrimo kt #nanowrimo

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knightofbalance-13 · 6 years

Text

http://alexlayer.tumblr.com/post/176844267252/how-not-to-ever-ever-defend-jaune-part-2

*clicks tounge* Yeah, you should probably stop demanding people not defend Jaune.

You will lose that battle.

Thanks @saltwukong for the title idea, and yet again, here’s another argument deconstruction, courtesy of @outcasts-redeemer‘s stubbornness. (Full thread here.)

Yes because listening to the guy known for lying is such a great idea...

Yes, yes he DID hypocritically lecture Neptune about it, because nothing in that scene truly shows that he learned anything other than to finally get the hint that Pyrrha likes him. He disregarded Weiss’ feelings – multiple times – and then tries to lecture Neptune on doing exactly that. That’s hypocrisy in a nutshell.

You know, he did learn he should have taught about PYRRHA’S feelings as well. And THAT was what he learned. And that beyond this scene, we see him never asking Weiss out again. So evidently he did learn something.

For him to not be a hypocrite in that scene, it’d require that he’d actually own up to his mistake, and apologize to Weiss for how he acted. Even if it was as much as telling Pyrrha that he realized he acted improperly towards Weiss (and maybe leave the apologize for later) would suffice to let the audience know that he has actually learned, but no such thing happen, and at no point Jaune actually recognizes that he did anything wrong. Thus, he’s in absolutely no position to call out Neptune for anything.

Not really, what Neptune did was actually worse. He kind of lead Weiss on and then basically broke her heart. I think anyone not named ‘Adam’ has the right to call Neptune out on that one.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Weiss having been a bitch does not in any way justify Jaune being a douche and keeping on hitting on a girl who’s clearly got no interest in him whatsoever.

And the most Weiss did was try to get Pyrrha to be her partner for as much as a single scene, not constantly push her into anything, through multiple occasions, while she clearly expresses disinterest, like Jaune did for Weiss.

Not the point here. The point here is to point hypocrisy, like how you bash Jaune for doing something you forgive Weiss for doing.

Not to mention that Jaune only asked Weiss out three times. DID constantly push her in that sceen while showing disinterest by trying to get away. That’s how shy people show disinterest: trying to get away.

Again, that doesn’t justify anything.

And again, that’s not his point, which is actually trying to EXPLAIN it.

Yeah, it’s in the show, and it makes no freaking sense at all. Pyrrha said she liked Jaune because he treated her like a normal person and didn’t put her on a pedestal to, you know, the guy who went nuts over discovering she was that celebrity in the cereal box and laughed at the idea that the Pyrrha Nikos would be without a date to the dance. The show tells you one thing and then it shows you another, and that has hardly ever been as blatant as with this scene.

That isn’t putting her on a pedestal. That’s just being in awe for a few seconds. And Pyrrha was clearly hurt by what Jaune said. And even then, you miss all the times Jaune treats her as an equal or doesn’t seem to care about her being some huge celebrity.

This is just you trying to justify irrational hatred.

And Jaune was infatuated with Weiss, but there’s a big difference between that and actually caring for someone, especially when it’s clear that Jaune doesn’t even know Weiss that well.

*sighs* And the purpose of dating is suppose to be GETTING TO KNOW SOMEONE. That’s like saying ‘You’re a racist!’ while slapping down any attempts at them trying to not be racist.

Neptune is a douche, there’s no denying that, but you know what’s good about it? That the show doesn’t pretend he’s anything else, which is why he’s so often the punch of nearly every joke.

... No, that’s Jaune. Jaune is the punch of nearly every joke. Neptune is the punch of THREE jokes, one of which is just about his fear of water.

But it’s really telling that you wanna demonize him, yet seem to ignore everything wrong the boy you’re trying to defend did. You know, like cheating into a school he was not fit in, putting his friends and classmates in danger, lying to his teammates, disregarding the feelings of a girl he’s crushing in, ignoring his partner, being a hypocrite, getting mad when your partner shows better leadership than you do.

A. You do the exact with Weiss here.

B. Jaune probably never got the chance.

C. name one time

D. name one time and no, the cheating doesn’t count because they know about that.

E. Not only does he fix that but both Neptune AND Weiss do the same shit

F. Glass houses

And G. Source.

