#him thinking he might die 2 protect her and its like the only non selfish thing hes ever done in his life

[wihlted]

i wish you to have all you deserve. / Alex 🙂‍↕️

nosferatu sentences .

blasters zip and crack all around them in coruscant. just to the south of them, she can see the jedi temple burning. one of her hands grips alex's tightly, palm in palm. it's as if she can hear all the cries of her friends and people... all she can do is hold him tighter.

from their hiding spot, she lets him guide her behind one of the pillars near the senate building. ❛     he's done it, alex...     ❜ her doe eyes are ever wide as she looks at him while palpatine's voice echoes amongst coruscant... that the republic is no longer, and replaced with the first galactic empire. her heart rises into her throat but she suppresses a cry.

but then her heart throbs again at his words.

❛     what are you talking about? you can't be going anywhere.     ❜

[impalementation]

spike, angel, buffy & romanticism: part 4

part 1: “When you kiss me I want to die”: Angel and the high school seasons

part 2: “Love isn’t brains, children”: Enter Spike as the id

part 3: “Something effulgent”: Season five and the construction of Spike the romantic

* 

“But I can’t fool myself. Or Spike, for some reason.”: Buffy and Spike as a blended self

Before I get into seasons six and seven, it’s worth asking: why would the show do all of this? Why would it spend all of this time developing a supporting villain and joke id character? Why would it give him a romantic arc? I see people say that the writers only gave Spike these storylines because he was popular or they wanted to keep him around, but even that being the case, there was no need to give him the specific arc that they did. It’s more than possible to read meaning into the story that they chose from the array of possible options. 

Here is the thing about the id. It’s not actually something separate from you. It’s not a ravenous monster you can blame your weaknesses on while remaining pure and dignified. The id is part of you. The immediate and enduring appeal of Spike is, I suspect, strongly influenced by the fact that the things the id wants are so very human and sympathetic. His foibles and mistakes are often painfully familiar, even exaggerated through vampirism as they are. In fact, it’s precisely because Spike is allowed to show a full range of reactions to love, because the writing is under less pressure for him to do the “right” or dignified thing, that he can at times be compelling in ways other characters can’t. If Spike just did nasty things, his appeal wouldn’t be much more complicated than the appeal of Angelus, who people tend to like as a villain or storyline rather than as a relatable character. But Spike doesn’t want to dismember nuns or construct elaborate murder tableaux. He wants familiar things like love, identity and meaning, even if the ways he goes about getting them can reflect people’s worst impulses. 

Which brings us to Buffy, and Buffy’s story about growing up. Buffy is Buffy’s show, which means that every writing choice tends to revolve around her arc in one way or another. And this goes for Spike’s storyline even more than most. In the final three seasons of the show, the writing finally engages with how inextricable the id--and all of its impulsive, inarticulate romantic desires--really is from a person’s self. So instead of keeping Spike at a comfortable distance, both Buffy and the writing begin to take him seriously. They begin to invite him in.

Starting in season five, it’s telling how frequently Buffy herself projects on Spike, rather than just the writing setting them up as mirrors. She tells him that he’s the “only one strong enough” to protect her family, and later assigns Dawn specifically to his protection. In “Spiral” she describes him as “the only one besides me that has any chance of protecting Dawn.” This is a very intimate role that she otherwise only assigns to herself (and which is not really based on pure practicality, considering that she’ll later describe Willow as her “big gun”--yet never gives Willow the task of protecting Dawn). She tells him that he cannot love, which is the thing she fears most about herself. Her protests that Spike is a vampire, and thus cannot express or want human things like love, mirror her lamentations that as the Slayer, she cannot have a normal life.

From the Gilliland Gothic double essay:

More than any of her other lovers, Buffy and Spike overlap one another so often that at times their character arcs become nearly indistinguishable. With Angel, Buffy traveled a parallel path in attempting to master self-control. With Riley, her journey ultimately took her in the opposite direction. With Spike, Buffy’s journey is most closely shadowed, in that her interactions with him in many ways can be seen as metaphors for her feelings about herself.

So now Spike is multiple things. On the one hand, he’s the soulless id he’s been since season two. His vampiric behavior represents a morally uninhibited way of reacting to romantic frustrations, among other things. But on the other hand, his vampirism now also marks him as like Buffy, not merely her opposite.* Nor is he only her mirror in the realm of romantic love. The part of him that is a vampire is the part of him that is supernatural (ie, Romantically larger-than-life), that sets him apart from regular people, and dictates how he can and cannot behave. Just like Buffy’s slayerness. His vampirism is what makes him capable of protecting Dawn, while also making him (supposedly, according to Buffy) incapable of human feeling--again, just like Buffy’s slayerness. Instead of Buffy’s Slayer side being aligned with Angelus, who was an unmitigated evil, it becomes aligned with Spike, who is something more complicated. 

*(Though it must be noted that this was a process that began in season four, with the show aligning Spike with the Scoobies by making him a victim of the Initiative. Spike being supernatural suddenly marks him as non-normative, just like the Scoobies, in contrast to the institutional conformity that the Initiative represents. The evolution towards treating the Romantic supernatural as something positive and associated with identity plays a key role in transitioning the show to the more complicated attitudes of the last three seasons.)

This shift in the show’s attitudes towards the id affects how Spike is used. In “Blood Ties” for example, Spike assists Dawn in breaking into the Magic Shop and in “Forever” he helps Dawn resurrect her and Buffy’s mother. In both cases, Spike could be read as embodying impulsive behavior that Buffy is supposed to be better than. Yet both cases specifically involve Spike helping Dawn, who is repeatedly portrayed as Buffy’s human side. As Buffy says in “The Gift”: “[Dawn]’s more than [my sister]. She’s me. The monks made her out of me. [...] Dawn is a part of me. The only part that I--”. In other words, Buffy’s id becomes closely tied to her humanity, even going so far as to become its safeguard. “Blood Ties” ends with Buffy affirming her connection to Dawn, which Spike’s rule-breaking directly enabled, and “Forever” ends with Buffy acknowledging how desperately she wants her mother back too, and becoming closer to Dawn as a result. (Compare to “Lovers Walk”, where Buffy acknowledging her id results in her breaking away from Angel, not drawing closer to anyone). Or in “Intervention”, Spike building the Buffybot directly parallels Buffy’s own anxieties about what she thinks she should be. She thinks she’s losing her ability to love, and that effusive fakery is her only recourse (as she said in “I Was Made to Love You”: “Maybe I could change. [...] I could spend less time slaying, I could laugh at his jokes. I mean men like that right? The joke laughing at?”), a fear that even has some merit, given that her friends cannot tell her and the bot apart. Instead of Buffy and Spike having separate arcs in the episode, Spike learning the difference between real and fake dovetails with Buffy’s own relationship to her realness and fakeness. It turns out that neither of them want a bot version of Buffy. They want real emotion, things like sacrifice and heartfelt gratitude. If even Buffy’s id would let itself be killed for Dawn, then maybe she has nothing to fear from herself. Maybe there is some beauty in the emotional part of her nature that she thinks she must repress.

In other words, part of the writing (and Buffy) fully engaging with romanticism and the id, means engaging with the ways they can be bad and good. There’s this weird thing that happens with Spike as soon as he falls in love with Buffy, where suddenly his actions are more uncomfortable, and to many, off-putting, because their object is Buffy (instead of another vampire like Harmony or Drusilla, who either enjoy the same vampiric things he does, or the audience might be inclined to see as a moral nonentity regardless). His comic id quality becomes somewhat darker and more serious, almost like the way Angel’s early season two darkness becomes more serious after he loses his soul. But at the same time, Spike’s actions are also more intriguing, sympathetic, and even noble...because their object is Buffy. It makes no sense that a soulless vampire should not only fall in love with the Slayer, but genuinely attempt to transform himself into someone worthy of her love. And yet that’s exactly what Buffy inspires him to do. By loving Buffy Spike’s dual nature, and the dual nature of his romanticism, is thrown into relief: it’s something that can be selfish and creepy, yes, but also something that hints at the idea that real romanticism does exist. Something worth feeling romantically about does exist. Thus the writing can at once criticize, say, the way the chivalric mindset conflates love and suffering, while also suggesting that there are kinds of love it’s worth being transformed by. (Meanwhile, Spike’s fumbling bewilderment over how to love Buffy, and what the rules of loving people correctly even are, creates a human middle ground between monstrousness and heroism). By leaning into the way that Buffy and Spike have been used as mirrors for three seasons, and introducing the mythology-bending idea of Spike being in love with Buffy, the writing is able to fully engage with this complicated, contradictory nature of love and romance.

All of which is to say. Spike becomes a potential love interest, and is given a convoluted inner conflict between monstrousness, humanity and heroism, in precisely the season in which Buffy begins to reckon with her own inner conflict between her darker impulses, her human reality, and her supernatural role. It’s no coincidence that season five opens with Dracula, an icon of romantic vampire mythology, tempting Buffy with darkness and promising her insight into her nature. Or that a vampire kidnaps Dawn--again, her human half--in the next episode. Or that the season’s antagonist is a super-strong blonde woman who wants to destroy Dawn instead of protect her. Or that she says goodbye to Riley, the boyfriend who embodied her hopes for a more normative way of being (notice how Riley is progressively destabilized by everything non-normative about Buffy’s life, and provokes those anxieties Buffy expresses in “I Was Made to Love You”). Over and over in season five, Buffy fears that her Slayer half is cold, destructive, and otherwise dangerous. That these Romantic things like gods and vampires have it in for Buffy’s vulnerable humanity. Yet Buffy’s vampire id simultaneously gives lie to these fears by proving itself capable of heroism and genuine human feeling.

In other words, Spike becomes a potential love interest in a season that treats the Romantic--ie the grand and mythical--as something more than just an attractive lie to be disabused of. Rather, the question that season five seems to posit to me, and which will not be fully answered until the end of season seven, is this: once you do clear away the attractive lies, once you accept the hard realities, once you’ve seen the darkest underbellies, what are the things that are left that are truly grand and beautiful? What are the stories that are really worth telling, and the heroes that are really worth having?

