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audreydoeskaren · 3 years ago

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do you know Chinese symbolism for homosexuality?

tw homophobia, pedophilia

Hi again, for gay men there are a couple really well known ones but I’m not sure if they were real or fabricated, because all the articles describing them always cite the same couple sources from Antiquity... I tried to verify them but the only articles that didn’t copy and paste from the same source came across as extremely homophobic, so I decided to give up. The most common and reliable one is probably 断袖 or “cut sleeve”, which I mentioned in a previous ask. I would like to use this opportunity to talk about some tangential but more important topics regarding homosexuality in China though.

As a followup to my previous ask where I said I'd look through some Ming and Qing novels to see how homosexuality was perceived at the time, the conclusion I (unfortunately) came to was that homophobia was very much alive and well in Chinese literature and society. A lot of people like to argue that gay people fared pretty well in China historically by either pointing to emperors who were or were rumored to be gay or time periods where gay sex was prevalent as a form of consumption. This is extremely shallow and also kind of Orientalist in my opinion, these arguments always go for the emperors and do not take nuance into consideration or dive into wider societal discourses on homosexuality in imperial China. If you research homosexuality in Europe by only looking at royalty, you’ll find plenty of homosexual behavior too, does that mean gay people had it very easy in Europe historically?? Not to mention that they usually don’t differentiate between dynasties, let alone centuries or decades, even though public opinion on homosexuality in China (or anywhere in the world tbh) could change very quickly. This is also sort of Orientalist, assuming “imperial China” to be a never changing entity with a never changing stance on homosexuality. Since I know nothing prior to the Ming Dynasty I’ll share some of my random findings on homosexuality and homophobia in the Ming, Qing and 20th century.

Gayness as disease

Nowadays the symbol of the cut sleeve is just a benign historical allusion but historically it seems that it was used in a negative and condemning sense, implying that people thought of homosexuality as a disease or deviation from the norm. The common phrase used for the cut sleeve is "断袖之癖", usually translated as "the passion of the cut sleeve" nowadays, but the meaning of the word 癖 here leans more toward "fetish", "obsession" or "hobby" with pathological connotations. I thought maybe this word had a different, nuanced meaning historically but it seems that it was used to describe what it means :(( The only silver lining is probably that with the progression of language it isn’t offensive anymore.

In a lot of popular novels from the Ming and Qing, homosexuality was depicted as a "perversion" and a decadent lifestyle that plagues morality, and gay characters were often either killed or straightened out by the end of the story. An example of this is the story 黄九郎 Huang Jiulang from the series 聊斋志异 Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio by 蒲松龄 Pu Songling written in the 17th century. In this story, one of the protagonists was gay; he died after confessing his love to the other guy in a very fast paced bury your gays arc which somehow reminded me of the Supernatural finale, and reincarnated as a straight man because of his piety. Thanks I hate it. Pu uses the symbol of the cut sleeve to refer to the protagonist, presumably in a negative manner.

Gayness as power/status symbol

Another thing was that historically in China a lot of people confused homosexuality with pedophilia. This is a global thing, but its presence in China is often overlooked. This could be seen in the popularity of another term for homosexuality, "娈童", meaning something similar to "pederasty". I read somewhere that since the late Ming, pederasty was considered a type of tasteful consumption for high society, along with things like fashion, food, music and art. This was not equivalent to the "cut sleeve" or homosexuality as we know it nowadays, which refers to a personal sexual orientation, pederasty historically often refers to an imbalanced power dynamic where a wealthy, privileged man takes advantage of a young boy as a leisurely activity. It’s more to show off that someone in a position of privilege and wealth has the power to procure sexual objects, gender and age don’t matter much in this regard. I cannot help but cringe violently whenever someone brings up pederasty as proof of China’s historical “openness” toward gay people. Talk to me again when in this time and place you could marry someone of your sex (not a minor) and be considered a respectable couple instead of two jerks with a degenerate fetish (not saying that gay people have to marry, it’s just that the ability to do so is an important indicator of equality imo). Pedophilia and homosexuality are not one and the same good heavens.

I hypothesize that the reason why Chinese society was historically homophobic despite having no religious condemnation of homosexual individuals was the idea that having many concubines and male children was a status symbol for men. Women of marriageable age were seen more or less as commodities and male children could supposedly "continue the bloodline" 传香火 and were vessels for passing down prestige, so having them were of utmost importance to a privileged man. Being just gay or lesbian, however, meant that you didn't perform the "man strong working woman weak making babies" heteronormative family prototype, and was thus prone to criticism. When gay men didn’t have children they “couldn’t continue their bloodline” and were emasculated, when gay women didn’t have children they failed to “fulfill their duties as a woman” and were shamed.

It kind of makes sense considering how being bisexual was never a problem in comparison, especially for men. If you were a rich guy who had both male and female partners, you would still have children and concubines both male and female so nobody gives a shit. Emperor Zhengde of the Ming (reign 1505-21) was presumably bisexual and had both male and female lovers, nobody had a bone to pick with that; he famously liked to fuck around but those who criticized him did so for his debauchery instead of focusing on the gender of his partners. This is different to homophobia in Europe where same sex attraction was considered evil and immoral in and of itself because of religious reasons, in China it was rather the other practical implications of homosexuality (not having children or a family) that attracted hate.

By the way can we just take a moment to talk about bi erasure in Chinese history. From all accounts of Emperor Zhengde I’ve read he comes across as extremely bisexual, but a lot of people try to make him a gay icon? I mean, he liked women too.

One interesting homophobic angle in ye olde China which I find kind of funny was straight women who wanted to climb the social ladder by marrying rich men talking shit about them after figuring out they were gay lmao. Historically, there were not so many work opportunities for women, so the easiest way to improve social standing was to marry a rich and powerful guy. Not saying that women didn't work, they did but their upward social mobility was restricted because they couldn't enter the imperial examination system which was how men became rich and powerful. This angle is relatively benign and kind of helps illustrate that historical Chinese homophobia was indeed fueled by classism and patriarchy.

Gayness as crime

I used to think that there were no anti-sodomy statutes in China (laws prohibiting sex between gay men), but it turns out that there was one decree in the Jiajing era (1521-67) and one in 1740, and private gay sex was not actually decriminalized until 1957. Same sex marriage is still not legal in China at time of writing. I couldn’t find detailed information on what these laws entailed or how they were enforced, but they’re enough to prove that homosexuality in China was legally punishable from the 16th century onward. On top of that, even when there was no law prohibiting private sex acts between people of the same sex, displays of gay affection such as kissing or holding hands could still be legally punished under “public indecency” or “hooliganism”, which was frequently what happened in the 20th century.

#lgbt #queer history #chinese history #gay #mlm #ming dynasty #qing dynasty #republican era

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curiosity-killed · 3 years ago

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Lang Qianqiu deserves more love goddammit: a post, unfortunately

This brought to you by the wonderful @veliseraptor & @/yuer on Twitter but also mostly out of spite and the fact that it’s preventing me from writing a very dumb poke-the-bear post abt the entire weird social media culture around The Minors

As always ✨SPOILERS!! SPOILERS EVERYWHERE✨

So first off: when I hit the scene where lqq confronts xl and screams “I will never be like you” I sat up in bed, did a little shimmy of delight, and hissed “fuck yes” at like 2 AM so. Now you have a preview of wtf this train wreck will be

1 ) lqq is a good character

We don’t get a ton of time with lqq because tgcf is 87 side characters running across stage with The Most Interesting Concept constantly one-upping each other before vanishing. But what we do get is, I think, enough to make a pretty compelling story: Lang Qianqiu is a kind and generous prince who is also the sole survivor of the bloody massacre of his entire family, committed by the people dearest to him (both in his belief that Gusohi Fangxin did it and in the reality of An Le’s involvement), who goes on to peacefully lead his fractious nation into a peaceful reign before he ascends as a powerful enough (aka beloved and worshipped enough) god to be ranked among the top heavenly generals. That’s like. Pretty fucking classic protagonist vibes right there.

And, as usual with mxtx’s characters, we get a lot more than this lovely little backstory. In his interactions in canon, lqq is capable of great grief and anger; he is willing to sacrifice himself if it means avenging his murdered family; and he simultaneously holds both great hatred and great respect for his old teacher. And, of course, he winds up raising and taking care of his enemy’s son which shows a remarkable depth of compassion and emotional messiness that I find terribly compelling. He struggles with a simplistic view of justice that is supported by lies told to “protect” him and that is uprooted by the truth and forces him to try to make sense of the world without the guardrails that others installed around him (looking at you mister fangxin sir).

Also I’m stealing my own tweets bc I’m Right but:

*pulls up single barstool to lqq is a good character table* I think it’s interesting & Says Things abt the continued relationship btwn lqq & xl that lqq *didn’t* recognize xl, implying that he left fangxin’s mask in place even when he went to kill him

Like here is the man who killed his family & best friend, who left him abandoned in bloodshed on his 17th bday—& here is also the man who saved his life, who taught him, who lqq looked up to & wanted to be like

Even when lqq *does* recognize xl, he still has so much respect for him paired with that hatred that it’s honestly rlly tragic? Like man. There’s so much grief in lqq’s repeated demands for a duel & insisting it’s fine if xl kills him as long as he doesn’t hold back

*pats lqq pompom* this bb is so sad. And so much more like his teacher than either of them seem to realize or necessarily want

Despite being a pretty minor character, lqq gets a lot of complexity and nuance! Look at this child trying to be grown up while desperately turning to his old master for guidance and “the truth”! Look at him! Be sad!!

2 ) lqq is an excellent parallel to xl

Okay stealing my own tweet again don’t look at me I yell the same shit everywhere

Xl didn’t want lqq to become like him (self-sacrificing, vengeful, alone) but lqq not only became alone, chasing vengeance, & willing to sacrifice himself for revenge—he also became kind, open-minded, & remorseful!! & he still clearly respects xl @ novel end 🙃🙃

We all know hc’s “they’re not very alike at all” and yeah sure baby go support your man but narratively, there’s a lot of importance given to cycles, parallels, and foils in mxtx’s writing and most explicitly (compared to mdzs, haven’t read svss) in tgcf. For example, *gestures at beefleaf, gestures at Xianle Trio vs Wuyogn Crew, gestures at Xie Lian & Jun Wu’s whole uh. Deal.* And while I’d argue xl and lqq are part of a triumvirate rather than a pair, we’re not including mister three-face in this conversation so just looking at xl and lqq:

Both adored and sheltered crown princes

Both taught by a guoshi who was seeking to prevent the repetition of their own tragedies and in their efforts, lied/omitted information and failed to protect their charge from tragedy

Both were betrayed* by their closest friends

Both are the last living members of their respective royal families

Both caught the interest of supernatural beings from a young age

Etc etc I’m getting v bored and distracted writing this so moving on

Most importantly to me, we have their betrayal by a very close and adored mentor and how they react. The confrontation I mention at the start of this shitshow is really imo one of the most important scenes in the novel because it a) illustrates the differences in xl and Jun Wu and b) sort of gives you a preview of how xl ultimately wins

So a) Jun Wu and Xie Lian both take a talented, marked-for ascension young prince under their wing. Jun Wu sees himself in the boy and obsesses over shaping him into Jun Wu’s own image in the belief that this will make him the perfect heir. Jun Wu pushes his chosen heir into situations where Xie Lian is repeatedly harmed in an effort to show that the common people are fickle and cruel and don’t deserve his compassion and care.

Meanwhile, Xie Lian is reluctantly roped into mentoring his prince due to his inability to stand aside when he feels he could do something to prevent hurt or injustice befalling another (simultaneously his great strength and great weakness! God I love him). Xie Lian tries to teach his student to believe in and care for the common people and not to sacrifice himself (see: flashback convo re:taking the force of the sword strike into his own body).

When Xie Lian refuses to bend in the shape Jun Wu demands, Jun Wu bashes his head into the wall. When Lang Qianqiu cries “I will never be like you!”, Xie Lian laughs and says “Good!”.

B) this of course feeds directly into foreshadowing! Like Lang Qianqiu’s bold words, xl ultimately refuses to become like his mentor and remains defiant even when it would stop him from being hurt. Xl beats lqq and says so what if I tricked you, so what if I lied, I still won. Naturally, xl beats Jun Wu not through standard swordplay but by using a trick he learned while forced to busk and wander the earth alone and unlucky for centuries.

…okay so I have fully forgotten what I was actually saying here! Anyway!

Like Xie Lian, Lang Qianqiu spends a time consumed with the need for vengeance, hunting his enemy and rejecting the heavens. And like Xie Lian, he winds up caring for his enemy’s “son” and trying to both comfort him and maintain what’s left of Qi Rong’s life force despite having previously been hellbent on destroying him—bc he sees the impact it has on another person. In the end, he even gives a gift to Xie Lian—his mentor, his role model, and the one who killed his father—that was once given to him as a symbol of unexpected kindness. Sound familiar?

But, importantly, and contradictory to what I have been yelling abt but whatever it’s 12:30 am, Lang Qianqiu is not a direct mirror of Xie Lian but a closing of a vital loop in the story. Lqq is very similar to xl (I will die on this hill!! Only I won’t bc I’m stronger than y’all and will keep swinging these pots and pans) but bc xl tries to do better and keep lqq from suffering the way xl has, lqq is able to have a gentler and more optimistic path forward. He’s proof that even a small act of kindness or even kindness to only one person still matters and has a ripple effect that can’t be seen when you’re in the middle of it—a thread started with xl giving the coral pearl to Lang Ying and closed with Lang Qianqiu returning the pearl to Xie Lian.

So I have no idea if any of this is coherent or compelling but I meant to be asleep two hours ago and the points are:

A) Lang Qianqiu is good actually

B) parallels!!!

C) look ive already started another wip about Lang Qianqiu and Xie Lian and I didn’t want this but no one else wrote it so now I have to so pls just accept this as a warning

*sort of air quotes around this for Xie Lian bc frankly Mu Qing was right & Xie Lian kicked feng xin out BUT on the other hand, it was experienced as a betrayal and we also again have all of Jun Wu’s shit so it evens out

#should I wait and proofread and edit this tomorrow? yes.#am I doing that? no <3 #idk what to tag this as #uhhh #tgcf spoilers #lang qianqiu #I don’t think this can reasonably be called meta #since I am unsure if it is even readable #tgcf #long post

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miserable-pile-of-lies · 4 years ago

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For everyone that is discounting Greta/Alucard as a ship, but finding validity in Trephacard, please tell me why given the nuances in canon? One of the first things that stands out in my mind is that when we first hear Trevor and Sypha talking about Alucard upon getting to know him, Sypha describes him as a cold spot in the room. On the other hand, when Greta is talking to Alucard and comparing his magic to Saint Germain's magic, she said that his magic is sweet like spices (his magic is a reflection of his character). She mentions his warmth/kindness once more upon seeing him play with the children of her village, noting that it was very noble of him to take the time to entertain them despite the ongoing situation.

The first bit of dialogue that we get from Greta, even outside of a romantic connotation, is that she wishes for Alucard to help protect the villagers of Danesti for the long haul. Even though she voices her concerns with Alucard's reliability, she acknowledges that his help is necessary for her people to survive the attacks of the night creatures. Following this, we see Alucard admit his insecurities regarding the stability of his relationships when Greta notes that he seems to come alive when it pertains to protecting people. He believes that it is inevitable that he will be left alone once he’s done protecting the villagers and Sypha and Trevor unfortunately contributed to this insecurity. Not once during Season 3 does Trevor or Sypha mention Alucard, not even bothering to keep in touch with Alucard. Countering that, we see Alucard talking to hand-made puppets that resemble Sypha and Trevor, clearly showing that he missed them dearly and was beginning to lose his mind during his isolation until Sumi and Taka appear. Circling back to the dynamic of Greta and Alucard, it’s clear that Greta is bothered by this cycle of neglect that Alucard has endured. Upon arriving to his castle, she states that his home is cold and lonely, but she goes out of her way to say that she and the villagers could make it into a place that is warm and happy. Greta also plays a key role in establishing the village of Belmont and ultimately brought the main trio back together once and for all regardless of what the fandom would like to think.

Ultimately, Trevor and Sypha were destined to be an item and after they successfully made it into the Belmont Hold, Trevor and Sypha's heart-to-heart takes place. Trevor opens himself up emotionally for the first time in years following the death of his family and as the audience, we finally see that there is a gentle side to him thanks to Sypha. This gentleness would solidify Sypha’s interest in Trevor and vice versa as the two disclose information about their pasts. The following morning after Trevor and Sypha fall asleep together in the Hold, Alucard is jealous of Trevor as he is shown to be drawn to Sypha (most likely, because she reminds him of his mother in some aspects). However, Sypha rebuffs Alucard's insults directed towards Trevor and essentially calls him immature once finding out how fast Alucard grew during his childhood years.

To parallel that heart-to-heart, we see Greta and Alucard bonding on their journey to his castle and she helps him by allowing Alucard to talk through his emotions which is something that we didn't even see with Trevor and Sypha. A good example of this would be when Alucard disdainfully mentions that he murdered his father following Dracula's death. Trevor insensitively mentions that Dracula’s death was for the best and Sypha intervenes by saying that even though Dracula terrorized Wallachia, he was still Alucard's father and that it was okay to mourn him. I'm going to say that this conversation along with Alucard seeing Trevor and Sypha holding hands while Sypha cups his shoulder as they walk away from the fight with his father triggered his emotional withdrawal from the two as he believes that he has no place in their happiness. It isn't until Trevor and Sypha leave the castle that we see Alucard's true emotions, left alone in his despair. We also see Alucard conceal his feelings in the earlier part of the season when he's sketching his parents in the sand. He is uncomfortable at the prospect of murdering his father even though he knows its for the greater good and stops crying when he hears Trevor and Sypha come up behind him. It's clear that Alucard isn't comfortable with being emotionally vulnerable around people, even around Trevor and Sypha. However, he finds refuge in Greta in a short amount of time given her position as a reliable leader and straightforwardness in her intentions which is something that Alucard clearly respects.

