#female ocelot

[naturalist-journal]

Podría ser mi mejor pintura hasta ahora?

[cleromancy]

metal gear solid 3: snake eater. this game sure is fucking doing gender

[m3djed]

you ever see a piece of fan made content and go " oh man [creator of source material] would appreciate this "

[bravelittleocelot]

So many people bitching that Bridgerton is ruined now Jesus Christ. Suck a lemon and go outside and touch grass

[direapple]

The Speckledorks, but genderbent

[specialops]

Just a friendly reminder to not force ships on me, especially male x female ships involving ocelot. It says everywhere it possibly can that he’s gay. Your female character is not an exception. Thanks.

[bunieluv]

ᰔ minecraft story mode deaf jesse au ᰔ

pairing || male jesse x lukas (jesskas)

content warnings || inspiration somewhat taken from a silent voice, this au has themes of bullying, child abuse, self worth issues, and the general undertones of the ‘perfect child’ syndrome.

summary || a love story about independence vs interdependence, and battling self-worth issues as the top student is framed for bullying his deaf classmate, and must find a way to overcome his flaws in order to prove that he is not a bad person. based off of the hc that jesse lost some of his hearing after the formidi-bombs explosion.

information under the cut!

World

Beacon High School is a school filled with students of all different ability and culture. The students of Beacon High School are full of life and believe that everyone should be given equal opportunity, regardless of their backstory.

In this AU, characters from Minecraft: Story Mode take the roles of teachers and students attending this school. Romeo is the headmaster, Xara is the deputy head, Gordon/The Warden is the school secretary, and the Old Order of the Stone are teachers of the different subjects. The new Order of the Stone, the Blaze Rods, the Beacontown townsfolk will be taking the role of the students. The main cast are in Year 12/11th grade, making them 16-17 years old.

In this AU, female Jesse and male Jesse are twin siblings rather than gendered counterparts. Female Jesse is referred to as ‘Jessica’ while male Jesse keeps his name. Ivor and Harper serve as the twins’ father and step mother respectively. Additionally, Jack and Nurm serve as Petra’s adoptive fathers and Soren is a father figure to the Jesse twins, as the ex-husband of their father and one of their primary carers during their childhood.

The plot of this AU focusses on the undertones of the perfect child, Lukas, and how the maltreatment of a child detriments them in their later lives. In the beginning of their academic year these unlikely group of students are sardined together into Mr. Soren’s form group, and then Jesse becomes the target of the Ocelot’s bullying. Lukas’ reputation, despite being the only one who spited the idea of bullying Jesse and abstained, takes the hit for it, and Lukas resolves to regain the trust of Jesse, who had captured his attention. However, now people are standing in his way, and he must face all the worst things about himself for Jesse’s sake.

Jesse’s information

Aged 16. When Jesse was a child, he was involved in a freak accident which damaged his ears and is now medically recognised as deaf, meaning that he has little hearing ability. Jesse was left with some residual hearing after his accident, however this is not a lot and is severely muffled by white noise and tinnitus. It has to be a pretty loud sound in order for Jesse to interpret it, which is why Jesse uses hearing aids to amplify these sound waves to interpret them easier. As a statement yes these hearing aids are worn on his own volition, and in no way a refusal of his right to exist as a deaf person.

Jesse has the ability to speak, as he had learnt how to speak fluently prior to the accident. However, he often prefers non-verbal communication in sign language (most likely to be ASL considering MC:SM would probably be produced somewhere near the USA) as reading lips is only about 30% successful and with the amount of straining he has to do to hear often leaves him feeling fatigued. He feels he is only able to hold conversations with two people max, ergo he tends to hang out in small groups. When Jesse does speak, it is comprehensible and near perfect, though very soft and uncertain.

Jesse’s deafness is not exclusively limited to his hearing loss. There are other side effect that come with his deafness due to the injury in his middle and inner ear. Jesse is constantly seen tripping over, and this is for two reasons; the first reason being that the inner ear damage has caused problems with his balance, and the second is that having to focus so intently on the sounds around him interfered with his ability to walk around carefully. He is also more prone to headaches as a result of his chronic tinnitus, which makes getting rest significantly harder for him than for others.

Jesse reacts more violently to his other senses as a result of losing his sense of hearing. This is why Jesse is often more uncomfortable to scents, and responds to touch more than the average person might.

Jesse’s auditorial challenge posed him some troubles in his life, as it interfered with his way to communicate with a hearing world. Because of this, Jesse was frequently misinterpreted by his classmates and became a victim of ostracism and bullying. Despite this, Jesse has always kept a positive outlook on life, happy to be alive and accepting that his deafness is a part of who he is, and it’s other people that are the problem. Even if his immediate family does not agree with this way of thinking, and are very protective of him and how others treat him.

Jesse is a sweet and compassionate person with an easy going attitude. He is shown to be very forgiving even if it other people would have refused their apology, if they are expressing sincere regret towards their actions. He doesn’t feel that it is necessary for people to treat him differently to others because of his auditorial challenge since he is just as well off as everyone else- his grades are decent and he is able to fluently understand 3 languages (English, Spanish and ASL), so he is quick to dismiss any feelings of pity or concern towards him by projecting the more positive parts of his personality. 