And the show asks and answers these questions on both a very personal level, and a more meta, systemic level. On the personal level, Buffy and Spike are forced to confront their illusions not just about the world, but about themselves. They are made to ask themselves what constitutes a heroic role or a demonic weakness, versus basic, unromantic humanity. And on the meta level, the show asks questions about our expectations for how both love stories and chosen hero stories are supposed to go.

part 5: “Everything used to be so clear”: Season six and the agony of the real

[indigosprite]

Chrome Callout post.

relax this is just my love hate relationship with chromes writing and potential. spoiler, it ends with all the love... hate is only in the middle. 

My absolute favorite thing in fanfics is Chromes characterization. Like we all know Chrome is completely aware that Mukuro and co need a reoccurring dose of Valium and a therapist willing to do illegal things in order to lower their sadistic points to ”kind of disturbing but tolerable”. Or at least we hope she does even though she proves to us again and again that she’s not phased by it in the slightest and might actually be just as bad. TYL and she’s still running around helping them do god knows what. She follows them on this massacre pridefully, she “believes in” them ( its sweet actually. They’re what she thinks of when Mukuro asks what she believes in and makes a young kokuyo gang.)

In fanfics when people write her to be a double edge sword it’s hilarious, and it should’ve been the character depicted in the Anime and manga instead. But I guess if she hadn’t been the quiet, breathy & compliant 14 year old people wouldn’t have morphed her into the fanon I enjoy now. Here’s some stuff i love and HC abt Chrome  and the things I absolutely hated.  

1. When she actually speaks not just when spoken to. She voices her concerns although she has no intent of not doing what’s asked of her. Who knew she could speak and still be the obedient gang member Mukuro trusts her to be. And when she does this it’s funny. She is the conscience he buries underneath disgust and amusement for chaos, but that’s not her entire character. She’s not reduced to the mom friend either because of this, she’s too passive on the matter. She indulges/Enables it just the same as Chikusa or Ken, although she knows better meanwhile the thought never occurs to them. To summarize :

she’s Brian

2. She’s unhinged and the best part is nobody knows even though it’s blatantly obvious. She may not have the same bloodlust or violent disposition as her peers but there are other ways to showcase this. To Allow Mukuro the leader of this little fearsome Five-some to possess you whenever he feels like and witness whatever horrors he decides to inflict upon someone that day means she’s accepting of literally everything he does. She never resists or expresses distaste/fear for him or anything he does. We assume she would in some capacity because she was depicted as this wide eyed innocent girl trying her best to repay the man that got her to join a gang under the guise of a found family. She quite literally signed up for guts n glory. She knew this and never had second thoughts. Mind you she doesn’t share the same hatred for the mafia as the boys, theirs is blind hatred regardless of who you are. Hers is through them, they are her looking glass rightfully so, so if they say it then their word is law. I’m not sure about you but I would definitely be mindful of the girl who was raised semi normal and willingly turned into a killer for Mukuro of all people. They’re killing adults not shaking them up, they aren’t Tsuna and his friends they finish the job when necessary. The body count is unimaginable. She is just as loyal as Ken and Chikusa and would probably strike you where you stand for speaking ill of him. (She wouldn’t but would definitely be opposed to whatever you’re saying, unless it’s name calling. He takes no offense to that and welcomes it in fact.)

3. The fact that she’s a person apart from Mukuro (physically speaking.) and the Vongola team at all is a blessing in few fics. Although she was made to stand in for Mukuro, when he is released it’s not necessary hence him pushing her to be apart from him and his duties. He did this in the future as well when he possessed Guidio Greco no longer using chrome which lets us know she was successful in becoming a useful comrade and not just a vessel and vongola stand in. She had to otherwise he would’ve left her alone whether she was keeping his Vongola ring warm or not. She is just as aloof as Hibari, always off with her own people only engaging when it’s asked of her. I adore when people keep that in mind and don’t lump her with following behind the vongola as if she were one of them. She shows up for them when asked but her main focus is ultimately committing felonies with Ken and Chikusa per Mukuro’s orders. let her be with the kokuyo gang and let her contribute in the way she’s meant to as a fighter. figure her out give her something cool 

 ik that’s hard considering what we got in the manga. warning things i hate ahead 

what we got in the Anime and Manga: 

so we know Chromes entire purpose was to be Rokudo Mukuro’s stand in, while holding the Vongola ring he soon takes back she is just the girl that is able to get him to come fight their battles when necessary. The Anime and Manga rarely let Chrome fend for herself. We all knew he was coming the second it got serious. By giving chrome that ring she ended up being the one thing to keep him loyal to his contract with being their guardian. If she’s in danger he comes and saves her, the Vongola put her in danger because he will show up and do his job it’s like a rat trap. She is not meant to be a Vongola guardian but more like a Mukuro whistle. They never openly admit it but in the show they will expect/ask her to do things that her track record doesn’t imply she can do and just silently expect Mukuro to show up like always. SKSJDWDN they’ll be like “oh yeah call the girl who passed out and all her organs disappeared I believe in her to do this job even though i’ve never seen her make it to the end of a fight ever not worried at all” sksksjjd They never actually expect chrome to do a job they expect her to go there and manage to get Mukuro to come out and play and we should acknowledge it was just an unspoken thing.  Now I know that despite what I just implied about her not being that great a fighter but just good enough there are two comments made in all 400 chapters that are supposed to negate this.  

Mammon says her illusions are powerful just not enough to fool him , and reborn says she could turn the tide if she were to fight against Mukuro but with confidence, these mean nothing to me because amano throws in so many useless comments like this and then fails to develop it further to make it believable.  and she made powerful characters make note of this so it would be non negotiable and we would just take it at face value because its them but hello ?? ofc we want to see it just like we had to see Tsuna grow before we even considered taking him seriously. hell Dino got a quicker rise to his title than chrome bc its that easy to say oh he can come into his own when needed they just never meant to do it for chrome. 

it’s so irritating when they try to say she’s powerful or could be but give no actual footing for anyone to take those comments seriously when they make her pass out for thirty chapters after doing the bare minimum.

let chrome win on her own not just start strong then step out of the way then have some character say “no really she could be powerful we aren’t going to show you though” .  

when she helped them sneak in the base on her own and even makes those illusions of them fighting we should have gotten more of that!!! 

literally every character is fighting the funeral wreaths and chrome is running in the woods out of breath...even Lambo got to fight. 

you made her sit out of the rep battle to focus on making organs like that wasn’t something she already accomplished in the future and suddenly can’t do anymore ?.....

Chrome finally makes one fighting decision and its to make a mist forcefield that’s dangerous but hell yeah we think she will finally pull through with something powerful and prove herself and then they have mukuro come in a panel later saying “your flames are far too weak to do that I will make it better and help you not die” BYE  that was a perfect time to have her come in to her own seeing as she was powerful and confident enough to initiate it in the first place. 

breaking the barrier daemon spade makes * chefs kiss * give me more 

 when they’re not blindly robbing chrome of character development  she’s just getting kidnapped, passing out  or helping them with small things like making a fake Yamamoto for a party or sneaking in the base with illusions to disguise them. Hello she’s training under mukuro right ??? why did we ever get to see her get stronger each fight and have them say ‘she’s learning quick” instead. 

enough abt what we got, back to what I’ve managed to make out of the scraps we were given..

4. Mukuro is the only one who reassures that she actually is a fighter and she eventually grows to be a good one bc of this and you should write about that dynamic and why it exists more. this one is long.

 the whole dynamic I was referring to exploring is the one where Mukuro and chrome are meant to be equals. He meets this girl whose been neglected and left for dead, another kid messed up by adults neglectful selfish behavior. she willingly follows the boy who is plagued by the same demons and made a small group dedicated to getting revenge for it.  Mukuro & Chrome know they’re two sides of the same coin. he is anger and she is acceptance. He probably finds it amusing she isn’t as angry as them wants to draw it out of her  where as chrome wants to pull out the peace that comes with moving on once you’re in a better place. the girl is so happy to not be near her mom and grateful for this little family while the boys are quite literally holding a grudge against the world.  and like none of them even see it the way she does but she wants them to.  Mukuro and chrome didn’t go through the same things but it doesn’t matter to either of them because its the same story, nobody loved or valued them enough to protect them. In the end chrome will learn to be angry abt things that happen and use that to find a will to fight for something and Mukuro will learn to be at peace because they’re not in that lab anymore and those people are gone from their life. as fighters they’re so important to each others balance Mukuro’s rage cannot be left to be so blind and hers unattended and i know it’s supposed to be Tsuna that cleans his soul but i think chrome definitely plays a more active role in that.  I think he sees a better him in her, he makes her his second gives her his name because she’s the good he knows he can never fully be. she posses a peace he’s not hopeful enough to believe he can achieve or want and ultimately it will make her far more capable of the change he wants. in believing this it means he also believes she will be just as powerful as him with the right training. he’s literally training his demise and her name is Chrome. he wont take over a (mafia) world he wants her to save.  we all know he’s like annoyingly stupid when it comes to showing his emotions, he rather pretend he’s sending you to die when he’s quite literally ushering you to what he thinks is safe and sacrificing himself. so I can totally see him being like  “okay Tsuna might really change the mafia and I want to see that but I've already dug my own grave here's a better newer me that will be way easier to accept than me turning over a new leaf 40 dead families later.” 

5. in the future Hibari is much more happy to help and be around because he knows what a powerful fighter Tsuna turns out to be, i think this is the exact same reason why he goes and helps chrome save herself. Kyoya knows and possibly even respects future chrome enough to save her when she’s at her weakest which he usually detests. Chrome grows to be much more in the future and that’s exactly why he even gives this sick chrome a push. everyone likes to think it’s a Mukuro thing for him but what if it actually is a chrome thing. in the show he’s never been present to witness her show any kind of power so we can only assume that at some point he saw her in action. 