Trephacard is a ship that I grew to love thanks to fandom content and I will continue to like it for that reason. However, I’ve seen a lot of folks attempting to bring Greta into that dynamic and I heavily dislike the implications of the group as an OT4. For one, Greta barely got to interact with Trevor or Sypha prior to the series finale therefore making the connection purely fanon (nothing wrong with a crack-ship). The only reason why I can fathom fans attempting to bring her into this polycule is so that Trevor and Sypha can still make a move on Alucard which carries problematic undertones. Often times in fandoms, POC characters who are canonically paired up with white characters that are highly favored are seen as undesirable or not good enough to be with that character so they are pigeon-holed into an unlikely scenario/fridged (this scenario being Greta + Trephacard). This dynamic takes away Greta’s autonomy and the sincerity of her feelings towards Alucard even if she has canonically been in a polyamorous relationship. I hope this makes sense as I took a lot of time to voice my opinions on how the fandom has received Greta. As someone who rarely gets to see a girl like me in media like Castlevania, her character means a lot to me and the fact that she is seen as desirable and strong makes me want to ride that much harder for her.

#castlevania #alucard #adrian tepes #greta #greta castlevania #trevor belmont #sypha belnades #fanon!Trephacard is a million times better than anything in canon because ooph #also I'm sorry if I forgot anything #but my brain demanded that I post this immediately because I'm frustrated with the fandom's response to Greta #Trephacard #trepha

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theggning · 4 years ago

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In Defense of Piper Wright

DISCLAIMER: People have opinions. People have different tastes in characters, and things that they like and dislike about characters. You are allowed to like whatever characters you want and dislike whatever others for whatever reason you want. You can read everything I say here and go “yeah but I still don’t like her” and that’s fine. There are popular characters in all of my fandoms that I still don’t care for much, and that’s okay! I still like to understand how they are written and what makes them tick.

I like Piper. I think she’s funny and charming and it’s very refreshing to see a bossy, outspoken, pushy, but overall courageous and goodhearted woman in a prominent role. But I’ve been kickin’ around this fandom for a bit now and I have repeatedly seen some incredibly uncharitable takes on Piper, a lot of which strike me as either hugely generalizing or frankly, something I don’t think would be directed at a male character with Piper’s same role and traits.

A lot of people complain that Bethesda “puts no thought into their characters” which I find often translates to “I have not spent any time with this character” (or less often, “this character is not exactly the way I would like them to be, therefore Bethesda is bad writers.”) Most of the companions in FO4 are quite nuanced and multi-faceted, and you learn things about them by traveling with them and talking to them, hearing their comments on various events and locations. Piper is in the unique position of being featured briefly in the main quest, so meeting her is not optional, though having her as a companion is. Because of this, I feel like many people stick with the basic first impression they get of her, and dismiss her on that alone.

So today in my TED Talk, I would like to discuss some common takes I’ve seen on Piper and provide canon evidence why I think they’re off base or overblown. You are free to agree or disagree with my opinion and you can like or dislike Piper, but there is some stuff flying around that is just not supported by canon at all.

On a side-note, you can find scripts and dialogue for all characters in the game on the Fallout Wiki, and read the entirety of their lines and the context for them. It’s fun and interesting and really helps when you’re writing IC fic or character studies like this.

1. “Piper is pushy and reckless and doesn’t think about the consequences of her actions.”

That’s correct. You have clearly met Piper. This is called a character flaw.

“ Never thought a reporter could consider themselves a success until someone threatened their life. Me? I'm very successful.”

In one of Piper’s early affinity dialogues, she explains the origins of her dedication to the truth. She and her baby sister Nat lived in a town outside the Commonwealth with their single father, a local militiaman. One night on watch duty, Piper’s father was murdered. His captain, Mayburn, claimed that he must have been surprised by raiders, but the now-orphaned teenaged Piper didn’t believe him. She discovered that Mayburn was actually working for the raiders, and had accepted a payoff to sell out the town to an incoming ambush. When Piper’s father discovered this, Mayburn murdered him.

Unfortunately, nobody believed her. The mayor was unwilling to listen to Piper, so she made a bunch of posters publicizing Mayburn’s actions and hung them up all over town. The townspeople were horrified and came clamoring for the truth. Mayburn was thrown out and the citizens were prepared when the raiders came, routing the attack and protecting themselves. By reporting what she’d found to the public, Piper avenged her father’s murder and protected her entire hometown-- but she attributes this not to herself, but to the townspeople, empowered by the truth.

“No, those people saved themselves. Because they knew the truth.”

Player Dialogue Option: “Your father died for knowing the truth. It didn't protect him.”

“But how many more people would've died if he hadn't been willing to stand up?”

“Because people need to know the truth. Even when it's bad. Especially when it's bad.”

Piper believes in the power of the truth, the power of people to make their own decisions, and that the best way to put people at ease is to inform them.

You’ve heard it before, that all good characters need to have flaws. And Piper’s biggest character flaw is that she is overzealous in the pursuit of the truth that she values so deeply.

“Course, in my experience, if you want to do real good, playing nice only gets ya so far.”

Piper has a tendency to be reckless and even a little thoughtless when she’s got a “scoop” in front of her. She can be nosy, pushy, abrasive, and is constantly getting into trouble because of it. She has so frequently been arrested that the Diamond City security guards refer to the lock-up as the “Piper Suite.” She regales you of adventures where she very nearly died in the pursuit of a story (one where she was poisoned for exposing a caravan price-gouging, and one where she was nearly sacrificed by the Children of Atom while investigating irradiated drinking water.) Piper is so dedicated to her ideals she frequently puts her own life at risk, getting so fired up by exposing lies and deception she gets tunnel-vision.

This bullheaded dedication may or may not be admirable to you personally, depending on your outlook, but it is objectively a character flaw.

But it’s not true that Piper simply doesn’t think about the consequences of her actions. They ABSOLUTELY get away from her and cause unintended problems sometimes, but she is well aware of this flaw of hers and is not oblivious to the trouble it’s caused. Publick Occurrences is popular and well-regarded within Diamond City, with a large readership base that write letters to the editor and otherwise engage with the paper (you can see many NPCs reading it throughout the city.) Piper herself, though, is not popular at all. The guards warn you to stay away from her because she’s trouble. Many NPCs are reluctant to speak to her. She says has lost many of her friends because they have assumed that she will publish their dirty laundry in the paper (something that there is literally no evidence she has done, or would ever do.)

{A bit emotional. This isn't the sort of thing Piper admits easily. / Neutral} When that first edition hit the stands, I felt like I'd finally done something worth doing, but afterwards, things, things changed. People didn't want to talk the way they used to. Seemed that overnight, I'd gone from being Piper, friend and confidant, to Piper, the nosy snoop. A lot of folks, they haven't treated me the same since. It started to feel like the only person I could count on was my little sis.

We can most easily see Piper’s struggles as this flaw relates to Nat. As willing as Piper is to push and pry and put her own life in danger, she is terrified of anything happening to her sister (whom she has exclusively raised since she was a toddler.) Piper is forced to walk a careful line between her beliefs and their consequences impacting her sister. If she pushes too hard on McDonough, they could get evicted and put Nat in danger out in the wasteland. If she challenges the Institute, they could snatch Piper or, as she truly dreads, Nat. But if she stops printing the paper, they will have no money and Nat will starve (because remember, Publick Occurrences is Piper’s livelihood and source of income, not just a hobby that she can stop at any time.) In a later affinity conversation, Piper reveals that she is afraid Nat will emulate Piper’s reckless lifestyle and put herself in danger.

Yet facing all of this, Piper believes so strongly in the truth that she continues printing the paper. She refuses to find another source of income, to back down from being a thorn in McDonough’s side, or otherwise take an easier path. Because even if she’s pushy or obnoxious or nosy or anything else, the truth is the beacon that guides all of Piper’s actions and decisions. It is the central aspect of her characterization, and must be kept in mind while I dive into the rest of these points.

2. “Piper is responsible for the anti-synth sentiment in Diamond City.”

This one is very popular, and I think it’s because players must dig a little bit for the timeline of major events in the game.

The anti-synth sentiment in Diamond City began with two incidents: the “Broken Mask” and the CPG Massacre. Our good pal Nick Valentine explains both incidents to us.

Mechanical synths like Nick were already a known quantity in the Commonwealth, but “Broken Mask” was the incident where people discovered that the Institute had synths that looked human. A customer at Power Noodles suddenly went berserk and started shooting people. When security killed him, they discovered that the man was a synth (Nick states that the man was “full of gears and sprockets,” and we later learn that he was a very early prototype gen-3 model. Current gen-3s are entirely organic and do not contain machinery.)

After that, people were further terrified of human-like synths by the CPG Massacre. The Commonwealth Provisional Government was an attempt to unite the various groups in the Commonwealth into a real governing body. Representatives, including the Institute, met to discuss the formation of laws and governance. But when the negotiations got messy, the Institute decided it was a lost cause. Their representative, a gen-3 synth, proceeded to kill everyone at the negotiations. In one day, most of the influential people in the Commonwealth were violently and blatantly murdered by the Institute. There have been no further attempts by the Institute to communicate or negotiate with the Commonwealth on the surface.

Here’s the thing though. Broken Mask happened in 2229. The CPG Massacre took place sometime in the 2230s. Fallout 4 begins in October of 2287, over 50 years since the beginning of anti-synth sentiment in the Commonwealth and Diamond City.

There has been 50 years of Institute kidnappings, synth raids and other shenanigans building a slow and growing fear. Piper is, at most, in her mid-20s. She was born into a Commonwealth already suffering and exploited by the Institute, where people live in genuine terror of being kidnapped, experimented on, and murdered. She has literally never known a time without the shadow of the Institute hanging over the heads of everyone in the Commonwealth, and naturally, her passion for the truth empowers her to investigate as much as she can.

As the game begins, Piper is facing the consequences of her latest issue, an article in which she discusses the Broken Mask incident (available to read in game, though realtalk, it seems almost NOBODY takes the time to do so.) She talks about sitting down for some noodles across from Mayor McDonough, and how that was the same situation that victims of the Broken Mask incident were in 50 years ago. By drawing this parallel, she insinuates-- not accuses, not declares, but very carefully insinuates-- that McDonough could also be a synth. This article is explosive and controversial, and results in McDonough locking Piper out of the city and making a speech to defend himself.

Given what we know of Piper, it is almost guaranteed she anticipated this, knew that it would make a huge impact and make people start asking McDonough questions. It is Piper firing a salvo at McDonough in what has clearly been a long-simmering feud between them.

But given other context, this seems like it’s a sudden and extremely shocking move from Piper, not something she does all the time. (In “Dangerous Minds,” during the most recent section of Kellogg’s memories, we can hear Travis on the radio discussing the article and saying “oh, Piper’s really done it this time.” Later on the radio, we hear him making a big deal out of Piper’s article like it is big news, not just another wacky accusation from Piper.)

We have no access to back-issues of Publick Occurrences, so we cannot say for sure what kind of articles Piper has been writing all these years. But there is no evidence that Piper uses the paper as a witch-hunt, or tries to identify specific individuals and accuse them of being synths-- and given her actual feelings about synths, this seems a very uncharitable assumption about her. Piper’s main feud is with McDonough and the way he (doesn’t) deal with questions and concerns about the Institute and kidnappings. There is nothing to suggest she spends her time inflaming anti-synth sentiments on purpose, or that her article was the latest in a long line of hit-pieces designed to scare people or turn them against synths.

There is plenty of speculation to be had about how Piper’s newspaper might throw fuel on the fire of a tense situation. There’s lots of discussion to be had about Piper’s article on McDonough and whether or not she’s crossed a line in publishing it. It is ABSOLUTELY provocative, flirting with baseless speculation, and very questionable journalism. But it’s not the cause of anti-synth sentiment in Diamond City, nor is there any indication Piper is intentionally trying to make that sentiment worse.

3. “Piper hates synths and wants them all dead.”

Extrapolating from the above, I have seen a lot of people claim that Piper hates synths and tries to call them out, expose them, and reveal the truth of their identities at any cost, even if it gets them killed. This is not only a wild mischaracterization of her, but outright untrue.

One mistake many make in writing game meta and theories is forgetting to consider POV. The characters in the game do not have all the same knowledge that we, the players do. NPCs are usually not given the chance to learn, grow, or evolve at all, apart from those who are involved with specific quests. FO4′s companion characters are unique in that they accompany the player throughout the plot, and thus are given a chance to learn new information and offer us their perspectives on it.

When we meet Piper, she is an average citizen of Diamond City. Her opinions and perspectives match those of many of her neighbors and fellow citizens. Neither she, nor the people of Diamond CIty fully grasp the nuance that there are different types of gen-3 synths. Some synths are purposely built and programmed to be infiltrators, to kill and replace real people and assume their identities. But others are simply created to work in the Institute as slaves. They are individuals with their own appearances, thoughts, and personalities. They are not here to replace or harm anybody, and simply seek a way to be free. Because the Railroad is so secretive and because there are no open gen-3 synths in Diamond City (like Nick is openly a gen-2 synth, albeit not by choice), Piper and the people of Diamond City have absolutely no perspective on this fact and do not understand it.

Hell, I’ve seen a shitload of players that apparently don’t understand this, who believe things like “all synths are based on a person who they murdered” and “the Railroad helps synths murder and replace people.” (Reddit and Youtube are very wild places.)

But the minute Piper understands that most escaped synths are simply trying to live their own lives, she is IMMEDIATELY one of the most pro-synth companions. She is vocally in favor of helping synths. She snaps at you if you express the idea that you think synths are machines:

{Concerned} Doesn't matter if someone was born or built. A person's a person. I figured you'd understand that.

She also strongly supports the Railroad, and for all she gets accused of putting people in danger with her journalism, she instantly reins herself in here:

{Excited. / Happy} I knew it. I knew the Railroad was real! {Concerned about revealing the Railroads secrets, then trailing off. / Concerned} But I can't write a story on this. Right? It'd compromise their whole... {Deep breath at the end of this. / Relieved} Okay. Deep breath.

Piper has absolutely no quarrel with synths who are not infiltrators. Nick Valentine is a dear and close friend of hers (and it is a mutual friendship, as Nick references adventures the pair of them have had in the past.) She is kind to Glory and deeply saddened by her death. A synth doesn’t even have to be her friend for Piper to stand up for them-- she vehemently defends Danse during Blind Betrayal and gets extremely upset if you don’t. She is passionate about rescuing Amelia Stockton and putting a stop to the Covenant operation.

There is just nothing at all to support the idea that Piper is some kind of anti-synth Spanish Inquisition, and ZERO evidence that she has ever tried to investigate, identify, or reveal anyone as a synth. Her insinuation about McDonough is not about his alleged synthhood-- it’s about the most powerful man in the city, whose governance (or lack thereof) is having a real impact on people’s lives. Her quarrel with McDonough isn’t whether or not he’s a synth-- it’s that he’s NOT DOING ANYTHING to address the concerns of his constituents re: the Institute. And sure enough, when it turns out that Piper was right and McDonough is a synth infiltrator, she doesn’t give a damn about his nature. She wants him to receive a fair trial and face justice like any other person.

{Angry} You're not getting off the hook that easy, McDonough! You have to answer for what you've done.

{player let McDonough walk / Depressed} So the big, fat liar gets to walk free. Another depressing story to add to the pile.

Should this encounter end with McDonough’s death, Piper is not happy that a synth died. She is upset that a traitorous mayor did not face the justice he deserved from the people he sold out.

On a slightly related note, Piper shares almost ALL of her approvals/disapprovals with Nick. Off the top of my head, I can’t think of a single quest or situation where Piper doesn’t agree or disagree with the exact same things as Nick. I wouldn’t go so far as to say we should ascribe to her a “What Would Nick Valentine Do” philosophy, but the two of them are clearly very similar in their opinions and beliefs about mercy, justice, peaceful negotiation over violence or threats, and helping those in need because it’s the right thing to do. Nick and Piper are canonically close friends, but people frequently accuse her of things that we all know Nick would never, ever stand for.

4. “Piper is all talk, and she’s doing nothing to stop the Institute/McDonough.” First off, let’s keep in mind that 1. Piper’s newspaper is also the source of her income and livelihood and 2. Piper has a child sister for whom she is the sole provider and caretaker. As I discussed earlier, even with her reckless nature, Piper is forced to walk a delicate balance between accomplishing her goals and staying in the good graces of the city enough to not be thrown out or suffer any life-ruining consequences for her sister. As one single solitary person, she does not have the resources nor the ability to directly fight the Institute herself, and it is ludicrous to expect her to.

Now let’s talk about Edward R. Murrow.

Piper and McDonough’s rivalry is highly reminiscent of the “rivalry” between 1950s journalist Edward R. Murrow and Senator Joseph McCarthy. You can look this up for the full story but in short, McCarthy was a politician in the 50s whose bread and butter was accusing people of Communism. During the “Red Scare,” an accusation of being a communist was enough to completely destroy someone’s life and career. Those accused would be blacklisted and shunned, and some were even prosecuted and jailed. McCarthy used to throw these accusations around with no regard for evidence, and grew to wield so much political power that people were absolutely terrified of raising his ire (sound familiar at all?) Edward R. Murrow and his crew at CBS News wanted to call out this blatant injustice, but knew that doing so would make them targets and could potentially ruin their lives. Using careful journalism and facts, they presented a news program on McCarthy and his irresponsible actions. As stated on the Wikipedia article, “The broadcast contributed to a nationwide backlash against McCarthy and is seen as a turning point in the history of television. It provoked tens of thousands of letters, telegrams, and phone calls to CBS headquarters, running 15 to 1 in favor.“ It is widely regarded as an example of the power of journalism and freedom of the press, and the events were dramatized in the movie Good Night and Good Luck (which is a very, very good movie, you should see it.)