Lukas’ information

Aged 16.

Lukas is the concept of a perfect child. He is polite, respectful and selfless, and is often relied on by students and teachers with his willing he is to help them in his own free time. Additionally, he is academically smart and athletic (notably strong considering he practices archery) which emphasises the positive traits about himself. He is very diplomatic and does not hold people to their old selves, believing that everyone deserves a chance to be happy.

Because of these high expectations placed upon him by other people, Lukas often does not think he is good enough. In his eyes, he is inadequate, and thus he often does not do good things for himself and busies himself with the wellbeing of others, making him very generous. Much unlike Jesse, he internalises and blames himself for the things that happen to himself, rationalising it saying ‘if I had done…instead’. Lukas does not hold grudges towards people, most notably his mother, who he loves quite dearly despite Petra’s family thinking she is cruel. His perfect façade seems to hide his deep insecurities, and it means he treats people politely even if they don’t deserve it.

Lukas was born into a wealthy family, and he really didn’t enjoy it. His father was frequently working and so his mother was the primary carer of him, and she had her twisted beliefs on life. Despite being supportive and nurturing his academic life, Lukas’ mother is manipulative and controlling, and Lukas often feels guilted into abiding by what she wants for him, micromanaging his life and being told that some harmless things he wants to do are way worse comparatively given who he is. This conditioning meant that Lukas had felt powerless and without a sense of self, following what his family wanted for him.

Throughout his life, Lukas has always been academically gifted. He had been moulded into a perfectionistic child, which is why his feelings of inadequacy hit so much harder. Lukas had began to push himself beyond his limits just because his mother was compelling him to, even if she had a pretence of worry towards his health. For a while he had been feeling completely isolated, even if he was the boy that everyone wished they could be.

Lukas didn’t want any of that. He didn’t care about being popular or desirable, he wanted to be a writer. But other plans had been put in place for his future.

Lukas had befriended the Ocelots after saving them from their bullies. He had been surprised when they had looked up to him like a leader— in the most sense, he wanted to be their equal and he wanted to be their friend. Although he did take on a lot of leader like qualities, teaching them alternatives to coping with their stress which are not harmful to themselves. Despite Lukas convincing his mother that the Ocelots were good people, she was still hesitant and suspicious of them, wanting rid of them but having no reason to remove them from Lukas’ life at that moment.

[pooks]

part 6 of straw hat!Ichiji and we have arrived to Little Garden

arriving to Little Garden

Ichiji is very intruguied by the strange new island with a seemingly tropical jungle climate.

he eventually decides to remain at the ship while Luffy and Vivi (with Karoo) decides to explore the island and Zoro and his little brother has a competition in finding the most food. Ichiji can't resist making a crude joke ("wow, there is a dick-measuring content now?") which earns him a well-deserved slap on his head by Nami.

he is, however, very certain that he has heard about a story of a strange jungle island with tropical climate, but he can't pinpoint where or when he heard about it. Nami decides to look at the books onboard the ship, as she's also sure she's read about it somewhere.

they eventually find out that Little Garden is an ancient island that's stuck in a pre-historic era. Ichiji remarks to Usopp and Nami that this was probably what Miss All Sunday meant and he's worried about how long the log pose will set. he tells them that he hopes the reset time is a matter of hours or hopefully a few days. in worst case scenario, it might be years. this causes some panic to Usopp and Nami.

Ichiji decides that he had enough of sitting ducks on the ship and jumps to the island. Usopp doesn't want him to go (since Ichiji is last of their stronger fighters), but Ichiji tells him that he can feel the inspiration overflowing in him and his instincts are urging him to go and explore. as Usopp and Nami watches him go, she remarks that this is what happens when they bring a writer onboard; they tend to wander away for the sake of inspiration.

Ichiji's filler arc; Nyansha, the Size-Shifting Cat

Ichiji, only equipped with a small notebook and a pen in his pocket, explores the jungle to his heart's content. he thinks back to fond memories when his mother was still alive and where he (and Sanji) heard a story she once told; a tale that was actually about Little Garden. he looks around his surroundings in wonder and feels content with his little adventure

the peace is interrupted when he feels followed and he turns around, coming face to face with a large, furry beast that looks too similar to a cat. feeling afraid, but determined to not let this phase him, Ichiji considers his options and deems it wise to not agitate the beast. instead, he reaches out a hand to let the strange creature sniff it.

to his shock, the furry beast then rolls on the ground and starts to purr. Ichiji realizes that he's dealing with an actual giant cat and he grins excitedly, as he's very fond of cats. he remarks that he wishes the cat was smaller, so he could bring it back to the ship and see if they had any food for it. lo and behold, the cat suddenly shrinks and becomes smaller until it's the same size of an ocelot. Ichiji asks if the "cat" can change its' size at will and the "cat" meows in agreement.