What input? No, seriously, what fucking input? Nobody, NOBODY called him out on he was doing because despite everything, the narrative was bent over backwards with trying to make us sympathize with him. Pyrrha just told him to go for it first, then just told him why she liked him later on, and he and Ruby just talked about practically nothing.

Pyrrha and himself.

You do know the narrative made Jaune drop this right? You outright admit it so you KNOW this.

Jaune learned absolutely nothing of value here.

You misspelled “I”.

The only thing he learned is that “hey, maybe I should turn my eyes on the girl that’s clearly pinning for me rather than the one I’ve obviously got no chances with” and went with it, and then for some reason felt entitled and/or emboldened to call out Neptune for disregarding Weiss’ feelings despite having done just the same himself and never apologizing or even recognizing he did wrong before.

Which is why we NEVER SEE HIM HIT ON PYRRHA EVER or even show faint interest in her as a romantic partner and only did what he promised. Doesn't really work if you think for more than 2 seconds.

You mean, the fall they still both had to endure? The only thing really saving them there was cartoon physics.

And don’t you even dare box Ruby with Jaune. Ruby went to fight the Death Stalker because that’s just her thing and she honestly thought she could beat it. At no point there’s any suggestion that she did it to impress Weiss.

You strike me as the type of person who would scream at a firefighter who got his face burned off for not saving your TV.

And while that is partially correct: Jaune didn’t do it to impress Weiss. He did it because altruism.

So what’s he even protecting her from if not from Neptune then, mh?

Broken feelings.

At any rate, did you stop for a moment to consider she never needed him to protect her, or her feelings, from anything here? When was Weiss even shown to be hurt by what happened? You know what’s the difference between her and Jaune? It’s that when she gets rejected, she takes it like much more of a man than he’ll ever get to be and just gets over it. Doesn’t push it, doesn’t mope about it, just lets it go. She was fine going to the dance just by herself, and didn’t need some douche who kept disregarding her feelings acting like he had to save her from some injustice that was never there to begin with, because again, no matter what Neptune did, he was never obligated to accept Weiss’ invitation.

The fact that she’s sad about it.

And yet when Neptune disregards Weiss’ feelings: that’s perfectly fine.

Do you even realize how much you’re reaching now, trying to make a moment where these two never even interacted somehow be about them?

... DO you know how much YOU’VE been reaching?

Hell, I can barely see your point since this could be argued as “Jaune is not the same person you’re bitching about.

’m not going to blame Jaune for Cinder’s action. I’m going to blame Jaune for being an idiot who jumped the gun and put his whole team in danger for rushing into a fight, breaking his team’s formation and then allowing their enemies to pick them out one by one at their own leisure. That’s without mentioning that nearly everyone there had reasons to be really pissed at Cinder and her colleges, yet Jaune was the only one who lost his cool, and it’s certainly not helped by the fact that the last trigger was just that Cinder didn’t know who he was.

...

There was no formation, they weren’t going for a fight, that was gonna happen anyway and the narrative AGREES with you.

Not to mention it didn’t occur to that responding to “You’re a cold heartless monster who destroys the lives of everyone around you without as much as ounce of regret” with “who are you?” kind drives home the point Jaune was making: Cinder didn’t even care enough to remember her actions.

This is a BASIC HUMAN REACTION. The fact that this never occurred to you kind of shows how fucked you are in regards to Jaune.

Fuck that. You bet your ass I’m gonna go there, specially if you’re gonna do something as petty as try to blame Weiss for Pyrrha’s death. He had ONE job and he fucking blew it because he couldn’t fucking focus on it. Thirteen seconds is more than enough to spot an opponent and ready your shield for them, anyway.

A. Where he did he do that? I am not gonna find proof FOR you.

B. His best friend was screaming in pain. This is the second time you’ve bashed Jaune for having a human reaction.

C. yeah but guy who can barely kill an Ursa Vs. Woman who punted Ruby rose around like a toy. Jaune was gonna fail no matter what.

Jaune snapping and rushing into a fight was still a stupid thing to do, and it’s something for which others have been called out for doing in canon, so you can bet I’m going to call him out on this, especially since Cinder likely wouldn’t have even thought of targeting others if he kept his mouth shut. You just can’t guarantee things playing out the same even if there had been some changes, especially when the whole scene is set up in such an obvious, contrived way.

Well then, i’m gonna go there as well:

Cinder took joy in causing pain to Amber and gloated over killing Pyrrha. She was gonna target others no matter what. She’s a fucking SADIST. Or would you rather have Ruby be in this situation so we can see your bias?