I think it is very intentional that Piper reflects this real-life true story (particularly given that it took place in the Red Scare of the 50s, the time period that Fallout’s Pre-War America was meant to reflect.) Piper is very much seeking to use journalism and the freedom of the press to right a political wrong.

Mayor McDonough, along with being a classist snob and prejudiced against ghouls, does absolutely nothing about the Institute. Obviously, we find out this is because he’s an infiltrator synth working for them, but let’s consider things from the POV of Piper and your average Diamond City citizen.

No one person stands much of a chance fighting against the Institute, but McDonough is failing in his duties to do even what little he can. He denies their presence, denies that they are a problem, denies that they pose any danger to his city. He accuses anyone who talks about the Institute of trying to spread fear, and uses this “fear” as an excuse to shut down criticism and discussion. (Compare this to Hancock, who empowers the people of Goodneighbor to look out for themselves and each other, and who encourages a climate of courage and unity against the Institute.)

But it’s worse than just discouraging discussion. McDonough actively undermines Diamond City’s ability to defend itself against the Institute. Kidnappings and disappearances in Diamond City are explicitly not allowed to be investigated by security, again citing “spreading fear” as a reason. So if you are a citizen of Diamond City and one of your family members goes missing, then tough shit, you are not getting even the slightest amount of help from the people who are supposed to keep you safe. We wouldn’t want anybody thinking the Institute took them, because that would make people afraid. It is better to just not think about the Institute. Just don’t think about them or pay them any mind, keep your head down and pray that they leave you alone. And we especially shouldn’t be asking any questions about them. Never, ever ask questions.

Piper is willing to ask those questions. To her, McDonough is every bit as suspicious as Mayburn, the captain who murdered her father. He is every bit as derelict in his duties, and once again, Piper is determined to expose him. But McDonough retaliates by accusing her of starting trouble, and creates a climate where even speaking about the Institute is “fearmongering” (and indeed, even some friendly characters accuse Piper of spreading paranoia.)

Pastor Clements: Hate it when [the newspaper] bring up the Institute. Ain't like folks aren't already scared of 'em.

DC Security: I ain't telling you how to pick your friends, but Piper's kind of a troublemaker.

DC Security: It's that newspaper's fault. Got people all riled up, thinking their own family might be replaced by machines.

Complaint Letter in Piper’s terminal: DATE - 10/01 "Your paper is just trying to drum up fears about synths to increase sales. You should be ashamed of yourself."

McDonough gives speeches and cheap reassurances to his constituents, claiming the Wall will protect them (without ever using the I-word) and blaming Piper for “betrayal” and “driving us apart,” as though her journalism is a threat to the city itself:

McDonough’s Speech: {Irritated} I would like to address the subject that is on everyone's mind, and that is the disgusting article Piper has written... Diamond City has stood united for over 150 years. And what keeps us united are two things. {Confident} First, is the great green guardian behind me. The Wall. Our protector and our savior from the filth of the outside. And second, is our faith and trust in each other. The faith and trust that has given us prosperity, security, and education for every citizen. {Irritated} And while the paper might point their fingers at synths and other ghost stories to drive us apart, we will not betray this sacred trust.

Meanwhile, he abuses his power as mayor to kick Piper out of a city in which she owns property. Also, directly brings Nat into things:

McDonough: You devious, rabble-rousing slanderer! The.. the level of dishonesty in that paper of yours! I'll have that printer scrapped for parts.

{threatening / Irritated} I've had enough of this, Piper. From now on, consider you and that little sister of yours on notice.

Piper gets threatened and punished for speaking truth to power, for using her influence and resources to ask the tough questions, and for demanding that an elected official be responsible for the people he leads. Then that elected official scapegoats her, paints her as a liar, and accuses her of taking advantage of people’s fear for profit.

But Piper’s the one who’s out of line here, right? She’s all talk and no action, right? She’s in the wrong for putting McDonough on the ropes, right?

Just as Nick is the only one willing to investigate missing people in Diamond City, Piper is the only one willing to use her platform to demand answers from McDonough. She only gets involved in the main quest at all because Nick knows she is brave enough to investigate the Institute. And Piper doesn’t have an entire faction backing her up, no power armor or subterfuge network or indeed, many allies at all. She’s just one person fighting the Good Fight the only way she can, because she believes it’s the right thing to do.

5. “Piper’s dedication to her ideals puts people in danger and gets people killed.”

Some may have read all this I wrote so far and may think I have some points, but none of it matters because Piper’s pursuit of the truth is reckless. It’s dangerous. She is so passionate about her ideals that she has caused collateral damage in the process. Whether or not she intends to, Piper has inflamed tensions and is responsible for getting people killed.

(I would point out that this is mostly speculation. DC Security blames the newspaper for the event with Kyle, who flips out and accuses his brother Riley of being a synth-- but remember, McDonough is encouraging them to do that. There are no other examples of Piper’s newspaper causing any kind of anti-synth backlash or incidents, apart from vague propaganda spread by McDonough, those on his payroll, or those who have begun to believe it.)

Let’s talk about themes!

One of the major themes of Fallout, the entire series, is the fallibility of groups and ideals. Just as there is no such thing as a perfect person, there is no such thing as a perfect idea, a perfect philosophy, a perfect organization. All through the series, we see examples of groups that strive for things most people would say are very positive: freedom, liberty, justice, glory, prosperity. Pre-War America is the Ur-example of this. The world is littered with satirical propaganda from the time before the war, fake and idealized images of the American dream. Of course, not only did this all end in a goddamn nuclear war of all things, but the wasteland is literally full of evidence that it was always a lie. People, groups, corporations, even the government were fueled by greed, unchecked capitalism coming at the expense of literally billions of human lives.

Post-War factions are no better. In every game, but especially in New Vegas and 4, the player is presented with factions who all strive for different ideals, and are all flawed in some way. Even if they do good things, even if they have good intentions, factions that are too zealous about their ideals and goals are shown to have huge problems. The Institute is a mirror of the pre-War world, science and human advancement at the expense of morals, with absolutely no regard for the lives of those outside of it (or those that they literally create.) The Brotherhood of Steel has the noble goal of preserving technology and protecting humanity from its misuse, but this comes in the form of hoarding, isolationism, imperialism, and human-supremacist bigotry. The Railroad strives to free synths from slavery, but even its own members confess their discomfort with its lack of concern for humans, and their sometimes alarming apathy about human collateral damage. Even the Minutemen, widely regarded as the “best” or “most good” faction, have the weakness of relying on the inherent nobility of their members. As their status at the beginning of the game shows, this is never a guarantee.

Just like every other idealistic notion in Fallout, Piper’s pursuit of the truth is not perfect, and neither is she. She is a flawed person and she cannot possibly be a perfect beacon of the ideals she champions. Using her character, we can examine both the up and downsides of her opinions and beliefs. We can agree with her that the truth is important, that people deserve to know the facts and ask questions. We can also acknowledge that the truth can be cruel, it can whip people up into a frenzy, it can come with unintended consequences that no one can foresee or control. Because Piper does not have a personal quest of her own, we do not get the opportunity to watch her reckon with these facts or to examine her relationship with the truth. We don’t get to watch her grow more enlightened or to gain some wisdom or nuance about her beliefs.

But if we are going to grill Piper and hold her personally accountable for her reckless dedication to her ideals, then I think it’s only fair we do the same for every companion. Because they are ALL characters with flaws, and they all have ideals that they champion, and none of these ideals are going to be seen as universally perfect. So if Piper is directly at fault for the damage her beliefs have caused, then it’s only fair we also blame: (WARNING: SARCASM APPROACHING)

Danse, for his belief in the mission of the Brotherhood of Steel. After all, as one lone soldier in a massive organization, he should be personally responsible for the harm that the Brotherhood does. Over ten years of loyalty and constant immersion in their culture where he is not allowed to ask questions or disobey orders are not a factor, he is definitely a bad person and he gets what he deserves when it kicks him in the teeth later.

Deacon, because he believes in the mission of the Railroad and as I said before, the Railroad gets human beings killed. It doesn’t matter that Deacon wishes the Railroad could help human people too and supports you when you do so, he believes in their ideals so he is directly responsible for any bad that comes of them. Also, Deacon committed the double crime of trying to become a better person and atone for his past sins, so he’s like, not even sincere about his beliefs. What a prick!

Preston, for his belief in the inherent goodness of people. After all, he was too naive to see the fall of the Minutemen coming. People in Quincy died because the Minutemen fell apart over egos and infighting. Even afterwards, Preston is too quick to believe that the Sole Survivor will be a good General for the Minutemen, trusting them entirely to do the right thing when, get this-- they might actually be the Overboss of Nuka-World?! What an idiot!

Hancock, for his belief in freedom to the point of anarchy. You want to talk about somebody whose ideals get people killed? Hancock’s so afraid of being a tyrant that he refuses to put the kibosh on criminal gangs running rampant in Goodneighbor who literally and explicitly murder innocent people, including families. (Silver Shroud quest, anyone?) He pays you under the table to take care of the people he really hates, rather than just making a stand and enforcing some rules in HIS CITY OF WHICH HE IS THE MAYOR.

(END OF SARCASM.)

You see? It’s so easy to extrapolate ungenerous bad faith takes on a character in the same way people do with Piper. All we have to do is look at everything in terms of black and white, with no nuance and no allowance given for context, circumstances, characters’ actual personalities or, indeed, the limitations of writing within a video game.

I think that Piper gets held up to very different standards than many of the other popular companions. She has many of the same flaws as other characters. But those characters are allowed sympathy and complexity and understanding, where Piper is often scorned or vilified-- and I somehow doubt this would be happening if Piper were a male character, or if she didn’t have traits not commonly written in heroic female characters: being pushy, opinionated, loud, argumentative, and “aggressive” (she’s actually just regular assertive, but you know... confident women are always “aggressive” to many people.)

In conclusion, people have a vast spectrum of beliefs and opinions, and a character that one person may like another may hate for any number of reasons. I’m not here to tell you that you are not allowed to hate Piper, that you must like or respect her for the reasons given. But at the same time, I see so many people completely missing the point on her character. They don’t speak to her at all, or they’re just painting her with the most uncharitable brush possible to make her fit their ideas of her.

If you’re going to hate Piper, nay, any character? Then form your opinion on things that they actually say and do in canon, not wild extrapolations and hyperbole that just plain aren’t true. When we’re working with game meta and interpretation and analysis, characters are as they are written in canon, not as we want them to be to fit who we think they should be.

#fallout 4 #fallout meta #piper wright #piper wright defense squad #the piper wright manifesto #like man like and hate whoever you want #but the sheer amount of bullshit i've seen about piper lately has inspired me #i welcome discussion #but you better cite you some sources if you're coming for me

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a-master-procrastinator · 3 years ago

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Long ass post about the Eternal family not being a copy-paste from ATLA (aka I like the memes but my god can you please stop)

Because some people truly think that Vaylin is off-brand Azula, Arcann is Zuko and so on.

It's. Called. A. Trope. (I mean how often do we come across abusive manipulative fathers in media? Mothers who couldn't much to change anything? Children, desperately looking for their parent's approval no matter what?)

Of course, you have to consider the fact that the writing of ATLA is simply better than of KotFE/ET, so this might have been one of the reasons why people say that.

Spoilers for Avatar: The Last Airbender, Knights of the Fallen Empire and Knights of the Eternal Throne expansions!

Okay, so here's my unprofessional, maybe biased, not super deep take.

(not going to mention that all of them are members of royal, ruling family, kinda obvious)

What roles do they play in their stories? Well, both Valkorion and Ozai are main antagonists, but their presence throughout the story is very different. Ozai is rarely shown in first two seasons, we don't even see his face until season 3. He doesn't have a direct connection to the protagonist, they only meet at the very end of the show, and Ozai's role is to pose a threat to the world, while Aang's is to save it. Valkorion, on the other hand, is constantly on the screen, interacting with the main character, challenging their viewpoint and influencing them directly. His end goal is similar to Ozai's (destroy everything and be the only ruler of the his nation), but with one major difference - he's trapped in Outlander's mind, so to achieve his goal Valkorion attempts to take control of the main character. Their interactions play important role in the story, and we spend a lot of time with Valkorion.

In addition to that, their relationship with children are also not exactly the same. It seems like Azula is Ozai's favorite and Zuko is a failure in his eyes until he meets his expectations, and the same goes with Vaylin, Arcann and Valkorion, right? Well, partially. Indeed, Valkorion and Ozai's treat their sons in similar ways (are disappointed in them until they meet their expectation by doing something that goes against their morals), but when it comes to Vaylin and Azula, it's not that easy. See, Valkorion claims that Vaylin was always his favorite creation (even though we know it's actually his empire), and he certainly seems to take pride in her potential in the Force. But her power is the very reason he's afraid of his own daughter, and in this fear Valkorion literally locks Vaylin away and allows to put her through physical and mental torture just to make sure she won't become a threat, won't overpower him. Maybe he thought of her better than of Arcann, but she wasn't his favored child for sure. I don't want to say that Azula hasn't experienced abuse from Ozai, but for the most part he clearly favored her over Zuko. He has never shown fear of Azula's power and abilities (or at least I haven't noticed), quite the opposite - allowed her to do a lot, as long as she brings results.

I could also mention their slightly different characterization (mostly that we get more characterization of Valkorion, get to learn his motivations, views, philosophy and all that, also he's portrayed as more nuanced, even if he not really is) and role in their respective governments (ozai is one of many Fire Lords and arguably not the greatest, while Valkorion is a god to citizens of Zakuul, their only Immortal Emperor), but those are details, and I think you get the point.

What's similar: role of the main antagonist, manipulative and abusive father, goal of destruction of everything that isn't their nation/empire, relationship with disgraced son.

What's different: presence in the overall narrative, relationship with the main character, relationship with daughter, role in their societies.

Senya and Ursa are even less similar. Yes, they both are mothers who love their children, but have to leave them, but these are probably the only things they have in common. Just as with Ozai and Valkorion's presence throughout the story, Ursa is only shown in flashbacks (for obvious reasons), and Senya is one of major characters in KotFE and (a bit less major) in KotET. Ursa leaves because she has to kill Azulon in order to save Zuko, and later isn't present in the story (I'm aware that her fate is told in comics, but we aren't talking about it). Senya leaves because when she tries to take children with her, they refuse, and she understands that she can't force them to, nor she can help them to break free from Valkorion's manipulations. For a long time she's absent from Arcann ad Vaylin's lives, but at the time of game events she attempts to save her children and stop the madness and destruction they've caused, and it isn't a small part of the story.

I also want to add that their relationship with Ozai and Valkorion are also different, but can't say much about Ursa. I heard that she didn't choose this marriage and suffered emotional (and maybe physical???) abuse from Ozai. I can say with confidence, though, that Senya genuinely loved Valkorion, and strangely enough, he seems to at very least respect her. But, of course, this wasn't the best marriage either.

Plus, we see more of Senya's relationship with Vaylin than Arcann or Thexan, but with Ursa we see her more with Zuko than Azula. Just a detail to remember.

(also Senya is simply a better character but that besides the point, moving on. in this house we stand Senya)

What's similar: role of loving and caring mother, abandoning their family at some point.

What's different: presence in the overall narrative, relationship with husband, characterization in general.

Boy, where do I even begin. Vaylin and Azula are similar in that they are both extremely powerful (one is firebending prodigy, the other is potentially stronger than Valkorion), both are cruel "craaaaazy" (i hate that cliché), both are younger sisters, have serious mother issues (seemingly more so than father issues), both go through betrayal of people they could always rely on, which eventually leads to their downfall. But when I took a look at their personal arcs, it became clear that they aren't the same (unfortunately, Vaylin's arc is very rushed and underdeveloped, but we'll have to go with what we have and my personal view, sorry).

There's a really good video about writing corruption and madness, and I'm going to base my thoughts on it. To summarise it: a good corruption arc should have 4 components:

- the character has a specific goal (or a goal and subgoals);

- in pursuit of said goal they become the cause of a significant event that brings serious consequences;

- as the result of these consequences, character abandons their morals, ideals or a code in pursuit of goal;

- character either will not achieve their goal or will succeed, but it won't be enough to satisfy them.

And then the author brings Azula's arc as one of the best examples of compelling story of corruption (so basically, she represents it perfectly). In short, Azula's main goals are perfection and control, and subgoals help achieve the main ones. In pursuit of these goals, Azula causes Mai and Ty Lee to betray her (by pushing them too far to do something they wouldn't do), which then causes her to become paranoid, which makes her to attempt controlling everything and everyone around her, *breathes* which makes her lose control over herself and ....

Now, I thought if Vaylin's arc could fit into a corruption one, and next part will be based a lot on my assumptions and personal view of her character (plus rushed writing doesn't help), but I think yes (or at least mostly). The difference is in goals, ideals and details.

While the story strongly makes us think that Vaylin's goal is freedom (or control over her life and everything around her) or power and destruction, I think it's actually self-determination (which was said by Tenebrae in 6.2) and feeling safe. Let me explain (and here I thought this would be a short comparison). Sure, when Valkorion caged Vaylin on Nathema, he took choices and control over her life from his daughter. But let's not forget whom Vaylin blames for this (even more than Valkorion): her own mother, and I think this details tell us that the most important thing that Vaylin lost on Nathema is feeling safe. Then, after Arcann brought her home, I assume Vaylin still didn't feel safe enough under Valkorion's rule, still too afraid that he'd simply send her back to that hellish place.