Ichiji holds the cat in his arms, cuddling a little with it. he notes that the cat seems a tad feral, judging by how wild it looks and acts, but it seems to like him plenty. he decides to keep it, discovering its a female cat and names her Nyasha. Nyasha quickly becomes his companion and they continue to explore Little Garden together

fighting Mr.3, Mr.5, Miss Valentine and Miss Goldenweek

Ichiji doesn't meet the giants nor joins the fight against Mr.3 until much later when Zoro, Vivi and Nami are stuck in wax and under the threat of becoming wax figures themselves

he pulls a "big damn heroes" moment and lands a kick right at Mr.3's face, getting his attention from his nakama. when asked (or demanded from Mr.3) who he is, Ichiji replies that he's the archivist of the Straw Hats. when he hears that Mr.0 aka Crocodile has been informed about his existence from Mr.5 and Miss Valentine and ordered him killed, Ichiji only smirks and says "that is, if you can catch me."

through the fight, Ichiji encourages Usopp to fight.

Ichiji: Rise up and take a stand, Usopp! If you really want to be a brave warrior of the sea, then this is your starting line now!

and then he gets busy fighting Miss Valentine and Mr.5, who's still pissed that Ichiji put a bullet in one of his hands. and all he says is "excuse me, i need to kill a couple of bitches."

and by killing, he meant "beat the shit outta the booger asshole and immobilize the hyena girl". a little trivia about Ichiji; like Sanji, he's been taught to never hit women and drank respect women juice everyday. but unlike Sanji, he asked Zeff what he should do if he ever came across a female villain and got an answer. "don't hit women, but outsmart her instead"

yes, Ichiji is absolutely there for the whole Zoro doing the Pose™ because in the event he dies, he wants to go out with an awesome pose. Ichiji just gives him a flat stare before he answers

"you know what, i'm not even going to dignify that with an answer. i'm leaving you in my brother's mercy, have fun with him screaming your ears off."

#SassKingIchiji

with joined forces, as Usopp manages to burn off the wax and frees Zoro, Nami and Vivi, they manages to defeat Mr.3, Mr.5, Miss Valentine and Miss Goldenweek.

once he gets the story about the giants Dorry and Brogy, Ichiji feels very relieved when he sees the two rivals/friends embrace each other, happy that their respective companion are alive and well. Ichiji reflects on the "hunting competition" Zoro and Sanji had hours before and wonders if the bond of rivals might extend to something deeper.

now when Sanji is on his mind, Ichiji feels worried for his little brother's sake and decides to look for him. then Sanji appears with an Eternal Pose to Alabasta and having successfully tricked Crocodile per den-den mushi. Ichiji feels very proud of his little brother and is at ease that Sanji can take care of himself.

he feels a sting in his neck and slaps it. Zoro questions him what he's doing and he responds that he just killed a mosquito, getting a bite from it. noticing that Nami also has gotten a bug bite, scratching at it on her stomach, Zoro remarks that this island is so humid and warm that there's probably dozens of bugs.

waving farewell to their new friends, the giants Dorry and Brogy, with the hope to meet them again and with an Eternal Pose in hand, the Straw Hats sets couse for Alabasta. but then we get a cliffhanger where Nami falls sick on short notice.

[mcsm-r0ckz]

[Let me clarify this is NOT me being 'sexist', this is me just being 'eh' on a female character.]

Not gonna lie... I am not the biggest fan of Petra. DON'T GET ME WRONG, SHE'S AN AMAZING CHARACTER- FANTASTIC EVEN! But, she TICKED ME OFF SO MUCH.

Like, dude, HER BACKSEAT DRIVING IN S1 EP 4... I COULDN'T. Also, SHE WILL IMMEDIATELY GO AFTER YOU FOR GETTING THE AMULET,- WHICH AT THE TIME EVERYONE THOUGHT IT WOULD HELP THEM. LIKE IT TICKED ME OFF, ESPECIALLY BC I DID IT TO END AXEL AND LUKAS'S RIVALRY.

And I know it was like this for a story/arc in season 2, BUT I HATED HER IN SEASON 2. IT'S LIKE THEY TOOK THOSE ANNOYING MOMENTS IN SEASON 1 AND SMASHED THEM INTO HER. I HATE IT. THE ONLY TIME I LIKED HER IN SEASON 2 IS IN THE BEHINNING WHERE SHE ISNT TOO MYCH LIKE THAT IN SEASON 2 EPISODE 1, AND AFTER THE CABIN SCENE.

DUDE. SHE SAID LUKAS WAS BASICALLY 'WEAK' AND AGREED WITH JACK IN EPISODE 2 SEASON 2. HER IWN FUCKING FRIEND. I CANNOT. I CAN'T. ONCE AGAIN, IK ITS FOR AN ARC/STORY, BUT STILL.

Also, I feel like this arc should of been done with Lukas. LET ME EXPLAIN MY VISION. I FEEL LIKE LUKAS WOULD BE MORE DISTANT ABD QUIET THAN HOW JUST [SORTA] RUDE LIKE PETRA WAS. I FEEL LIKE HE'D JUST TRY AND DO STUFF INDEPENDENTLY, AND JUST DISTANCE HIMSELF A LOT.

