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xxavengingangelxx · 9 months

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Somewhere Only We Know 8/9

Summary: Val and Graves get dragged in front of Congress and questioned.

Notes: The end is almost here! I'm not sure when/if I'll continue this. I WANT to but I also want to stay somewhat true to the timeline. When does MW4 come out? Also, sorry for the hiatus! My activity is a flat line, reminding me that's it's been forever since I posted. Writer's block and late nights at work will do that. :( - No real warnings for this one but smut so MDNI! Limited proofreading because I got slammed with ideas and wanted to give ya'll an update :)

Taglist (let me know if you want on or off!): @bellgraves, @unicorngirly1 (my chat buddy! :)), @lily-lily131313, @sharksausages, @shepgurl

You woke up feeling warm. You woke up to someone holding you. You were almost, almost too warm, you were almost uncomfortably hot but not quite.

You woke up feeling loved.

Your bed was slightly cramped, though.

And that was when you noticed that Graves was holding you from behind. That man had actually taken his vest off (but kept his gun within reach) and squeezed into your hospital bed with you. He seemed to be asleep, his nose buried in your hair, which was still somewhat dirty from your interaction with Makarov who knows how long ago. His arm was wrapped firmly around your waist as he spooned you.

He was asleep, or rather, knocked out. He was so asleep he was dreaming.

And Graves rarely slept. You rarely saw him sleep. He was always working. When he wasn’t away in the field he was on the phone or on the computer or in meetings.

So you did nothing but allow yourself to be held.

And it didn’t take you too long to fall back asleep.

And you kept dreaming.

Your relationship with Graves deepened and got more intense by the day after that first night. He was around you constantly.

You have no idea how Graves ended up getting your cellphone number but he got it. From then on you would receive at least ten text messages a day. The most common one would sometimes come during the day but it would mostly come in the evening if you were both free.

Come over.

It was never a question. And you were never given an option to say no. And who were you to say no to your commander?

So you complied.

Every time you both met in private, the course of events was similar. He would undress you. Sometimes it would be slowly. Other times it was desperate and heated. Sometimes Graves would be geared up, saying he had to get back to his men. He would be particularly rough those nights. But you still got off on it. There was something hot about you being completely nude and having your commander rutting into you, fucking you, while he was still geared up, guns within reach, rough gloved hands exploring your curves. If you got too loud those gloved hands would cover your mouth. If he was on top of you, you would feel the roughness of his vest scraping your breasts and chest and it only made you hotter. If he was fucking you from behind, something his gear would leave bruises on your skin from how hard he fucked you. After he’d sometimes smack your ass, tell you to stay in his bed and that you’d better be there when he got back. Then he’d tuck himself back into his pants, zip up, buckle his pants, run his fingers through his hair and close the door behind him. You’d ache the next day.

He would tell you stay in his bed for one specific reason. The reason was because when Graves got back from missions, especially those where he’d killed someone (usually more than one enemy) got him hot. One time he’d fucked you with fresh blood still under his fingernails. Another time he’d had blood in his blonde hair and rolling down his face, You had been worried it was his but then he told you it had splattered on him when one of his men had shot an enemy soldier off of him.

Then there was a whole other side to Graves.

Other times Graves would take things slow. Usually on nights like these, you’d both have been drinking. The alcohol had already caused you both to feel warm and caused your skin to be flushed. So you both peeled each other’s clothing off slowly. It was those nights that sometimes Graves would take things so sloooow and you’d moan and beg for him to go faster, harder. You’d both get sweaty and worked up, the red flush creeping up to both your faces. He’d eat you out and edge you multiple times until you were begging to cum. On these nights, he’d usually collapse on top of you, his head on your chest, his hands soothing your hot, sweaty body. Your hands would wind up in his soft hair.

Everyone knew. Everyone.

Price even took you aside one day and told you to be careful. Fraternization was already a concern but Price didn’t really care if his soldiers fucked unless someone outside the unit found out. You wondered why you were being told to be careful. Price told you that Graves was a good, capable soldier. But that he owned his own PMC and that he was essentially a mercenary, a hired gun, that he killed people for money. And while they were all soldiers who got a paycheck for their duties, Graves got paid half up front and the other half when he produced a body or other proof. Soldier didn’t have to produce bodies to get paid. He’s different, Price had said. Price had also commented that Graves seemed obsessed. He never left you alone. And Graves had an army. An army that probably traced your every step, measured your every breath.

And it was true. When Graves wasn’t around, his men were never far. You didn’t like the way some of them looked at you. Almost like they would get off on hurting you. You didn’t doubt some of those men were sick. Others were goofs and they would straight up prank you like you were their little sister.

Your memories brought you to the last time you saw Graves before he betrayed 141. It had been one of those slow burn nights. It had almost felt like he’d made love to you.

And that’s why it had hurt so much to watch him betray you. That’s why you had experienced more than physical anguish when his men tortured you as Graves watched. And while you could only see the eyes of the men that tortured you, beat you, drugged you, made you suffer, you knew that it was the same few men who eyed you like they’d love to hurt you. If Graves hadn’t drawn a line, you were sure they would have had no issues with raping you, their prisoner. Just another war crime to them. One of them had in fact, commented that they would love to get such a cute little broken soul in their bed and fuck you and hear you scream and beg for them to stop. Those men scared the absolute shit out of you.

You weren’t back on base long when Graves told you, “Shit’s getting real and it’s getting serious.”

You wondered what was going on.

“We gotta fly back to the US,”

“What, why?!” You were scared that what happened in the UK was going to happen in the US. That you would be arrested and taken away from Graves.

“Subpoenaed to Congress,” Graves responded. He handed you a document. You couldn’t read past You are hereby commanded to appear… You were sure your name was on the subpoena somewhere but you were too scared to look.

“I don’t get it. Why?”

Graves sat next to you. “’Couple months ago, the FBI investigated what happened in Las Almas.”

“Ok but…you…you faked your death, right?”

“Cat’s outta the bag now,” Graves replied. “They know I’m not dead. And they know you’re not dead.”

“Fuck.” You sighed, tears welling in your eyes. You were going to be questioned about what happened in Las Almas. And you were going to be questioned about the scar on your face. They’d likely pulled medical records. And they probably knew you were pregnant. They probably had a suspicion you’d been tortured. They would be sniffing around and asking about whether Graves had tried to shoot at and kill 141 members. And then you’d both go to prison. You because you were wanted by the UK and Graves for other supposed war crimes that were not really war crimes. “They’re gonna make us testify against each other.”

“Nah,” Graves said. And he sounded so sure of himself. “Husband and wife can’t be made to testify against each other.”

“We’re…not married,”

“But we are,” Graves smirked.

You were dumbfounded. Had he—

“FBI investigation spooked me so I got some paperwork drafted. I figured this isn’t the last time we’re gonna get dragged into court.”

“I’m confused,” you stated. Your heart was beating so loud you were surprised Graves couldn’t hear it. He’d gotten you both married? Without your consent?

“You’ll get to keep the name Val,” Graves smirked. “But your last name’s gonna change. Obviously.”

The flight was uncomfortable to say the least. Your legs kept cramping up and the nausea was torturous. Your ankle ached and you still walked with a limp. Your ankle hadn’t been broken but the sprain still hurt. Graves seemed relaxed. Way too relaxed for someone about to testify in front of Congress. You found yourself wondering where Shepherd was. Did he get subpoenaed too?

Graves had given you a simple ring with promises to get you something fancy later.

It was things like these that just reminded you there was no escaping him. Ever.

Getting into the building was difficult. The media was everywhere. You were like a puppy in that you stayed attached to Graves. It was the first time you’d seen him in a suit and damn did he look good. Graves had done his best to keep you away from the cameras and hounding reporters. The reporters kept calling out your old name, one you hadn’t responded to in months. Graves explicitly and harshly told them to back off and kept his arm wrapped around your shoulders while pulling your hooded jacket over your head.

You’d gone through security first. Graves was still going through security and you didn’t realize you were shaking until a familiar voice pointed it out.

“You okay? You’re shaking,” Laswell pointed out.

“’M fine,” you managed to say. But you weren’t. You were nervous and you were cold and you were uncomfortable.

“What’re you doing runnin’ around with ‘im and why are you limping?”

You didn’t answer because that was when Graves got through security and led you away.

At first the aides wanted to separate you from Graves. Until Graves harshly told them that you were his wife and to not lay a hand on you. You got to sit next to Graves. And before things started you saw Shepherd was at the table opposite of both of you.

You whispered to Graves, asked him why Shepherd seemed to be opposing you both. Graves whispered something about how that was the way things had worked out.

Congress started questioning Shepherd first. The more questions they asked him the more anxious you got because that could only mean one thing: that each question meant they were getting closer to questioning you.

And then came the question of the day: “Did you authorize Shadow Company to fire on a taskforce under your command in Las Almas, Mexico?”

You held your breath.

Graves continued showing no signs of nervousness at all. Psychopath. Would your child grow up to be just like him?

“No, I did not,” Shepherd responded.

You glanced back and saw Laswell’s shocked face at the lie.

And then they turned their wrath on the two of you.

“Mr. Graves,” the congressman begun, “were you given orders to use lethal force against TF-141?”

The pause between the question and the answer seemed to last forever and your blood thundered in your ears.

“Yes I was,”

The crowd livened and started to talk. And to distract yourself from the insane anxiety you were feeling you bent your ankle under the table, the pain taking your focus away from your unease.

Then came the commands for the crowd to be quiet.

“Who gave you those orders?”

That pause felt like forever again and again you pressed on your ankle, the pain taking away from your sudden lightheadedness.

“General Hershel Shepherd,”

“Did you act on those orders, Mr. Graves?”

Graves’s response was quick. “No, absolutely not, sir.”