And yeah, I can. it's this thing called LOGIC.

Yeah, sure, sure, but see, fittingly enough, you’re just like the show you’re trying to defend. It says one thing, it shows another. Sorry to tell you, but I’m not buying into any of this bullshit.

And you’re just like what you accuse this person as: Someone who says one thing and says another while also irrationally defending their points. So by your own rules, no one should buy your bullshit.

And Weiss getting hurt for the sake of Jaune’s manpain and unlocking his Semblance was the cherry on top of the cake, and they fucking better not also try to use this as an excuse for Weiss respecting Jaune from here on, because that’s just gonna be the drop that does it.

... SO where’s the point where Jaune is used to show Ruby’s womanpain in Volume 4? Where’s the point of Blake being used for Yang’s womanpain in Volume 3? Where’s the point of Jaune being used for Pyrrha’s womanpain in Volume 2? Where’s the point of Ozpin being used for Ruby’s womanpain in Volume 1?

You may as well scream “I’M SEXIST!” at the top of your lungs.

You tried to blame Weiss for Pyrrha’s death! You can’t get any more blatant with shitting than that!

And you defended other characters for doing what Jaune did. You’re no better.

Also proof.

It’s called criticism, bucko. If you don’t like it, do yourself a favor and block the RWDE tag.

Jaune h8.

You literally tagged as hate.

Even if this guy is a Jaune stan, you’re no better. You’re just the opposite extreme.

#alexlayer

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vinayv224 · 5 years

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Mobsters, Teamsters, history, guilt, and salvation: Martin Scorsese’s terrific The Irishman

Joe Pesci and Robert De Niro in The Irishman. | Niko Tavernise / NETFLIX

Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and Joe Pesci headline a long, winding movie that’s well worth the watch.

Late in The Irishman, Frank Sheeran (Robert De Niro) says that “you don’t know how fast time goes by until you get there,” and there’s just a twinkle of irony mixed into the melancholy. After all, by then, the movie is past the three-hour mark. (It ultimately tops out at 209 minutes.)

But that’s sort of the point. Time telescopes in Martin Scorsese’s newest movie, shifting back and forth through decades as old, wistful Frank narrates the tale of his life as a hitman for crime syndicate boss Russell Bufalino (Joe Pesci) and then for Teamster boss Jimmy Hoffa (Al Pacino, who has somehow never worked with Scorsese before now). Which of course means the film rightfully will be compared to earlier Scorsese movies, like 1973’s Mean Streets and 1990’s Goodfellas, and not just because of the subject matter; in The Irishman, the director reunites with some of his longest-running collaborators from those films, including De Niro, Pesci, and Harvey Keitel.

Like those two movies — and all of Scorsese’s work, really — The Irishman is also about guilt, sin, and redemption. But with its lengthy runtime, this one has space to lean in two different tonal directions. The Irishman has both the frenetic swagger of his mob movies and the more contemplative gut wrench of his most spiritual films, like 1988’s The Last Temptation of Christ and his most recent film, 2016’s Silence.

And the movie has the maturity of an older man’s perspective, an eye cast backward on a full life. It is lively and wry and very funny, but at times it also feels like a confession, a plea for grace, not just from its protagonist but from the filmmaker himself.

Frank’s story is long and packed full of anecdotes that are always terribly fun, if sometimes aimless. This isn’t one coherent narrative as much as the recounting of a life, with the twists and turns life takes that defy tidy storytelling. It’s crowded with the figures who occupied his attention ever since he was a young man finding his way into Bufalino’s good graces. That happens partly as a result of a chance encounter with his union attorney (Ray Romano), who turns out to be Bufalino’s cousin. His work as a hitman and a fixer with Bufalino becomes a gig as one of Hoffa’s most trusted friends and aides, and Frank’s life is intertwined with both men. For a while, they’re on top of the world. And then — thanks largely to the machinations of history — things start changing for them.

There’s a lot in The Irishman that evokes Scorsese’s earlier work, from the way characters talk and act and dress to the occasional bursts of bloody violence. (Steven Zaillian’s screenplay is based on Charles Brandt’s 2004 book I Heard You Paint Houses, which details what the real-life Frank told Brandt about Hoffa’s infamous 1975 disappearance; Hoffa was pronounced dead seven years later when his body failed to materialize. The titular “paint” on houses is not, well, paint — though it’s certainly red.)