WHAT I MEAN BY 'INDEPENDENT' IS DOING IT BY HIMSELF AND FIGURING IT OUT BY HIMSELF, OTHER THAN PUSHING EVERYONE AWAY AND REFUSING HELP FROM ANYONE LIKE PETRA DID.

AND IT MAKES SENSE FOR HIM. HE LOST THE ORIGINAL OCELOTS, HIS FRIENDS, IT MAKES MORE SENSE WITH HIM.

Once again, THIS IS MY OPINION!!! I AM NOT SAYONG PETRA IS A BAD CHARACTER, I JUST DON'T LIKE HER EXTREMELY.

In conclusion: I am not the biggest fan of Petra, and rather her arc done with Lukas, with Lukas being independent and distancing himself.

[ravenousrampage]

I never went into more detail on other creatures in this blocky ecosystem, so here's spiders and phanto-moths. spiders are...giant spiders.

the females are large and brown, whereas the males are smaller and blue (and slightly venomous).

the more interesting contender are the Phanto-moths (Shortened to Phantoms)

which are highly social moth pack hunters and scavengers. they will swoop down on their prey to drag them back to their nests. (In this world, silverfish are the larval stages of Phantoms, who love burying into rock to surprise prey and threats)

rarely do they eat people, preferring smaller prey such as chickens, ocelots, foxes, etc. But if they're hungry enough they'll scarf an unlucky adventurer away....

[hylaversicolor]

the big eva and ocelot meta, or: how to use religious iconography and symbolism in a godforsaken, cunt serving, and incredibly transgender way

this meta started out as a way for me to learn more about ocelot by looking at eva. and then it turned into the opposite, i guess. because ocelot never, ever speaks directly about his motivation, except for one time at the beginning of mgs2 when he says he’s glad sergei noticed that he’s abandoned mother russia, and even then he hides through ambiguous wording and camera angles. (x) everything else we learn about ocelot is from other characters or is obfuscated by conflicting personas or both. we know why he does what he does (he was obsessed with big boss, eva says) yet he doesn’t state this in his own words. but you can use eva to analyze ocelot, and vice versa. during mgs3 they are both mysterious philosopher agents with ties to the book of genesis sent to help snake on his mission, often with nearly identical dialogue. (x, x) so in mgs3 when eva says “snake, huh. well, i’m eva… are you here to tempt me?” we can assume ocelot feels something similar. when eva says “don’t die on me” at rassvet, we’re meant to remember that moment when ocelot says the same thing to snake in the sewers, many scenes later. and when eva says “when i’m riding, the wind hits me so hard that it hurts. that pain keeps my mind off the pain of having to be someone else. it's not easy always fooling myself like this. it's only when i’m on the bike that i’m free to be the real me.” it’s in the back of our minds when ocelot also rides a bike later on. of course they are not exactly alike; the bike means something different to eva than it does to ocelot, and besides, ocelot is younger, less experienced, more hotheaded. eva, for all her cleavage, is reserved.

taking a detour for a moment to address the ocelot drag king thing that went around twitter recently. shinkawa and kojima noted that mgsv ocelot’s design was meant to inspire such questions from the player “like ‘is that a man or a woman, a woman dressing as a man’ kind of thing,” or “something like takarazuka” (x), japanese western-style theater “with all-female performers” (x). here’s a passage from jennifer robertson’s “the politics of androgyny in Japan: sexuality and subversion in the theater and beyond,” describing tarakazuka:

The femininity embodied and enacted by the musumeyaku serves as a foil for the masculinity of the otokoyaku. Much of the training of the Revue actors involves learning a vocabulary of gendered gestures, movements, intonations, speech patterns, and the like. An otokoyaku, for example, must stride forthrightly across the stage, her arms held stiffly away from her body, her fingers curled around her thumbs. In contrast, a musumeyaku pivots her forearms from the elbows, which are kept pinned against her side, constraining her freedom of movement and consequently making her appear more "feminine." In keeping with the patriarchal values informing the Takarazuka Revue, musumeyaku have represented the fictional Woman with little if any connection to the actual experiences of females. The otokoyaku, however, have been actively encouraged to study the behavior and actions of men offstage (as well as in films) in order to more effectively idealize men on stage, be they samurai or cowboys. Personal or contrary motivations and desires aside, both musumeyaku and otokoyaku are the products of a masculinist imagination in their official stage roles. (American Ethnologist, August 1992, vol. 19, issue 3, pg 423)

if, like all things with ocelot, we take this concept and run with it to eva, then ocelot is the takarazuka otokoyaku and eva is the musumeyaku. it’s all a performance. it’s all camp.