  6. it’s implied in the future that Mukuro fights alongside her, he views her as more than just a vessel and doesn’t baby her in the slightest when he pushes her to become her own being. I won’t call it respect per say but he doesn’t look at her as a doll even though that’s the part she played for him. He still trains her the way he eventually does Fran. We all know he just wants Mini Mukuros to aid him in his endeavors but the fact that he chooses her says a lot about how she’s meant to be viewed. He also chooses a nine year old brat with an apple hat but hey he must see something everyone else doesn’t until he’s done with them seeing as Fran was kidnapped by the freaking Varia once Mukuro’s teachings were for the most part implemented. “Oh you learned under Mukuro ? We can’t have Mukuro you need to join us immediately” (I’ve just realized Mukuro gave the vongola their strongest mist guardians all while claiming to hate them. Funny man). imagine how powerful Chrome gets, even better when Mukuro is actually there in the flesh to teach her where as Fran got some illusionary version of him. WRITE ABOUT IT. 

7. for the love of god give that girl her own fighting style. yamamoto has his sword gokudera is literally baby genius ryohei is a boxer and hibari has like the most random weapon ever. go crazy. i love it when chrome isn’t pulling a trident from her bag. because she’s not mukuro anymore. she’s a reticent mist guardian, compliment that.  Mukuros trident has his own history with him. give her some history of her own.    

in my fic Chrome uses a scythe and tears through reality with it. 

reason:  because she is a grim reaper in her own right. she rose from the dead and is showing up to collect the souls of the wicked. a silent but fearsome person. 

her style ? :  personally I like to believe chrome dabbles in profiling, hear me out. Her parents were neglectful and in turn she really has little experience with relationships in general, i think her curiosity would lead her to constantly study peoples relationships and behaviors and see how they affect her target. aka she fights by showing up getting in your head and haunting you with your own past because even if they see through it damn what a nasty wound or insecurity to bring up in the form of a hell loop illusion. this also ties into her being Mukuro 2.0 he’s known to just be eerily in the know of everything going on even when he’s not there. this would be a great way of her matching that aspect of him and possibly surpassing it.  

[pleaseshutupaboutsatou]

Before and After Ajin Volume 1

Part Three

[Part One] [Part Two]

This was supposed to be the last part but I had a lot to say on this one particular subject.

Ajin: Human or Demi-Human

Spoilers ahead and I will refer to Tsuina Miura as TM.

Before V2 - Ajin: Human or Demi-Human

Okay, so it’s always kind of perplexed me that Ajin are so objectified. They look like any other person but in the world of Ajin, they’re referred to as ‘another species’, a ‘life-form’, and sometimes even ‘it’. When someone finds out they’re Ajin, it’s not readily apparent and can easily be hidden. Probably the most conspicuous aspect of an Ajin is their IBM if anything -- especially if they can’t control it. 

Anyway, the way I’ve really looked at it, I’ve always kinda assumed that the objectification of Ajin was a purposeful and systemic way of othering people with immortal abilities so that they can be more easily taken advantage of. 

I forget that this thought is just pure speculation and not actually explicitly said in canon. (TBH, I would really like to know the origins of why people see Ajin as non-human.)

This aspect is just part of the unique takes Ajin has on immortality. Immortals can age. To be an Ajin is not seen as a cool or fun but something terrifying and unknown. You don’t want to be an Ajin. In fact, in the first chapter of the manga, when the teacher suggests the possibility that someone in the class might be one, it immediately makes everyone uneasy.

In TM’s part of the manga, there’s a strong emphasis on the idea of Ajin not being seen as human. It’s repeated a lot in Kei’s dialogue with Kai and in the pilot chapter with Shinya. In fact, the opening line in the pilot chapter is ‘Those life forms do not die... They are know as demi-humans’.

The language in the Wikipedia article about Ajin that Shinya reads uses dry language when discussing the relationship between Ajin and human experimentation. It seems like there’s no hint of controversy! 

If you’ve read Tenkuu Shinpan, this cynical worldview will probably be very familiar. Miura’s writing has this sort of color.

Anyway, in volume one, the humanity of Ajin is constantly questioned and touched upon in the dialogue.

What a bizarre question for Izumi to ask, of all people... Izumi could be playing detective a detective role here, but knowing that she’s an Ajin, this almost comes across as self-loathing. Perhaps Izumi might have gone down that path if Miura stayed on?

This bit of dialogue from Tanaka, shortly after the former scene, feels more consistent with the story thus far. Satou made being a demi-human a point of pride for Tanaka and for Izumi to pretend to be one definitely made her less in his eyes. Actually, he was pretty cruel to everyone in that room in this scene, but if you take into consideration Izumi’s anti-Ajin-like dialogue and her explicitly saying she’s from the Demi-Human Control Commission (the ones responsible for his imprisonment), I can see where it comes from.

Anyway, much of the compelling dialogue on an Ajin’s humanity is between Kei and Kai. On the run after being outed as an Ajin, Kei is constantly questioning his own humanity.

And, as long as Kai is around Kei, he constantly reassures Kei that he is indeed human and even if he isn’t, he can be human if he wants to be.

Now that I think about it, perhaps the idea of demi-humans not being human comes from the human fear of death and the loss of its universal certainty. Death is scary, unpredictable, unavoidable and not really something a lot of people like to dwell on. However, despite those feelings, it’s ubiquitous and maybe some comfort comes from that - that it will happen to everyone. Not to Ajin though (as far as the public knows, they don’t really know about aging or natural-death Ajin). In fact Ajin can tiptoe between death and life. Perhaps that comes across as grotesque and maybe that’s a reason why they’re feared? A scene that exemplifies this is Kei’s first suicide - or reset, as it’s later called. 

Kai’s expression is of sadness, worry, and terror because he just witnessed Kei, someone he’s trying to protect, harm himself. He obviously knows that Kei will likely be fine but you can’t really logic away the visceral reaction to seeing such a thing. Meanwhile Kei, is excited, almost ecstatic, because he sees he’s able to walk on his own two legs again and not be such a burden to Kai. His relationship to death has totally changed. Does the lack of ability to die correlate with a loss of humanity?

Perhaps, TM wanted that to be constant question in their story. Are Ajin really human? Or maybe TM wanted Ajin to actually not really be human and for us to mistakenly think they are? TBH though, it doesn’t really seem like TM’s fast-paced action writing style... but maybe those kinds of questions piqued Sakurai’s interest.

After V2 - Ajin: Human or Demi-Human

I think Sakurai is interested in exploring the theme of humanity and human experience in general through these immortal characters. 

As the story progresses, he seems to go with the notion that Ajin are just people who can’t die. I think this is emphasized with Tanaka’s increasing mundaneness. His very first appearance is incredibly striking. He looks diabolical.

And he doesn’t seem that way to just the audience but to Kei as well, who sees Tanaka with a mean face and a knife in their first encounter and is instantly scared. In Kei’s dreams, Tanaka becomes a symbol of aggressive masculinity.

It’s all a front though, and through Tanaka’s flashback a handful of chapters later, it becomes clear that, like Kei, he’s an ordinary person put through extraordinary circumstances.

Satou, however, comes across as a force of nature and inhuman. Physical obliteration and philosophical ideas of death do not phase him at all. His flesh body is a tool that he takes apart and puts back together with casual indifference. In the end, though, he is a human being, though, damn, does he make it difficult for other people, ourselves included, to believe that.

Last, but not least, Sakurai spends a great deal of care on Kei’s transition from teen to young adult throughout the story with all the self-doubt, risk-taking and awkwardness that comes with it. What kind of person will he become? What does he really want? 

He puts on a front as a disinterested, self-serving person whose no-nonsense, but, actually he does care and maybe he likes a little of nonsense (but not too much). As for the person he might become, it’s interesting that Kei has two older, contrasting figures in his life who serve as influences: Hirasawa and Satou. Hirasawa says he’s fine the way he is and that it’s okay to run away; he kind of indulges Kei and tells him what he wants to hear - maybe he sees himself in Kei and tells him what he wish he could have heard.  Meanwhile, Satou wants to challenge Kei, though, for entirely selfish reasons and maybe, he too, saw some of himself in Kei. Though, lmao, he got bored with that towards the end.

A big part of Kei’s journey is self-acceptance. Self-acceptance as a person coming-of-age and as a person whose an Ajin. To a person like Kou, he probably seems like he has a concrete idea of who he is, but that’s not the case at all.

Kei starts out as an incredibly reluctant hero. In fact, he only came into the role out of necessity as Satou grew to be a bigger and bigger problem that could no longer be ignored. In the period between the attack on Grant Pharmaceuticals and the attack on Forge Security, his lack of enthusiasm is very explicit; he even dreams of being whisked away. Nevertheless, he begrudgingly concocts a plan for defending Forge Security. 

It’s in the aftermath of Forge Security that he starts to change and aggressively pursue Satou. However, this change of heart will be repeatedly tested as Satou continues to evade him.

Sakurai has also had some things to say about the question of a demi-human’s humanity on a grander scale, particularly, through a character like Ogura. When you first meet him, he’s very blunt and sarcastic and seems to have little value in his own life. To Ogura, life has lost its meaning. It’s heavily implied that this is in large part due to the death of his 8-year-old son.

The only thing that he really talks about with any kind of enthusiasm are Ajin and his FK cigarettes. 

His fascination with Ajin could be, in part, a way to cope with his grief. Ajin defy death and the human spirit seems to play a large role in how they function. IBMs are invisible but can be seen if a strong emotion is present. Floods of IBMs are triggered by death along with an accompanying strong emotion. He states outright that life is meaningless, but his obsession with Ajin seems to come from a part of himself that doesn’t want to believe that.

Whether or not what Ogura says is true or not, it’s undoubtedly true that Ajin are inextricably linked with their own humanity. This is where Sakurai arrives at with the question of a demi-human’s humanity.

This ended up being wayyyy longer then intended but thoughts kept coming and coming. Hope I didn’t go off on too much of a tangent here. I will make another part with Kai, Tanaka and talk briefly about gore before and after volume 2. 

I think Miura is really good with coming up with concepts, but I think, personally, I’m glad that Sakurai was able to take those ideas and make them into what we have today.

[breyito]

the sharp edges of a flower

TITLE: the sharp edges of a flower

AUTHOR/ARTIST: @breyito (read also on AO3)

PROMPT DAY : Day 3- Protection for @geraskierweek

SUMMARY: Three times Jaskier protected Geralt without him knowing it.