Niko Tavernise / NETFLIX

Lots of excitement.

In its first act, the film can be tedious, because it gives very little indication of why exactly we’re watching these men do their thing other than Scorsese thinks we should be. (The purpose does become clear, but in a way that will only reward the patient.) The long runtime — clearly part of the appeal of the film’s eventual home being Netflix, where a movie can be as long or as short as you want, especially if you’re Martin Scorsese — means that scenes have more breathing room than we’re accustomed to seeing. Technically, they could be “tightened” up, perhaps by trimming out some of the dialogue or reaction shots, or removing parts that don’t fit into a more streamlined plot.

But the near-bagginess of the film is part of its initial charm. And by the end, it becomes important. The Irishman’s long arc (which involves the use of largely unobtrusive de-aging technology) means the film follows Frank and his associates long past when the movie usually ends, with triumph or failure. The film instead takes a distinct turn away from rat-a-tat plotting and revenge toward a frankly stunning, contemplative movement. The bluster and scheming of middle-aged men eventually gives way to age, to losing people one by one, and to consequences for life’s choices.

Suddenly, it becomes very important to realize we’ve been listening to Frank narrate his story.

The Irishman is Frank’s version of his life’s story — until the movie reinvents itself

For much of The Irishman, the women are at the margins — wives and daughters, always around, rarely saying anything. This isn’t atypical in Scorsese’s work, which rarely centers on women. The worlds he makes movies about are built by men, for men. They see women as beloved and beautiful accessories, maybe tangentially helpful, sometimes irrational irritations. Sometimes, the woman is just the nuisance who makes you pull the car over every hour on a road trip for a smoke break.

But The Irishman uses Frank’s perspective on the women in his life to remind us that his myopia has blinded him to the truth about himself. One of the stranger parts of Frank’s story is the barely glancing interest — just a line or two — that he gives to leaving his wife for a waitress, and a shrugging explanation he gives to Russell for why his divorce couldn’t possibly be affecting his children. (The two women get along like gangbusters, he says; there’s no problem there at all, see?)

Similarly, the role that Frank’s daughter Peggy (played as a child by Lucy Gallina and an adult by Anna Paquin) plays in the film feels weird, for a while. She’s only one of several daughters, but she’s also the one most important to him. She mistrusts Russell, but she loves Jimmy. Scorsese makes a point of directing our attention toward how Peggy watches her father and his associates, taking in what they’re doing and quietly making her own decisions. But she never, at least in Frank’s memory, tells him what she’s thinking.

Netflix

Robert De Niro in The Irishman.

So late in the film, when Peggy has stopped talking to her father altogether, Frank asks another daughter (Marin Ireland) to help him reach her. And it’s an eye-opening moment, both for Frank and for us in the audience, who have been watching the story through Frank’s perspective. “You don’t know what it was like for us,” she tells him, visible frustration on her face and tears in her eyes. When he thought he was protecting his daughters, they were afraid to tell him about anything that happened to them lest he mete out swift and excessively violent judgment. And so they were less protected. His perception of himself and of what he was doing for his family didn’t match reality. It was just that: his perception of himself.

That realization, with others, starts to nudge Frank toward something like self-examination. And given Scorsese’s long proclivity toward looking for meaning in Catholic symbolism, Frank’s own Catholicism starts to resurface. The movie’s other unofficial theme might be the Biblical injunction that the wages of sin is death — frequently we’re introduced to a person just long enough for their date and means of death to flash on screen — and when your life is defined by helping others meet their death, you start to get thoughtful when you approach your own. The older Frank gets, the more people he loses, the more he watches the men he once idolized fading away, the more he struggles to understand how his life of murder and extortion squares with the possibility of an afterlife.

He breaks bread and drinks grape juice with Russell (in a scene that’s also reminiscent of a famous Goodfellas scene). He tells a priest that he’s not sure if he’s sorry for anything he’s done, and the priest gently reminds him that we can feel sorry or we can choose to feel sorry. We see the rare flicker of his self-doubt and the guilt he feels for acts of betrayal. And when the priest prays with Frank that God will “help us see ourselves as you see us,” there’s a lot riding on that prayer.