And then the lead interrogator, as you saw him, Mr. Hutson, turned to you. “Mrs. Graves—”

That was the first time someone had called you that and it was like another cell door slamming locking you in together with Graves for eternity.

“Sir, if I may,” Graves said politely, “my wife is a high-risk pregnancy and doesn’t need the added stress.”

Shepherd’s head jerked in your direction and you saw in his face that you really had been pregnant already when he had talked to you about letting Graves fuck a kid into you. You could read the older general’s thoughts: Wife? Pregnant?

“I’ll still have questions for her,” Mr. Hutson didn’t seem to care. It was just like the American government to not give a shit about women’s healthcare wasn’t it?

“I’m legally protected in that I can’t be made to testify against my husband,” your voice sounded much more confident than you felt and out of the corner of your eye you saw Graves doing his best to hide a smirk.

Some questions went unanswered by you as you’d used your right to not to be forced to testify against your spouse. When you were asked if you’d been married under duress. You said no. You were asked about why you scars on your body as had been detailed in medical records, why you ribs had been broken. Had you been tortured? No, you’d responded. War is hard on the body, is what you reasoned. You were asked about fraternization and you refused to answer that question, too. Congressmen were stupid weren't they? You were pregnant. How the hell did they think that happened? Then you reminded yourself these congressmen couldn't find a clit if someone paid them.

You and Graves had both been warned that you were both going to be called back to testify in about 6-8 months after the current conflict involving Makarov was hopefully over. And you cursed under your breath because it was around that time when you’d have a newborn at home.

Graves dragged you onto a plane and out of Washington that same afternoon. Your limp was worse and he chastised you when he saw that your ankle had fresh bruises from all the times you’d put pressure on it during the congressional hearing.

You were somewhere in north Texas. That was all you knew. You were here to stay, Graves had told you. He still had Makarov to take care of and there was limited ways Makarov could reach you in the US.

That same night, Graves was all over you. He was praising you and telling you what a good job you’d done under pressure. Graves had undressed you slowly and even though you were getting self-conscious about your body, Graves lightly smacked your hands away when you tried to cover yourself.

“Cover yourself again and I won’t let you cum,” Graves stated, sighing as his long fingers stroked his length. You were on your back on the bed and he was on top of you and straddling you. His eyes dragged over you and it was as if his pupils grew wider with lust with every passing second.

“I don’t like how I look,” you admitted. But you let your arms drop to your sides.

“Let me show you how fuckin’ gorgeous you are, darlin’” Graves smirked. And with that, his face was between your legs. He was licking and sucking and biting lightly like you were his last meal.

Your hands flew to his short hair, a gasp/moan leaving your lips. You arched into his mouth. You full on cried out when you felt his tongue full on penetrate you. He had his tongue inside of you.

“Fuck, you even taste better,” Graves growled from between your thighs, his hair almost in his eyes, his eyes making contact with yours, his hot breath against your sex giving you chills. “You’re mine forever now, you know that, right?”

You nodded and whined, desperate for any stimulation. Graves sat on his haunches and you almost cried when you realized he was done eating you out.

So you sat up and forced yourself onto his lap. You spread your legs wide and felt his hot, thick cock at your entrance. And just for revenge as you seated yourself onto his cock you dragged your fingernails down his toned biceps, making him groan and hiss in pain.

His rough hands were at your hips. His hands were trembling slightly as he gripped your hips as you teased him now, just sinking onto the tip of his thick, long dick.

“Don’t tease me,” he warned in a low rumble, he leaned forward, his hot, wet lips brushing against your ear before saying, “Because you won’t be pregnant forever,” and he bit your earlobe before adding, “and I’ll remember this and destroy you.”

And you moaned at that. It was all you needed to fully sink onto him. He was fully sheathed inside of you in one go because you were soaked. Because you wanted this, because you needed this, because he had told you he was leaving for another mission after this, and because you were terrified he might not come back. You weren’t sure what you’d do if that happened.

And before you knew what you were doing, you were riding Graves hard.

“Easy,” Graves gasped, his still-trembling hands on your hips.

Despite the fact that you were in the mood for something rougher, Graves’s strong grip wouldn’t allow it. It was almost as if he was scared to hurt you or the pregnancy.

It wasn’t long before you came undone, your hands again tangled in Graves’s hair as he bit and suckled and left hickies on your chest and neck. You cried out Graves’s name into his mouth as he caught your lips in his lips as he followed you over that edge. You went limp, suddenly exhausted but Graves and his strength kept you bouncing on his cock as he rode out his orgasm, releasing a rugged moan against your throat.

Graves departed the next morning and even though you wanted to beg him not to go, you didn’t. You didn’t want to make him feel guilty and to then have that guilt distracting him in the field.

You were in the US while Graves somewhere in the world, running one of the world’s most dangerous missions most likely.

Days passed and you didn’t hear anything. Days became a week. And a week became two. Riley kept you company and often snuggled up with you more times than not. Shadows were around you constantly and you were sure Graves had told them to keep an eye on you.

The phone rang and you were relieved when you heard Graves’s voice.

“Thank God,” you breathed. “Are you on your way back?”

“I am,”

“What’s wrong?”

“Mission failure,” Graves said. “Makarov is still on the loose.” Graves paused before adding, “I can’t say I care but the news I have…pretty sure you’re not gonna like.”

“What?”

Graves asked if you were sitting down so you sat down on the bed.

And then Graves told you Soap had been shot.

And that it didn’t look good.

#phillip graves #phillip graves x reader #cod mw2 #graves x reader #john soap mactavish #longwayfromhome #cod mw3 #somewhere only we know #mw2 141

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msbeccieboo · 6 years

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Arrow 7x16 brain dump

So another episode, another triumph!! Star City 2040 was AMAZING!! The episode was almost all I had hoped for and so much more to boot! We got Mia Smoak’s origin story, and got brought somewhat up to date with the future storyline, whilst still leaving plenty of unanswered questions. The episode could easily be seen as a backdoor pilot episode for a next gen spin-off, that no doubt is in the works for when Arrow comes to a close. There is lots to deal with from this week’s offering, so without further ado….

Olicty and Mia

This will be short and sweet as we only got a minute-long flash of them as a family unit. But OMG THE BIRTH!! HDVKVHWDGRFJLBHSDNVSDLK!!!!!! My heart was so full, even in that short scene 😍 I had always had reservations about seeing a Felicity pregnancy storyline during the show run, but it seems like Beth has crafted the story so cleverly as for the pregnancy to not be so much of a focus-puller from the main story arcs for the season and for Felicity herself. This is what a talented and female-driven writing team does people!!! We will get the bulk of the pregnancy falling over hiatus, and the birth we have seen already here, and still get to keep some fluffy fanfic-y moments between her and Oliver in the present day. This is win-win as far as I’m concerned! But I digress…the birth!! We hear Felicity’s labour-screams (*shudders* 😬), whilst we get a tour of their new home, and Oliver is right there by her side!!!! Holding her hand, they exchange “I love you so much” and I diieeeeedddd!!!

Source: oliverxfelicity

This was so adorable, and then Oliver’s little chuckle at Felicity’s joke? GAAAAHHHH!! Mia is handed back to them by Nurse Random, and the happiness on both of their faces, along with Felicity’s tiny “hi”, and the forehead kiss (I love a forehead kiss) just broke me!! Tears, all the tears! No drama, just a beautiful family moment.

Source: feilcityqueen

Continued under the cut

The “abandoned farmhouse” I thought we’d get, based on the trailer this time last week, in fact turned out to be a beautiful, warm, secluded family home, obviously lovingly furnished and lived in for a while by Oliver and Felicity. I guess this begs the question of when do they leave Star City for this new home, given that the team never knew about Felicity’s pregnancy? I think Olicity will leave by the end of the season for sure. And then that’s it for Olicity, and Oliver in this episode. Personally, I never expected to see Oliver in this episode. I don’t expect to see him in the future scenes before the end of the season, or even at all, as any future timeline reveals would scupper whatever tomfoolery they intend on cooking up in the next crossover *rolls eyes*.

Mia’s montage

Gosh I just love a montage! We immediately snap from new-born Mia to the most adorable toddler badass ninja Mia!!

Source: ebett

Look at that little face!! It was a stroke of genius casting James Bamford’s daughter here, as she already has some killer little fighting moves! I am in love 😍 She then transitions seamlessly into a slightly older version, before the teen/adult Mia that we already know. Can I just say that I adore the fact that she always has a little blonde ponytail just like Mama...my heart!!! Oh and who is her trainer?? Only Nyssa fracking Al Ghul!!!!! YAAAAAAAAAAASSSSS!!!

Source: felicittysqueen

What a fantastic surprise! I squealed! I stan one set of sister wives and their daughter! Much like finding Connor’s true identity last week, just this little twist was so exciting! I love spoiler-free season 7!!

Felicity/Mia

Agggghhhh these two! We finally got a little more insight as to why Mia seemingly hated Felicity so much. She seems to have been relatively well adjusted, if not feeling both isolated and suffocated in her small town (all this as well as having been trained to be a ninja by Auntie Nyssa), prior to leaving for Star City. Her relationship with her mother looked easy and loving, and I loved how her protective instincts kicked in when she returned home and Felicity didn’t reply.

Source: felicitysmoakgifs

Let’s just take a moment to appreciate how chill Felicity is when Mia nearly attacks her! The way Emily has chosen to portray Future!Felicity with a new-found calm and poise is fabulous. She is such a boss (as if there was ever any doubt), with echoes of Moira but still all of ‘our’ Felicity’s heart. I loved her slipping back into her babbles over the comms over Mia’s ‘type’; Nana Donna would be so proud!!