WORD COUNT: ~1.8 k

BOOKS/NETFLIX/2002 SHOW/VIDEO GAME: Netflix show

TRIGGERS/WARNINGS: Angst, but mostly not. Hurt/Comfort. Violence, a bit.  

RATING: Teen and up

ADDITIONAL NOTES: I wanted to do a 5+1, but it would never be finished, so I cut it here. I *might* write the rest, but I don’t make any promeses. Some fluff to balance the angst of yesterday lol. Tho the last one went away from me a bit and ended sad again.  Sorry ñ.ñ Btw, I do like Yennefer, I just think the relationship between her and Geralt makes no sense. I think she knows what she wants and she can be very selfish (no hate there, so can I) but she's not good for Geralt, so... Oh! The two firsts are in the early stages of their relationship, the third in between those last years. I intended to do a couple more in the middle (and might, maybe, perhaps) so that it would flow better but...

Enjoy!

1-

Jaskier is at the bar, flirting with a lovely lady in a break in his set, when something catches his attention. He overhears a drunkard happily proclaiming that one of the patrons of the tavern is going to poison the Witcher's drink; to see if they really are inmune to such things, as myth and rumours go.

Geralt is upstairs, still cleaning his armor (the bard had stayed until the man was clean, but the menial tasks of leather and sword mantainance were not something he cared for much); so he can't know what will happen when he comes down to have his earned supper.

Jaskier has learned by now that, unless this is a specialized poison Made by a mage, it won't kill the Witcher. It doesnt mean it won't hurt him, though. Humilliate him in front of the townspeople if he gets sick; which is no doubt one of the reasons why every one of the men in the table of this drunkard is laughing; and why the older barmaid is going along with it.

So, instead of causing a scene, he launches into another song; pulling all the barmaids to dance, spinning them around as he marches them to their tables.

He makes sure to spill a little bit of the poison he stashes in one of his rings in all the tankards going to that table (one of the cheapest ones, and a small enough dose that it shouldn't kill, just make them spend their coin in a healer instead of more beer) and distracts the old and bitter barmaid so that the poisoned drink ends in his hand. 

If he gets pushed and ends up spilling the liquid over the man eagerly watching the Witcher drink his ale...

Well, he makes sure to act surprised and scared when the man's skin starts to sizzle and burn.

(The Witcher from then on insists on sniffing all the drinks he orders, in case somebody tries to poison the bard again; which causes Jaskier to melt a little, as well as laugh a bit on the inside).

2-

He can see the way people are looking at the Witcher. 

And it's allright, perhaps his song about the noble White Wolf has not gotten to this nowhere-town in the middle of this nowhere-kindom yet. But they needed the coin and the people here need a monster slain; so they keep their hate quiet and throw their glares just at their backs, instead of at their faces. 

But Jaskier knows how to read a crowd; and he knows that if Geralt stops at the inn they are staying at before he goes to collect his payment they will be run out of town with hateful words and the promise of violence (that happened once, just once; because Jaskier promised himself that as long as he was by the Witcher's side it wouldn't happen again) and no payment. He knows that the people of this town believe themselves to be as important as the capital of their kingdom; despite the fact that Ard Carraigh was a few towns and villages away yet. And they had no problem following their King’s policies against non-humans; which was bad but not much different than in other places, like Cintra and the like. Usually though, those policies didn’ extend towards Witchers; but in this particular town they did. So Jaskier, while Geralt left on his own on a week long and dangerous hunt (not even taking Roach!), separated himself as much as possible from the Witcher, charming people left and right.

He plays people's favorites and requests: ballads about romance and heroic deeds, plays the joyful tunes that make patrons drink more and be more giving; and only mixes in a song about his muse per performance, when he has enough coin at his feet to at least pay for supper and a few other things. 

He buys cured meats and dried fruits and stores up on flat bread and hard cheeses, vegetables and fats; flirts on with the market people (pretty lads and shy girls; amused mature women and harsh old ladies) and gets wine, soaps and candies for a lower price, and not double or triple like they would have demanded of the Witcher. It makes him a little sick; to flirt and smile at people that would spit on his friend's face; but he thinks that while this time he won't be able to provide Geralt with a soft bed he will at least be able to give him these little luxuries, and that is worth it; so he keeps at it.

When he hears the firsts whispers of the Witcher on his way back; he packs all of their stuff and saddles Roach after bribing her with some stolen apples (the vendor had tried to get him into his bed while insulting Geralt, so he had apologized profusely, citing a previous appointmet, while he snuck the best fruits for the mare, a big fake smile plastered on his face) and marches her down to the Alderman's house. Geralt sees him there and stops, and before the Witcher can get mad at him for touching his horse he starts to babble about sleeping with the butcher's daughter and the butcher's wife and the need to flee the town before he is found and butchered in a goresome fashion. 

Geralt grumbles and curses him for the lack of a proper bath to get the filth of the hunt off him; but goes into the Aldermans house to get his coin anyways. He comes out, pouch in hand and mounts Roach and they leave.

He helps the witcher wash off in a stream later, under the warm sun; and it's paceful. He's gentle as he uses the sage soap he bought for the delicate nose of the man, and as he cleans then combs the silver hair with the same care he shows his previous lute. He insists the Witcher rests the rest of the day; to sleep. Then, when Geralt wakes up, Jaskier insists he uses the free time to clean his armor and blades, instead of packing up and setting camp again in a few hours. He uses the vegetables and some meat to make a sturdy stew as a treat; and snares and roasts two rabbits for dinner. If he lets Geralt believe he does all of this as a way to pay him back, well...that is his bussines and his bussines alone.

(The butcher had no daughter and had no wife. Because there was no butcher in this town.)

3-

He protects Geralt from Yennefer once, incredibly. The Witcher is on a hunt (a nest of kikimoras and a new queen, so the bard stayed behind but the horse went along) when the witch shows up at the one tavern the bard happens to be performing at, of all the taverns in the whole city. It has been only three months since the last time they encountered her (and Gerlat has barely started to let him touch him with gentleness when he’s not injured, has just begun relaxing his shoulders and giving that barely-there smile of his that is so endearing Jaskier could die of tenderness) so Jaskier ends his set, finishes his drink like a shot and sits in front of her, and bluntly asks her what does she want to leave before the Witcher comes back.

The mage is amused and surprised; so she plays his game. She tells him she wants the silver dagger that the Witcher gave him a few years ago, for protection. She knows the emotional value that it has, she has seen how the bard sharpens it and always has it on him. She also knows its one of the only gifts the Witcher ever gave the bard, and how the bard cherises it. 

He swallows but doesn’t hesitate to reach for the sheat and put the dagger on the table between them. Yennefer is surprised but smiles anyways, and starts to gently caress the blade; and mockingly asks how he will explain the loss of something so precious. Jaskier tells her that that’s not her problem, but if she wants to know; he will say he got attacked and defended himself, and the attacker left with the dagger still inside them. She laughs at his story, asks if he thinks the Witcher will buy it. Jaskier answers yes. 

The mage then asks why he would part with this gift, when he surely knows they will just meet in another few weeks or moths; because at this point they all agree that whatever the Witcher and the Witch have between them is inescapable. He says that Geralt is not healed yet, that he needs a little more time before he’s ready for her to empty and crash his heart again. She flinches at this assesment; and when she tries to say that she loves him; Jaskier responds that she loves him because she knows she can use him and discard him and he will still be there the next time. 

She waits a moment then asks, sickly sweet, that it’s the same way Geralt treats him, is it not? The bard laughs bitterly, but explains the difference: Yennefer knows Geralt will be there and does the things she does because of this; Geralt does it because he’s still testing him, because he doesn’t think Jaskier will still be there, believes he doesn’t deserve it. So how can the bard hold it against him; when it’s people like her that made him believe he’s unworthy of love and devotion?

The war of looks makes the place spark with tension, and even the most drunk of patrons is mostly quiet. Yennefer knows her eyes are swirling with chaos, yet the poet doesn’t back down, keeps looking and looking and looking at her. His eyes are determined, even as tears escape and his lashes shiver. He doesn’t look away. Eventually, she does. She grabs the dagger and stands up, leaving.

Jaskier is lucky Geralt is dizzy with blood loss and too many potions when he comes back; because even though he washed and changed clothes the man can still smell the fucking lilac; and it’s easier to spin a lie about the gorgeous perfume seller and the dagger that is still in the side of her brother when the Witcher’s senses are not at their best. It’s also easier to deal with the dissapoinment in the men’s eyes when the other is delirious and won’t smell his tears.

(The next time they meet the mage in a town she gives him a barely-there nod before she focuses all her attention on the Witcher. Jaskier still turns around and rents a room in the rundown inn at the other side of the town. He never sees his dagger again.)

[silvereddaye]

Hi Silver. So, I can't handle horror stuff(hence this is quite literally my least favorite time of year) but I'm super curious about what happens in your latest one-shot, (In the Shadow of the Woods?) and how it relates to Luke and Vader. I KNOW if I read it I'll most likely regret it! I can handle gorey stuff, but not spooky stuff. Would you be so kind as to just give me kind of an overall summary of what happens? Thanks! Love you!

Sure. No problem. 

A group of college students go to a lake in the woods. It’s very secluded and remote. They got there by driving Jeeps through the woods. While relaxing at the lake, one of the kids notices a house on the side of the lake. Thinking it might be some kind haunted house, four of the kids leave in one of the Jeeps while the rest stay. However soon the kids that stayed hear screaming coming across the lake. The go and investigate and arrive in time to see one of the kids get snatched up by some shadow monster in the woods. 

The monster then starts picking the kids off one by one, so the kids run into the house. While in there they find a baby with blonde hair and blue eyes asking for it’s dada. So the kids pick the baby up and take it with them as the monster continues to attack their group. Eventually it’s down to only three kids and the baby. They have made it back to the Jeep and are driving down the road away from the house. 

The baby starts to get upset and cry for his dada. It changes into a white glowing monster. It is then the shadow monster arrives, rips apart the car, and collects the baby. The only surviving kid runs away from the Jeep. While running he comes across a cabin in the woods where he meets a man (Obi-Wan Kenobi). The kid, Davis, tells Obi-Wan of what happened to him and his friends. 