An aging filmmaker with a long, rich, full history of examining crime and sin and death might rightly land on these themes at this point in his career. The final minutes of The Irishman contrast starkly with the start of the film, because that is how our lives play out. What matters at the end is who we loved and how we loved them, and whether we treated them like they mattered. And the film leaves open the question we all face: If we messed that part up, what, in the end, was life really worth?

The Irishman premiered at the New York Film Festival on September 27. It will open in limited theaters on November 1 and premiere on Netflix on November 27.

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hatsuneniko · 7 years

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Niko rambles about the nba playoffs

Okay so, every NBA playoff series has officially played a game now, and I’m apparently unable to keep my opinions to myself on this, so I wrote up a big ol’ thing about it. I realize this is tumblr so I’ll spare y’all and put it under the cut, but if for some reason you wanted to listen to me ramble about sports, slam that read more button. I actually used punctuation and capitalization on this post so you know it’s a rare occasion.

Indiana Pacers (7) L @ W Cleveland Cavaliers (2)

[108-109]

Okay, so the big thing in this series is that Lebron James is the best human being at playing basketball and that everyone else in this series isn’t Lebron James, and therefore, are not the best human beings at playing basketball. Despite that, Cleveland only won this by a point after C.J. Miles missed a shot at the buzzer. This is mostly because Paul George can sometimes look like he’s as good as Lebron if you kinda squint your eyes (especially when they wear the hickory throwbacks that could pass for Cavalier colors). Also, Lance Stephenson is playing on the Pacers again and he’s the only person fool enough to think to drive down the lane at James. Somehow that still works for him though and he was pretty visibly the second best player on the court for Indiana in this game. The second best player for Cleveland was probably Kyrie Irving but it’s largely irrelevant because if that’s the second best performance Cleveland can get from a player they have a very realistic shot of not making the finals. Play defense someone, anyone.

Anyway the big post-game narrative thing from this was Paul George saying that he was annoyed that C.J. Miles took the last shot, because that’s gotta be him taking that shot. He is the superstar of the team after all, and if anyone should cost the Pacers the game it’s him. I mean, you could argue that he did exactly that when he passed to Miles, ignoring Lance Stephenson standing completely alone beneath the basket with less than ten seconds in the game, but I digress. In the future, I’d expect George (who has missed all 15 of his game-winner attempts in his career) to be getting those shots in the future, and I do expect those shots to show up in this series if Cleveland can’t get above average play from anyone besides King James.

Milwaukee Bucks (6) W @ L Toronto Raptors (3)

[97-83]

Okay so there were a lot of kind of quirky, weird stats and narratives going into this game. The Bucks had been dreadful in Toronto recently, losing something like 11 straight games up North, but that streak ran headfirst into Toronto’s bizarre ineptitude in the opening games of playoff series. The Raptors have only won a single Game 1 in franchise history, and they’ve never done it as the home team. For what it’s worth, the Raps pretty much always lay an egg in the first game of a series so it’s hard to necessarily read too much into what happened in this game. Which is good, because if you were to do that, you would not like the Raptors chances in this series. First off, Kyle Lowry played pretty miserably, which is understandable since he’s been working back from an injury, but still a problem. Secondly, the Raptors just had no answer for Giannis Antetokounmpo when he got the ball in transition, which happened a lot because the Raptors could not direct passes around the long-limbed Milwaukee defenders.

I sort of figured going into this series that the Raptors would be forced to tweak their offense a little bit, since Giannis, Khris Middleton, Malcom Brogdon, and Matthew Dellavedova meant the Bucks had enough pesky perimeter defenders to make things hard on the Raptors guards. What I didn’t anticipate was that the Raptors would have zero answer for Greg Monroe, who had one of the better two-way performances I’ve ever seen out of the big man in his first career playoff game (Monroe had previously held the active streak for most regular season games without a playoff appearance, so good for him). On top of that, Thon Maker, who’s largely just played as a figurehead starter at the beginning of halves actually had several nice defensive plays. I don’t know if banking on a skinny 19 year-old rookie to sustain that over a series is realistic, but if he can develop that it will look like another shrewd draft pick by the Bucks.

Memphis Grizzlies (7) L @ San Antonio Spurs (2) W

[82 - 111]

This was actually a close game for about a half, with Marc Gasol actually setting the Grizzlies’ franchise record in the playoffs for points scored in a half. He then proceeded to score in single digits the rest of the way as the Spurs pulled ahead. I like both of these teams and admire the way they both have just sort of stuck their styles despite the league trying to move in certain directions. The problem for Memphis is that the Spurs have Kawhi Leonard, who’s the best defender and scorer in this series by a kind of alarming margin.