Source: felicitysmoakgifs

The turning point in their relationship comes when Mia stumbles upon Felicity’s secret bunker, compete with desktop pics of Oliver as GA and William pictures 😭😭 Two of the people that Felicity loves most and has seemingly lost? 😭😭This discovery leads Mia to realise that Felicity is still partaking in some vigilante side-action, which is the crux of their relationship breakdown. Vigilante’s have been outlawed, and painted as the ultimate big bads, something Felicity has obviously tried to make Mia see sense of. But Mia has clearly seen and heard all of the propaganda surrounding them, we don’t know where Oliver is, but we know he and Felicity have vowed to continue saving people, taking them away from Mia, and in turn, making her grow to resent the vigilantes irrespective of the heroic stories her mother has told her. Felicity keeping her own present vigilantism from Mia is the last straw for her. She is young, unworldly at this point, and clearly has strong feelings of abandonment from both parents, and the idea of Felicity being caught as a vigilante and taken away from her makes her snap. Cue Mia escaping to Star City to get her freedom, and to ‘find herself’ in cage fighting (the obvious career choice haha), and generally be a broody teenager. There she ‘learned’ even more about Vigilantes, only with the government spin on it, further driving that wedge and distance from Felicity and developing her hatred for them. This is where we see their relationship at as they reunite, a few years later, by the sounds of it.

Felicity being the empathetic angel that she is, has absorbed all of Mia’s hatred and disappointment, which I think is why she seemingly just ‘takes’ all of Mia’s attitude. Felicity also knows all too well the disappointment of being lied to by the person you love the most (looking at you S4 Oliver). She loves her so much and sees so much of Oliver in her, that it must be heartbreaking for her to know how she has disappointed her. That line where she tells William “I’m used to being a disappointment to her” is a gut punch. Yet she is so so proud of her! 😭😭

Source: olicitygifs

Felicity realises that she should have told Mia the truth, and immediately apologises, but it takes the rest of the episode’s events to unfold before Mia really starts to understand the situation Felicity and Oliver were put in, why they made the choices that they did, and allows her to accept Felicity’s apology and start to mend fences. The final scene with them had me in tears for the 46232th time this episode, and you can really see how much they love each other, and their bond that still remains.

Source: felicitysmoakgifs

I know she has been divisive so far, but I love Mia, and can understand where she is coming from in her attitude. This is a girl who is 20 years old, remember, and whereby in some ways she has had to grow up incredibly fast, she is still very naïve and emotionally unaware as well. I see so much of Oliver in her, as does Felicity.

Source: olicitygifs

Her reaction to danger, physicality etc (hellooo handstand press-ups!) is down to training, yes. Her brooding, rash decision making and acting alone are character traits straight from Oliver. Her rage/anger reaction to the lies from Felicity and Connor scream S1 Oliver to me.

This is my take anyway haha, I know some will disagree, but I am officially a Mia Smoak stan!!!

William/Felicity/Mia

William didn’t take centre-stage this week, but he still had so many amazing moments. Ugh I love this boy so much!! His relationship with Mia continues to grow and be the cutest thing ever! Like I said last week, I love seeing William draw the light out in Mia, in the same way as Felicity always does with Oliver. All the little sibling moments that they share are so heart warming I could dieeeee! The “show off” line, “you’re just more useful to me not dead”, “oh good now there are two of you”, “now I got a sister to hate instead” the list goes on!! And then Will making Mia pose as his EA, and her distain at that are a hilarious call-back to their parents…Olicity S2 ftw!!

Source: smoaktechs

I clearly have already spoken about her, but let’s just take a moment to appreciate that FELICITY IS ALIVE BITCHES!!!

We saw that Felicity had been looking out for William all along, investing in his start-up under the pseudonym City of Emeralds Capital, see my Wizard of Oz meta here. Then we finally got to see the reunion between her and both of her children, and it was epic. Her and William just murdered me.

Source: felicitysmoakgifs

I love that he just went to her and embraced her straight away 😭💗😭 William had every reason to hate Felicity, something she acknowledges, but the love he still has for her after all these years, ad the profound effect she had on him in the short time they were together in our time just had me in tears so hard. Every time I scroll by a gif of this moment, I tear up (awkward when I’m ninja-tumblring at work 😬)! William, being that bit older than Mia, and having known Felicity and Oliver at an earlier point in time, allowed him to understand and forgive her pretty much immediately. I’m glad; we only have the energy for one broody Olicity baby! And once reunited, William and Felicity are a force to be reckoned with!

Source: ebett

I loved seeing them hack together at the Gala! And then in their last scene together, when Felicity thanks him for keeping faith in her and holding on to the Hozen for all this time ruined me yet again.

Mia/Connor

SmoaknHawke has arrived people!!

Connor following (following, not stalking) Mia and William all the way to Galaxy One to save their arses was so cute!! He is a good little Diggle and will always have his (girl)friend’s back, whether she is crazy pissed at him or not! Tiny Mia getting him up against the wall was a total mood haha! We discover that Connor is in fact Agent Hawke 🔥🔥, working for Nightwatch…a good version of ARGUS?? Is this where Dig is at? I want to see Dig! David Spoiler Ramsay already told us that he’d be in the FFs, so that was my only disappointment of the episode, that we didn’t see him.

But back to my newest OTP!! Mia was still so mad with Connor (and the world) for lying to her about his identity, then again for following her, and again for being a secret agent. He is so apologetic…that boy is GONE!! He just wants to keep her in his life! The “because I care about you”, “entire relationship is based on a lie” exchange was so charged!!!

Source: mia-smoak-gifs

I loved Connor talking up the heroes to Mia, whilst still acknowledging her pain. Connor’s compassion is straight up John Diggle, adopted or no. This also led into the ultimate shade, with Mia’s iconic line:

Source: oliverxfelicity

😂😂😂 Mia’s very existence as a child of Olicity already angers a certain comic-loving demographic, so this line was extra satisfying for me.

If a next gen series does happen, I will be so excited to see where these guys go…especially will the addition of William (and to a lesser extent, Zoe). The FTA scenes and lift/fight sequence was so so good!!

FF storyline

I suppose I should actually cover this haha! Lots of new stuff. We saw Rene interact with the Team…and reveal he thought Roy was dead!! Dinah’s line about Rene getting all the age but no wisdom was just 😂😂😂 There is mention of a terrorist organisation called Edencore, now going under the alias of Galaxy One, who Rene is directly working with in the Glades. They, along with Rene (hello new, crappy version of Malcolm), are planning on setting off a clusterfuck of bombs to level Star City so they can rebuild in their image. To cover their evil arses, they plan on placing the blame on vigilantes, namely Felicity. Anyway, once everyone is reunited (with a bit of an awkward hug between Felicity/Dinah…not sure if that was intended or not?) and introduced (“This is Mia, these are mine and Oliver’s impeccable genetics” gahhhh!) they deduce that the bombs are scheduled to detonate at an event that night, where everyone is in hoods and masks…how very convenient haha!

Felicity wearing a green mask is just 😭😍😭

Source: noonecanknowmysecret

Her and William are an unstoppable hacking duo as they seek out the slimy bad guy (forgot his name) so Mia can go kick his arse!! I almost HAD ANOTHER LITTLE CRY WHEN Felicty say to Dinah “No-one’s called me overwatch in a very long time” waaaahhh!! Mia obviously runs in half-cocked and on her own (like father like daughter) to confront the slimeball, and just when it looks like she’s in trouble and massively outnumbered, she takes down the whole fracking room on her own! “Oh this will be fun” YAAAASSSS!!!

She is AMAZING in the field (a total badass, as Felicity later tells her). That cape move she did was 🔥🔥🔥 She loses Slimer in the kerfuffle, following him out into the crowd, that Rene has stirred up by announcing the vigilantes “show them what heroes look like” yaaaasss! Then, with no time to spare, Mia shoots the inch-square detonator out of his hands with an arrow in the most epic shot everrrrrr! I feel like if the new series does happen, this could be the opening title sequence shot!

Source: felicittysqueen

The fight stunts/effects this episode were amazeballs! I think this episode needed to be ‘big’, due to the absence of Oliver and the mixed reactions to the FFs so far, and it totally delivered!

Other folk

Roy! Future Roy continues to do things for me…so hot 🔥🔥 He seems to be enjoying being back with a team again, but we still have little-to-no idea of his past 20 years. He gets scary angry out of nowhere whilst interrogating one of Dinah’s contacts, and beats the crap out of him. I cut a whole Roy/Edencore/present/FF spec from this review and put it here if anyone feels like a laugh!

Rene continues to have terrible hair, unlike when Oliver was mayor….oh those were good hair days….*sighs dreamily*. He is complicit in the plan to level the city, but is talked around by Zoe, who he finally realises is one of the Canaries (well, duh). He ends the episode still playing the role of evil mayor, but is he really ‘good’ again now?

I’m not keen so far on adult Zoe, but maybe we just need to see more of her? Or maybe we can just forget her, like her Dad? She will surely form part of the next generation team if a spin-off happens, so I guess we will see her interacting with FTA soon.

Dinah doesn’t have much going on, other than fight scenes, and awkward hugs.

Legacy

The overarching theme of this season is legacy, and this episode is the most blatant about that I think. We see here, Oliver and Felicity’s literal biological legacies in William and Mia, and how being their children has affected their outcomes. Will is a flourishing CEO and tech wiz, thanks largely to his time with Felicity, and maybe the fact that he’s been able to succeed so well in a somewhat normal life is down to their absence from his life post-S7, but he missed out on growing up with his parents 😭 Mia on the other hand, grew up with Felicity (at least, if not Oliver for some of it), who had to have her trained in order to protect her, should the day ever come that her identity is revealed. So Mia had the parental love growing up, but was otherwise isolated from the world, no schooling, never left the town etc.