Obi-Wan tells the story of the monster Vader: 

“What you ran into was Vader. Darth Vader. An unholy horror. Some call it a demon. Others might call it a wonderterror. But monster also works.” Davis noticed the smooth accent coming from the man. It sounded European. 

“I . . . don’t . . . what? You know about this thing?” 

The man took a long sip of his glass. 

“There once was an order of men,” the man said slowly as he stroked his auburn beard. “It was rumored they had been around since the dawn of civilization. Their current organization was hundreds of years old. Dating back to medieval times. They had been established by the church. A holy order of knights known as the Jedi. Their purpose was to protect humanity from evil.” 

The man paused as he took another sip of his whiskey. 

“This order continued into the modern age. It was a secret order, and their numbers were a few hundred strong all across the globe. Fourteen years ago one of the senior knights discovered a boy. He had a human mother. He himself looked human, but he was not. He was a son of Satan. But that may not be the right description. He was something else. Something more. Something from beyond. A child of the Great Old Ones. Wherever this child originated from, it is beyond our mortal comprehension.

“And the order knew this. They took the child in. They should have killed him, but they were too curious. They wanted to know more of what lay beyond their reality. The order had been able to tap into the small rifts of this world and draw power from the beyond. They called it the Force. Magic. And this boy seemed to be made from it. 

“And he was just a boy. A boy who they could raise as one of them. To think like them. To dress like them. To do what they wanted him to do. A weapon. A tool. However, there were other organizations who knew of this truth of the world. One of them was the Sith. And unlike the Jedi Order who sought to protect humanity, the Sith sought to dominate it. They also used the Force, but for their own selfish means. And they wanted the boy. 

“This demonic order tried to tempt the boy. They sent many dark servants to tempt him. Darth Maul. Darth Tyrannus. Ventress. Savage. They all failed. The order’s training had prevailed. The boy couldn’t be swayed away from the ones who had raised him. At least that’s what the order thought. But it was not the darkness that won the boy over. It wasn’t the holy order either. In the end, it was love.”

The man sighed. He looked off into the distance. Then he took another deep sip of his whiskey, finishing the glass off. Davis finished his off as well. He was feeling the buzz of the alcohol. 

The man continued his story, “It was the love of a human woman that caused the boy to abandon the order he had called home. The order had forbidden the boy from attachments. From things like marriage, but it had happened behind their backs anyway. The boy married in secret. His human wife got pregnant, and then she grew sick. She was a human carrying the spawn of the devil. Carrying reality made flesh. Fearing for his wife and unborn child, the boy revealed his secret to his family. The order was horrified and angry. They decided the wife and the child needed to die. 

“Of course the boy did not take this well. He turned to the Sith for help instead. And they gave sweet promises they could cure the wife and baby. All for the price of killing everyone in the Jedi Order. And the boy agreed. He slayed them all including the women and children. But the Sith had lied. They had no idea on how to save the wife and baby, so the boy killed almost all the Sith too in his rage. In the end, it was all for nothing. The wife survived and gave birth.” 

“The baby!” Davis shouted. “That was the monster’s baby!” 

All that time the baby had been crying for its dada, it had been crying for the monster. He recalled the small little tentacle wrapping around a large black one. Like a baby’s hand wrapping around a single finger of their parent. 

The man nodded. “Yes. The boy, long since a man, moved out to these woods with his family. To be left alone. To live away from everyone else.” 

Obi-Wan reveals the reason the monster hasn’t killed him yet is because he wears a kyber crystal on a necklace. The crystal was a spell that casts a protective ward on him. He gives one to Davis and drives Davis home the next day. A month later, Davis gets visited by a news reporter and her cameraman. No one believes Davis crazy story and everyone says his friends have all gone off to do different things with their lives. The reporter listens to his story. He shows her the crystal on the necklace, which she steals from him. 

It is then revealed the cameraman is the monster (Vader) and the reporter is his wife (Padme). Padme leaves and Vader kills Davis. 

--------

That is a non-gore summary of part 1. Part 2, which I’ll hopefully have up on Halloween, tells the story from Vader’s perspective. Which is basically him trying to raise his little babies who can change shape and keep getting into trouble and Vader has to deal with their messes and his tired wife. He is tired and hungry when some punk kids show up at his house in a Jeep and jeopardize his family’s safety (as they’re hiding from Palpatine) by taking photos and posting them on instagram. (A joke in the story is that Obi-Wan chatises Anakin for not having a password on his wifi.) 

[seasaltmemories]

To Live As Free Men and Women

Over and over again I hear the conflict of echoes summarized as “shifting from relying on gods to relying on humanity’s own accomplishments.”  And on the surface that makes perfect sense.  All the endgame quotes are about refusing to bow down to Duma and wanting to fight for their world.  

However this reading has always not sat well with me because of two things.  First this celebration of humanity’s individual strength is not brought up until the last moments of Act 5.  To call it the main theme when so much of the earlier conflict was about class feel disingenuous.  Second, this reading tends to pit Alm and Celica as opposites where Alm shows Celica the light.  Aside from disliking the convenient dismissive treatment of the female protagonist, my obvious bias aside, it just isn’t good storytelling to have one of your leads solely exist to be wrong.  Not to mention the game is going for a sort of dualism between the two of them, so to paint Celica’s route as just one mistake is short-sighted.

So the question remains, what is the main theme of Echoes?  Does it have a theme?  Regardless of your thoughts on the game, it still sends a message, every piece of art does, even if it is as banal as “good will always triumph,” that is still a theme.  So to examine echoes, thoroughly we have to find a thread that manages to link the entire game together.

The best place to start is obviously the beginning.  After the opening video.  We are given a little exposition dump about the state of Valentia.  Two countries and two gods, one emphasizing war and the other emphasizing peace.  Makes sense, it is pretty obvious which one we’re supposed to root for and what country we’ll be following.  Cue the prologue where after everyone was so excited to meet the knight in the woods, he turns out to be totally willing to murder children.  It would be so easy to write Slayde off as a bad apple but the narrative makes no attempts to try and act as if anything about him is non-standard.  If anything the start of Act 1 goes out of its way to detail just how rotten Zofia is.  It’s fitting that Alm joins a rebellion first and foremost, and it is not until Act 3 Rigel really becomes an antagonist.  And much of Act 1 is targeting Zofia’s own corruption, its bandits and power-hungry nobles.  Despite being massive problems, Alm rushes headlong into them, wanting nothing more than to protect people.

Act 2 starts similarly, Celica learning of just how horrible the pirates are, and how they have been allowed practically free reign of the seas.  She has even fewer reasons to get involved, considering her party is literally five people, but she can’t secure safe passage otherwise so let’s do this.  If it takes fighting necrodragons then she will fight necrodragons.

Despite both of their reckless behavior, they accomplish real change and make things for the better.  And so after growing up into the people they are today, Alm and Celica in an obviously heartwarming manner.  Except quickly things tilt sideways.  

Celica’s hypocritical behavior has been long-pointed out, wishing him to avoid bloodshed after just killing a pirate king, but things still stay civil until this moment.

“Alm: Nrgh… If I didn’t know any better, I’d swear I was speaking to a blue blood. My station doesn’t matter, Celica. I’m here because I was called. I have a duty to perform, and I’ll perform it. No more, and no less.

Celica: Oh, Alm…

Alm: Do you think I WANTED this fight? This all started because Lima IV went and angered the empire. If you wish to point fingers, point them at the ruler who failed his people. It’s his fault we’re in this mess.”

Alm points to Lima and the system that failed Zofia, and while he is not wrong, as the Zofian heir, Celica is just as much a part of that system.  And to have someone so important to her throw the failings of the state at her feet, when all her life she has simply tried to survive, feels like the worse betrayal.  And when Alm still expects her to hold responsibility for all those mistakes (even if he doesn’t directly ask it of her) she explodes.  Now obviously Alm didn’t know how his words would impact her, and Celica was the first to go on the offensive, but often this discussion gets characterized as just being about violence, when that discussion is just a footnote to the real conflict.

Starting with Alm, Act 3 opens with Alm finally meeting Berkut face to face, someone who represents all of Rigel’s teachings about power and strength.  While a fearsome opponent, he has an utter meltdown after Alm’s army beats him.  As they go on their way to face Desaix, even Clive starts to fail Alm by doubting him and questioning if it is worth it to try and save Delthea, and depending on how well you play the next few levels, he really might fail Alm such as when/if Mathilda dies and he blames Alm for her death.  While he still will eventually come around to believe in Alm once again, we see that even after retaking Zofia, the old order is still not completely gone.

Celica meanwhile has to confront another outlaw king, but this time Greith is more personal, aside from people in her army having been directly harmed by him, there’s this lingering thread of Greith only having been able to grow so powerful because of Lima’s negligence.  In-universe there is no reason she has to go and stop him, it is a significant detour from her pilgrimage, still she refuses to enable this injustice.  Greith warns her that there will always be another one like him, and when they arrive at the temple, Mila is gone and unable to fix everything like she wanted to do.  So Celica does what she has been running away from her entire life, she reveals her status as the lost princess and promises to protect Zofia and Mila.

However while this is a good choice both for her development and from a logical standpoint, we start to see that even it is not without consequences in the Act 4.  Determined to save Mila, Celica eventually comes into contact with Jedah, who says as long as she gives up her soul to Duma, he will return Mila.  Now while Celica is often lambasted for this choice, let’s look at how she sees this and why she doesn’t immediately distrust him.

While we have seen Jedah be a creep all game, this is the first time Celica has seen him, and while he is othered and marked evil with a lot of traits, such as his blue skin, how stupid would it be if in real life you refused to work with people because “they looked evil” not to mention he is the leader of a similar faith, it would be like if a protestant Christian talked with the Pope.  Jedah is a scumbag but Celica has no reason in her eyes to immediately distrust him/assume he is lying.

And having traced Celica’s actions up until now, how she hates the suffering of others and will do anything in her power to fix things, why would she not consider herself a worthy exchange for Zofia’s restoration?  With Conrad’s reappearance, there’s even another heir ready to take over.  All her life she’s been confronted with her father’s failure, and what kind of ruler would she be if she followed in his footsteps?  