It's when Valkorion is struck down Vaylin finally has a feeling of personal safety, even if she isn't the one on the throne. Why? Because back on Nathema there were two people who haven't turned on her - Arcann and Thexan (yes, this is also a huge assumption, bc the game states that only Thexan visited her, but it doesn't make much sense).

I've always noticed (and I'm not alone in this) that her behavior in Fallen Empire is different from the way she acted in Eternal Throne. Most likely bc of rushed writing, but I see a character driven reason here. In first of these expansions, Vaylin is the second person in power on Zakuul, and with Arcann being in charge, person she can trust more than any other living being, she feels safe - she can test her power, and now Valkorion won't prevent it, she can do pretty much everything she wishes, and the most Arcann will do about this is mildly complain (without blaming her). Really would be nice if we got to see any normal hobbies of Vaylin (like wasn't there something about books or art?), but I digress. She might have some questions about Arcann's tactics, but they get along just fine. The important thing to note is Vaylin not seeking to hunt the Outlander personally, to rule or conquer the rest of the galaxy, or trying to achieve absolute freedom or power. She's kinda there.

This, however, changes when Arcann doesn't allow Vaylin to kill Senya. Their relationship was getting somewhat worse towards the end of KotFE, but this is a turning event Vaylin caused by attempting to strike her mother. By saving the person Vaylin blames for all the trauma from sending her to Nathema, Arcann threatened her feeling of safety. And now Vaylin starts to believing that to achieve safety she now needs to kill people who hurt her (that's why she's so determined to find Senya and Arcann), take the throne and hunt down Outlander (she was manipulated by SCORPIO to these subgoals).

(The following is the weakest, I'll admit, but I hope I can at least express what I see). So, in trying to achieve goals she didn't want before Vaylin loses in self-determination, being either driven by overwhelming anger or manipulated by others (SCORPIO or Commander on Odessen), desperately trying to accomplish anything, or even goes against her morals (like by erasing GEMINI's free will protocols, when earlier she agreed that freedom to choose is important; or breaking the deal on Odessen). All of these result in her downfall.

But even this isn't the end. The key difference between arcs of Azula Vaylin lies in it's resolution, or that Vaylin have a chance to overcome corruption in the main narrative (and Azula doesn't. again, not including comics here, sorry). After death, Vaylin is again controlled by Valkorion in Outlander's mind. First time physically (she can't resist it), second time mentally. This is where Vaylin has to choose - kill brother who betrayed her and Commander who killed her, or go against Valkorion, person responsible for almost all of her pain and trauma. She has t choose by herself, and I think it's a good start.

Now, before 6.2 we all thought Vaylin was dead for good, but that story update hinted at possibility of her coming back to life. What I like to think is that now that she dealt with people responsible for her trauma (helped defeat Valkorion and actually for once listened to Senya), Vaylin can now have a different life, finding herself with support of someone she doesn't hold a grudge against and who treats her well (Satele, I mean).

I'm so sorry for going into details, but I needed this long explanation to present the point (and I suck at explanations). As said before, this is my version of her arc, and most likely wrong interpretation, but even with personal freedom of choice, Vaylin character differs from Azula a lot.

Need I mention that Vaylin relationship with Arcann and Valkorion are drastically different from those between Azula, Zuko and Ozai?

(Also a little detail - with royal family of Fire Nation, Azula is the golden child, while with Tiralls it's actually Thexan, not Vaylin).

What's similar: role of extremely powerful, emotionally damaged daughter with little to no regard towards others, close people betraying them, resulting in their downfall.

What's different: characterization, role in the narrative, relationship with father and brother.

Arcann and Zuko is the most difficult part, but I still believe that calling Arcann just a cheap copy of Zuko is incorrect.

So, they fall into role of less successful son, always getting disapproval from father, being in shadow of more talented sibling, both obsessed with capturing the main character but ending up helping them end the war after going through a redemption arc with help of caring family member. Even both have scars on left side of face. Yeah, seems similar. I still think they are different characters.

Let's start with their relationships with family. In Valkorion section I said that his attitude towards Arcann is similar to that of Ozai towards Zuko, so not going to spend too much time here. However, there's slight difference - Zuko didn't kill his father even he had a perfect opportunity (bc it wasn't his goal), Arcann did (bc it was one of his goals), which says something about their characterizations.

Zuko and Ursa were shown to have a good mother-son relationship, and it played a role in Zuko's character. With Arcann and Senya, we don't really know (not much was shown in expansions). We know Arcann didn't hate his mother, but possibly didn't have warm memories of her either. The reason is most likely, like Senya said, her children wanted nothing to do with her (which is a bit untrue about Vaylin, but okay) and leaned more towards Valkorion. We need to remember that on Zakuul Valkorion isn't just one of many great leaders, he's the greatest, and seen as a god by most citizens, so safe to assume the same would apply to his children as well.

Zuko and Azula's siblingship (i'm out of words) is a bit similar to Arcann and Vaylin's in way of brother knowing that his sister isn't good, but still caring about them (even if not showing). At least it's what I saw. What's different is how Azula treats Zuko, compared to how Vaylin treats Arcann. I think Azula showed compassion or concern for Zuko maybe twice, but I'm not entirely convinced that it was 100% sincere. Vaylin, on the other hand, seems to trust and care about Arcann (with bits of sass and questioning his life choices), and switching to complete opposite after him saving Senya. Also, I don't she ever called Arcann a failure in their father's eyes.

Now I want to say that their roles in stories aren't the same either. Sure, both are introduced to us as antagonists, but in reality, Zuko was never a true antagonist (we get to learn this somewhere mid-season 1), when Arcann remains the main antagonist for whole of KotFE. Zuko didn't start a war and didn't participate in conquest of other nations too much, his main goal was to capture the Avatar so to restore his honor (and deserve his father's forgiveness). Honestly, I think it's safe to say the Zuko is one of two main protagonists of ATLA. Why does Arcann want to capture the Outlander? Solely because his father's spirit still lives inside this person's mind, and the best solution to keep Valkorion away from the galaxy is not letting the Outlander free (hence the carbonite freezing). And Arcann doesn't want or need Valkorion's forgiveness when he attempts to kill him (or kills him, depending on your choice. anyway, his action directly leads to Valkorion's "death"). And right after that he becomes a ruler of Zakuul and begins the conquest of Republic, Sith Empire and everything he can reach (the reasoning behind this is still unclear to me though; maybe because he was raised with ruling Zakuul in mind and he didn't anything else, idk). Point is, he's responsible for war and main's character imprisonment, which makes him the main antagonist of KotFE. They have it the opposite ways - Zuko starts as disgraced prince, supported by a little group of people, and in the end he's recognized and appreciated by his nation, and Arcann starts as respected by his empire, later becoming less and less loved, until some groups start rebelling his rule, and in the end he doesn't get to rule Zakuul again.

This leads me to their morals. See, Zuko didn't have the worst morals in Fire Nation, even more, he expressed care for loyals soldiers of his nation before getting punished by Ozai. During first season (and about a half of second one) his views on other nations are what he was taught before. However, these views are challenged by travelling in Earth Kingdom, witnessing people suffering from war Fire Nation started and hating its people (you already know all of this), and with this he comes through final stage of redemption when he's back home. Unfortunately, Arcann doesn't go through this, and he's shown to be more ruthless.

Alright, when it comes to their redemption arcs, well let's say they are different (both in quality and the way they go through it), I'm just a bit tired of long explanations at this point. Zuko's arc is one of the best ever put on television, and Arcann's... well, it definitely has potential, but is criminally underdeveloped (there are other people who will explain it better than I ever could).

What's similar: role of disgraced son, living in shadow of their sibling, serious injuries on the left side of face (though with different meanings), obsession with capturing the main character, having a redemption arc.

What's different: role in the narrative, role in their society, characterization, relationship with sister and mother, different end goals (before redemption), paths to redemption.

#ah. ofc it didn't show in the tag bc of the youtube link. ofc. gonna be down bc of this)#hey look at me rambling about something only maybe 2 people take seriously #also i noticed that parental characters are better in swtor and children characters are better in atla. do what you want with this #it's 3:30 am i should be sleeping but here instead writing this #(forgive if i have some spelling mistakes. brain shutting down but i won't be at peace if i don't post it right now)#okay so if you have thoughts on this... you really don't have to waste time on this #i really only wrote this because i was annoyed by some peeps on reddit claiming vaylin is off-brand with a straight face #(and then posted this on tumblr bc i don't want to suffer those people on reddit)#what am i doing with my time #(not gonna tag atla bc it's not really about it)#swtor #arcann #vaylin #valkorion #senya tirall #kotfe #kotet #pauletta's babbling #pls send help #(or oc aks to give me some free serotonin but no obligations ofc)

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theshaofpride · 4 years ago

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“Wrathion is a good character who needs to be given more autonomy and individual appreciation by the fandom” and “Wranduin is a good, interesting, and meaningful ship” are two thoughts that can and should coexist.

I often get tired of people reducing Wrathion to Anduin’s friend/boyfriend/ex when he has such a rich, complex story of his own. When I try to bring this up, however, the people who tend to join in are those who dislike Wranduin and are looking for a reason to complain about it, which couldn’t be further from the truth for me.

Wranduin is easily one of the best ships in the WoW fandom. They complement each other and bring out the strengths and weaknesses in each other in interesting ways. Wranduin makes for a lot of interesting scenarios—with Varian or Genn, with the House of Nobles, with the Wyrmrest Accord—that lead to great storytelling. It would enrich the WoW story a lot were it made canon, and even though it probably won’t be, artists and fanfic authors continue to produce amazing content for the ship.

But all of that is enriched by treating Wrathion as his own character with his own wants, desires, needs, interests, and goals. Wrathion’s story has tragic beginnings and deals with the pressures he is forced to take on from birth. It’s an outsider’s story about making a name for one’s self beyond the shackles of their legacy. It’s about what happens when someone lacks meaningful support and turns to the wrong people in times of need, and then has to deal with the consequences of that turn later.

It’s unique as one of the few Warcraft stories where a redemption arc truly makes sense and feels earned, as Wrathion was young when he made his mistakes and did them out of concern for the fate of the planet. He was plagued by nightmares and forced into lonely leadership position without family or other role models who could guide him, and only took a co-conspirator role, not undertaking any particularly violent actions himself. He’s a prime candidate for meaningful growth, and between the journal in 8.2.5 and his role in 8.3 he seems to be on his way.

Beyond that, he’s a fun, unique character with a lot of intrigue that makes every scene with him memorable. The tension between the composed, almost arrogant face he puts on and the fears and insecurities rumbling beneath the surface gives him a depth rarely seen in WoW characters. He’s relatable. He screws up, he makes mistakes, he tries again. He puts up a front of composure but unlike most other characters, we actually get to see behind that front, too. From when he gets tested by the Celestials to his outburst at the end of MoP, to his shock at being called a friend by Anduin in War Crimes, then recently to the pain in his voice when he warns champions away from the Keep in the nightmare. Wrathion is one of the few characters we see in vulnerable situations that are actually relatable and intimate. One of the only other characters into who’s life we are given such glimpses is Anduin Wrynn.

I think, unfortunately, there is a tendency to see Wrathion as a stepping stone in Anduin’s story or a side piece to Anduin’s character, but that misses the main thing that makes these two characters and their interactions so great. From their relatability to the way they complement and play off of each other, both of them are great characters on their own, but even stronger together.

They’re alike in so many ways. Responsibilities thrust on them from an early age, focused on big ideals and curious about new possibilities. They were both manipulated by black dragons (Fahrad and Onyxia) when they were younger, and they both live in the shadow of expectations cast on them by their heritage. In Wrathion’s case, it’s about stepping out of that shadow and recasting it in a different direction. For Anduin, it’s about finding a way to measure up to that shadow while still being his authentic self.

Because of that, they also aren’t simply “opposites attract.” They are different in many ways, but their differences play out as two sides of the same coin. They are both young nobles at the same place in their lives struggling to do the right thing, living by their ideals, navigating between who they are and who people think they should be.

Anduin longs for freedom, while Wrathion’s life lacks support and stability. Anduin is surrounded by people who think highly of the image they have of him in their mind, while people’s notion of Wrathion is shaped by suspicion. Yet their paths cross, and they both offer the other something he desperately needs. Anduin gets to know Wrathion as a person, and, in turn, Wrathion gives Anduin a glimpse at the normalcy he’s rarely afforded. Wrathion freely gives his opinions about Anduin’s ideals, addresses him by his first name, and offers to take him away from the court on adventures. Anduin, in turn, stops seeing Wrathion as a Black Dragon and instead sees him as Wrathion, judging him according to his own deeds and letting his opinion of him be shaped by those alone.

But it also isn’t easy, and their interactions are better because of it. The reading of Anduin as a flawless character who can’t do any wrong and Wrathion as “shady” or “evil” misses much of this nuance.

When Anduin comes to the Tavern he is struggling with his feelings about Wrathion, in ways we rarely see Anduin struggle. Anduin, who has advocated for peace between the Alliance and the Horde, who saved Moira’s life after the coup in Ironforge, finally meets someone so closely related to his own life and traumatic experiences that it’s, at first, hard to see past it. He regards Wrathion with extreme suspicion until he doesn’t, until the day he comes to see him as an individual. When Wrathion fucks up at the trial, then, Anduin doesn’t fall back on Wrathion being a black dragon to explain it like other characters do, but holds him accountable as a person, as Wrathion.

Wrathion, moreover, cherishes those aspects of Anduin that make him uniquely Anduin, not the King of Stormwind or some other title that has been thrust upon him. He likes Anduin for Anduin’s sake, and even though he worries over what he perceives as Anduin’s naivety in MoP, it’s clear in BFA his worries come with an appreciation of who he is and why he is personally important. As he writes in his journal, “It is no easy task to stand alone against the darkness so that others may bask in the light,” yet this is what Wrathion does when he comes forward to protect Anduin from N’Zoth in 8.3, choosing to put himself at great risk to allow Anduin to carry on. The idea of Anduin becoming corrupted is so painful for him at the personal level, but likely also because he realizes what it would mean for Azeroth if one of the strongest champions of the Light were to succumb to the Void.

All of this is to say Wrathion’s and Anduin’s stories can be read as entangled and complementary without minimizing or reducing the importance of either character. Both characters add greater depth to the other because they are unique, nuanced, burdened, and flawed, because they feel like real people and their interactions are organic and genuine. Understanding and appreciating both of them makes the moments they are together and other imagined moments of them interacting all the more powerful.

#wrathion #anduin #anduin wrynn #wranduin

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mst3kproject · 4 years ago

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The Ape

In the vein of movies that should not be confused with eerily similar previous entries, The Ape is distinct from The Ape Man... but not by much. Both feature a slumming horror superstar, glandular secretions, and a stupid gorilla suit. All these things also showed up in early seasons of MST3K, of course, and The Ape Man also has a surprise bonus. Apparently, the guy in the gorilla costume is none other than Crash Corrigan, of Undersea Kingdom!

Long ago, Dr. Adrien lost his daughter to polio, and ever since he's been obsessed with finding a cure. That sounds pretty noble, but unfortunately, Adrien is a mad doctor, so the cure he comes up with requires killing healthy people to drain them of their cerebralspinal fluid! In order not to arouse suspicion, he kills and skins a gorilla that escaped from a circus, and wears its hide when he murders people... you know, as one does. To nobody's surprise but his, he ends up getting shot, but hey, at least he cured beautiful young Frances' paralysis!

This is a weird, dumb movie but one thing I can say in its favour is that everybody seems to have given it a good try. This material was far beneath Boris Karloff but he takes it seriously and actually gets a couple of decent moments, as does Maris Wrixton (who was also in The Face of Marble) as Frances. Nobody else is even close to Karloff's level, being just bland 40's actors who talk too fast, but none of the main cast are phoning it in, either.

Conversely, the worst thing in the movie is its truly horrendous gorilla suit. The puppet face shows the actor's eyes and can curl its lip, which is cool, though the features don't look very gorilla-ish. The rest of the suit, however, is terrible. It's way too shaggy and in order to give it a gorilla-like silhouette, they stuck a big hunchback on it. This might have worked if Corrigan had tried to walk on all fours like gorillas actually do, but instead he waddles along upright like a toddler with a full diaper, which ruins it. The people who made the movie also appear to think gorillas are nocturnal which, for the record, they are not.

Gorillas were kind of a big thing in movies of the 40's and 50's. The species had been scientifically described a century earlier, but hadn't really been studied until the 1920s and most people had never seen one outside of King Kong. Films of the period were not kind to the gorilla. One of the first gorilla movies was 1930's Ingagi, which purported to be a documentary about gorillas kidnapping women as sex slaves. That kind of set the tone, and subsequent movies depicted gorillas as creatures prone to violence and rape. Examples from this blog alone are numerous: The Ape Man (1940), Panther Girl of the Kongo (1955), and Bride of the Gorilla (1951) for starters... Robot Monster (1953) might also count.

The Ape has a slightly more nuanced approach to gorilla behaviour. Yes, its gorilla does maul people to death... but the first victim is its trainer, who has been shown mistreating it. Another circus employee even tries to tell him that he'll catch more flies with honey. When the ape batters its way into Dr. Adrien's house, it does so in order to get at the trainer's coat, which Adrien left draped over a chair when the dying man was brought to him for treatment. We see far more fear of the escaped ape than we do of the animal itself, and it does not commit near as many murders as Adrien does while dressed in its skin!