We also see Oliver’s legacy as a hero manifesting in his children. We see them finding their way on this journey, finding their own reasons and routes of being heroes. William didn’t need asking twice to join Felicity, and stand up to help. Mia was far more reluctant, with her fears of losing people, and (at the time) still in the belief that Vigilantes weren’t the heroes Felicity claimed them to be. Despite taking more convincing, the hero blood runs strong in her veins, and we went from the ‘I don’t want this life, heroes are bad’ mentality to “Let’s go save the City” in no time.

On the flip side, we see the future state of Star City, and way people have been affected in future shows Oliver to have left behind more than one type of legacy, not all good. Was he right in his choices to save the city/world? Of course! Or his way of going about doing it? Possibly not.

By the end of the episode we find ourselves with the ultimate OTA legacy. An FTA comprising of the same skillsets as OTA; Mia as leader (no doubt) and skilled fighter, William running the tech and the brains of the operation, and Connor with the tactical experience, government ties, and all the Diggle Yoda-wisdom.

Source: smoakmonster

And that’s that, sorry this was another whopper….

Thank you to the beautiful gif-makers, as always! You guys put the sparkle in my ruby slippers 💗💗

#arrow #arrow 7x16 #arrow season 7 #olicity #flash forwards #beccie's brain #long ass post

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scyllua · 5 years

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As chap.204 would be more of an interlude chapter (a breather after the events of Thursday the 13th and a very intense fanart-sharing moment between amateur artists), the Japanese fandom's reaction to it hasn't been noteworthy. (Bad joke: but it's been a boost nonetheless in comparison to last week! If only because the manga was in hiatus last week and therefore, there was no chapter to speak of! I thought of mentioning this because I noticed my blog at my personal domain had many more visitors last Thursday, I'm assuming, because fans were searching online for the weekly GK chapter and most likely, wondering why they couldn't find it.)

That doesn't mean there aren't highlights in this chapter, though. I'd say chap.204 feels oddly subdued in tone and pacing -in spite of a Wild Wolverine Attack! in the latter half-, but that'd be mostly because the previous three have been rather action-packed. I wrote chap.201-203 would serve as the introduction to the arc to unfold in this volume (which would encompass chap.201-210), and while we've been given more than enough hints about what to expect in the near future (the still ongoing plot with the Partisans and the reappearance of a certain one-eyed sniper), this chapter seems to introduce more subplots while still pointing in the same direction. My usual warnings about mistakes and mistranslations applying as usual, onto CHAP.204! EMPHATICALLY APPALLING!! JUST AS SUGIMOTO AND ASIRPA SHOW US IN THE PANEL AT THE TOP OF THIS POST!!!

In short, Tsukishima gets a telegraph message from Tsurumi informing him that the business he had in Noboribetsu has been taken care of and he'll be heading to Karafuto then. As Tsurumi will rendezvous with them in Oodomari (the same port town in southern Karafuto they arrived in back in vol.14) in two weeks time, he tells the group to stay in Toyohara until then. Koito comments they're to stay in Toyohara because it's a large town with better lodgings, and since there's nothing else for them to do until then, they should just take things easy. While in the town outskirts, Cikapasi and Tanigaki meet a couple of Ainu men who question the boy about where he comes from and who that big guy standing over there is. Cikapasi explains they come from beyond the southern sea, and introduces Tanigaki as his uncle. The Matagi then comments about the extra marginally important information Cikapasi gave the Ainu men about how much endowed he is, and tells the boy how useful and supportive he's been through their journey in Karafuto. As both ponder about Inkarmat in Hokkaido, Enonoko approaches them and asks Cikapasi if he's going back already. In the nearby forest and as Asirpa and Sugimoto get ready to hunt a kuzuri (a wolverine), Tsukishima tells Vasily (who's still following them) to go back to Russia. The wolverine hunt is interrupted by a couple of photographers who seem to have an interest in Asirpa, but just in cue, the little and irascible animal attacks one of the men. After they take care of the wolverines -in a moment vaguely reminiscing of vol.7 and the adventure in the cabin in the woods, there were two of them- and Asirpa cooks them (the very reason she wanted to catch one), the photographers explain the device they're carrying is a cinematograph, and that they're interested in documenting about the Ainu culture.

The chapter's title is 残したいもの (nokoshitaimono), a term I'm having some trouble with. Since the term 残す means "to leave behind", "to save" or "to reserve", and given the group's current activities, I'm understanding the title in the sense of "things we're doing to cherish later" (it literally translates to "things I want to save/leave behind"). Remember how in manga and anime the characters will sometimes state they want to try doing things as to have good memories of them? Asirpa says so in this chapter as she spots wolverine's tracks and decides to catch one... to eat it, of course (and cherish its taste for ages to come, that's it). They're in Karafuto, so they won't be going back to Hokkaido without having a bite of everything that is to munch on in that island! Some random fan comment here: While I understand the social and cultural importance of food in Japan (similar to the culinary traditions we have in my country), I can't but frown a little at just how this girl is in her way to try every possible edible animal that pops up in the story. At the very least, I think I can feel sorry even for the little demonic wolverines they eat in this chapter.

...but starting from the beginning! Plotwise, an important highlight of this chapter would be the piece of information regarding Tsurumi; specifically, that he's making his way to rendezvous with the group in Karafuto. Since he sends word to Tsukishima that the business in Noboritsu has been taken care of, I think that'd be our confirmation that all events in the manga occur in a chronological order; that's it, in the order and within the same timeline as we're shown in the story. I'm mentioning this because I was wondering whether Kikuta's showdown with Toni Anji's group in Noboribetsu (chap.190-195, to be compiled in vol.20) was taking place at the same time as Sugimoto's entourage lost sight of their sniper in northern Karafuto: this indeed seems to be the case. Back then, I also pondered how author Noda would then "speed up" things, for the manga had taken 7 volumes to depict Sugimoto and Kiroranke's groups' journey through Karafuto: either he used an ellipsis, or fast-paced the narration as not to spend other 70 chapters to show us how they went back to Hokkaido. In my previous chapter summary entry as well, I wrote I thought the current arc could wrap up while in Karafuto before all plotlines seemed to be aligning in that direction: Sugimoto's group is still in that island, Vasily is following them (providing us with a good excuse expedited reason for Ogata to make a comeback and have another duel with the Russian sniper), Sofia is making her way back to Hokkaido (via Karafuto? We don't know yet, but that could be a possibility - and a viable reason for her to cross paths with the protagonist cast)... and now Tsurumi is traveling to the northern island as well. I must say I hadn't thought of this scenario (as I'd assumed Noda would favor Hokkaido as the setting for most if not all future and pivotal events), but it'd certainly pace up the plot forward quite considerably.

Some fan pondering here: So, what do you think Tsurumi's arrival in Karafuto will be like? Because of the way the original text is phrased and of just how Japanese grammar is, it isn't that explicitly stated that Tsurumi will be personally going to rendezvous with the group, but that can be implied from the sentence. ...Now, let us remember he hasn't made an appearance in the flesh -and outside a flashback- since chap.171 (vol.18); there's no need for him to show up in a grand and remarkable way with an equally large entourage at the time (but it's Tsurumi: one can never know for sure with this man), though I'm looking forward to seeing him flanked by some of his trusted and skilled men a the very least. Random pondering #2: Since everything turned out just well in Noboritsu -for everyone involved... save Toni Anji's group, that's it-, I'm assuming Usami didn't get that scolding in the end. Good for him. Random hopeful thought: It'd be pretty nice if we could get some more of Kikuta and Ariko then.

A small caption for the chapter reads, "it's golden time!" The term is given in English (and it's an actual expression used in education in this language), but the connotation it has in Japanese, if I'm not wrong, would refer to time spent in leisure or pleasant activities that are meant to be enjoyed and cherished: the accompanying kanji precisely read, 自由時間 (jiyuu jikan, lit. "free time"). And, of course, the term would also serve as a pun for the manga's title for including the word "golden" on it. Well, that's just what our protagonist group will do for the time being.

...starting with Tanigaki and Cikapasi, who meet a couple of Ainu men. When the men question the boy about where he comes from and who the big guy over there is (my phrasing, by the way: they simply ask about "that man"), Cikapasi tells them they come from beyond the southern sea, and refers to Tanigaki as his ojisan. Note that this term in Japanese means "uncle", but it's also a colloquial way to refer to any older man, akin to saying "an old man" or "a mister". I'm going with Cikapasi as literally introducing Tanigaki as his uncle, though, because the word he uses in Ainu is achapo: my knowledge of Ainu being so obviously zero, I do remember acha meaning "father" in this language. Hence, I think the boy is genuinely referring to Tanigaki as an uncle: probably not in the strictest sense, but as a person close to him and with a family-like tie. Explanations over, Cikapasi then adds Tanigaki has... big balls, er, yes. I'm going to take his word for that, as the only adult male character who's gotten clear and full frontal shots in this manga so far has been Shiraishi: we wouldn't know for sure about the rest. He says 金玉, a colloquial term literally translating to "golden ball" and meaning "testicles". Speaking of another Jump-serialized manga and being the irreverent author he is, Sorachi Hideaki titled his best-known story 銀魂 (Gintama, lit. "Silver Soul") as a play-on-words with precisely this term, kintama; given the franchise became so popular as to encompass the manga, several anime series, live-action movies, and a ton of merchandise that was referenced to even in the story canon, it's probable nobody will raise an eyebrow at Gintama's title now, but at the beginning of its serialization some did have a thing or two to say in Japan. Guess Sorachi got away with it in the end... and his detractors had no idea as to what the manga would give them through its publication.

Tanigaki and Cikapasi then have a moment to reflect on their journey in Karafuto. As the boy's (and our loyal Shiba dog, ie. Ryuu) presence has been both useful and supportive through their adventure, Tanigaki is glad they didn't send them back as soon as they were found out as stowaways; Cikapasi thinks back of his family in Hokkaido and in quite the high spirits, wonders about Inkarmat (or more specifically, would think of her, as he refers to Tanigaki, Inkarmat and himself as a family). In equally a good mood, Tanigaki says he's sure Inkarmat recovered and is doing well, and that they should go back to see her. However, a sad moment arises when Enonoka, upon overhearing them, asks Cikapasi if he's really going back now.