Still despite this mindset, she does not go to Duma Tower to die.  She plans to see Mila and rescue her first and foremost.  But when it looks as if Mila is completely gone and impossible to recover, she decides she will at least try and protect those she loves.

Before we can look at how that decision go, we need to return back to Alm.  In Act 4, we learn that Rigel is pretty much as corrupt as Zofia.  People like Nuibaba and Jerome manipulate good people like Zeke and Tatiana purely for their own selfish gain.  Throughout all this Alm is treated as if he is already King of Zofia, which Alm never really confronts and very obviously chafes at the thought.  He stands poised to become a living legend, when horror of all horror he ends up being the one to kill his own father.  

While Rigel welcomes him with open arms as there prince, Alm finds no joy in the title and learns that all his hard work was just to fulfill Rudolf’s plans.  And the closer he gets to the climax the more and more trauma he suffers,  having to kill his only remaining family left, Berkut having gone mad from his failure to live up to Rigel’s ideals of power over everything.  In the end it culminates in Alm having to even kill the woman he loves.

The only thing that keeps this story from becoming the tragedy we first saw at the beginning of the game is the fact Mila takes pity on them and decides to release Falchion for Alm.  So to act as if the events of Echoes were purely fueled by human ingenuity is disingenuous.

So what was the point of this little recap?  Well when you look closely you see it is not just Duma and Mila who failed them, but the entire way their world was structured, the sins of their fathers who created/maintained a world where the weakest were always exploited the most.  A world where they were denied happiness and set up to fail.  Celica has her entire life defined by being a part of this system, less an individual person and more a title.  What use was she as an individual, if she didn’t give her all for a country her blood had left down?  And Alm was denied a family, and forced to kill them simply because of Rudolf’s plan, even if it was for the greater good.  The world Duma and Mila set-up centuries ago is not the type of world these people need anymore.  Killing them is not enough, they have to change the entire structure of society as they know it. It’s why they get rid of Rigel and Zofia in the end to create the One United Kingdom, because only then can they start fresh, free from the influences of before.

Now some might say, why explain make such a big deal over such a minor detail?  Gods, society, what’s the difference?  But like I said earlier a theme needs to encapsulate the entire work, not just the climax.  And society’s failing manifest in multiple ways in Echoes, from classism, to tragedy of Sonya’s family, to Valber’s loss.  From start to finish Echoes never lets you forget what a broken world Valentia is.  And to fix it you can’t just take Alm’s impulsive idealism or Celica’s country-bound devotion.  Sometimes you need both, and to attack the problem at the source of its roots.

[tiny-little-bird]

Different anon here and also a non shipper. As a Jon fan, I have to disagree with your assertion that only Jonerys fans are here for their girl and not Jon. I have seen PLENTY of evidence that demonstrates that some Jonsa fans are just as fickle. Not saying that’s you, but the number of posts and fics that came out after S7 saying that Jon was a traitor and should die for sleeping with Dany - and yes, these were Jonsa people - shows that some shippers on BOTH sides have little love for Jon.

(2/3) And as a Jon fan, I can’t tell you how upsetting that is. Seeing him reduced to a prize to prop up someone’s fave, and then effectively “cancelled” when canon doesn’t go the way someone wants. I don’t believe in political Jon, and if it doesn’t happen - if it is as it seems, ie he’s in love - I get the impression that even those Jonsa fans who profess to love will either start hating him, or say his character has been “butchered.” Same if Jon turns on Dany. It all sucks.

(3/3) :-( I see you didn’t respond to my point about some Jonsa fans being the same as Jonerys dance when it comes to liking Jon only insofar as he plays the pretty prince to their fave. That might be because you’re busy, but the cynic in me suspects it’s because you don’t want to acknowledge the truth. Disappointing.

Okay, first of all, have a little patience nonny, I don’t do this for a Iiving, I’mnot on tumblr all day and it takes time to answer to asks, and I doreceive a few.

Let’s start with with your first ask. (I’m warning you, this will be a long read lol You wanted an answer, well, you got it)

Personally, I’ve never seen any Jonsa shippers ever wish Jon would die because he bent the knee or because he slept with D (send proof if you have it). If there truly are Jonsa shippers out there who wished/wish for his death, due to the poor thing being forced to give his country away, because he thought D’s dragons were his only hope against the NK and WW and Wights, shame on them. It’s not Jon’s fault D. is obsessed with power and the Iron Throne, he had to do what he had to do, because he thought it was his people’s only chance at survival, the issue isn’t Jon here, the issue here is D. and her being close minded.

Onto you second ask.

I’ll start with saying that, I do believe in the political Jon theory. Sorry, but it just doesn’t make any sense that he would repeat Robb’s and Ned’s SAME EXACT stupid mistakes like some fool. Jon is not a fool and he’s most certainly not stupid/an idiot.

He betrayed Ygritte, he remained faithful to his brothers, all he did was for his brothers who were like his family at this point, and when the time came, he betrayed her trust and the wildlings’ trust. I’m not really sure why we get so much hate for the political Jon theory tbh, when it makes perfect sense and it’s totally in charachter.

What, he met a Targaryen (with Dragons), that burns people alive just like her mad father used to do, and suddenly he forgets himself? Plus, come on, we have seen how Jon looks at someone he’s in love with, and I’m going to exclude Sansa for a minute here; he’s never looked at D. the way he looked at Ygritte. Kit is a great actor, he knows how to act in love, we’ve seen him act in love with Ygritte/Rose. Now, someone said to me, “Of course he looks in love with Ygritte, he fell in love with Rose on set, he was truly in love with her, he was looking at her with love intense love in his eyes, because it was real, and it showed. He’s not in love with Emilia, that’s why it’s not the same.”. And I’m just over here like, Huh… Then how come he looks at Sophie the same way he looked at Rose? I’m not trying to say that he’s in love with Sophie here, ok? It’s just that, the way he looked at Ygritte/Rose is the same way he looks at Sansa/Sophie, meaning that that’s how Kit acts in love… so.. why haven’t we seen him act the same with D., if he’s so in love with her? Because he’s not in love with her. Plus, I’ve watched other of Kit’s movies too, I’m not basing this just on GoT, Kit knows how to act in love or smitten, and there was none of that with D.

Jon is a Stark, he thinks he is the son of Ned Stark, now… the Mad King, a Targaryen, burned his uncle and grandfather alive with wildfire, and we’ve seen he’s not such a fan of people being burned alive, like AT ALL, so I’m not sure what makes you think he’d ever fall for someone like her, who is utterly and completely self absorbed, who thinks the world revolves around her, someone who is so power hungry that Jon had to go on the stupidest (suicide) mission in the history of missions, because D. wouldn’t help the North UNLESS she got her, just as stupid, truce. 

So yeah, Jon giving the North over to her, knowing very well as a consequence the North and its people would come to despise him for it… JON, who all he ever wanted was to have the respect of his father, his approval, JON, who all he ever wanted was for Ned to legitimaze him and make him a trueborn Stark, a true Northerner, makes no (excuse my potty mouth) fucking sense, as it makes no sense he’d fall for such a woman who wants something in return for saving humanity (yeah… what a hero… heroes don’t ask for stuff in return when they save people, they simply do it because they have a good heart, they are selfless  and want to help others, they want to help and protect the weak abd helpless). D. is as far from what he wants in a partner and as far from his type as it can get. She is beautiful, I can give her that, but her morals are different from his, the way she deals with problems etc. is VERY different from his (she straight up goes Dracarys on people whenever things don’t go her way or when people don’t kiss her feet and the earth she walks on), he doesn’t want power, he doesn’t go and seek it but it gets thrust into his hands anyway, she on the other hand, desperately wants power, she feels entitled to it, and when she can’t get it, or when she feels she’s losing it, as I’ve said, she goes Dracarys on people… they are two completely different people, they are incompatible.

But yeah, sure.. I’m supposed to believe JON SNOW, raised by Lord Eddard Stark, fell in love with a pyromaniac, Tyrant/Dictator, that has no regards for what other people want or need, only what she wants and needs, what’s hers by right, and who’s literally Aegon Targaryen come again, mixed with The Mad King… haha good joke. NO.

The Jon we know, book Jon and show Jon, would never fall for someone like her, someone who oppresses others, who bullies others, who uses fear and intimidation to get what she wants. Do you think Jon would ever fall for Cersei? I think the hell NOT. So why would he fall for D? At this point D. has become just as selfish and power hungry/obsessed as Cersei, only caring about power, sitting on the IT and being Queen, THAT is her first priority, the thing that anove all else matters the most to her; if it weren’t, if she truly were so benevolent, we wouldn’t have gotten the dumb wight hunt and the even dumber dragonpit meeting (also, both the dumb dragonpit meeting and dumb wight hunt, were pointless and a waste of time, and Jon could’ve gotten killed both times, he slmost died north of the wall, and Cersei could’ve killed him. Y'all out there who think Arya or Sansa will like or trust D. knowing she risked Jon’s life not once, but twice to get a stupid truce from Cersei, ha, think again).

Replace D. with Cersei for a second, imagine Cersei in D’s place in season 7, say Jon went to ask Cersei and not D, for her army and wildfire, to ask her to fight the dead with the North, together, and he behaved towards Cersei the same way he behaved towards D. (calling her his queen, giving her the north, sleeping with her etc.), now, please tell me, would you really and truly believe he was in love with Cersei? No, NO you wouldn’t. Why? Because Cersei, just like D. is NOT his type, he’s not into power hungry women, who are obsessed with having power and sitting on a throne. You’d too theorize that he has to be playing Cersei, that he’s playing the game, that Jon is in political mode, just like he was with the woldlings and Ygritte, because him falling for Cersei wouldn’t make any sense. But D. is a fan favourite so these rules seem not to apply to her…

How can anyone say that Cersei is not Jon’s type and that he would never fall for her (and it’s 100% he never would), but at the same time say that he’d definitely fall for D., and that it’s no question he’s in love with her? lol

This person told me that Cersei’s family had members of Jon’s family killed, therefore he could never fall for her, to which I’m like, yes, that’s right/true, but like, D’s mad father burned Jon’s uncle (Brandon) and grandfather (Rickard) alive, right? So that logic should apply to her as well now, shouldn't it? But again, it’s D., so for some reason she gets special treatment… selective thinking is selective.. smh…

On another note, it’s safe to assume that, since Cersei knew about D. burning and feeding a man to her dragons, it is common knowledge so Jon went to Dragonstone already knowing that about her. I don’t believe he went to Dragonstone without before trying to find out as much about her as possible, it’s probable Sansa helped him in that regard. I imagine she might’ve been the one going, if you must to go, you/we have to at least know with whom you’re/we’re dealing with to a certain extent. So yeah… that would explain the conversation he had with Missandei:

Missandei: “Then she would give me a ship and wish me good fortune.” 