So that's halfway progressive for the 1940s. We can also look at the treatment of Frances, the wheelchair-user partially paralyzed by polio. She is clearly meant to be an object of the audience's pity, and Adrien is obsessed with making her able to walk again – as he could not do for his own daughter. To some extent the movie infantilizes her, as she is clearly dependent on her mother, unable to have much of a social life, and her boyfriend Danny professes his willingness to 'take care of her'. When she regains movement in her legs at the end of the movie, she and her mother immediately burn her wheelchair. Apparently she's not allowed to build up her stamina slowly... if she walks ten minutes from home and then can't continue, she's just gotta sit there until she recovers or somebody finds her.

On the other hand, Frances' family aren't trying to force Adrien's possible cure on her, but let her choose it for herself. Her mother doesn't mind looking after her, and Danny is happy to accommodate her by, for example, hiring a cart so she can accompany him to the circus. Danny in particular is very suspicious of the fact that the injections Adrien gives to Frances are causing her pain, and takes the doctor to task for it, telling him he would rather have her disabled and happy than walking but in pain. “I'd rather carry her around all my life!” he says. Her loved ones are willing to try for the cure, but it doesn't seem like anyone will be miserable if it fails. Frances herself wistfully admires the acrobats at the circus, but shows no anger or bitterness that she cannot be like them.

Frances is even allowed some initiative, as she hurries down the road in her wheelchair calling to Dr. Adrien and trying to warn him that the gorilla is in the area. This, ironically, is what leads to Adrien getting shot, as it attracts the attention of the posse hunting the animal. But as Adrien lies dying, he gets to see Frances standing for the first time in ten years, so I guess we're meant to think this was all worth it.

But was it? Several people died in order to provide the spinal fluid that helped Frances heal. The movie shows them as terrified of Dr. Adrien and/or the gorilla, but other than that it is oddly uninterested in their fates. None of the deaths are presented as tragedies, with families left in mourning... the only family we hear about for the gorilla trainer is a father who is already dead, and another one of the victims was an asshole who told his wife if she didn't like him cheating on her she could always drown herself(!??). So... are we supposed to think they don't matter? That their deaths are acceptable because they helped Frances – who was not dying or even deteriorating, and was satisfied with her life as it was – to a cure?

It is notable that we do not see what happens when Frances finds out that people had to die for her to be able to walk. She would have to reassess her opinion of Dr. Adrien, whom until now she has thought of as a loving father figure. She would have to figure out what this means for her future and perhaps need reassurance that she is not culpable. Her unconcerned happiness at the end suggests that nobody bothered to tell her, and that she has not yet made the connection herself. This is really quite unfortunate, because it deprives Frances of her only real chance to be a character rather than a plot point – which is ultimately all she is here.

Nobody else is shown dealing with the aftermath, either. The town has long mistrusted Dr. Adrien because of rumours that he was experimenting on his patients, and a recent spate of missing dogs is shown to be his fault. An early scene shows a group of boys bothering the doctor by throwing rocks at his house (which made me wonder if toilet paper hadn't been invented yet. According to Wikipedia, it dates to 1857, so there's your Fun Fact for the day). Seeing their worst fears realized really ought to have some effect on the people. Even if nobody bothers to tell Frances how her miraculous cure was effected, others will surely figure it out and have to weigh up what he achieved versus the crimes he committed to get there.

Yeah, I know: this is a movie about a guy killing people while wearing a dead gorilla. I'm thinking too hard.

Finally, I want to note some interesting possible connections between The Ape and a number of other movies I've seen. Both The Ape and The Ape Man appear to have been inspired by the 1932 movie Murders in the Rue Morgue, which also features a gorilla and injections of bodily fluids in the name of mad science, and did not feature very much resemblance to Edgar Allen Poe's story of the same name. I don't know if these films directly inspired each other, and it's been ages since I saw Rue Morgue... but the combination of plot elements here seems weirdly specific to be something different people came up with independently. I should watch all three again and see if I notice any more similarities between them.

There are also interesting likenesses between The Ape and another Boris Karloff movie, 1945's The Grave Robber. The latter is the story of a doctor who needs fresh corpses as part of his research, which culminates in surgery to allow a paralyzed girl to walk again. The doctor in this film is more a victim than a villain, himself, as he finds that the man he's been paying to rob graves for him is actually murdering the homeless, and he can't expose this criminal without jeopardizing his work and incriminating himself. It's been a long time since I saw this movie, either (as I mentioned a few weeks ago, I've had some shit going on and I haven't had a lot of time for movies, bad or otherwise), so I can't actually say if it's better than The Ape, but it's definitely less silly.

Anyway, the moral of this story is vaccinate your fucking kids or a gorilla will kill you.

#mst3k #reviews #episodes that never were #the ape #40s #guys in gorilla suits #tw: rape #allow me to recommend a better movie #we're running out of plots

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howtosingit · 4 years ago

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if ur ok with it can u break down the tarlos huggggg in the lst ep after tk tells evy1 abt his addiction? bc that gd huggggggg i wanna no every thing u think abt it i live for ur love for tarlos theyre just so so cuteeeee

IF I’M OKAY WITH IT?! Anon, I feel like I have been waiting my entire life for this ask. I could literally talk about this hug for the rest of my existence. I would talk about this hug every second of every day if I could and never get tired or bored. This hug has owned my entire heart from the moment that it happened and I can never get enough of it. Brace yourself for this essay, and remember that you asked for it...

Okay, so before I get to the actual hug, I want to talk for a minute about why I love it so much and also how fantastic the scene is that comes before it. I’ll try to keep both of those brief (LOL). If you want to skip to the hug breakdown, I’ll give the sections titles.

Why I Love This Hug

So, why do I love this hug so much? Honestly, because I never in a million years thought we’d get something like it, and it was a big turning point for me.

I have not been quiet about how disappointing I think season 1 was. Too much Owen being Owen, too much Iris plot (which never interested me for even a single moment, unfortunately), not enough of the other characters - specifically the characters of color - and definitely not enough Tarlos.

Following episode 3, the show established a really frustrating pattern with Tarlos: they either never interacted with one another, or there was a moment of them at the end of an episode where they were in the same place physically but never spoke directly to one another. Frustration doesn’t even begin to describe the Tarlos talking drought between episodes 3 and 10 - and honestly? It’s bad writing. To focus on a ship for 3 episodes, giving them a lot of different nuances and conflict, and then do absolutely nothing with it? Stupid. So, going into the finale, my expectations were low. At that point, I was literally tuning in just to catch a glimpse of Carlos, with the expectation that that was all I would get. I really didn’t think I was going to watch the show after season 1.

When the finale started with a Tarlos scene, I was honestly very surprised. But, then, of course, it was a “break up” scene, and I was like... well. So much for that. See, I fully expected, based on the trend throughout the later half of the season, that that would be the only Tarlos scene we would get, and that that is how they would end season 1.

But when that camera cut to Carlos Reyes walking through the station door looking like a modern-day motherf*cking Prince Charming? I cried. I’m not ashamed to admit that. And then WHEN WE GOT THE HUG?! I can honestly still feel my heart pounding in my chest.

The finale didn’t fix everything for me; they still barely talk in their final two scenes. It’s not all perfect. But this hug, this small moment? THAT. IS. PERFECTION. (And I’m gonna go on and on about why in just a minute!)

Framing the Hug

I just want to take another moment here to chat about the entire fire station scene with TK and the team/Carlos because there’s a lot that informs why this hug is so freaking incredible. It has everything to do with the directing choices that were made - and boy were they good ones!

We all probably remember how the scene starts: extreme close-ups on TK as he sits waiting for the crew to come back. He’s anxious and possibly having a mild panic attack, and the camera is used to create that moment. Certain shots are out of focus, the shots that are focused are zoomed in to his mouth/hands/eyes, the sound is distorted, his breathing is isolated. It’s all super effective.

So the observations that I make about this brief moment are: TK is stationary, the camera is basically attacking him. And TK is alone. Pretend for a moment that the camera is a character. The camera won’t leave him alone. No one is there to help him. His anxiety grows.

(Even when the team joins him, the camera stays pretty close to him, except for one moment where it backs off but then approaches again. It continues to invade his personal space and his personal moments with his friends and his dad.)

Now, compare that to how the scene ends: TK walks away from the camera, the camera doesn’t follow him. It gives him space. His interaction with Carlos happens in the distance. If the camera is a character, TK defeated that character. He leaves it there, it no longer threatens him. I just really like that visual storytelling; that through the 4 minute scene, TK not only faces his demons, speaks his truth, and conquers his anxiety but he beats the camera and goes off to hug Carlos untethered. (He even bounces towards him, but we’ll get to that in a minute.) That doesn’t really have anything to do with the hug specifically, but I thought it was interesting anyway.

The other comparison that I want to make is a simple one, but it’s another reason why I love the hug: TK initiates it. He doesn’t initiate the group hug with his team (he actually almost says “we don’t have to do that” when Mateo moves towards him), though he obviously enjoys it. Owen initiates their hug, flinging himself at his son, and TK obviously appreciates it.

But the Carlos hug? TK approaches him, TK raises his arm to wrap around Carlos’s neck.

Okay, now to finally answer the original ask...

LET’S HUG IT OUT: THE BREAKDOWN THAT WAS ASKED FOR

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First, can I just say from his first appearance to the end of this scene, Carlos is there for 20 seconds total and I am about to write a whole-ass essay about those 20 seconds?! I’m literal trash.

Okay, so Carlos appears looking like a fucking snack. He’s changed since the bus accident, looking like someone’s hot date, and I think we know whose... Owen is basically like “well this is unexpected” and honestly, same sir. TK is adorable and noncommittal, but clearly not surprised to see Carlos there. We’ve missed a moment between them since TK was sent to the hospital and Carlos called him impressive, that’s for sure.

So when TK starts to walk towards him, the camera refocuses on Carlos and we see this adorable freaking look on his face that clearly says “how did it go?” or “all went well?” or something to that effect. I think Carlos knew what TK was doing at the station and he knew that it was a big deal for him, and I love that even before they are next to each other, he’s checking in to see how it went. He’s invested in TK’s well-being - as always - and he’s there to support him, both physically and emotionally. I COULD SCREAM.

In response to Carlos’s silent questioning, TK throws his head back and sighs. Like I said before, he seems to bounce towards Carlos, his body is pretty loose - his arms are swinging back and forth. This is a guy who just took a load off, and he’s relieved about having done so. The smile that Carlos gives him in answer says that he’s relieved too - that it went so well, that TK seems lighter. He might even be relieved that TK is being so much more open with him, clearly showing him his emotions. Their body language for this entire moment is very open, neither of them seem closed off. It truly does feel like, for the first time, they are meeting each other on equal footing, with all of their cards on the table before them. It’s such a different moment for them, certainly different than their body language during the boba date earlier in the episode.

I would be an absolute idiot if I did not pause and remark here how INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT IT IS that TK is the one that approaches Carlos. I’m not the first person to notice and say this, but Carlos “I hate being the one doing the chasing” Reyes stops just inside the door. He lets TK walk towards him. It’s such an interesting, nonverbal conversation between them. In this action, Carlos is saying “I’m here, but I’m still not going to force anything. You said you wanted space, so I’m giving it to you.” Sure, he comes to the station - but I would pay good money to bet that TK invited him there following some kind of conversation about what he was doing there - but he stays at the door. He’s cautious, but open. He wants something more with TK, but he’s not going to throw himself into it just to get hurt again. So, he waits. AND TK COMES TO HIM. TK leaves his own space and enters his. TK takes the final step. TK closes the gap. TK makes the big move, and they’re finally both right in front of each other, on the same wavelength. The find that solid ground from which they’ll build their relationship together. ISN’T IT JUST BEAUTIFUL?!

Seriously, kudos to Bradley Buecker for directing this episode with multiple levels of storytelling at play. It’s really great stuff.

OKAY, there’s a little Owen and Michelle moment, but then the camera finds Tarlos again.

TK is standing in front of Carlos, they’re completely fixated on one another, their body language is just so fucking casual and comfortable I cannot stand it. See, the other hugs were all pretty intense: the team piles on top of TK, burying him, and Owen practically throws himself at TK, it’s a fairly hard hug for a man with an injured shoulder. But this hug? NOPE.

It’s so soft. It’s so gentle. TK raises his arm like he just can’t not wrap it around Carlos’s neck, like it’s the only way to be as close as possible to him and being as close as possible to him is all he wants in that moment.

What I really love about this hug is that it feels like two people who hug not because the moment is demanding it, not because they’re reuniting after a long time apart, not because they’re in a heightened state of emotion.

These two hug like it’s just what they do, what they always want to be doing, like they don’t know how not to do it. The whole thing reads like “Hi, I’m TK and my arms belong around Carlos” and “Hi, I’m Carlos, and my arms belong around TK, what else would I be doing with them?” (It’s also the vibe I get from the club scene where they wrap their arms around each other.)

IT’S INTIMACY, Y’ALL.

Look, to be a Tarlos fan, I think you have to be willing to look at the relationship on two different levels, right? One is what they verbalize to each other, which is admittedly very little (season 2, come through). The other is the story that they tell through their body language. These two have seemingly always been on the same page physically. It just comes naturally to them, from the minute they first dance to their obviously very pleasing sex scene to the way they flirt in the bar to the club to Carlos at TK’s bedside.

Their chemistry is made clear through how they physically relate to each other, and never is that more clear than in this hug that LITERALLY LASTS 2 SECONDS BUT CONTAINS MULTITUDES.

Okay, back to it... so TK strolls towards Carlos, Carlos waits for him - they symbolism is making me scream - TK raises his arm, it’s all super casual...

And then he just kind of literally falls into Carlos’s body, and Carlos basically just catches him. HOW BEAUTIFUL IS THAT.

They don’t even speak but because they’ve had a nonverbal conversation with just those looks that I talked about, there’s just this understanding that TK needs to just collapse a little bit and he never for one second doubts that Carlos will hold him up. THAT’S JUST WHAT THEY DO.

OKAY OKAY OKAY now we’re going to break this down from head to toe.

Like, the way that their heads just rest against each other, TK pressing close - I can almost imagine that he breathes in the scent of Carlos’s shampoo, his nose is pressed right there in his curls. AND JUST IMAGINE HIS SMILE, I BET IT’S BLINDING.

I love that their heads kind of curve around each other kind of, perfectly Yin and Yang - like, from above they would totally look like that symbol.

MY FAVORITE PART OF THE ENTIRE THING: CARLOS FREAKING REYES NUZZLING INTO TYLER KENNEDY STRAND’S NECK, LIKE HE JUST SHOVES HIS FACE RIGHT IN THERE

THE NECK KISS MADE ME SCREAM SO FUCKING LOUD THE FIRST TIME I SAW IT I COULD NOT HANDLE IT

First, it’s our first kiss since episode 2.

Second, THE INTIMACY OF PRESSING A KISS TO SOMEONE’S NECK - LIKE THAT IS SUCH A SOFT PART OF YOUR BODY, THERE ARE TENDONS THERE, YOU CAN FEEL SOMEONE’S PULSE THERE - LIKE OH MY GOD

Nothing screams “I want to know every part of this man on a deep, committed level” than a fucking neck kiss, and Carlos Reyes just... he fucking does it.

Okay but he really does bury his whole face in there like he wants to keep it there forever, I have truly never seen something so soft in my entire life.

I’m so in love with them I could puke.

But like, that’s why this moment means so much to me, because I really do think that it’s a solidifying moment for both of them.

For TK, it’s a “It’s okay if I stumble or fall because this man will catch me or help me up” thing

For Carlos, it’s “he wants me, he wants this, he’s taking literal steps towards this thing between us, and he encourages me to sink into him, he wants me to do that, he really wants this”

Like, fuck.

Moving down... we gotta appreciate Carlos being mindful of TK’s shoulder, unlike literally everyone else who has hugged him. Like, he doesn’t even go anywhere near those stitches because there’s no fucking way he’s going to watch TK bleed out for the third time, nope.

And the way that Carlos just slides his arms around TK’s waist, pressing his palms into his lower back?!

I think there’s a whole like, thing, where when a person’s hands are flat and open they’re like, open and vulnerable. So there’s just something about the way that Carlos presses both of his open palms against TK’s back that feels so open and vulnerable and honest to me.

Also, the way that he literally covers as much of TK’s back with his hands as possible? He doesn’t place his hands on top of one another, he stacks them along TK’s spine - he completely covers the entirety of his lower back. That’s a really vulnerable part of the human body, and Carlos instinctively protects it. AND TK LET’S HIM.

Okay, finally, down to their feet: TK really does collapse against Carlos, throwing himself on top of him and trusting that Carlos will keep him upright. All of his weight shifts to that forward momentum, he even goes up on the toes of his right foot. Carlos plants his feet, and as TK sways into him, he wraps him in his arms and gently centers them so that they don’t tip over to the ground.

He literally re-balances them. The two of them together find a balance with one another during this TWO-SECOND HUG. They shift, they steady themselves, they sink into one another.

It’s literally symbolic of them both being completely, 100%, without question, ready for the next phase of their relationship together.

They keep each other standing, and that’s fucking true love, y’all.

I honestly cannot wait for season 2. This hug and the final scene on the hood of Carlos’s car - with TK again making the move to embrace their relationship by physically reaching into Carlos’s space for his hand and dragging it into his own space, firmly opening the door to his heart to let him inside, while also settling Carlos’s hand between his own to let him know that he’s willing to protect him and his heart too - makes me believe that we are in for some truly wonderful romance with these boys.

My heart will not stop screaming about it.

#anonymous #asks #tarlos #tk strand #carlos reyes #911 lone star #that finale hug is the very definition of love #and I have a lot of feelings about it #thank you so much for sending this ask #I loved getting to rewatch this 3-second hug about a billion times to overanalyze it #best night I've had in a long time #holy shit this is almost 3K... for a 3-second hug... I’m literally trash #brian breakdowns #brian being tarlos trash

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scarfdyedshadow · 4 years ago

Text

On the Decline of Mage Characterization in Ancillary Type-Moon Works (or On Magi Getting Flanderized Into One-Dimensional Evil Arrogant Sods) Part 1: The Matter of Magi Themselves

Yes, I am dumb enough and obsessed enough to basically write an entire essay on this. Yes, the title is pretentious as all hell.