ocelot performs masculinity. he is (arguably) a gay character who lives and breathes his own interpretation, informed by the spaghetti westerns he watched and absorbed as a teenager, of the most idealized embodiment of western masculinity in existence: the american cowboy. his movements, his bravado, his persona are all exaggerated in mgs3. but his performance is also a mask behind which he hides his true self. ocelot physically conceals his whole body; his red gloves are his trademark. eva, by contrast, shows off her body. but while ocelot hides himself by hiding his skin, eva hides herself - crucially - by showing skin. and while ocelot's whole Cowboy Thing is him performing a fantasy version of masculinity, the opposite is true for eva. she is performing femininity just as much as ocelot is performing masculinity, only instead of playing a western cowboy dandy, she’s doing an over-exaggerated femme fatale. they are both acting. they are both camp. ocelot’s masculinity is rooted in westerns; eva’s femininity is, presumably, rooted in whatever charm school training the philosophers must have given her.

this juxtaposition informs the way their roles play out throughout the course of snake eater. ocelot can go off and do whatever; he has more freedom by taking on the persona of a man. eva is more limited in her performance, confined to a pseudo-caregiver role. she must support snake, care for him, give him food items. during the interrogation scene she is the one who is forced to step in and intervene, because out of all the players in the room, the personality she’s crafted for her role is most suited to sensitivity to snake’s torture. (x) she uses her vulnerability to exploit her enemies, turns people’s preconceived notions about her against them. ocelot and volgin both underestimate her; when she successfully evades volgin on the bike, and bests ocelot in hand to hand combat, these are not traditionally feminine activities, yet they are the things she truly excels at. also ocelot has had everything put together for him, even if he doesn’t see this. (x) he has been given incredible privilege at a terrible price. eva doesn’t even have that privilege. she is working to support snake completely on her own.

yet even though eva is unfailingly on snake’s side throughout the game, helping him, giving him items, often physically close to him, seducing him, etc., she betrays him in the end. ocelot is the opposite. he is farther away; he often watches rather than intervenes when snake is in trouble. it’s not obvious that he’s been on snake’s side the whole time. and yet by the end of the game, where eva (who had gotten the closest to him) betrays snake, ocelot (who had been farther away) does not. this speaks to mgs3’s theme of “there is no such thing as a timeless enemy” - also because after the events of the game, snake and eva (though parting ways as enemies) end up as allies again, and eva and ocelot, who had been enemies in the game, become allies as well, and remain allied for life.

ultimately, due to eva’s role being confined to a traditionally feminine one in mgs3, ocelot emerges as a more compelling character. behind that femme fatale persona, though, there is a lot going on. a lot of it, i think, relates to the way eva was raised as a charm agent. as a result of her philosopher training, she can only think of human relationships in absolutes. she equates sex and love in her mind and cannot conceptualize ambiguity:

eva: do you love her? snake: no, nothing like that. eva: do you hate her? snake: does it have to be one or the other - love or hate? eva: between a man and a woman? you bet. […] eva: you were interested in the boss. snake: she was different. eva: really? how do you feel about me? snake: i should be asking you the same question. eva: me? i can fall in love - if it's part of the mission. even with you.

this is meant to be a callback to mgs1, but it’s also eva in her element, in action, working. she unzips her top as she says these lines, revealing her breasts. there’s some meta commentary here about eva fooling or charming the player, using her own sexuality as a weapon, but still being objectified nonetheless because kojima wrote her to do this. in the context of the game, yes this is eva acting of her own accord, molding her appearance and mannerisms to appeal to her target, but she is doing so as a result of philosopher training. this isn’t eva’s true self, not really. the only place she feels free to be her true self is when she’s on her bike, with the wind hitting her so hard “that it hurts.” we see eva performing increasingly risky bike stunts as mgs3 goes on. i think the stress of playing her role only continue to increase as time went on throughout operation snake eater. but not because of being forced to fool john: i think she took some pleasure in that. rather:

eva: the boss was the only one i couldn't fool. she was the only one who knew i was a fake. she told me everything. why did she open her heart to me like that? at the time, i couldn't understand it. but now I think I do. snake, she wanted you to know the truth. she chose me to tell you. that's why she saved my life. i’ve lied to you so many times, but not this time. my orders from the government were to obtain the legacy and to eliminate everyone who knew the truth about what happened. in other words, I'm supposed to kill you. but i can't do it. not because we loved each other. and not because you saved my life. but because i made a promise to the boss… and i intend to keep it. i just wanted you to know. and… you have to live.

because the boss was the one person to understand her, to look at her and see that at her core, she, like ocelot, is the embodiment of a 404 error. but this lack of self, or lack of recognition of the self, ironically, is what makes her human. the boss looks at her and instantly sees that the only way she can feel anything at all is to ride her bike so hard that the wind hurts her. she sees the pain of having been transformed into a blank slate by the philosophers, ready and willing for anyone’s preconceived notions of femininity to be projected onto her, because the boss went through the same ordeal - but unlike eva, whose earliest memories are presumably of philosopher charm schools, the boss did not start as a blank slate. she had a life, a personality, a family first, and had all that taken away in order for higher powers to reduce her to something malleable and ready to be manipulated for the sake of nations and empires. the boss is eva’s connection, her lifeline from the sterile, casually cruel world inhabited by the children of the philosophers, to the emotions and the messiness and the nuance embodied by the rest of humanity. and this connection goes doubly deep because the boss probably encountered eva in one of the philosopher charm schools while searching for her own son, who she knew had to be at a philosopher facility too.