Jon: “And you believe that?”

I truly believe Jon went to Dragonstone already knowing to a certain extent whom/with what kind of person he was about to be dealing with.

So again, YES, I believe in political Jon, because it’s the only thing that makes Jon’s behaviour in season 7 make sense.

I want to stress out that I don’t believe in the UCL theory because of Jonsa, it is not about a ship, it’s not about Jonsa, it has nada to do with it; this is about Jon, I love Jon, and honestly, I cannot for the life of me understand, why would anyone want him to end up with the woman that piece by piece took things away from him that made him feel proud of himself, that boosted his self esteem and confidence, that made him feel finally validated/accepted?

Let’s make a short list about all the things that D took away from him when he had to give her his crown:

1. The love of the Northern Lords and people.

2. The respect of the Northern Lords and people.

3. For all he knows his relationship with Sansa, the woman whom gave him validation, love and purpose, when he needed them the most, is fractured (it isn’t, but he might think him bending the knee will estrange them since he doesn’t know what’s going on in her head. Now, it’s safe to assume that he’s in a overthinking state right now (who wouldn’t be? I know I would if I were in his place), it’s safe and logical to assume that he’s thinking/overthinking about all these things and that they're going to be stressing him tf out until he reaches Winterfell, so add “peace of mind” to this list as well, cause she took that too).

4. Dandelion downgraded him. He was a King and because of her he’s now a warden. I know that he didn’t care much about the “crown”, about being King, but by being King and the North being independent, he could protect his people and his family better. I want what’s best for Jon, and D. ain’t it. This woman just takes and takes and only brings destruction, fire and blood everywhere she goes. I don’t think for one moment, no matter what anyone tells me, that D deserves him. A relationship between them would never be that of two equals, D. doesn’t like sharing power with others, and it would certainly not be a healthy relationship, quite the opposite, it’d be toxic. 

5. His happiness. Have y'all seen him happy/smile/laugh on that damned island or with D. in the entirety of season 7? Cause I sure as hell didn’t. #GiveJonHisHappinessBack2k18

So yeah, there is absolutely nothing that makes this pair (J0nerys) make sense to me, Jon being in love with her would be the most absurd ooc thing ever, and I don’t think all of this, because I feel threatened by the ship or because I’m trying to find reasons as for why he’s not in love with her so he can be with Sansa or whatever, that’s NOT IT. It’s simply about the fact that book Jon and show Jon would never fall for someone as shallow as D. 

That’s why I 100% believe in political Jon, there is just no way he’d fall for her, him and D are polar opposites, and I mean POLAR OPPOSITES. 

I’m not even worried about the “what if he’s in love with her?”, because nothing in season 7 made me believe/convinced me that he is, especially not the chickensex. God, that was the scene that made me go, “Well, she’s definitely in love with him, but he sure as hell ain’t in love with her.”, I mean, COME TF ON!! TVD had better love scenes than that, and the production of that show doesn’t even come close to GoT, besides, GoT proved time and time again they can do romance and provide good love making scenes ex. Missandei and Grey Worm, but they didn’t do it with J/D, instead they overlapped Jon’s true parentage, Bran was narrating, that “love” scene was anything but a love scene. It was bland, rushed sex. But let’s pretend for a second that he really is in love with her, would I want him dead for it? No. Would I think he’s an idiot? Yeah, kinda. I mean, I don’t discriminate, the moment Robb married Talisa, I was sitting on my couch and I literally went, “Oh Robb, you bloody idiod, this is going to come bite you in the arse.”. 

So yeah, how stupid it would be, if he went on and repeated exactly the same, as Sansa called them, “stupid mistakes” that Robb and Ned made? That would just be dumbing down Jon’s charachter, and I don’t want that, because I love Jon’s charachter, and because Jon is not dumb, those who have read the books know that, they know Jon is very clever and very observing, so yeah, him falling for D., giving her the North because he thinks she deserves it (btw, why in the world would he think she deserves it? lol she didn’t agree to help the North, until Jon almost got killed to get her what she needed, so she could get her dumb truce from Cersei, yeah, CERSEI, which she didn’t even get in the end… she doesn’t give af about the people that she wants to rule, about the people that she demands they bend the knee to her, they’re on 2nd place, she is her own priority, she is on 1st place, what she wants is on 1st place, what she wants is her main priority, the rest comes 2nd and is not that important to her), would be indeed butchering his charachter, because that’s not who Jon Snow is.

I’m not sure why y'all think him betraying D., him playing her is ooc and charachter butchering, when he’s legit done this type of thing before? It’s canon that he’ll always choose his family (just like he chose the nights watch and his brothers over the wildlings, and Ygritte, with whom he was in love with, unlike with D.), that it will always be on the first place, all he does and ever will do is for them. Even North of the Wall he said to Beric that his loyalty is to the North, that he fights for the North, so when he said he pledged himself to D. at the Dragonpit, that was a LIE, one of the many he had to tell, because he was literally given no other choice. Not sure how so many people haven’t picked up all these red flags in the Jon/D. storyline… there’s so many of ‘em, but oh well..

In conclusion, I would never wish for Jon to die, if say, he truly was in love with D., however I would think of it as being plain stupid and as charachter butchering, and I most certainly don’t see him as a prize for Sansa or as a tool to prop her up. Though, tbh the thing with Jon and Sansa is that ever since they reunited, they have pretty much propped each other up in an equal and healthy way, they’re not using each other, they’re helping each other reach their goals and aspirations, they’re both trying to maintain, making sure they maintain the safety that they achieved once they took back Winterfell, the beautiful thing about their relationship is that they didn’t squabble over who should be King/Queen/rule the North etc. Sansa was happy for Jon, when he was crowed/named King, and him and her ended up sharing that power, Sansa advised him and he listened, Jon expressed his thoughts and opinions and she listened, not once did Sansa object that the Northerners chose him, not once did she try to take his crown and title while he was away, even when they were offered to her. Can we say the same about D.? Who again, just took and took from him? Who’s using whom to prop themselves up huh? Who stripped Jon of all his accomplishments automatically propping herself up? Cause it definitely ain’t Sansa “You’re good at this you know. At ruling.” Stark.

As I’ve already said, the political Jon theory has nothing to do with Sansa, me thinking it would be charachter butchering if he was in love with D., if he trusted her and gave her everything because of love, has nothing to do with Jonsa, Sansa or shipping, political Jon is about Jon, about who he is and who he isn’t, and again (for the 2nd-3rd? time now), he is not an idiot; it’s about what type of women he likes, and he is 100% not attracted nor turned on by power hungry squabbling ones who, cherry on top, burn people alive, and who tell their advisors stuff like, “Your family you mean? Perhaps you don’t want to hurt them after all.” (of course he doesn’t want to hurt them, they’re his family, his own blood, you psycho), yeah, no I bet Jon got real turned on by her saying that. lol 

I have said this so many times, Jon would never and could never fall in love with her, there is nothing that makes her attractive in his eyes, except for her face, and Jon isn’t the type that cares about beauty and looks all that much, he’s not superficial like that. Ygritte wasn’t a great bauty, but Jon fell in love with her personality, her fierceness, her sense of humor (I mean Ygritte was funny af #RIP #gonebutneverforgotten) with who she was as a person, and not with her looks.

Hope my answer satisfied you nonny if it didn't, it’s ok (I’m not gonna tag this game of thrones, asoiaf etc. because what I wrote here, I pretty much wrote before, in other metas of mine, and I don’t wanna bore people with the same ideas.✌️

[kosmicdream]

So in the Ghost Kingdom there wouldn't be a lot of pushback against a bisexual woman who willing to fulfill her reproductive roles, but a firmly lesbian woman who didn't want to have kids or fulfill the roles expected of her would run into a lot of backlash, just not necessarily for her interest in women? Sorry for all these super specific questions, I decided my OC is a lesbian and I'm kind of trying to feel things out.

Yeah np! its fun to answer. put under a readmore since this ended up being a bit long lmao