Cut to Asirpa calling out to Sugimoto to take a look at something she's just found. But fear not, it's not some more excrement (because even Sugimoto assumed so), but wolverine's tracks. Asirpa hasn't seen one yet, so she asks Sugimoto about the tracks (as he told her he'd meet one of the little diabolical things before); upon the immortal's confirmation that they belong to a wolverine and the animal is worse than a wild bear in some aspects, she decides to hunt it. Well, they're in Karafuto already, so why not catching one and eat it? Another random comment here: we Peruvians have an expression stating that "someone got all the stickers in their album" in reference to completing a trade card album, still a popular activity in our country among adults and children alike. As an expression, it broadly means that someone has done everything in a list, or have completed a collection; in a very negative example, the last person I remember using it was a journalist talking about how a government official was found to have committed a long list of crimes related to corruption. That's to say, the corrupt official had all the stickers in his album, from perjury and malpractice to bribery and running away from the country when he was issued an arrest warrant. Okay, for my Golden Kamuy example, I won't obviously talk about politics here, only how Asirpa has a figurative edible flora-and-fauna album ("Everything You Can Hunt Down Or Find... And Have A Taste Of!") she must have 3/4 full at the very least by now, counting her gourmet experiences in both Hokkaido and Karafuto.

(As it's customary and part of the narration in Golden Kamuy, there's a passage detailing Ainu traditions in this chapter, but... Sorry, I'm skipping all the cultural references as not to incur in any translation inaccuracies.) As Tsukishima is presumably scouting and watching the surroundings (and I'm going to fan-assume here Koito is off somewhere trying to find more reindeers... or any equally cute small wild animals), he finds Vasily doing, well, pretty much the same, it seems. Tsukishima curtly tells him to go back to Russia... and I'm afraid I do have several fan comments to make.

First off, let's take another look at the panel of Vasily turning to face Tsukishima. The small sign by his head (at the left side of the panel) is meant to show he's surprised or just caught on something -in this case, it'd be Tsukishima looking at him-... but taken out of context, and as RavenTears pointed out, it makes him look as though he's shining. Dazzling Russian snipers, indeed. On a personal note, Vasily looks to me as though he somehow aged 10 years or so in the interlude from the previous chapter to this, as he has a slightly more mature appearance now (but not as old-looking as he was in vol.17). Until the next chapter is out and we can hopefully get more panel shots of (and some more interaction with) him, I'm just going to fan-assume the excited moment of fanarts-sharing with Sugimoto in chap.203 had some sort of age-regression effect on both him (physically speaking) and the immortal (mentally emotionally speaking in his case, something not that surprising at all given the hard life Sugimoto has led until now).

Also... is nobody really keeping track of the Russian that's following the group? Since people in this manga have never seen too keen on holding grudges for the most part (as I could argue that Tanigaki, for example, invoked retribution against Kiroranke instead of exacting revenge), I can understand the group isn't worried about a sniper who already targeted them twice and is currently tailing them. Said sniper also merits a mention for tailing them under the same circumstances, ie. apparently not concerning himself with the possibility of a member of the group deciding to be proactive and taking him down as not to risk being targeted by the same marksman for a third time. But Tsukishima's startlement at finding Vasily by his side makes me think they might not be that watchful as one could expect or wish. That said, if a silent Russian sniper can stand by their side without being too much conspicuous or alerting them, I won't be much surprised if the group ends up being ambushed by a Japanese one-eyed sniper making a comeback in the near future. I'll be actually looking forward to it. I mean the sniper's comeback, of course; not the characters being ambushed and targeted and shot down all over again.

And lastly... Tsukishima's line written horizontally in his speech bubble instead of vertically would indicate he's speaking in Russian, which would be relevant in a metalevel (because it makes perfect sense that he's speaking in this language to Vasily). Japanese is traditionally written top-to-bottom and right-to-left, but it can also be written in a horizontal orientation and left-to-right. Until World War II, if I'm not wrong, Japanese was written horizontally for small portions of text (such as in signs or newspapers headers), but from right-to-left. One example in GK would be the Yamamoto Barbershop in the Barato arc (vol.6) which, by the way, it's based on an actual building with the same name preserved for historical reasons:

The sign reads 山本理髪店 (Yamamoto Rihatsuten), but you'll notice the kanji are oriented right-to-left instead: 店髪理本山. Nowadays, horizontally-written Japanese follows the left-to-right orientation, and it's mainly used for aesthetically or design-related reasons (such as in printed matter or ads), but also for practicality (eg. movie subtitles placed at the bottom of the screen or, as a standard, in traffic signs and similar). In manga, however, horizontally written Japanese is usually used to indicate the lines are spoken in another language, such as with Tsukishima's in the above panel. In the Golden Kamuy manga, dialog spoken in Russian is usually given a Japanese translation in the same speech bubble, but written in a horizontal orientation because of space issues. (Ainu is written using the katakana syllabary with a top-to-bottom orientation, just as in Japanese). In several instances, though, no Russian text is written, and only the Japanese "translation" is given, such as Tsukishima and Svetlana's exchange in chap.185: we know they're speaking in Russian, though, because the lines are still oriented horizontally, and that's the importance of this detail.

I can only speculate, but I'm assuming those dialogs aren't always translated into Russian probably because of problems related to time issues or the availability of the consultant/translator at the time of the publication of the chapter. In some other instances, I suppose the text is so short (...such as Tsukishima "go back to Russia" line), it's not deemed necessary to translate them for the sake of the manga's sense of realism: after all, we can watch an English-spoken movie based on feudal Japan and won't be bothered by the fact that they aren't speaking in the intended language. Also, one might argue that they could always use an automated translation for such small lines... but I personally prefer those lines to be left as is, in Japanese and using visual or narrative devices (as the orientation of the text) to indicate readers the text is meant to be in another language: details such as those don't detract from the plot or the feeling of the manga and, most importantly, they might also prevent the manga from making very glaring translation mistakes. Trust me, I've seen enough terribly rendered lines in Spanish in American comics to insist authors and editors better get an actual translator, or not dare use Google Translate at all. Speaking of comics and Russian! A comic I remember where a similar visual device was used is one of Marvel's Winter Soldier series (the original run by author Brubaker, if I remember correctly). The one difference was that many lines in this comic had an asterisk at the end which led to a footnote stating that... they were being spoken in Russian. At the opposite end of the example, I also remember a Vampirella comic that featured some lines written in such a mangled Spanish, it took a couple of rereadings (even for a native speaker such as myself) to make sense of them. And in not-so-awful but still rather bad example, there was the Witchblade comic in which I vaguely remember at least a character having a name in Japanese... written in incorrect Japanese, most likely because the author seemed to have just looked up the terms in a dictionary to put them together without checking even for grammar.

Getting back to the chapter: a couple of men make an appearance and one of them asks for Asirpa to repeat what she was doing from the beginning. Just as they identify themselves as photographers, or more specifically, cinematographers, the wolverine attacks.

Sugimoto gets it off the man it attacks, but as another wolverine appears, Asirpa takes it down with an arrow as he shoots the first one, though he doesn't instantly kill it. It's again Asirpa the one who must finish it with another of her arrows, all of this as the man carrying a curious-looking device keeps revolving a crank on it (or you'd better say, an old-fashioned device... only that in the Meiji era it wasn't old, naturally, but rather pretty innovative).

Fast-forwarding a bit, we now have the leading-and-now-reunited protagonists eating the poor devils -I mean the wolverines, of course- while asking the men about their business in the vicinity.

They explain the device they're carrying is called a cinematograph (the model would suggest it's the one created and patented by the Lumière brothers in the last decade of the 19th century, as there were other similar devices patented before theirs); after detailing how it works, they add they're interested in documenting about the Ainu culture. End of the chapter!

My first fan-comment here about this passage would have to do with my taking back some of my fan-comments here, specifically those making fun of Sugimoto's poor aiming. I was obviously exaggerating when stating he never hits anything, as we've seen how he's shot several animals when hunting through the manga, and chap.204 would be another example. Still, my comments had to do with him primarily using his rifle to strike or stab instead of actually shooting it whenever it came to attack a human target, so to speak; given he's a melee hand-to-hand fighter, this comes as no surprise (and snipers all around the globe in the Meiji era dread nightmares with the looming figure of the Immortal Slayer Of Any Unfortunately Soul That Dares Attack Him In Vain And So Obviously Fails, Otherwise He Wouldn't Be Immortal, be it on a Thursday the 13th or any other day of the year, actually). But it just turns out Sugimoto does shoot his rifle, and does accurately hits his target one summary entry after I wrote I wouldn't stop making fun of him until he managed to do so, meaning... I've been proved wrong by the immortal in quite the expedited way. ...since I still believe his aiming is awful when it comes to human targets, I'll keep making fun of him, just... not that much. As a counterargument to Sugi's aiming and intended use of his rifle in this chapter, please let us remember that, in his first encounter with Ogata, he almost indirectly kills the wildcat when knocking him unconscious after hitting him in the head with the butt of the rifle; in their latest encounter, Sugimoto almost kills him (oh, again) when he nearly hits him when trying to shoot down the horse he was riding instead. Well, yes, come to think of it, it might also be that I'm very biased against Sugimoto's use of his rifle because of the levels of violence he's shown towards a certain wildcat.