A disclaimer before we start though, this is not directed at or meant to condemn or call out or mock or invalidate the many a Tumblr shitpost on evil arrogant magi getting owned by Guda or various other characters. It may not be humor personally up my alley, but I understand the appeal, and it’s not like there isn’t some grain of truth to them. Likewise this isn’t meant to in any way condone anything Nasuverse magi. A fair amount of them are evil regardless of mitigating circumstances, a lot of the ones that aren’t outright evil have capacity to be evil because of ethos and mindset, and the acts they commit are certainly evil. I am not condoning them, or dismissing them as not evil. I simply urge a more nuanced rather than simplistic analysis of that evil. This also unfortunately omits Mahoyo, which probably has quite a bit of insight, because I haven’t gotten around to reading it yet, thus rendering me a fake fan you should not listen to. Thank you for your consideration. Also, spoilers.

This first part is primarily concerned with the inhumanity of magi and misconceptions about magi and their ethos as a whole, while the next part will actually go into the history of magus villains in Type-Moon works and what I feel is their decline, and build upon and further points of this part. There may be a potential third part on the Crypters, Gordolf, and Olga, the modern faces of Nasuverse magi and the greatest illustration that magi are far more nuanced, complex, pitiful and yet admirable, than they aren’t, and Nasu’s thesis statement on the power of love and life.

(Note: Okay my theme is actually pretty eyesearing to the point I recommend you read this on dash, I’ll go get it fixed)

"Do you know what it is that magi are aiming for?"

After a moment of blankness, Gray replied with a difficult expression.

"Umm...I heard about it in class. What was it...the Spiral of Origin?"

"Right. The Spiral of Origin, or more simply the Root. Sometimes it's referred to as「」, the thing for which there can be no reference. It is the source of everything, the 'zero' from which all matter and phenomena flow. Ah, but now that I'm trying to put it into words, I'm realizing that's not a good idea. After all, even the idea of 'zero' has baggage that makes it unsuitable as a comparison."

"Regardless, the goal of magi is to eventually reach that place. Of course, there are also those who simply derive pleasure from touching the supernatural, or from being superhuman. Because we are weak, we fall to that diversion. But in the end, that's not our ultimate goal."

For modern magi, most understood that reaching the root was something that just wasn't possible for them. After all, even though magecraft itself had been in a state of continuing decline since the Age of Gods, there were no reports of anyone facing that past and trying to return to it. Likely, the appearance in the Far East of the fifth - and often called the last - Magician was the same as the gate to the Root being all but closed to everyone else.

Even so, we didn't give up.

Anyone who would give up in a situation like this would never have become a magus to begin with.

Ironically enough, despite opening up with a quote from Lord El-Melloi II Case Files, which I’ll have some critique for, the crux of my thesis is this. As originally presented in Kara no Kyoukai, and generally only kept up to a meaningful degree in other Nasu written works like Stay Night, Clock Tower 2015, and Grand Order, magi were the piteous, tragic, inhuman not as in inhumane but as in a broken machine product of an impossible ideal and a broken system. They were the villains, yes, unambiguously so, but at the same time they were sympathetic and nuanced to an extent that would decline down the road.

You see, Araya. A mage always lives hurriedly. What for? If it was for themselves alone they wouldn't bother with the outside world. So why do they intrude upon the rest of the world? Why do they rely upon it? What will they achieve with that power? What will they save with the Ars Magna (Ars Magna: Meaning 'great secret technique', it stands not for a technique that is not learnt through study but for a mystery that is secretly passed down)? If that was the case it would have been better for them to become a king instead of a mage.

You think people live foully, but you yourself would not be able to live like that. You would not be able to live while accepting the fact that you know that everything is worthless and base. You would not be able to live without the pride of knowing that you alone are special, and that you alone can save this crumbling world. Of course, I was like that too. But that sort of thing has no meaning. --- Accept it, Araya. We chose the path of transcendence called magecraft because we are weaker than everybody else.

Magi were presented as absurd, as farcical, as maddeningly helpless and hopeless compared to those living normal lives. This will come up in Part 2, especially as pertains to Touko and Gordolf and the like, but normal everyday life, not superior thematic superpowers or an army of Servants, is what is truly far more powerful than any magi.

"... I'll just ask one thing. What do you mean when you say that secrets are kept even within that Association?"

Unexpectedly, I hear something from the sofa.

Over there is Shiki, who has been sitting there since before without a word. She's the type of person who doesn't get involved in a conversation that she's not interested in, so until now she had been staring at the scenery outside the window.

"--- There is that. A mage won't reveal the results of his experiments even within the Association. What the person next to them is researching, what their goals are, and what they have obtained are all a mystery. The only time a mage will reveal the results of their work is when they are passing it on to their descendants just before they die."

"Studying for their benefit alone, yet not using that power for their own sake? What purpose is there in a life like that, Touko? Is it that the goal is to learn, and the process is to learn too? If the only things you have are the beginning and the end, that's the same as having a zero."

Their pursuit for the truth is maddening. It is greedy yet at once devoid of greed. It is selfish yet at once devoid of selfishness. Their ethos and methodology are not fundamentally inhumane, but inhuman. Magi are an odd sort of creature indeed, and it isn’t the case that they’re all evil in their absurd quest. Indeed, virtually all early Nasuverse ancillary material, and this is still said today despite the opposite being true in practice, is that the vast majority of magi are shut ins who stay inside researching as opposed to eating babies.

The everyday life of a magus is mostly spent conducting research. Magi who use magic outside of a research capacity, such as those who use magi to work and profit for themselves, are few in number. People who treat magic as a tool, such as assassins, are called “spellcasters”, and are looked down upon with disdain by the magical establishment.

Furthermore, it is precisely because they are magi that few magi use magic in their daily lives.

Practically speaking, for every mage you see committing mass murder or fighting the mass murdering mage with superpowers, there are ten who we certainly can’t call conventionally moral, who we certainly can’t call normal humans, obsessively striving towards a seemingly impossible goal inhumanly but not inhumanely. Because Type-Moon does action series this has never been tenable to properly depict besides the minority, but it is the truth regardless. This is from a later work I actually have some measure of criticism for, but Strange Fake actually illustrates that point perfectly.

"A mage's mage," he muttered disgustedly to himself, eyes narrowed, "is no different from a hard-working corrupt politician." What about me? He wondered as soon as the words were out of his mouth. As long as corruption stayed hidden, it was difficult for the public to tell the difference between a corrupt politician and an honest one. In which case, mages, who never entered the public eye to begin with, probably ought to be lumped in with them. There were exceptions, but from the standpoint of the general public, mages were generally evil.

Other Nasu written works like Stay Night and Clock Tower 2015 also touch upon it.

Magic is just what it sounds like… magic. I don't care if you get ideas like abracadabra or whatever. You can just think of us as people who do strange things by casting spells. Oh, though it's not like we fly around on brooms or make stars appear with a wave of a wand. …Well, we could do that, but we don't bother as it's kind of meaningless. We're basically heretics who hide ourselves from the world. We're prohibited from standing out and even if we weren't, we would rather be at home studying magic.

Clock Tower 2015 especially hits it up by depicting what might be called the ideal magus, the point of being a magus that is often distorted by human concerns but that all of them are to some extent, not an inhumane monster but an inhuman man who has dedicated his life to magecraft.

"Ahhh, the life of a magus is so brief. It would have been great if I were born with just the brain and nothing else." Like what you just saw, Leiv was a pure academic magus. All his efforts were poured solely into his theory and magecraft. He cared naught of any other responsibilities, the application of his magecraft, his lineage, or building his faction. From Leiv's perspective, those magi were the same as the plebians that were "normal people". If one were to decipher the mystical, then he must sacrifice his humanity. A magus was a creature with nothing but magecraft on his mind. There was no room for burdens such as "life".

So to begin with, what we call magi are far from all arrogant murderous sods, and if anything arrogant murderous sods are the minority. They come in all manner of varieties, united simply by the pursuit of the impossible, by the desire to reach the truth, by the desire to transcend. Even more so than just that, they do have their values and ethics. They are often cruelly distorted, to the extent “magi parents” is a phrase that might as well be an oxymoron, but I would opine that as a product more of recent years than anything.

"Keep those for me. They are some awful cigarettes from Taiwan but I only have those now. Of course there isn't any company that made them, it's a famous item that some eccentric master made only one box of. Yeah, out of all my possessions that is the second most valuable thing I have." Leaving behind some strange words, she turned around and walked out. ... Perhaps her most valuable possession is herself, that kind of thought popped into my mind so I asked her, but she only turned back her head and answered. "That's rather rude. I know it's me but even I don't treat people like possessions." Like herself when she has her glasses on, she pouts as if she's sulking. And then, returning to her usual cool expression Touko-san continued talking. "Kokuto. Those people called mages, with an apprentice or other people they are close to they feel like parents. Since they are something like their offspring, they often fight desperately to protect them as well. ... Well, it's like that so relax and wait here. I'll bring Shiki back tonight." Thock thock, the sound of her walking away. Unable to say anything to her back, I let the brown-coated magician go.

That magi value their children, their apprentices, their legacies, even if only as a next step on the path to the Root, is also a truth echoed at the same time that it’s often contradicted. But then, magi are in of themselves contradictory creatures. After all, despite pursuing an inhuman ideal, despite throwing away their humanity, they themselves are still human. That contradiction between reality and ideals, best exemplified by Fate/Stay Night, is one of the themes at the heart of Nasu’s work.

So, to repeat it once more, magi as a whole, magi society as a whole, is not fundamentally inhumane but inhuman. That inhumanity often lends itself to the inhumane, but not necessarily, and indeed I opine that should be considered on a deeper level. That inhuman society is by no means a good thing, but to simply call it evil and magi evil and call it a day is to do a disservice to its nuance. There are arrogant murderous magi as well, sure, but they too are products of a tenacious ideal, they are the long shadow cast by lineages stretching for thousands of years.

In reality, what really forged the magus of the modern day was not a supernatural power or transcendent conscience, but a tenacity built and reinforced over generations. Clinging to a shadowed, intense ideology for hundreds, or in some cases even thousands of years, developed its own sort of extreme power. Even if science were to exceed magecraft in all other respects, as long as that ideal survived, magecraft itself would be ineradicable.

But what then of Souren Araya? What of that bastard Zouken and worst dad of the year Tokiomi and that arrogant asshole Kayneth? Rest well assured that I will cover them in exacting detail in the next part of whatever the hell this is, and everything I say about them will build upon this. That may seem contradictory, since this part is mostly devoted to showing that magi are far more than just evil sods, but believe it or not Kayneth is going to be mightily relevant to how pitifully weak magi in truth are, and Tokiomi is going to be relevant to how magi value their children in ways that don’t have to be inhumane, but can be inhuman. Until next time, all I can ask is to consider that while magi are indeed monsters, monsters really can be quite interesting creatures.

Things in this world were all like that.

It wasn’t limited to magecraft. It wasn’t limited to those beyond humans (monsters). In a world of common sense (the obvious), it was something everyone understood.

If you said that misunderstandings, miscommunications, disagreements, and false understandings are what connected them, then...

“We are misrecognition. Our world itself is misunderstanding. We can experience a multitude of truths, not just one single reality. No matter how wise you are, or how much time you are given, you will never reach something like a single truth. Magi may just be those who continually reject that fact.”

Speaking as if in self-deprecation, my master had pursed his lips at that.

He had finally realized that his words and the objective that all Magi pursued, known as the “Spiral of Origin,” were in contradiction.

Sources: Lord El-Melloi Case Files (TL by TwilightsCall), Kara no Kyoukai (TL on baka-tsuki), Fate/Stay Night (TL Mirror Moon), Clock Tower 2015 (TL by food), Fate/Strange Fake (TL by OtherSideOfSky)

#type-moon #fate series #fate grand order #fgo #fate stay night #kara no kyoukai #knk #fsn #fate meta #magecraft #lord el-melloi ii case files #case files #garden of sinners

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full-of-jams · 5 years ago

Text

Good Riddance #1

Pairing: Jimin x Reader

Summary: There were two things life taught you. Money bought comfort, not happiness. And love was always a gateway to pain. When your former best friend Jimin suddenly returns into your life, he challenges your belief and rips open the past you tried so hard to forget.

Genre: heirs au, girl boss, e2l, angst, mutual pining, eventual smut, feat. OT7

Warnings: swearing, Jin’s dad jokes, prissy Namjoon, a very sunny dispositioned Hobi :)

Word Count: 5.5k

A/N: I decided to rewrite Good Riddance. After I finished outlining the entire plot, I realized that the characters and story were way more nuanced. So here we go!

°°°°°°°

It was a clear night. A bit chilly for mid-September, but you preferred the cold caress of the evening breeze over the smothering atmosphere of the party. The sky was painted dark, flecked with twinkling stars. You tried to blend out the lively buzz below you as you soaked in the view. Stars were scarce commodity in the City and being out here in the countryside was a rare treat nowadays.

You let out a sigh as you leaned against the balcony and took a careful sip from your glass of champagne. The icy railing bit into your skin, but you ignored the rising goosebumps. Light and music spilled out onto the ground floor terrace beneath you. People were enjoying themselves, laughing and chatting away. Usually you didn’t mind being amidst the crowd, but tonight you gladly exchanged the glittering socialite circles for a quiet reprieve.

You felt suffocated; you had to escape.

***

It started out as a normal Saturday evening. A celebratory one at that.

“Yeah man! Namjoons! Congrats! I can’t believe you’re getting hitched!” your friend Jin almost yelled across the room. He joyously greeted the man of the night and patted him eagerly on his back.

“Ah, hyung! You almost made me spill my drink! Do you know how much this tux cost me?” Namjoon asked. Despite his complaint, he couldn’t keep his goofy grin off his face. You fondly looked at both of your childhood friends.

“C’mon don’t be so stingy Mr. Investment Banker. You can make that money back in an hour. Here, in celebration of you finally relieving your beloved out of her five-year long misery, I’ll treat you to a new joke of mine!”

Namjoon threw you a pleading glance. You simply shrugged and gestured for Jin to continue.

“This is an exclusive, so stop being so ungrateful you lot! Did you hear about the notebook who got engaged to the pencil?” Jin happily continued, glancing between the two of you, waiting for a response.

“No…?” you answered as you took a swig of champagne.

“She finally found Mr. Write!” Jin howled gleefully. You shouldn’t have laughed. It really wasn’t that funny of a joke, but Jin’s contagious cackle had you spitting out your drink.

Straight into Namjoon’s face.

“Oh my god! Joons! I’m so sorry,” you breathed between your gasps of laughter. You hastily grabbed some napkins off of a waiter passing by and started wiping his face. Jin was cracking up next to you, basically on the floor.

“Why did I ever expect anything else from the both of you? Why are we friends again?” Namjoon muttered in irritation as he took a napkin off your hands and patted down his tux.

You managed to stifle your laughter, “Because you looooove us. I’m sorry Joonie, really! I’ll pay your dry-cleaning.” You gave him your best puppy eye impression.

“Ugh, it’s fine Y/N. Stop trying to be cute, it’s giving me the creeps,” Namjoon groaned. You dropped your puppy eyes and gave him a stink eye instead.

Jin finally calmed down and threw an arm over his friend’s shoulder. “C’mon Namjoon, Y/N’s right. You love us. Your life would be boring without us. If it weren’t for your exquisite, completely-out-of-your-league fiancée, we’d be getting married right now!”

“You wish,” Namjoon grumbled.

“I’m handsome, I’m funny, I can cook, I’m filthy rich, I’m a catch!” Jin exclaimed indignantly.

You nodded in solemn agreement, “He’s got a point. He’s a catch. You would make a lovely couple.” Your somber façade started to crack as another giggle escaped your lips.

“Yeah, yeah. I’m glad at least the two of you are having fun. On that note, did you see Jimin yet? I heard he’s back in town, he RSVP’d to the party”.

Your smile dropped; every trace of humor gone. “Who?”

Namjoon gave you a strange look and repeated slowly, “Park Jimin. He’s supposed to be here tonight.”

Your heart dropped. Fuck.

You forced a smile back on your face and ignored the furtive glance Jin gave Namjoon. “Oh really? He’s back? How long has it been? I’m sure his family must have missed him.”

“I’m pretty sure the whole City missed our golden boy,” Namjoon said with an awkward laugh.

Your voice turned steely, “Not sure I’d go as far as the whole City, but yeah I can imagine how he has them fooled and wrapped around his finger. I think I better go refill my glass, most of it landed on your face.” You excused yourself and walked away from the boys. In the background you heard Jin reprimand Namjoon, “Way to kill the mood, man!”

“I thought she should know. Better than to run head-first into him!”

“Whatever, c’mon take me to your bride-to-be! I need to tell her my joke!”

***

Later that evening you found yourself on the third-floor guest bedroom balcony, indulging in the starry night sky.

Alone.

You tried to lose yourself in the moment, telling yourself to enjoy this rare occasion.

After a view minutes you decided your attempts were futile. Who were you kidding? You were hiding.

Suddenly the bedroom door opened behind you, light spilled in from the hallway. You shifted your eyes and saw the outline of a sleek figure standing in the doorway.

You immediately straightened up, your long red dress rustled slightly against your body. The figure stilled for a second as he scanned the dark space. His eyes landed on you. He closed the door and slowly crossed the room.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

You carefully kept a blank face and trained your gaze back to the seemingly captivating night sky. You took another big sip of champagne.