Yeah there would probably be a lottt more push-back for a lesbian woman who didnt want kids or participate in roles expected of her. It might make it difficult for her to also find other partners b/c of the collected social stigma. esp because, i think in general, hekatons will only have 1 partner that they officially ‘marry.” So like two women marry but they might both have a guy on the side that they have babies with, or vice versa where theres a man/woman couple and the dad also has a romantic boyfriend partner. Its ok to be more interested in the partner that u are not having kids with, but generally the kingdom wants u to at least have kids with someone who is ur pal or someone u think u can trust who will be compatible with helping 2 raise kids if u are not like, deeply romantically interested in them. SO that being said, the culture there prob would consider her to be selfish b/c women generally have access to ‘high respecting jobs’ in their society and for her to not take advantage of that is like, insulting. like wtf are you going to DO if you arent going to do your jobs. the ghost kingdom doesnt really run under like.. the same kind of currency system we use, altho they do have some forms of class and value. its basically like 1 ‘bank’/tax system under the rule of the queen/the castle. they use that to funnel towards diff needs for the citizens. so she might not be able to live in the best of areas or have a lot of space bc it might be difficult for her to support herself independently, (just to have access to that, since theres going to be more of an instinct for 'male’ jobs to be.. given to dudes?? cuz there are more dudes than women, generally. they arent gonna be able to take the lady jobs at ALL so they would act like that ‘wouldnt be fair’ for her to be able to take the dude jobs as well??????) She might have to rely on direct family or friends, which can be stressful for everyone involved even if they have good bonds with them. poverty/homelessness are sort of a ‘new’ problem that they are trying to deal with as populations are growing faster than they are able to expand housing, as well as uhh, detonation centers for ppl to go in when they need to die. lol. so theres a greater demand for ppl to do labor and specific jobs rather than everyone just doing w/e they want. so like a lesbian woman who doesnt want kids n just wants to do some job thats considered ‘useless’ would be kind of considered like a “privileged” hekaton not picking up their weight and contributing to the FAMILY. (obviously this is not the case since there seems to be a more social expectation on her, but thats how society would generally view her as being lazy/greedy for wanting to do something different.) since ghost kingdom society is always kinda has a uuhh.. slight cult-like vibe of like? everything they do is for t’he good of the family’ and for ‘laima’s/dievas vision of a peaceful hekaton kingdom’ of their species. if they do not have the ghost kingdom, they will suffer like the hekatons do on the outside. no one wants that. so if ur not contributing to that goal, ur actively being a problem. like.. a blood clot or something lmfao.also she might get told a billion fuckingg times abt all the incredibly selfless things laima has done/sacrificed to keep their species alive and dont u want to make her proud?? ur upsetting our beautiful goddess mommy AND the selfless heroic dievas DIED to protect us ALL. what are u....... a perkons??? dont be like him!!!!!! he’s fucking evil. dont u know all the evil things he does??? he is TERRIBLE he tried to KILL everyone and he’s still out there, killing BABIES. u dont want to be like him DO YOU? are U a BABY KILLER?? HMM??? are u ok with babies being dead??? HUH??? ok, run along now and have some babies. moms everywhere will be proud and all will be forgiven. u might even get to date some moms! mom on mom action! see everyone wins??? ^_^ family/friends might aalso prob be scared she’d end up becoming involved with illegal activity ;;;_;;; which is also sort of a... new thing.. ahh!! evil.. non law abiding/society contributing lesbian hekatons!!!!! who do not want to lay eggs bc they obviously must HATE moms!!!!!  >: ( grrr!!yeah WOW ttly a perfectly peaceful utopia society huh? ttly perfect in every way with no underlying problems here... nope.So i think what ties into the homophobia in the other post i made, is that, its still very obviously still there but like-- not quite as traditionally apparent as we’d consider since bisexuality is wildly considered the “”normal/default”” sexuality instead of being straight. (Mostly b/c everyone is sorta expected to find both Laima/Dievas to be hotness personified.) 

[theotherscarmanthewoman]

Series 1 Review

Forty-three episodes later, Series 1 (Season 1?) is done and dusted. Before launching into Series 2 tomorrow with Planet of Giants, I thought it might be fun to do a little review of the story so far...

General Thoughts

Overall, I’ve been pleasantly surprised. I’d seen most of these serials as a kid, though never in the right order, and watching them from beginning to end has given me a newfound appreciation for just how much excellent character development there is in the early years of the show. I have also become a diehard Barbara fan. Obv. 

From a feminist perspective, there’s been a lot to like, though there have been a few major issues for me. As far as the series regulars go, Barbara gets to do a fair amount of physically, emotionally, and verbally badass things whilst remaining a well-rounded character: she’s clever, compassionate, occasionally morbid, brave, pragmatic, imaginative, resourceful, and deeply flawed in an entirely non-gendered way *cough*AZTECS*cough*. However, she also nearly gets raped in The Snows of Terror, has men draw lots over who gets to murder her in Marco Polo (only to be victim blamed by the eponymous dickhead of the serial), and is often a victim of the well-meaning but mostly stifling paternalism of Ian Chesterton (though she does at least get to complain about it). 

Susan is more problematic, as she very rarely gets a chance to shine, and suffers greatly at the hands of writers who just don’t know what to do with her. All too often, she’s reduced to a plot device, which I suppose is how she started out, after all: she was a means of getting the humans onto the Tardis and introducing us to the Doctor. And while she had genuine and gorgeous character development in Marco Polo and The Sensorites (the latter in the face of serious patriarchal bullshit from the Doctor), she ended the first series as a means of getting/keeping other characters in and out of jail whenever it was narratively convenient for her to have a mystery headache. JUSTICE FOR SUSAN! There are also way too many episodes that fail the Bechdel test for a series that has two women in the recurring cast.

Favourite Serials

I am the kind of person who panics when there are more than five options on a menu, so obviously I cannot restrict myself to a single favourite serial. With this in mind, and with the proviso that none of these are entirely unproblematic, here are my top three (in no particular order):

The Daleks I love this serial for so many reasons: Barbara getting her shit together after the whole caveman debacle/having been given a serious fright by a Dalek for the first time in Whovian history, donning a pair of hexagon trousers, and going on to display her infinite capacity for badassery (see exhibits A, B, and C); Space Corbyn; the Daleks being established as Space Nazis; the birth of Team Tardis; hexagons; Barbara and Ian fighting (which I always enjoy); the Doctor giving Barbara hope in the first of many classic chats; and of course Barbara deciding that yes she will kiss that alien, thank you very much.

The Edge of Destruction This is so ambitious and weird and wonderful, and of course contains that epic Barbara Wright verbal smackdown. The Tardis is alive and speaks in melty clocks and photographs (setting in motion a Tardis character arc without which The Doctor’s Wife would not have been possible), Susan is possessed and scissor-happy, Ian is in a ludicrously short dressing-gown, the Doctor learns to cherish his humans, the Doctor  gets crazy excited talking about the birth of solar system, the humanities save the day, and everyone learns about each other and therefore about themselves. Just don’t ask me whether it makes any actual sense.

The Aztecs Problematic as all hell, but so very, very interesting. Barbara’s hubris, Susan’s continued arranged marriage issues post-Ping-Cho, the Doctor and Barbara bonding over history and time travel and ethics, Space Bro antics, badassery, ruined lives (Autloc! Cameca!), and life-long lessons learned. A meaty historical with repercussions for the whole of Doctor Who.

An honourable mention must also go to Marco Polo, which drove me absolutely crazy at times (because it’s missing, because yellowface, because Marco being the actual worst and causing me to go on my first sustained rant about rape culture in Classic Who), because in it we got a glimpse of Susan’s potential as a character. Which got shat on from a great height in The Reign of Terror. 

Bring That Side Character Aboard the Tardis

Ping-Cho PRECIOUS CINNAMON GOLDFISH YOU SHOULD HAVE GONE WITH SUSAN AND YOU COULD HAVE BEEN SPACE (GIRL)FRIENDS FOREVER.

Ganatus His brother is dead, many of his friends are dead, and his planet is mostly fucked. Get that Thal aboard the Tardis so Barbara can show him just how much she doesn’t always do what Ian says; a whirlwind space romance would do them both a power of good. 

Character Development

The Doctor has had quite the journey, from the selfish goblin we met in a junkyard in 1963 who was quite happy to brain a caveman with a rock (and leave Barbara to die of radiation poisoning on Skaro) to the selfish goblin we met on a road in eighteenth-century France who was quite happy to brain a man with a shovel (on his quest to save his friends from the guillotine). The quality of his selfishness has been transformed because he now cares for two humans who have grown to care about him. He’s learned some manners, he’s learned about two other people, and he’s learning about himself.

Susan. Poor, poor Susan. She had such potential to be an interesting character, but alas she was served shoddily by writers who didn’t know what to do with her. She got to talk about home and what it means to be a wanderer in Marco Polo and The Sensorites, and she even got to stretch her telepathic legs in the latter, but alas her character development has suffered throughout the series. The one consistent thread for Susan is her increasing attachment to her human Space Parents, and her ongoing issues with saying goodbye. I have so many questions about Susan, but unfortunately none of the writers could be arsed to answer them.

I worry about Ian, actually, because he seems to have become desensitised to violence in a way that surely can’t be healthy for him. He also seems increasingly unable to function when he’s not being called upon to be Action Man (or indeed welded to the side of Barbara Wright). The weirdest example of this is when he thought all his friends were dead and he was stranded in eighteenth-century France, so he decided to become a spy for the counterrevolution just for something to do. At the beginning of the series, I disliked Ian enormously for his patronising paternalism; I don’t dislike him any more, but as I say, I worry about what’s going to happen to him when he finally makes it home and he has to function on an everyday level again without the psychological crutches of ‘I must kill the bad guys’ and ‘I must find/protect Barbara’. I also worry about his change of attitude from ‘I’m not going to do this because it’s wrong’ to ‘I’m going to do whatever it takes to get everyone out of this mess alive and I’m going to decide that whatever this involves is morally right’. And I think the turning point for that might well have been on Skaro where he managed to convince himself that asking the Thals to sacrifice themselves for the greater good was morally the right thing to do if he could find a way of thinking about it as helping the Thals to help themselves. I do love his Space Bro relationship with the Doctor, though. And his ongoing leftie streak.

Oh Babs. She’s really developed over the series, and what is excellent about seeing it in order is that it becomes clear that the Barbara we met in An Unearthly Child was Barbara on a (really) bad day. And yes, she went into hysterics over a dead pig. But very soon this self-professed unwilling adventurer was getting stuck in: no sooner had she recovered from a nasty bout of radiation sickness in a Dalek cell on Skaro than she was busy making mud pies to take out those malevolent pepper pots, embracing the local fashions, flirting with the locals, and taking on Daleks with rocks and a can-do attitude. She adapts to the situation time after time, and learns about time-travel and history the hard way, bonding with the Doctor and caring for her fellow travellers; if The Edge of Destruction is the Doctor’s turning point, The Aztecs is hers. But we also see that being surrounded by death is beginning to take its toll, as well as a nihilistic sense of the absurd that comes of having truly absorbed the lesson that you can’t rewrite history. Fortunately for Babs, the Doctor is actually there for her at these times, as we’ve seen from their ongoing time-travel chats. I think the biggest surprise of the series for me has been the relationship between the Doctor and Barbara, actually; they’re teaching one another to be better time travellers.

A note on shipping

I have deliberately shied away from overtly shipping Barbara and Ian in the recaps (though I’ve been less successful elsewhere), not because I don’t believe with every fibre of my being that they absolutely ended up getting hitched when they got back to Earth, but because frankly it’s more interesting when they fight than when they’re being cute. Also I’m saving a post on the many aspects of their relationship for after The Chase, as I feel like that will help me deal with my Feelings after they leave the show.

BRING ON SERIES 2!