My last general fan comments about the chapter have to do with the introduction of the cinematographers. Their appearance made me think of Hijikata looking for journalists all the way back to vol.13, if I remember correctly (really, it might be time to go back and properly reread the whole manga by now), because he was looking forward to using the media for propaganda purposes in his goal of declaring a second Republic of Ezo. Well, while the cinematographers don't seem to have any propagandist intentions, their interest in filming about the Ainu culture is making me think of them as the equivalent of early National Geographic writers (the first issue of the famous magazine dates back to 1888, after all): the manga's very National Hokkaido Graphic documentary filmmakers, in any case. At this point in the plot I couldn't say for sure if they're going to have a more relevant role to play, but since they've filmed Asirpa and Sugimoto killing the wolverines already, it does seem to me they could stick with the group a little longer to register some of their activities, sort of a Golden Kamuy documentary within the Golden Kamuy manga. Such material would have cultural and historical importance in the plot since, for starters, Sugimoto's group is a good example of multiethnic cooperation and coexistence, featuring Japanese, Ainu, Hayato, Matagi and even a Russian traveling and working together at the time just fine.

...plotwise and theoretically at the very least, the cinematographers have two weeks to follow the lead of a certain Russian sniper and stick to our multiethnic and multicultural group. We know already anything and everything is bound to happen in very short periods of time in this manga (Koito's rescue mission in chap.199-200 began with horses refusing to gallop down a steep path, continue with a drift race in the streets of Hakodate, featured a couple of gentlemen losing some clothing due to an unfortunate transit accident, and included a homage to Freddy Mercury near the conclusion, if you'd remember), so I'm sort of suspecting the days until Tsurumi's intended rendezvous with the group might be... full of eventualities. From more cultural moments to possible ambushes by snipers with hidden agendas -or probably, no agendas at all- and face-offs with Partisans, I wouldn't discard even the idea of the cinematographers filming the first Meiji-era Japanese cam movie, if anything of the aforementioned actually takes place and they happen to still be around to record it.

#golden kamuy #fan talk

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teophan · 6 years

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Hiveswap theory: MC/MSPA Reader is, and always has been, The First Guy from Jailbreak

Even with the art style aside.

(preemptive warnings for gore, timeline complexity, and discussion of suicide below the cut)

First, some background. As some of you who are newer to the fandom may not be aware, Jailbreak was the first adventure on MSPA (now Homestuck.com) and was, originally, called “MS Paint Adventure.” It was run with input from real users on Gangabunch Fora (later, MSPA Forums), where it was known as “Escape from Jail Island,” and part of the reason Andrew Hussie felt it wasn’t a success was because he only took the first suggestion, leading to an incomprehensible mess of a story, even by his standards. (Keep in mind that this is the guy who would go on to write Homestuck, after all.) It ran from September 26th, 2006 to February 24th, 2007 before going on hiatus until September 2011 when it got a single-page conclusion. You can read the story itself here and the wiki page here.

ANYWAY, ON TO THE THEORY.

According to the Prisoners wiki page:

The Prisoners are the main characters from Jailbreak. There are technically three Prisoners but really they are all pretty much the same dude. Over the course of the game your awareness passes back and forth between them, and at one point splits into two distinct paths.

Sounds pretty familiar, right? In Marvus’s route, it’s revealed that the good-end “canon timeline” (for what can be considered as much, given the semi-canonical nature of the game as a whole) is only the result of bad-end resets, similar to Boldir revealing to us that “none of this actually matters.” In that sense, one could say that Marvus’s route was expanding on Boldir’s, in whatever semi-comprehensible way either of them expanded on the nature of the Hiveswap Friendsim universe.

Us, as the player, retain knowledge of bad-end timelines, which inform our choices within the game itself, while the MC, as our protagonist, only retains a little knowledge of what happens in the form of deja vu, odd responses, and instinctual reactions. MC has a strange, seemingly omniscient sense of where things may be and where they are not. To them, it doesn’t make any sense, especially when they try to consider it in-depth. However us, as the player, we know these things, we have the ability to retain this knowledge, because we’ve seen it before as we learn from bad ends.

This is actually touched on in multiple routes early on. Lynera, in particular, is a glaring example, as MC mentions having seen Bronya at Elwurd’s hive (on Elwurd’s good-end route) and, on Lynera’s good end, takes her to the cafe where we watched excessive bodily force poetry (on Elwurd’s bad-end route). Even in the first volume, it’s touched on. While Ardata’s placement on the left in the character select implies that we are supposed to meet her first, we only meet Ardata after we snap Diemen’s neck with our fat fuckin’ ass after rolling down a hill in one of his bad end routes, when MC acts as though they’ve never seen her before, and she acknowledges them as a stranger. However, this bad-end encounter also has no bearing on Ardata’s route itself, and vice versa. Regardless, in Boldir’s route, MC acknowledges Ardata as the first friend they made, so meeting Diemen first? Shouldn’t have actually happened.

One example that I’ve also noticed is, prior to Galekh’s bad end where the MC has an existential meltdown due to Galekh’s questioning, the MC...really didn’t think about where they came from and how they got to Alternia. But, then, we get to Boldir’s route in the very next volume, where they tell her bits and pieces about their escape from Earth and their whole grand theft rocket deal that landed them on Alternia. This implies that they have taken the time to consider everything, and compartmentalize it enough that they don’t have that meltdown...but why would they have considered it before Boldir unless someone else directly asked them? They need that prompting before doing anything, and they received it in a bad-end timeline that they have some memory of.

We see the same “reset with more knowledge” situation in Jailbreak itself. Beginning with the First Guy, we follow him, the Other Guy, and the Drill Guy through the adventure until First Guy gets harpooned through the stomach and bleeds out at a particular stump, and Other Guy cannot handle the loss and commits suicide with a conveniently-placed pistol. The story then “restarts” with the First Guy, Again, who is able to summon a pair of elves, wish for a pony, and goes completely off the fucking rails as he kidnaps children from a schoolbus to bargain with the elves for more wishes. His fate is ultimately unknown.

However, that does bring me to my next point: the Tree Stump. This has been a running gag on MSPA since Jailbreak. The wiki describes it as

an object in Jailbreak, Problem Sleuth, and Homestuck that is surrounded by a powerful cosmic magnetism towards suicide which is facilitated by the presence of a pistol buried beneath it.

Time and time and time again, two characters have consistently approached this stump: First Guy (Again), and the MSPA Reader--now, Friendsim’s MC. Hell, Cirava’s bad end literally reuses the same panel from Jailbreak.

Literally, they just colored and cropped it. They even left First Guy’s harpoon.

This leads me to believe that the Stump and MC are stuck together--from Jailbreak, to Problem Sleuth, to Homestuck, and now to Hiveswap (in Cirava’s own backyard no less), the Stump has followed them. The two are inexorably linked.

Now, what does this mean for MC, within the realm of Hiveswap? A few things.

One, if it turns out to be true, this means that either there are different instances of Reader within the MSPA universe who are “all pretty much the same dude,” or, we’ve been following a linear timeline where MC broke out of prison, hijacked a rocket, crash landed on Alternia and somehow ended up playing Sburb/Sgrub, where they were able to witness the rest of the events of Problem Sleuth (a canonical webcomic within the Homestuck universe) and Homestuck itself from the safety of their planet in the Medium, the Land of Stumps and Dismay (LOSAD). Either way, we’ve potentially got some semblance of a backstory for MC in Jailbreak.

Two, I believe this could potentially hint at MC being a Page of Heart.

Heart is the aspect most prone to “splintering:” Nepeta’s roleplaying, Meulin’s friendfictions, all the different instances of Dirk. The Prisoners all being “pretty much the same dude” and the Reader cropping up at different times within MSPA canon, as well as MC’s split and growing awareness of different timelines enough to affect their decisions, all suggest to me that “splintering of self” seen in Heart players.

Pages, also, are quite literally a “blank slate” with the ultimate potential for growth. What is MC’s generic, stick-figure appearance supposed to be for us, the player? A blank canvas for us to project ourselves onto. Pages are also the most prone to manipulation. We, the player, are manipulating MC, as our protagonist and as our in-game avatar. Both Ardata’s mind control and, as is heavily implied, Marvus’s chucklevoodoos easily and deeply affect them, when cobalt mind powers aren’t supposed to affect humans at all without heavy practice and even then could only really be used to put someone to sleep, the cause of Jade’s narcolepsy, and chucklevoodoo effects are more on a subconscious level when applied to humans, as seen with Dave and John.

Of course, there is one master manipulator we have to take into account with regards to MC’s story above all others. After all, this is Alternia, and MC is a guest here. And we all know who to look to, when we require the services of an excellent host.

#hiveswap friendsim #hiveswap friendship simulator #friendsim #friendsim theory #mspa reader #long post //#jailbreak #suicide //#death //#gore //

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miloucomehome · 6 years

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Thoughts, feelings, theories and assessments (esp. the 02 kids and adventure kids’ relationships) before the premiere of the final chapter

This sort of morphed from a short thread on Twitter with some friends a while back and it was as if a lightbulb went off in my head. There might be some holes and here and there, but hear me out (It’s long. I’m so sorry. Go make tea, a snack and come back and read)

First: If you haven’t already, rewatch the first 5 movies. It’s well worth it.

This post contains spoilers for Parts 1 through 5. No spoilers from the advance screenings of Part 6 are in this post. (I’m a spoilerphobe with tri of perhaps the highest order)

So here’s a few things:

All 12 of them seeing each other at once was not a regular thing. It wasn’t in 02 for the Adventure kids, that’s for sure and each episode showed this early on.

Them not being in daily communication for days or weeks was probably normal too given how things may have become for them as Chosen. They had no reason to worry--there was peace. Everyone was busy and had their lives

Whatever the 02 kids encountered prior to Part 1, it may have occurred swiftly. In other theories I’ve tried to come up with, this is one thing I think is a strong possibility. There’s been theories floated that maybe Maki deliberately sent them there because they were the active team, but what if in an emergency with no way to directly communicate, in desperation the 02 kids were sucked into the situation out of a sense of duty and urgency?