and by choosing eva as the one to pass on her message to snake, the boss gives eva’s life new meaning, a renewed sense of humanity. in eva’s mind now the boss and snake are connected. she is part of that love the boss had felt for snake, and she inherits it by proxy. i don’t think she loved john as a human being, at least not during mgs3. even after mgs3, i don’t think she comes to understand this connection that the boss and snake had, but she still clings to it. and i think that, just like ocelot who was far away and fixated on snake, once eva is the farthest away that she’s ever been from snake at the end of mgs3, now she becomes fixated on him too. just like ocelot, snake represents humanity to her. their connection is less about love and more about trying to make sense of her own emotions, her personhood. the boss endures and haunts eva into perpetuity because i think she is a reminder of what eva could have had.

big mama: your father never wanted you. i’m sorry. human life isn’t meant to be manipulated like that. i knew that. but—i wanted you.

eva allows her own pursuit of humanity to convince her to do inhumane acts. we know ocelot joined the patriots to stay close to john (the same reason he eventually joined foxhound). eva joined the patriots, i think, because staying close to john brought her closer to the boss. that, i believe, is the reason she wanted the kids so badly. eva in mgs4 is motivated by guilt. we can see that she takes in war orphans as the leader of the paradise lost army (ironically facilitating the creation of more child soldiers, and perpetuating the vision of the philosophers even as she’s trying to dismantle their legacy). in mgs3, eva and ocelot are a pair of young philosopher spies aiding naked snake. in mgs4, eva and ocelot are a pair of aging ex-patriot spies from another time forcibly dragging the past along with them into the present. they both mistake solid snake for naked snake in semi-lucid moments; they share similar last words; they both are ultimately killed by foxdie. they kill and steal and lie and torture and maim, but in their minds it’s all out of necessity. take this analysis of paradise lost by john leonard:

The hostility of Chaos raises troubling questions about God. If God is good, all-powerful, and the ultimate source of matter […] how can we account for the existence of an evil Chaos? An evil Chaos would suggest either that God is not good or that he is not all-powerful. Many critics try to get around this problem by arguing that Milton’s Chaos (despite appearances) is not evil but good. (Introduction, Paradise Lost, Penguin, 2003)

zero, by mgs4, is the alpha and the omega. he has surpassed the limitations of his moral body and become an all-seeing, all-knowing system of AIs: in the metaphor of adam, eve, and the snake, zero is god. we can see that eva feels somewhat complicit in this transformation: “zero created the patriots to manage and control the american state […] but i am partly to blame. i bear some of the guilt for creating the organization.” ocelot’s feelings are less apparent.

back to the beginning of this essay: ocelot only explains himself once throughout the entire game series, and while he does, the camera conceals his face. importantly, his red gloves are gone in mgs4. his black gloves show us that this isn’t ocelot anymore. but since his fingers are uncovered, we can infer that ocelot is in there somewhere and he is speaking his truth. so when liquid says “cigars… father's favorite.” that’s really ocelot (with the cigar blocking his face…there’s so much in that) saying “cigars…john’s favorite.” when liquid says, “snake, we were created by the patriots. we're not men: we're shadows in the shape of men. […] the patriots saw fit to create us, and in doing so became our only raison d'etre […] so long as we both live, the world will not know an age of light […] the only choice left to us is death." that is ocelot saying “when i saw what the patriots had done, my only reason to exist became to take them down.” when liquid screams “do you see this, zero?” that is 100% ocelot saying, “watch us, zero, we’re going to undo everything you did to john.” and when liquid gives this odd, regretful glance after the confrontation at the river, (x) i think that is ocelot reacting (albeit late) to eva saying, “adam…” a scene prior.

john: ocelot and eva wanted two things…to bring me back to life, and to end the patriots. […] for me, and for them […] nothing was more important.

in the words of steak bentley, mgs4 shouldn’t have been about big boss. (x) i agree. forcing everything to connect back to big boss and to zero shrinks the universe, imbues the story with this weird predestination, makes everybody’s contributions to the plot feel less significant, weakens both mgs4 and mgs3 in hindsight by showing the writers’ lack of faith in their new material.

but you can also look at it in a meta sense of ocelot and eva saying “this story’s not done yet, i’m still going to get revenge on big boss’s behalf. this is going to be about big boss whether you all like it or not.” metal gear solid 4 is really the story of two people who loved big boss so much and carried so much guilt over the part they played in zero’s betrayal that they created this entire overly convoluted plot to make john relevant again. the irony of it is that if they had just let him fade into obscurity (the first time, after snake eater) the LET project might not have even happened at all. by mgs4 i think they both recognized this. and yet they continued to drag it out - understanding, i think, on some level, that they were doing it all essentially for nothing. and through eva and ocelot’s actions, john ends up getting….not exactly a redemption, but at least closure. i don’t know if it’s warranted or even deserved, but he gets it nonetheless. and still eva and ocelot spend most of their time away from big boss and die without seeing him again. the thought that john would be able to survive, that he would endure and live and reconcile with solid, get one final moment of “i understand.” at the boss’s grave - this kept eva and ocelot going for decades.