There really isn’t a whole lot to discuss from this game that isn’t kind of clear from looking at the score. The Spurs are a better team, a fact that only became clearer once both teams pulled their starters once the outcome was no longer in doubt. The bottom of the Spurs bench seemed to have zero difficulty with the bottom of the Grizzlies depth chart, scoring, blocking, and dunking with relative ease. It still wouldn’t shock me if the Grizzlies won a game at home during this anyway because they do that every season.

Utah Jazz (5) W @ Los Angeles Clippers (4) W

[97-95]

I’m a Clippers fan so this one wasn’t very fun for me. Rudy Gobert went down with a knee injury about 10 seconds into this game after he bonked kneecaps with Luc Mbah a Moute. Despite that, the Jazz pulled out the win when Joe Johnson scored a tough shot as time expired. Joe was big for the Jazz for the whole of this game, as he got a lot of minutes, both filling in for Gobert and because his floor-stretching helped take Blake Griffin away from crashing the boards. Even so, early on the Clippers were dominating the glass, pulling down offensive rebounds and drawing fouls inside like crazy, and Blake rolled up a monster first half. But, it’s Blake Griffin, so he scored two points in the 4th quarter (hitting zero field goals in the quarter). Chris Paul went off in this one, because Chris Paul is a very good player, especially in the playoffs, despite his reputation in the postseason. In fact, down the stretch he was pretty much the only thing that looked good for the Clippers, with the exception of Marreese Speights playing decently.

The Clippers missed Austin Rivers in this one, as J.J. Reddick struggled mightily against Joe Ingles’ pesky defense, causing the LA shooting guard to have a borderline meltdown with back-to-back turnovers sandwiching a couple of horrible defensive lapses in the 2nd quarter. Doc bolstered the bench unit by leaving Blake and Mbah a Moute out for long stretches but when Griffin grows passive, they could really use someone like Rivers to drive to the rim, and perhaps shake them out of their weird habit of firing up contested jumpers and refusing to move towards the basket.

Anyway, as for the Jazz, Joe was the star as Gordon Hayward was frequently bottled up by Luc Mbah a Moute. The Clippers would often switch Luc and Chris Paul onto Hayward in pick and roll situations which clearly left the Jazz forward frustrated as he wasn’t able to get past either man. Of course, they still ran this switch when Paul sat in favor of Raymond Felton, at which point it immediately stopped working. Did I mention the Clippers missed Austin Rivers? Down the stretch of this one, Doc Rivers was turning to Raymond Felton in his “defensive” lineups, which is one of those things that pretty much everyone in the world can see is a problem. I realize Wesley Johnson, Alan Anderson, and the rest of the depth guys have sort of lost Rivers’ faith this season but surely one of them can defend wings better than Raymond Felton.

Atlanta Hawks (5) L @ Washington Wizards (4) W

[107-114]

I’m probably gonna keep this one short because I’m not actually sure how much I can take from this game that I really believe about the teams. I do think the Wizards are probably the better team, so the results do seem to support that, but given the bizarre way the Hawks have worked all season, they could win the series after going down 3-0 and I wouldn’t really be that shocked. Paul Millsap noted after this one that the Wizards were playing a much more physical game than the Hawks. This is true, but it also makes no sense based on the way these teams are composed. With the exception of the guards, I think the Hawks own a physicality advantage at virtually every position, especially with Millsap and Dwight Howard inside. So naturally Marcin Gortat, obliterated Millsap on a dunk.

I don’t really have enough faith in either team to expect them to be entirely consistent through this series. Washington is good, but Atlanta has a knack for inexplicably winning games, and I still expect at least one game of Tim Hardaway Jr. going off and at least a few classic Dwight Howard shenanigans. If nothing else, I’d think someone in Atlanta would remember that Kent Bazemore and Thabo Sefalosha (when healthy) can really bother people on the perimeter with physical play. And maybe the Hawks can stop letting a 33 year-old Gortat put them on posters?

Portland Trailblazers (8) L @ Golden State Warriors (1) W

[109-121]

I’ve realized the NBA is a lot more entertaining when I pretend the Warriors don’t exist. I’m hoping Jusuf Nurkic gets healthy in time to play in this series (not sure if he will) because it will get a couple of Draymond Green’s inevitable flagrant fouls out of the way early when he unsurprisingly kicks another big white dude in the balls. Next.