Say in an emergency, Gennai (good) urgently tries to get a hold of the Chosen--anyone they can get--and they discover that communications have been hampered. They try and try and get a hold of the 02 kids first. Not all at once, but maybe somehow Ken, Daisuke, Iori and Miyako were able to link up. Maybe even Iori and Miyako suggested they try and get Takeru and Hikari, but they can't--time is of the essence and their help is needed post haste so they leave...and end up in an unwinnable situation.

While faced with this, the kids try to message for help as one by one--Imperialdramon, Hawkmon and Armadimon’s evolutions--are taken out, but they realize their message can't get through much like how Takeru's D-Terminal couldn't send messages in Part 4. (Maybe related: Koushiro notes he can’t get a hold of Gennai in Part 4) They're stuck with no way out nor way to call home and before they can run and seek shelter, they're all taken out (image of the final panning shot)

Due to the state of their relationship and not being in constant communication with one another, their “non-responsiveness” hasn't raised flags yet given the timeline of the films and ever-evolving and rapidly changing priorities. It could be in Part 6, albeit a bit late, they will realize they need them and *thats* when things click. I’ll concede that there is a bit of explaining to do on this point whether it’s a friendship question, or that “External Forces” (Homeostasis, the Agency, Mysterious Man, the World/Digital World) are at play.

(More after the jump!)

The 02 kids are missing because of an event out of their control that we can see from the opening act of Part 1: Reunion.

What happened before that dramatic moment is where my theory comes in.

We know from Takeru in Reunion that the Digital Gate has been closed for a while and even though the Adv kids are in the Digital World right now, they got there through unconventional means which bypassed that block. Let’s assume that when the Digital Gate closed, for whatever reason, it was after a period of extended peace in the Digital World--Gennai (the real one) decided that they should let him and the Agents take care of fixing it and let them relax. After all, they had defeated BelialVandemon and Oikawa became an extra barrier for the safety of the Digital World, there wasn’t any need to be worried.

Over time, maybe during this peace, the 02 kids and Adv kids find themselves in a kind of “retirement” or hiatus from their duties as Chosen. They’re not rushing to intercept trouble or prevent anyone from taking over the Digital World or being summoned by the Sovereign Digimon to reinforce the barrier between the Worlds so they all aren’t really needed at the time.

It’s very in-character for Gennai to tell the kids to take it easy. I could see him not having any reason to be concerned. “We don’t get together as much as we used to anymore”

I strongly believe Koushiro’s line in Part 1 wasn’t just a cute reference to Our War Game--where they were hampered by the fact that they could not communicate to assemble everyone, handicapping them at the start versus Diablomon--but actually a comment on the current state of their relationship between the 12 of them.

Perhaps in a similar way to Our War Game, the 2nd original film, the kids slowly settle into “normal” routines and “normal” lifestyles as Jr and Sr High School students. Perhaps as a result of this state, the Adventure kids and 02 kids aren’t really communicating or seeing each other as much--not because they’re no longer friends, but simply because there is no reason to. They’re not having hush-hush meetings in the computer lab nor strategizing at Koushiro’s apartment over the latest Digital World developments. They drift apart somewhat, but, they’re still in touch. Life is good for all involved from 2003 onward.

Joe and Miyako being in their respective final years of High School and Jr High are likely becoming consumed by their studies (but Joe isn’t quite at the stage we see him at in Part 2) everyone is leading their own lives waiting until the day they’re called again (though not expecting). Rewatching Part 1, you can see that Taichi wasn’t terribly aware of Yamato’s band activities. It’s played as a normal conversation for laughs, but I’d say it’s another way the story demonstrates how little they hang out compared to before.

I think we can safely assume their relationship is in the state it’s in is close but not I-know-every-detail-of-your-day level. After the events of Part 2: Decision/Determination, Hikari and Takeru go and try to find out what’s going on--no one answers at the Ichijouji residence (Empty? They could be out for the day (or town) and Ken is busy himself given they may not be aware of his daily activities), Takeru fires off a text to Daisuke and presumably the others. Had things not escalated as much in Part 3, they probably would’ve had more time to sleuth around and investigate and take notice of the flags, but then the infection and Meicrackmon took priority. Had this had their undivided attention, I’m sure the story would have had them speak to the older Chosen to note they couldn’t get a hold of the other four.

(What I also find curiously interesting is that Daigo is also aware in Part 3 that the 02 kids are missing. Whatever his implication is in the events that led to their status, it’ll be interesting to learn the extent of what he knew. Given how crushed he was by the fact Maki was lying point blank to Yamato and to himself, I wouldn’t be surprised at this point if all he knew was they had lost communication with them, not that they had been ambushed)

Closed Gate = Closed Communications

We know from a few things in Part 3: Confession that, granted we are seeing a post-reboot DW, communication between the Digital World and Real World seems to be hampered as seen when Takeru tries to use his D-Terminal to message Maki but the message doesn’t go through. We could chalk this up to it being a reboot bug, but what if this “lack of reception” had been around the time when the Gates remained closed? Now wouldn’t that cause problems if any of them made it into the Digital in an emergency through unconventional means but had no ability to communicate back for help? If this had been the case, neither of them would know this was a problem. Keep this point in mind.

Something occurs suddenly in the Digital World. Maybe only the 02 kids, or only Daisuke, Iori, Miyako and Ken, are able to get to a Gate. They get there, try to get a handle on the situation they’re facing only to be up against something they couldn’t fathom even keeping at bay. Maybe the Gate was closed,(maybe those screens we see in the canyon in Part 4 were Gates that were out of service) so somehow they go in through an unconventional method, but when they get there and things escalate too quickly. Even though they may have sent messages for help...maybe they were never able to send at all.

What also occurred to me is that Meicoomon’s nature distorts with digital communications. Would its existence in the Digital World have begun a slow corrosion of digital infrastructure there? (That is: The Gate, the D3s’ Gate opening abilities, D-Terminal/Digital communication between the Real and Digital World) We can also see from Part 3 onwards that access to the Digital World is currently only being done through the distortions.

The Role of the 02 Kids in the Final Film

Difficult to pin, but I have confidence (blind?) that we are not in for a repeat of the role of the Adventure kids during the events of Movie 3 (Hurricane Touchdown), granted there are similarities to tri.: Missing kids, a tamer with the burden of caring for a Digimon partner gone berserk who harms/kidnaps one team. In fact, I truly believe that Miyako, Daisuke, Iori and Ken are key to unlocking Omegamon Merciful Mode, like how Imperialdramon Paladin Mode was unlocked by a sacrifice, of sorts, by a heavily damaged Omegamon in Movie 4, Diablomon Strikes Back. Maybe Imperialdramon FM will reappear and sacrifice part of itself to unlock Merciful Mode, then all the kids will unlock or power the new blade it wields.

I am also Team They Will Speak (or Some Will Speak) and not Team Brief Cameo. ;;;;;

Final comment -- Regarding one scene from Part 1:

This might be random but, hear me out--Much of the thinking surrounding this opening shot with Taichi is that he was maybe feeling guilty for something, but what if it was nostalgia? Koushiro did mention that they all don’t get together or talk much anymore.

What if not only that, but what of Taichi’s scene --when coupled with his vague comment to Daigo (as teacher) about going to see some friends often but not anymore--wasn’t just about the Digimon, but just...everyone? The other Adventure kids and the 02 kids included. Peacetime and an unexpectedly long one without their Digimon and without being wound up in something with his friends….what does one do but reflect on “happier” times when in times of trouble, they were with their friends almost every day?

Everyone’s going on growing up and here he is struck with a strong sense of wanting to return to the “Good ol days” with everyone, maybe. It’s probably possible he believes that going back to that would assuage his worries a little about changes..

We’ll see what happens in the final chapter of this wonderful series on Saturday!

#digimon tri #digimon adventure tri #spoiler FREE #digimon #tri theories #I do post more than just translations here!#the final film ;;#the end of adventure?

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unluckyadept · 7 years

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//I recently stated the following:

“Our understanding of a given setting and the character dynamics inside it will naturally develop over time. I have two major ongoing story arcs; both have developed over the course of several years, and were started at some point “in the middle” of the overall timeline. Both are cases where it was then necessary to reverse engineer the beginning.”

I started the It’s A Long Story series in part to elaborate on two scenes in particular:

The scenes involving the Flame Dragons and the top of Jupiter Lighthouse.

I wanted to tell Felix’s entire story, but the series as a whole was not a linear progression. It had… developed spots that spread outward, to be linked together… helped along greatly, of course, by the series’s natural and already present canon.

And with that in mind, the (highly structured but overall disorganized) way in which I constructed the IALS “universe” holds up remarkably well over time; keep in mind that it started in earnest around six years ago, with precious little to go on regarding roughly 1/3 of the story (the beginning).

I did do my research back then, and I did it as thoroughly as I could. I had my own copy of The Lost Age, of course, and also of Dark Dawn after it came out—and the official guidebooks for all three of the games. I have the map of Weyard, the little GBA booklet that came with TLA… and of course: the remarkable assistance of the Golden Sun wiki; the diligent work of TheSinnerChrono in covering the Game Script for both TBS and TLA; and the highly valued playthroughs of MetroidHunters.

At the time, to cover Felix’s adventures through TBS, I mostly reviewed the dialogue where his name came up, and watched the cutscenes he was in. It helped me get into character for Saturos and Mendari, and as I read back through IALS years later… I do greatly enjoy how they turned out.

There’s a lot about how they interacted with Felix which is directly taken from cutscenes—which is, of course, one of the things I try to include as much as possible. And not being 100% familiar with these cutscenes (even after playing myself, as it’s just been one time), I daresay I have a hard time telling at a glance what is mine and what is the games’, though that is likely my ego talking.