by the start of mgs4, for eva and ocelot, everyone else is gone. john is out of their reach, the boss has been dead for fifty years, they killed the rest of the patriots themselves after zero betrayed john. the kids that eva had wanted, too, are no good, since liquid is already gone and solid needs to die in order to bring the cycle to a close. the only way they can access their own humanity (that ocelot had found in snake and eva had found in the boss) is through clinging to each other.

big mama: naturally, ocelot and i planned to free [john] from zero's prison. we enlisted naomi hunter, an authority in the field of nanomachine research, into our organization. and we used frank jaeger to kill dr. clark. ocelot tortured the DARPA chief, donald anderson - also known as sigint - to death…and made it look like an accident. […] with para-medic and sigint dead, zero was the only one left. but we, too, paid a price. i lost ocelot. ocelot wasn't fighting for the pentagon, or the russians. and certainly not for zero. he was fighting for big boss. he idolized him.

[sir-yeehaw-paws]

Can you talk a little more about masculinity and femininity in ocelot? Sounds interesting

Hello Anon!

Sure, I can do that. I guess a good way to explain myself first (and hopefully a little better than I did in the takarazuka ask) would be how I personally perceive masculinity and femininity.

The definitions of the concepts, according to Websters dictionary, are defined as such:

Masculinity: The quality or nature of the male sex. Femininity: The quality or nature of the female sex.

As another quick note, I'll add that this isn't going to delve too hard into whether these qualities are 'good' or 'bad' in regards to Ocelot. Some of them are good qualities, but Ocelot often puts them to use in a sinister fashion, being. Well.

Ocelot. In this case 'masculine' qualities would be, say, 'aggressive, physically strong, abrasive, robust' where as 'feminine' qualities would be, 'soft, nurturing, gentle, reserved'.

Obviously, my immediate issue is that these definitions are rooted in biological sex characteristics, with the stickier territory of sex and gender correlating because biology dictates certain personality traits. I'm not going to over-complicate it by going into a deeper 'nature vs nurture' or sex VS gender argument. And, for the sake of ease I'll start by describing what one might consider how these qualities are implied/shown in Ocelot in particular.

Ocelot's personality (or what he tells people his personality is) has characteristics of the following:

Men are often considered to have more 'instinct rooted' natures. They're more often considered less feeling (something we know is very untrue but they're given less space to discuss their feelings properly). They are described as strong, daring. A lot of characteristics that get defined in the ways to which they are physically robust and skilled.

Or, in ways they can be useful based on those traits.

Women, by contrast, get considered more 'delicate' and nature based. What they can provide and offer people is given a critical eye (such as how many are described as nurturing, devoted) how they can provide, and their mental capabilities. Since the flip of the coin is that they are also considered more emotionally rooted, thus, they're described as 'manipulative and scheming' when written in a negative light.

(Also, a long time back, and never on Tumblr, I had the thought that Kaz's own story is written very 'female coded' to me. Being a scorned, jaded lover more known for his hysterical, temperamental personality and emotion being his driving force, robbed of his agency with torture and the like, and how revenge stories can often be common in female lead roles BUT that is a whole different thing so uh anyway carrying on.)

Ocelot's main, grounding root is that he is 100% endlessly devoted to Big Boss. It does not matter who suffers because of it, it does not matter how many people die, what matters is that the love of Ocelot's life is given his just due. And Ocelot remains by his side (physically and otherwise, even when BB himself is out of the picture) until his own death.

He's flamboyant. Full of a 'quirky' style of dress, makes a statement whenever he walks into a room. Does loud, bold hand gestures. Makes all kinds of crack statements, and generally draws the audiences attention in these ways. While he's more 'subdued' in MGSV, he still dresses a little 'strange' wears spurs around base, and keeps medium-length, free-flowing hair with long eyelashes and a more even-toned, level head.

Ocelot being a mediator is an extremely funny spot for him to be in, but like any of his performances, he nails it. Mum friend Ocelot, (if the mum friend is hypnotized to hell and of course, secretly antagonistic but again, Ocelot).

On the other hand, he's extremely obsessed with the 'ultra masculine' things; like guns, the American West, hand to hand combat (his CQC is some of the best in the series, I've seen it argued), men-or well, one man in particular. In any case, that's actually a different topic in it's own way, and a different essay.

I'd also note, the guns and such aside, he has a lot of his mother's personality traits, (from what we know of her anyway). The Boss was manipulative, cunning. Physically strong, robust. Driven by emotions, but physically domineering in a way that people knew damned well to take seriously.

Who else got Volgin to tuck tail?