“Here you are, Y/N,” the words came out in a soft breath. His voice was quiet, but it was unmistakably deeper than the last time you heard it.

Don’t you get it? I don’t want you here. No one wants you here. The never-ending mantra that haunted you for the last decade. You wanted it to stop.

“Why are you hiding up here?” You threw him a sideways glance as he stepped up next to your side. The moonlight hit his cheekbones, his features were half lit and half hidden in the shadows.

Immediate regret coursed through your mind.

He looked good.

You hated that bastard.

“Who said I was hiding?” you answered in a disinterested tone. He was of course right, but he didn’t have to know that. „I was trying to enjoy my peace and quiet. Alone.” You waved your glass in his general direction without sparing him another glance.

Silence fell; you could feel his gaze on you. You silently prayed he would turn around and leave. Unfortunately he didn’t, or more likely refused to take the hint.

“You don’t seem surprised to see me. I thought I recognized you earlier. If I didn’t know any better, I would’ve guessed you were avoiding me. But that can’t be it, the great Y/N is nothing if not head-on. It’s good to see you again,” he said in an amused tone.

You tensed at his words, your inner voice warring whether to simply ignore him or not. Your rational side sighed in defeat as you gave up your haphazard attempt at stargazing and reluctantly turned your attention to the boy next to you. There was no point in avoiding him, your voice justified. As much as you wanted to, people like the both of you couldn’t afford to ignore each other. You both knew this.

Might as well rip the Band-Aid off now, fast.

“What are you doing here, Park? Did you run out of millionaires to greet downstairs, who’d pat your back and toast on your return to the City? Maybe you shouldn’t have hijacked Namjoon’s engagement party for this. But then again, manners were never your strong suit.” You willed yourself to sound bored and took a measured drink from your glass.

There was another beat of silence as your words hung in the air. You snuck a closer look at him. His hair was parted sideways, falling slightly into his eyes. He wore an elegant waistcoat and slacks. A simple black tie graced his neck.

The years did him well. He looked different than you remembered. Better.

Fuck. You had to have a strict conversation with that inner voice of yours.

As your gaze moved back up, you noticed that his eyes were searching your face. All of a sudden the evening air seemed cold. You had forgotten how his gaze always made you feel. Bared and exposed. Despite your discomfort, you kept your poker face and refused to break the stifling awkwardness. Both of you let another second of silence pass.

Go away.

“Sharp-tongued and witty as ever. I missed that.” He chuckled.

Liar. Still, your defiant little heart skipped a beat. You silently vowed to yourself to meditate more. That mind over matter shit was clearly not kicking in.

“I’m already done with all the millionaires downstairs. So I thought I’d come and greet some old friends up here.” He stuffed his hands into his pockets and gave you a nonchalant shrug.

“We’re not friends, Park.” you shot back.

Jimin dramatically clutched his chest as if hit by a bullet. “Harsh words. And here I thought you’d be the happiest one to see me.”

Your only response was hard silence. Go away. Please.

He continued to disregard your silent prayers, “And what’s up with calling me Park? We’re not in high school anymore. Calling people by their last name is not gonna earn you any street cred, you know? Is this how you treat all your clients? I’m disappointed, tsk.” The boy clicked his tongue in taunting disapproval.

Your brain whirred as you processed what he just said. Shit. Shit.

“Your father is our new client with that new mystery project?” you blurted out before you could stop yourself.

A slight frown set between his eyes. “My father? Park Corp. consists of more than just my father. And he’s definitely not going to be working on that project.”

You dismissed his words with a wave of your hand, “Park Corp., your father, all the same. It’s just semantics.” Jimin wanted to argue back, but you ignored him and continued, “Don’t be so naïve, Park.” You quirked an eyebrow as you used his last name again. Nobody told you what you could or couldn’t do.

“Your old man never lets his turf go unsupervised, especially if it’s a project developed in the City. You should know that better than anyone else. But how did my dad agree to this? He said he’d never work with your father. He thinks money and business ruin good friendships…” You suddenly realized you were babbling and bit down on your tongue.

Damn it, how do you end this conversation fast? Ideally in a way which didn’t involve insulting the son of your biggest new client. Okay, maybe a bit of insulting was allowed. He wasn’t your client yet.

Jimin’s frown deepened before it was slowly replaced by a shrewd smile.

Uh oh. This didn’t bode well.

“Your father agreed to this because I convinced him.” His stupid smile grew wider as he leaned in. Your mind went blank at his sudden proximity, his woodsy scent marred your senses. “As I said, Park Corp. consists of more than just my father. He’s not overseeing this project. I am.”

You swallowed hard.

No one wants you here.

“Jimin. What do you want from me?” You had to shut him down, you had to shut your memories down.

He laughed quietly, leaned in even closer and breathed against your ear, “Like you said, I just wanted to toast with some of my millionaire friends.“ In one smooth move he swiped the glass out of your hand and knocked back the rest of your champagne.

You were too perplexed to react.

“I’ll leave you to your peace and quiet again. I should go greet some other millionaires, maybe even a billionaire or two. See you Monday,“ Jimin winked and turned to leave.

See you Monday. See you Monday?!

He stopped at the balcony door, turned around and looked at you again for another long moment. “Before I forget. I meant it when I said it’s good to see you again.” There was an odd sincerity in his voice. Your heart constricted. “You look good Y/N. I missed you.” With those words he headed back inside.

Fuck.

You were out of champagne.

***

>Beep<

“Yes Ms. L/N?”

“Ash, is this the updated schedule for today?”

“Yes, Ms. L/N. Your conference call with the London team on the current bidding process is in 15 minutes. At 10.30 a.m. there’s the project briefing with Eptá. You have a lunch date with Mr. Kim today. I placed a reservation at the restaurant at 1 p.m. I also cleared your afternoon schedule, per your request, so you can go investigate the properties. And at 8 p.m. you have your call with the West Coast team on the new development portfolio. It hasn’t changed since the last time you asked me 20 minutes ago.”

You ignored the slight annoyance in your assistant’s voice. Ash was nothing if not efficient. How wonderful.

“Ok thanks Ash.”

>Beep<

“Ms. L/N, you seem a bit on edge today. Would you like some chamomile tea to calm your nerves?” she added in a sugary voice.

How. Wonderful.

“That’s very thoughtful of you Ash, but I think I’ll pass,” you answered just as sweetly. “Please follow up with Ren on the financial analysis and make sure to bring me the finalized report by end of today.”

There was a brief pause on the line.

“Of course, Ms. L/N.”

>Beep<

You leaned back in your chair and let out a groan. How did you let yourself get to this point?

It was Monday morning. Two restless nights and three morning espressos in, you had to acknowledge that your brief conversation with Jimin affected you more than you were willing to admit.

Damn that boy and his empty words.

You closed your eyes and focused your mind on your breathing. After a few moments you released all your tension, determined to concentrate on the matters at hand. Any useless thought spent on that guy was just a waste of your precious energy.

Thankfully you were easily able to get back in the game. Your morning call went well. The team did excellent research and prep work and with a little bit of luck the bid would be as good as yours.

>Beep<

“Ms. L/N, your 10:30 appointment has arrived. Mr. Gardner and Mr. Jung have just registered at reception.”

“Send them straight in once they’re here.”

>Beep<

You briefly checked your appearance in the standing mirror and straightened your blouse. Then you gathered the files that you’ve carefully studied over the past week and brought everything to your office seating area. You were told you were specifically requested by this client and you wondered what made them so special. Special enough for your father to insist.

There was a knock on your door and then Ash came in followed by the two men.

“Mr. Gardner and Mr. Jung,” Ash announced.

You were about to greet your guests as you did double-take and froze. There, in the middle of your office stood Park Jimin. He wore a fitted light grey suit with a slim black tie, his hair elegantly sleeked back. Next to him his companion wore something more casual and flowy. His auburn mop of hair offset the cream color of his suit.

What the hell? Is this some kind of sick joke?

It took you a moment to realize that you blurted that last thought out loud. You cleared your throat and tried to compose yourself. “What are you doing here?” A clear hint of dread seeped into your voice.

Jimin laughed at your bewildered expression. Ash and Jimin’s companion glanced curiously between the both of you.

“I’m here to talk business, remember? C’mon you didn’t drink that much at the party to have a blackout. You were sulking around in the corner for the rest of the night. Don’t deny it, I saw you.”

You scowled at him. “Last time I checked your name was not Mr. Gardner nor Mr. Jung and you for sure don’t work for a company called Eptá. What game are you playing Park J…?”

Suddenly Jimin’s companion interrupted you,“Ms. L/N, how about we discuss our matters in a more private setting?” He briefly eyed Ash and the open door to the rest of your office floor.

You gave him an irritated glance but decided to concede. He was right, there was no point in making a scene in the middle of the office. Work was work and you were a professional. You could deal with that jerk later.

“Yes, of course. My apologies, I got carried away. Can I offer you gentlemen something to drink? Coffee? Tea?”

“Coffee would be amazing,” Jimin quipped while he sauntered to the chairs, unbuttoned his suit and sat down.

You threw him a dirty look before you turned to Ash who was taking in the entire scene with immense interest. “Ash could you please bring us some coffee and water?” You turned back to the companion and added, “Please have a seat.”

Once Ash left the room and everyone sat down, Jimin’s companion reached out his hand. “I’m Jung Hoseok, nice to meet you. My partner here has told me a lot about you. I’m sorry if we surprised you like this. Unfortunately, we have to treat the topics we are to discuss today with the highest discretion.”

Jimin told this guy about you?

“Wow Mr. Jung, what an honor. I really enjoyed your last article in the Financial Times. It was very insightful and innovative. L/N Y/N. It’s nice to meet you too.” You shook his hand, your curiosity piqued.

Hoseok gave you an easy smile and continued, “Of course you already know Mr. Park here. You probably have a rough idea about the project at hand through the briefing document we sent through earlier, but before we continue to go into detail, I’d like to ask you to please review and sign this NDA.”

You weren’t unfamiliar with signing NDAs. Real estate development was a lucrative but sensitive business, especially in this city. Client discretion and secrecy was always a given at your father’s company. But if it made your clients feel safer, you were also happy to sign a legal document to ensure no trade secrets were spilled.

While you read through the terms of the document, Ash came back with a tray of refreshments.

“Here’s two coffees, water, milk and sugar at your free disposal. And one chamomile tea for you Miss.” She set the teacup in front of you as you gave her a sharp look.

She remained unbothered and asked in a saccharine voice, “Is there anything else I can get you?”

This girl…

“That would be all,” you dismissed her out of your office. If she had time to be sassy, she could handle your curtness.

After you signed the NDA you reached for the briefing document and flipped through your notes. “Mr. Park, Mr. Jung, I understand your need for discretion, but I’m a bit confused. I reviewed the briefing document and it describes your plans to revitalize the shipyard district. It does provide significant redevelopment opportunities and I’m sure it’s a great investment due to the rising popularity of the area, but to be frank, this is nothing you should hide from your competitors. Actually, it would be more beneficial to publicly market the redevelopment, as it would draw in more investors and increase the property value at a faster pace.”

You paused for a second and looked up at the two men. Hoseok opened his mouth, but before he could jump in you smoothly continued, “But I’m sure two smart gentlemen like you already know all of this. I checked our company’s asset register and we have no significant ongoing activities there at the moment.”

Jimin lifted an expectant eyebrow. And?

Was this some weird game of his? A test? Fine, you could play along.

“What we do have is a full-blown development plan for 53rd Street, which I’ve been asked to work on off-record for a mystery project in the past month. So tell me, why are you really here? Let’s stop wasting our time pretending we’re interested in finding ways to remove and recycle rusty hulls.“

Hoseok looked positively impressed. Good. “Phew, you weren’t kidding Jimin when you said she was smart as a whip. You really did your homework Ms. L/N”.

Jimin complimented you in front of strangers? Somehow this notion bugged you even more.

You brushed off Hoseok’s comment. “Mr. Jung, please, that’s my job. If you’re that easily impressed maybe I should increase my rates,” you deadpanned.

Hoseok blinked at you for a moment until he realized you were joking and started to laugh.

You smiled back at him.

Business rule #1 – always have a friend on the other side.

Your gaze shifted to Jimin and you noticed he was quietly observing you. Once again you felt exposed. Just like on that night of the party.

Focus.

You stared straight back and silently challenged him to say something.

“Yes Y/N, you’re right. Let’s stop pretending.”

No manners, not even in a business environment. What did you expect?

“We’re looking to branch out Park Corp. The hospitality industry is changing; travel and lifestyle trends are changing. As leaders of this industry we should spearhead that change.”

It was the first time you heard him talk in such a serious and determined way.

He briefly nodded at Hoseok and Hoseok brought out a new briefing document. The real briefing document. It had the word ‘Gaea’ printed on the front.

As you flipped through it, your jaw dropped. Your animosities subdued by the remarkable idea which unfolded in front of your eyes. What you read and saw was one of the most ambitious projects ever drafted. You felt a mixture of skepticism but also awe and excitement bubble up inside of you.

“An eco-hotel?” you asked aloud.

Jimin snorted, “Please don’t insult my intelligence. Look again.”

For a brief second you had forgotten who sat opposite of you. You swallowed your retort and flipped through the document again, gathering your thoughts.

You tried a second time, “It’s a new luxury experience. Seamlessly blending sustainability with affluence. A fully integrated concept of lifestyle, art and nature encapsulated in its own microcosm.”

Bingo.

This time Jimin nodded eagerly and leaned forward. “The new generation has a different view on things. The success of our company, of any company, is being measured through the impact we make in this world. They are the ones who are the breadwinners. They are willing to go deep into their pockets to appease their conscience yet unwilling to give up the luxuries that they are used to.”

You carefully took a sip of your tea and asked, “So you’re appealing to their sense of guilt? I’m not sure that’s the smartest thing to do, especially when it comes to hospitality.”

Jimin shook his head. “No. Not at all. People don’t want to be confronted with sustainability mantras or their own carbon footprint at every corner they turn. We’re not here to preach to them. We do what we do best - offer them a beautiful escape from their daily lives.” His eyes glinted as he explained his vision.

Jimin continued, “Travelling is an indulgence. When people travel they want to be pampered. They want to feel special. The last thing they want is to have a mirror shoved in front of their face. They don’t want to sleep on scratchy cotton, just because it’s recycled. Not when they’re paying $300 a night.” Next to him Hoseok nodded in agreement. Jimin glanced over and gave him a small smile.

They are friends. You realized with a small pang. You immediately pushed that thought aside.

“But what they will be interested in is that the tomatoes in their $25 Insalata di Caprese are grown right in the rooftop gardens they visited in the morning. That the honey harvested from the 7th floor tastes floral whereas the honey from the 10th floor has a deep, rich aroma because the bees fly to the park facing west. They’ll be mesmerized to see that the calories they burn on our treadmills fuel the lights of the beautiful art installation in the courtyard below them. Depending on their exertion the art changes and evolves. They’ll be surprised when they realize that the filtered and recycled water pumped through the veins of the building, fueling the water installation, the swimming pool or their en-suite Jacuzzis, is grade A drinking water. We are increasing our guests’ sustainability literacy by taking them into a world of wonder, providing them luxury experiences and showing them that one doesn’t exclude the other.” Jimin paused briefly to take a drink from his coffee.

His eyes settled back on you as he set down his cup. “This is what my project Gaea is about. Modern Mother Nature in the palm of your hands. There’s more of course, but we don’t have to go into all of the details right now.”

There was a moment of silence as you let Jimin’s words sink in and thought about how to respond. You were surprised by his demeanor. Unlike some investors who thought that the millions in their pockets made them into walking gods, you knew he wasn’t a spoiled brat. The Jimin of your past has always been a hard worker. But this was different. There was a sense of conviction and passion in the way he talked about this project.

You decided to go with a safe response. “I never thought of you to be such tree-hugger and activist, Mr. Park.”

A slow smirk spread across his face. “Don’t misconstrue this, I’m not trying to play saint.”

You snorted dismissively at his remark. He was the golden boy, he always tried to play saint. And the people fell for it.

Hoseok gave the both of you a tentative look.

Jimin shrugged casually, “Above all, I’m interested in growing our company. Let me be clear - my goal is to be successful no matter what. Might as well make a difference while I’m at it.”

You tried hard to discern his intentions. Why was he trying to play the cold businessman when he was clearly passionate about this topic?

Focus. Focus on the work.

You went back to the briefing document and flipped through the pages again, putting your analyst brain to work. “This is an interesting concept. While not novel in the industry, the mixture of lifestyle, art, experience and luxury is definitely an untried combination. It could work…,” your voice trailed off in thought.

“But?” You lifted your head, Jimin gave you a piercing look. You were surprised by the earnestness you found in his face. He was interested to hear your opinion. Your intuition was right, this was clearly not just an investment project to him.

“It could also just be a trend, a fad. You’re investing $730 million here. Whatever you’re doing, you want it to stick the first time. Yes, concepts can be changed and the location we’re developing at is prime real estate. So it doesn’t lessen the value of the property, but it would damage your brand. It would still be considered a failure and that would stick to your name. I can’t stop you, but if you want to pursue this idea I would personally recommend you do some tests and market research first,“ you voiced your genuine concern. Regardless of how you felt about Park Jimin personally, you didn’t want to ill-advise your client.

Jimin’s grin returned and grew impossibly wider. He leaned forward and took another sip of coffee. “Is that concern I hear in your voice Y/N? I’m touched,” he said in mocking delight.

Maybe you were willing to make an exception with this client. What a cocky bastard.

“Thanks for worrying, but this will work. Do you really think our executive board would have approved that amount of money without asking exactly those questions and many more? Hoseok here grilled me like I was at the Spanish Inquisition before he agreed to work with me.”