Chicago Bulls (8) W @ Boston Celtics (1) L

[106-102]

On one hand I am really glad the Bulls won, even though I think they’re actually a fairly bad team because it’s incredibly fitting that they would preserve their TNT Broadcast winning streak. With that said, I do feel for Isaiah Thomas, who lost his sister in a single-driver accident the night before the game and was visibly emotional during it. The crowd’s response to him hitting a 3-pointer early in the game was a genuine, touching moment and it’s a bit of a bummer that it’s going to be overshadowed by the fact that the Celtics lost this game.

It’s not necessarily surprising that Chicago plays Boston well (although their regular season matchup where the Bulls literally forgot how to score a basketball means there’s at least some surprise here). The Celtics are a bad rebounding team and one of the only things Chicago does well is crash the glass. Robin Lopez and Bobby Portis played well in this one, meaning that Chicago’s mess of a front office actually managed to win a trade where they sent Derrick Rose away to get back Robin Lopez. Thank heaven for small victories.

Anyway, Jimmy Butler is better than any other player in this game and the Celtics are likely regretting the fact that they didn’t manage to acquire him back at the trade deadline. For what it’s worth, the Bulls did get quite a few contributions from other players, including Rajon Rondo. I like that because Rajon Rondo playing well emboldens Rajon Rondo to do some really weird shit, which is usually fun. I think Chicago could genuinely have a chance to win this series, but there’s also a pretty good chance they play Dwayne Wade major minutes because of his name, a move that makes them a lot worse and requires Jimmy Butler to make up for even more mistakes. Free this poor man.

Oklahoma City Thunder (6) L @ Houston Rockets (3) W

[87-118]

This was the MVP matchup that everyone got really excited for until it actually happened and we all remembered that Houston is a much better basketball team. This game was still weird though, as the typically inept shooting of Oklahoma City was replaced instead by a remarkably hot start from 3-point land, while the Houston Rockets airballed 3-pointers and had to stay in the game by crashing the glass and generating points in the paint. In short, the tow teams somehow swapped styles. The only problem was that apparently Nene and Clint Capela are completely unstoppable. I’m not really sure that can possibly be true, especially given that Oklahoma City actually has a decent frontcourt and plays above-average rebounders at all five positions. James Harden and Russell Westbrook, the MVP candidates in question got off to slow starts, but eventually started scoring, and as has been the case for most of the season, James Harden did a much better job, with Russ’s usage rate capsizing his efficiency as he chucked up ill-advised shots and turned the ball over 9 times amid Patrick Beverly’s terrorizing defense.

Speaking of Patrick Beverly, the Rockets guard was arguably the most impressive player in the whole game (at least until James Harden did this) as he outplayed Russell Westbrook on defense while making big play after big play on offense. He also ran into Steven Adams so hard that he had to check out of the game for a little while (after hitting a few three pointers and setting the crowd into a frenzy). The spotlight was always going to be on Harden and Westbrook, but I think there’s going to be a few more #2 jerseys in the crowd by the time this series ends.

As for the star performers, James Harden never really got going from deep, but managed to drive to the basket with so much ease that it looked like OKC just forgot that was a thing people do in basketball. Russell Westbrook probably has the MVP award locked up after his nutty stats this year, and he arguably has been more important in the sense that the team asks him to do about 99% of the entire team’s workload, but James Harden’s played better this year, and did so once again in this one. I do wonder exactly what would happen if you removed James Harden from the Rockets, because I have a sneaking suspicion they’d be just as bad as the Thunder sans-Russ. I realize their on/off court numbers don’t back that up but I have a feeling a lot of that stems from the ways the two teams deploy their bench, as Billy Donovan uses the Thunder reserves to try to bide time while Westbrook sits whereas Mike D’Antoni uses the Rockets bench players to do their best to replicate the production they lose when Harden sits.

Anyway, going forward in this series, I would think Donovan should consider turning to Domantas Sabonis at some point, as the rookie big’s willingness to shoot 3′s might at least drag one of Houston’s big men away from the rim, enabling someone on the Thunder to rebound, because if Houston keeps beating them on the glass like this I’m not sure we’re even going to get a full seven games out of this highly-anticipated series.

#nba #sports #sportball #long post

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