Yet-despite this, her story is one of sacrifice. Her having Ocelot in the first place as well quietly key to her character, written on her chest in a deep scar that reminds the audience, this is a woman. Using the conventional aspects society deems relevant to women, and the ones we've all heard before.

Ocelot's story, ends on the note of reminding the world (the players) that he died for a man. That he loved and adored. His story gets slightly elevated from reminding you that 'this is a man' and more into the territory of 'this is a person with a story' which I find interesting, and a bit sad, on the Boss' part. Because while there's a distinctly 'feminine element' to that, he's not given the hammer home of 'this is a man's story!"

Because men get lots of stories. Men get all kinds of stories. That are not completely rooted in their masculinity (or their femininity, for that matter. Unless the story chooses to be about that). And I feel as if I've gone a touch off topic this way, but I know what I'm trying to say.

Ocelot, (and his mother, and so many) MGS characters are a good mix of masculine and feminine. One could make a post like this for all of the characters, but there is something to be said on the 'this is WOMAN' point getting hammered home a bit harder when it is the female characters.

But, that is another thing entirely. Once again. I feel like I'll never 100% stay fully on topic in an ask eh?

As an aside, is meowing masculine or feminine? We shall never know.

[icarusallusion]

I think MGSV really robbed us of a Kazuhira and Quiet properly written relationship and really took away a proper characterization of the two, especially Kazuhira as he has already had a good characterization that they took away. In Quiet 's scenario they literally just need to write better female characters, it's so awful.

While friendship definitely didn't have to be how their relationship went, I think some sort of mutual bitter respect between them would have fit, but instead we get a very disturbing take on them with Kazuhira calling Quiet like awful things, talking about killing her, and blaming her for getting attacked.

Quiet is seemingly respectful of Kazuhira and doesn't seem to hold a grudge against him, and Kazuhira is shown to accept people's wrongdoings and still show a respectful professionalism around them in the past. Kaz kinda hates Ocelot and Big Boss (venom snake but kaz thinks it's big boss) in MGSV but still respects them and treats them like a proper coworker.

We can also see this with Paz a little bit, pre MGSV.

Big Boss quite literally kidnaps him and talks about doing horrific things to him if he doesn't join, months later he's in love with him as a legend and then in MGSV a character that minorly inconvenienced him is suddenly his mortal enemy, it just doesn't make sense to me.

Not to mention Ocelot and BB were both part of Zero, worked with and for him, but we never truly see Kaz get angry with them for this.

Kazuhira understands throughout the games the manipulative pull Zero has on people, but when it comes to morally wrong female characters they aren't written.. good. In turn, they write the male characters that attack them bad as well. Taking Kazuhira and making him someone who's just angry all the time and so easy to hate for newer players was awful to me. I loved him in Peace Walker, traitor and all. However, I see new players blindly playing MGSV as their first game and DESPISING Kazuhira because they haven't seen him in his proper characterization, haven't seen him outside his dehumanization of Paz and Quiet and his overall anger.

AS WELL AS HOW HE TREATED PAZ, it was so weird to me. Obviously he's angry but even before they found out Motherbase was destroyed Kazuhira rants and rages and calls her a bitch and other like shitty things and it was so weird to me. Because in Peace Walker, he literally admits he's in the wrong for even letting Paz on the base in the first place, post her betraying them horrendously, Kaz still speaks with some fallen foe respect towards her

But then when it comes to Quiet, Kaz participates in the dehumanization and ridicule of her while also ostracizing her from everyone else. Strangely enough the only characters we see really hate Quiet are background Diamond Dogs soldiers, they don't build any reason to hate her for the player which just makes Kaz look crazy. From a non meta point, to not have Kaz have at least some decency towards Quiet when nobody else really has a problem with her except the soldiers was weird.

It felt like his deep rooted hatred with Cipher was just squeezed into a character, because the lack of proper expanding on Quiet really felt even more uncomfortable when all we got was ass shots and dehumanization especially.

I think MGSV could've been a good game if it didn't try and take itself so serious. The seriousness of battle overshadows the time spent with Quiet and with Kazuhira and literally every other character that could've been properly expanded on.

I love MGSV, I love Metal Gear in general. However, it fails it's characterization so much, more especially in modern games like Revengance and Phantom Pain. They are good games, but when all the women are written as rage bait without any proper reason to hate them at all, it sucks. When characters in general regardless of gender are destroyed of their former written self, it sucks. I could go into this with so many other characters but I couldn't stop thinking of Kaz and Quiet and how they come directly from the lack of proper female writing as well as the lazy writing that really spoils MGSV for a lot of people.

[milkyshake-ms]

Yarn ball She goes by Yarn ball but her legal name is Amber M. Ocelot. She is a semi-beast feline,specifically a house cat. She is female and has no sexual orientations as of now

[direapple]

The Speckledorks if they were from the 60s

[cynderblaze]

Not one, but two new Sonic OCs!

Cye and Chlo! They’re ocelot twins! (And their names are a play on the word “cyclone!”)

Cye is the male ocelot on the left, while Chlo is the female one on the right!