His friend threw him an apologetic smile. “I’ve got a reputation and a career to uphold, man,” Hoseok insisted.

Jimin chuckled lightly and continued, “It won’t fail Y/N. What do you think I’ve been doing the last few years?”

I don’t want you here. You wouldn’t know. You didn’t care.

Focus.

“Research. It works, I’ve already proven it on a smaller scale.”

You perused his features. There was determination and confidence. Under any other circumstance you would’ve thought it was foolish confidence, but you also saw the way Hoseok looked at his business partner. If one of the world’s most renowned financial strategists had full faith in this endeavor, maybe so should you.

After you triple checked the numbers.

As if Hoseok read your mind he proposed, “Jimin, I suggest you ask Jungkook to send Ms. L/N the business case. I know it’s not strictly necessary, but she’s going to be part of the team, she signed your NDA. We should play with open cards.”

One heck of a team. To have Jung Hoseok as your financial advisor.

A new thought started to nag in the back of your head. Usually you would never ask, but this was Jimin you were talking about. You had to know.

“Why me?”

“Excuse me?”

“You mentioned you got my dad to agree to work with you. It mustn’t have been easy to convince him to break his principles. So why? Why go through all this effort?”

“Are you really asking me why I decided to hand a $730 million project to you on a silver platter?” Jimin asked in wry amusement.

Now that he put it that way, your question did sound dense. You brushed off the judgement. You had to know what you were getting yourself into. No way you were going in blind.

“Tell me,” you persisted, your face resolute.

He stared at you for a long moment, deliberating his answer.

“Actually Ms. L/N we decided to go…”

Jimin interrupted Hoseok, “I chose your company because you’re the best in the country, maybe even globally. We did an evaluation and you came out on top. Gaea is an important milestone for Park Corp., so I think it’s only obvious to go with the best to guarantee its success.”

You were surprisingly disappointed. What a textbook answer. You decided to dig deeper.

“I get why you chose to work with Spring Development, but this doesn’t answer the question why you specifically requested for me to work on this project.”

You remembered the heated discussion you had with your father. How you refused to blindly take on a client who you, and more importantly the internet, knew nothing about.

“Because you were recommended as the best,” Jimin simply said.

“Bullshit,” you fired back.

Jimin let out a low sigh and ran his fingers through his hair. “Why can’t you just let it go?” he muttered to himself.

You stiffened at his remark. What was that supposed to mean?

“It’s not bullshit. You were recommended as the best. I followed your Aquarium project,” he finally revealed.

He kept tabs on you? The Aquarium project? Normally you were pretty good at reading people, but deciphering this boy was becoming increasingly impossible.

“The Aquarium project was a disaster,” you retorted. You started to doubt this man’s sanity.

Hoseok coughed quietly and interrupted your exchange, “Ms. L/N I can understand your skepticism. You’re right the project was a disaster, but that was because the owner and investors were morons who didn’t listen to advice. It’s now up and running and it’s become profitable in less than 12 months. That’s a huge feat considering the circumstances. It shows that you can work under pressure, you’re creative and very good at what you do. Although we’ve assembled the best team, Gaea won’t be an easy undertaking. We want someone like you. We need someone like you.”

Jimin hummed in agreement.

This was not the answer you expected.

You straightened yourself up and made up your mind. Business was business, and Hoseok was right. This project was going to be a challenge. You loved a good challenge, and this was too good of an opportunity to let pass by. You were perfectly capable of keeping your private matters separate.

“Alright gentlemen, I look forward to working with you. Should I take you through our current development analysis?”

Next >>

°°°°°°°

12/04/20

375 notes · View notes

manamanadodoodadodoo · 5 years ago

Text

Let’s talk about The Next Right Thing

I’m a little surprised that in all the Frozen II reactions I’ve seen online, I had to actively search to find people talking about arguably the most important song in the whole movie. And when I do see people talking about it, they take it from a character writing perspective while examining Anna, or they talk about how it resonated them because of their own battles with mental illness. And I don’t want to discourage that, I love those posts and I think that Anna’s character arc is excellent and super important, and that if people resonated with her song because of their own depression then that has value and meaning. But that’s not what I got out of it.

The Next Right Thing struck me in a very particular way because as much as it is a song about depression, it’s really a song about grief. Those things are incredibly closely related, but there’s an ever so slight nuance I need to point out. Anna does not have depression. She is depressed at this moment, and probably will be for a while, because she is grieving. And grief, really heavy grief, is not something I see depicted often in media, especially children’s media. I think the closest example I can think of off the top of my head is Simba’s reaction after Mufasa dies in The Lion King, and even that takes a lot more of a show-don’t-tell approach to how he copes. So let’s talk about the best song in Frozen II.

This song holds some of the most well-written and accurate depictions of what true grief feels like. I am no expert on grief by any means, but I did lose my little sister seven months before seeing this movie so I speak with some certainty when I say this song nailed me right between the eyes. There are several lines in particular that really capture just how grief can hit you:

“I’ve seen dark before, but not like this. This is cold, this is empty, this is numb. The life I knew is over, the lights are out. Hello, darkness, I’m ready to succumb.” Anna is going through the shock of a sudden and unexpected death, and realizing that this is the turning point. From this moment on, there will be the Anna who was Before, and the Anna who was After. It’s like the moment in Mulan when the song A Girl Worth Fighting For gets cut short. Up until that moment, life was not necessarily easy but it was normal and bright. Then at the end of the song, shit got real. Anna is realizing that from this moment on, life can never go back to what it was like before.

“I follow you around, I always have, but you’ve gone to a place I cannot find. This grief has a gravity, it pulls me down. But a tiny voice whispers in my mind, ‘You are lost, hope is gone, but you must go on and do the next right thing.’” The heavy grief you feel when someone you’re close with dies has a physical weight. Your body will react, you’ll feel tired and like you can’t get up or do anything. This is the part of the song which looks the most like the typical depiction of depression to me, however I myself have never struggled with depression so I’m only really qualified to speak on the part about grief. We both see and hear Anna going through the physical weight of her grief. But then the song goes on to talk about the little voice inside of her telling her that even though nothing in life can be worse than what she’s going through right now, she needs to get through it little by little. I think one of the hardest parts about grieving is that as much as you don’t want it to, life goes on. There is no other option. So you continue to eat, and you continue to breathe, and as you go you start to slowly pick yourself off the ground, and as life moves forward so do you because there’s no other option. You must go on.

“Can there be a day beyond this night? I don’t know anymore what is true. I can’t find my direction, I’m all alone, the only star that guided me was you. How to rise from the floor when it’s not you I’m rising for? Just do the next right thing. Take a step, step again, it is all I can to do the next right thing.” This paragraph I think has a lot more to do with Anna’s particular situation than grief as a whole, but regardless a few key points stand out. There are a lot of aspects of your life that you take for granted as constants, and when somebody dies, especially suddenly, it rocks your whole world. Everything you were certain of is suddenly proven to be temporary, and in a time where you need the most stability you can’t trust the very things you used to rely upon. Then with the last part of the paragraph, she goes on to emphasize that grief is difficult to work through, and the only thing you’re capable of doing is getting through it. Grieving is a lot of hard work, and nobody wants to do it.

“I won’t look too far ahead, it’s too much for me to take. But break it down to this next breath, this next step, this next choice is one that I can make.” This bridge is basically the whole message of the song and is pretty straightforward. In times when life is overwhelming and you have no choice but to continue, it feels like an impossible feat. But even when you can’t do anything, if you can just take that one little step forward then eventually you’ll be one step further and further away from where you were.

“So I’ll walk through this night stumbling blindly toward the light, and do the next right thing. And with the dawn, what comes then? When it’s clear that everything will never be the same again? Then I’ll make the choice to hear that voice and do the next right thing.” I think the worst part of grief, aside from missing the person you love and feeling awful, is the realization that nothing will ever be like it was. You truly feel like there was a you Before and a you After. You go through life and even if you can’t pinpoint precisely what it is that’s bothering you in that moment, the whole world around you just feels wrong. And you get to go through life knowing that even if as time goes on the grief won’t hurt in the same way, a grief that’s heavy enough will never truly go away. It may feel different, but the world will never feel completely right. And that’s just the way it is. The last thing Anna says has a lot to do with who she is as an optimist, but I think it’s another important message in the song. In an interview with Kristen Bell, she said that being an optimist doesn’t mean that you’re happy all the time. You still feel the full range of emotions and experience all of life, the good and the bad. But you make the choice to focus on the bright side of life. In grief, looking at the bright side of life feels like a slap in the face. But even so, you can make the choice to let yourself move just a little bit further in the right direction. And every little bit is one step closer to life being if not right, then at least a little bit less wrong.

Aside from all the amazing lyrics in the song, we also get to see Anna suffering. We see her lying on the cold ground of the cave. We see her struggle to claw herself back to her feet. We see her heave herself up the side of the cave wall. We see her take a deep breath and leap across that gap, and we see how heavily she lands on her feet. When she finally makes it outside, she wails the line about how everything will never be the same again. And even after the song is over and she yells at the earth giants, she doesn’t sound like the quirky and funny Anna we love, she sounds tired, and pissed, and defeated. She’s on a mission sure, but that’s exactly what it is. It’s a mission, and a goal, and once she’s done with the harrowing experience she takes a minute to briefly look at the good that happened, and then you can watch the weight of the grief sink into her again. And then Disney makes everything all better and we have a nice happy ending.

I think my point in going through all of this is to demonstrate that really heavy grief sucks, a lot, and that it’s important to show it in the media. The irony of grief is that at some point in our lives, every single one of us will lose somebody we care deeply about and it will scar is forever. When you’re the one grieving, it’s impactful to see that there are other people in the world who understand what you’re going through, and that no matter how alone you may feel you’re not truly alone. And if you’re not the one grieving, and you’re lucky enough to have not felt this way in your life yet then I’m so happy for you. But take a look at Anna and ask yourself, what would you do if you were in that cave with her? What could you possibly do or say to make it any better for her? Do you console her by reminding her how much Elsa suffered in life, and that she’s in a better place now? That’s not going to make her feel any better. Do you tell her it’s okay to let herself feel happy, and that Elsa would want her to live a happy life? Maybe, but only if it looks like she’s struggling to let herself be happy, and definitely not in the immediate aftermath. So what do you say? The answer, unfortunate though it may be, is that there’s nothing you can do or say to make it better. The best thing you can do is say that you’re sorry, and show that you’re there for them and that you think of them and their loved one. Even months or years after the fact. The best thing you can do is show that even though somebody died, their life had meaning and an impact that can’t just be forgotten.

And to that end, I’m grateful that this song was in the movie. I’m glad that Disney was brave enough to show the complexity and hardships of grief as it truly is. And I’m glad that I finally have a grief song that I can point to when people don’t understand what it is people go through when they grieve.

#frozen 2 #frozen #elsa #anna #the next right thing #grief #bridget #depression #frozen ii

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silver-wield · 4 years ago

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tbh after playing the remake, I get the appeal of CA, because it's a familiar manic pixie dream girlfriend type love story. It even plays into the tragic boy loses girl trope which helps frame it as some grand romantic story. and yeah they're cute, and they definitely have a special connection. I think I could ship it if not for the whole rest of the story. It's a relationship that has the potential to become romantic, but it doesn't exist in a vacuum. 1/5

The remake is doing a great job on untangling a lot of the ambiguity the OG left us with. Yes, Cloud could develop feelings for Aerith and vice versa, but the remake is planting so many seeds that confirm he currently has feelings for Tifa (which she reciprocates) and I don't think it's possible for any feelings he might develop for Aerith to overcome these feelings he has harboured since childhood. 2/5

Unfortunately those feelings are something he cannot fully understand because of his comprimised mental state. But you can clearly see that his deep affections for Tifa and desire to protect her stay with him despite that (as can Aerith). The problem with the OG (other than having to potray this incredibly complex subversive nuanced story through text and polygons) is that the LS scene recontextualize so much of who Cloud is, but by that time people had already made their conclusions. 3/5

With the remake you can see them trying to fix this by having a constant thread of romantic undertones to all of cloti's interactions. The CA relationship meanwhile is potrayed with these moments that play into romantic tropes and expectations. The bridge scene is flashy and grand and draws the attention, but it doesn't carry the substance that a single hand-clech does. 4/5

It's meant to be a smokescreen to the real story - just as Cloud is not the hero you think he is, the love story is also not the one you think it is. And that's what makes FF7 so great. It's all about the subversions of what you expect - it's about the truth underneath these grand and compelling illusions that is complicated and real but still just as beautiful. 5/5

Okay, first off I don’t see how anyone can play Remake with Cloud being biggest mood around Aerith and find that appealing. Personally I think it’s the most toxic and harmful behaviour in the entire game when he’s alone with her and she’s literally trying to force him to act like her dead boyfriend. There is zero appeal in that and it’s not cute how she behaves, it’s arrogant and self serving. Like I said in a different post (or maybe a tweet) both Sephiroth and Aerith use Cloud to fulfill their own selfish desires. Sephiroth needs Cloud to destroy the planet by getting him the black materia, and Aerith wants Cloud to emulate Zack so she can fool herself into believing he didn’t die. In both cases what Cloud wants doesn’t even factor into things. That harmful dynamic doesn’t give them a special relationship. It mirrors Cloud’s relationship with Sephiroth in that it hurts him. Aerith and Sephiroth are two sides of a coin and the whole isn’t anything that benefits Cloud. Even after they’re both dead they continue to harm him through their obsession with him. It’s only at the end of AC when they’re both truly gone from his life completely that he’s able to smile and be at peace. He has no stalkers in DC and that’s why he’s so cheerful. He gets to live happily with Tifa and not worry about ghosts coming after him. It has zero potential to become anything because to make that a thing, you need to totally destroy everything else about the story and characters themselves. You have to take away Zack being Cloud’s best friend and saviour, at which point he’s just dead. You have to take away Tifa being his motivation to become a soldier, at which point he’s dead cause Sephiroth still comes to Nibelheim and burns it. Point is, there is no way that dumdum dinghy is possible without removing Cloud and most of his personality from FF7, at which point he’s just a pretty face, so people should just go write AU fanfiction and admit they wanna bang the pretty boy and not deal with his canon personality and story.

There wasn’t any ambiguity in OG because 7R is FF7 and the devs have said multiple times the story is the same as before. The problem back then was a poor translation, bad advertising and people refusing to follow the narrative to its proper conclusion. Cloud at no point in OG or any of the compilation could develop feelings because it’s shown in the entire compilation that he has always and will always love Tifa. Before Crisis he loves Tifa. Crisis Core he loves Tifa. OG he loves Tifa. AC he loves Tifa. DC he loves Tifa and Remake he loves Tifa. There’s zero room for anything with Aerith because his entire character arc is consumed with his desire for Tifa. It’s literally shown in the damn game that he’s in love with her. So, no, there never was any chance for Aerith, and I’m tired of people trying to entertain one by saying “if she lived”. Sorry, not sorry, if she lived Cloud is still in love with Tifa, so he never would, could or want to develop any feelings for Aerith.

Cloud loves Tifa. It’s the goddamn plot.

There isn’t any problem with the lifestream scene being the big reveal at that point in that game. The problem, again, is that people refused to follow the narrative to its logical conclusion and got hung up on their dumbass headcanon about Aerith. The entire premise of the game is built on illusion vs reality and yet some people still refuse to wake up and see reality. The game spells it out for everyone. They got so triggered over her dying that they acted like the game ended at that point instead of it carrying on and reaching the actual true culminating arc where we find out Cloud wasn’t himself this entire time. People seem to think Aerith dying is the plot and that she’s the main character or something. It’s Cloud’s game. The plot revolves around him. That’s why the lifestream scene is the apex of it.

It’s Cloud’s story, not Aerith’s.

I’ve pointed out several times how Aerith’s optional scenes in Remake show that Cloud is barely even a fixture. Her language of flowers you barely have Cloud in shot while she’s doing all that talking. She’s basically talking to the player. Her optional dress scenes show the illusion for what it is. That bridge is tiny and yet in the red dress is looks like this massive structure. I laughed my ass off when I spotted it. The pink dresses perspective shortens drastically for each one, with the funeral dress having Cloud standing nearest to Aerith, so that one’s probably closer to reality than that ott scene with random fireworks and fans popping up from nowhere. Not to mention the fact Aerith’s entire figure is padded out to fill that dress and she’s got hair extensions in and a ton of make up and the ost is actually called a mess of makeup or something like that and not a certain gaudiness. I mean, Madam M tried to turn Aerith into Tifa to win the bride contest and beat Sam. The game makes things very clear that the illusion is Aerith and the reality is Tifa, and players can’t turn Aerith into Tifa to make Cloud notice her no matter how hard they wanna believe they can. Her resolution literally has her repeating her OG lines from the GS about how Cloud isn’t himself, but she also arrogantly assumes he fell in love with her or would because she’s arrogant. It’s a character trait that again mirrors Sephiroth’s arrogance. It’s what gets them both killed in the end. Aerith underestimates Sephiroth and Sephiroth underestimates Cloud.

And we already saw what Cloud had to say about her declaration cause he only ever refers to her as a friend and didn’t show any romantic behaviour when he rescued her. Unless “Yep” is the height of romance now. It’s not that the romance isn’t the one you think it is. It’s that it’s the one you ignored and acted like wasn’t important because you hate the heroine. Tifa and Cloud are together from start to finish, but because people decided the pink girl was more important they acted like Tifa had no right to what was hers from the beginning. She didn’t get between Cloud and Aerith. There never was any Cloud and Aerith. It was always Tifa. She just took what was always hers and kept it.

Anyone who doesn’t understand that should try playing the game cause it’s clear they didn’t.

#ship war #for the plot

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