The beginning parts of IALS were always a challenge for me. I was writing a perspective not shown in the series regarding events in a game I had never played, which featured a protagonist I didn’t like. The amount of research required to compensate even somewhat was rather extensive, but it still only had concrete foundation in cutscenes. The result was… poor narrative pacing, but not something I’m ashamed of. I think I did the best I could given the circumstances, and did a fair job constructing massive sections of missing pieces of the narrative.

And after all—IALS are primarily journal narratives from Felix, written when both he and I were younger. So his focus on some things over others can be excused given the format.

That being said—five years have passed, and among other things… I’ve developed a (somewhat) better sense of narrative pacing. My interest in history and culture has only grown—though I’ve rarely had time to indulge in research.

Having played the first game now, later in my life, there are many things that come together that allow me to see Felix’s journey from a new perspective. There are things which I overlooked or copped out of before, which I have greater interest/better understanding in now. Things with narrative significance.

As with before, much of it is centered around Prox—for it is Prox that has formed so much of Felix’s life, so much of his abilities and even much of his personality. But this time, there is a more wholistic approach, which I shall cover in detail later.

“What does this mean for the series?”

There’s good news and “bad” news, there.

The good news is that I do have a mojo going right now, and I am pursuing it. I’m actively writing for the series, though right now it is more of a research phase. And the results of my research are more positive than one might fear—there is so much of IALS that is either the same, or else very close.

As you may have guessed, though… the “bad” news is that I would very much like to rewrite the narrative so far.

“But why? That is the death knell for a series!”

First of all… slight exaggeration, and keeping in mind that the series has already been on hiatus for ages, and can hardly get worse off…

Why? Multiple reasons.

The shortest answer is that I have a slightly different idea of what Felix’s life was like in Prox, which affects his character development prior to Sol Sanctum. That, in turn, also affects not only how he behaved during the journey to Venus Lighthouse (which incidentally, I now know more about), but also how he led his group afterward. These are important changes, and they will help a lot in the long run.

I also want to spend more time focusing on his years in Prox to be able to SHOW this development… but that change in pacing means I have to reconsider how things are covered/divided up, if I still want this to fit into 13 Books/130 chapters.

It’s A Long Story is not a story which can be told in a rush. Not any one part of it. Which was something I didn’t quite appreciate at the time of the “first edition”, shall we say.

“So what now?”

Well, as I said, I am still in a research phase. I can’t really make a good outline until after that research is done, because otherwise my outline turns instead into a series of notes regarding specific aspects or scenes (and it shows).

How this research influences the writing and characterization is something I’ll cover in a separate post, because this one is already getting too long.

#OOC

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amtushinfosolutionspage · 7 years

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Daniel Bryan is Back. Now What?

On April 1, 2012, Daniel Bryan competed in the opening match at WrestleMania 28, dropping the World Heavyweight Championship to Sheamus in an embarrassing 18-second comedy bout and stunning the many fans he had in the audience that night who were hoping to see him shine on the biggest stage of his career to date. It seemed to confirm the worst fears of his most highly-devoted acolytes: As good as he was, he just didn’t have what it took in the eyes of Vince McMahon and the WWE braintrust to be considered the very best of the best. The next night their disappointment turned into outright revolt and the resulting “Yes Movement” propelled Bryan onto a two-year odyssey that saw him become the most popular wrestler on the planet, and culminated when he finally came full-circle and won the now-unified WWE World Heavyweight Championship in the main event of WrestleMania 30 in a Triple Threat Match against Randy Orton and Batista.

It was one of the greatest long-term underdog stories WWE has ever told, filled with iconic moments, seamlessly weaving together fiction and reality—like all great wrestling stories do—as both character and performer struggled to be taken seriously as the top talent in the company. Then, just as Bryan was ready to take the next step in his career after finally ascending to the absolute highest peak the industry had to offer, it was all over.

He relinquished the title due to injury a mere 64 days after his “Miracle on Bourbon Street,” and after a brief comeback in 2015, he was forced to retire for medical reasons—specifically a series of concussions and an apparent, as he described it, “brain lesion.” For those that had followed him on his journey from obscurity to superstardom, it was an incredibly disappointing end to the saga to see Bryan, a wrestling savant who went about his work with an unmatched intensity and passion, forced to hang up his boots, only to later return in a non-physical, authority figure role where he was tantalizingly close to the action but never able to participate in it.

Then, on Tuesday night, he un-retired. In an emotional promo on SmackDown Live, a teary-eyed Bryan announced that he was finally medically cleared to return to the ring, declaring triumphantly that “If you fight for your dreams, they will fight for you.” By the end of the night he was mixing it up with bad guy best friends Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens, eventually taking an apron powerbomb from Owens—one of the riskier moves there is—before being carted off on a stretcher, finally, at long last, just pretending to be injured.

It appears that Bryan really is back, and has eschewed the training wheels. His return is going to have a seismic impact on WWE storytelling moving forward, and while it raises many interesting questions about how he’ll be used, in a broader sense it’s also worth wondering why it took so long for him to return. What about his brain has changed between now and the last time he was able to compete, nearly three years ago?

Bryan hasn’t been shy in talking about the events leading up to his retirement, and it’s been clear for months that the only thing keeping him out of a WWE ring were WWE doctors, a position that he respected but didn’t seem to necessarily agree with. In a candid podcast interview with former WWE Superstars Edge & Christian from July 2017, Bryan admitted that after his last concussion, he was repeatedly cleared to return to the ring by outside specialists only to have WWE deny him each time he raised the issue of returning to the active roster.

Eventually, after a last-ditch experimental treatment, a doctor told him they discovered a lesion on the temporal parietal region of his brain, which appeared to be the last straw. He was gently nudged by Vince McMahon himself to immediately retire at the Monday Night RAW in Seattle, Washington just days later.

But throughout his subsequent return and on-camera stint as retired authority figure, he’s continued to get rigorously tested, and the results have repeatedly said that his brain is healthy. He now classifies the lesion diagnosis as a “misunderstanding” in terminology and claims that he’s no more at risk of serious injury than any average person. But if that’s the case, why has he been retired for the last three years?

WWE conspiracy theorists may very well look at Bryan’s injury timeline and come to the conclusion that the company simply didn’t want to deal with the constant pressure to make him a top draw that resulted in debacles like the 2015 Royal Rumble, when Bryan loyalists in Philadelphia booed the winner, Roman Reigns, along with his cousin, The Rock, out of the building at the conclusion of the event.

It’s also entirely possible that they just didn’t want to take a chance with Bryan’s health—he did have a particularly scary moment in a match against Randy Orton during the buildup to his WrestleMania triumph, when a “stinger” caused him to temporarily lose feeling in his arms and ended in the first medical stoppage of a match in the modern era, something that might feel more commonplace now, but at the time was extremely rare. Bryan does come from the old school wrestling mindset of continuing to perform through any injury—he once finished a match with a detached retina—so perhaps WWE, by keeping him away from the ring despite technically being medically cleared, was simply doing what it thought was necessary to protect him.

Questions as to why WWE is finally re-activating him now are sure to linger, but the easiest answer is that Bryan has clearly indicated that he plans on performing again, and if WWE passed on the opportunity, it’s impossible to ignore the value he could add to a company like New Japan Pro Wrestling, currently riding an unprecedented wave of stateside popularity. Or the Young Bucks/Cody Rhodes-masterminded, 10,000 seat home run swing indie supershow, All In, coming up Sept. 1 in Chicago. If Vince McMahon has demonstrated one quality over his career, it’s a pathological refusal to let his would-be usurpers get a leg up on him.

Whatever the exact reason for Bryan’s three-year-hiatus, or his upcoming in-ring return, he is back, and that is going to have a profound impact on the WWE landscape. His brief pseudo-feud with The Miz in 2016 produced some of the most compelling television the company aired all year, and did a lot to legitimize Miz as a genuine A-List star and not just a gimmicky pretender. His old roommate and opponent Shinsuke Nakamura, a long-rumored Bryan dream opponent, has already expressed interest in finally making that match a reality. Bryan was having classic throwdowns with current WWE Champion A.J. Styles over ten years ago, and has missed out entirely on Styles’ dominant, long-overdue run in the company. His rivalry with Cena was a massive part of his run to the wrestling stratosphere in 2014, and it will be fascinating to see them interact, or possibly step in the ring together, given their storyline and real life connections. He’s instantly elevated the Zayn/Owens feud with Shane McMahon, which had been fizzling, into absolute must-see TV and finally turned the two longtime friends/rivals into the hottest, most despised act in the company. Really, the WWE roster is perhaps at its highest ever peak when it comes to the level of sheer in-ring talent on contract, so there’s no limit of Daniel Bryan dream matches that, all of a sudden, feel like they could become reality.

It’s become immediately obvious, though, that WWE is going to be faced with the same problem it faced throughout the last few years of Bryan’s run with the company—that audiences simply refuse to accept anything less than a starring role for him, regardless of the creative machinations that are happening behind the scenes. Even throughout his tenure as a non-wrestling authority figure on SmackDown Live, Bryan never stopped being the most popular performer on the roster. His ability to connect with and unify crowds, which could never fully get behind anointed top stars like Cena or Reigns, remains unparalleled.

How WWE walks that line creatively in the coming months or years is going to be fascinating to watch. For now, it’s enough just to soak in the moment as we collectively realize we’re once again going to see Daniel Bryan get to do what he loves to do more than anything else. Yes, indeed.

Daniel Bryan is Back. Now What? syndicated from https://australiahoverboards.wordpress.com

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flauntpage · 7 years

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Daniel Bryan is Back. Now What?

Daniel Bryan is Back. Now What? published first on https://footballhighlightseurope.tumblr.com/

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