#i NEED you all to develop the ability to hold more moral nuance than 'good guys and bad guys' or 'enemy of my enemy is my friend'

[ardentperfidy]

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[sepublic]

“It was all just a dream” Illusion?

            With how Illusionists have the terrifying ability to basically gaslight people and make them question reality, but on a scale unprecedented with all sorts of manipulation (jeez no wonder Odalia has no issue with the twins in Illusions), and VERY messed-up thought incoming here;

         But what if we get a scene where the head of the Illusionist Coven encounters Luz… And as a very meta acknowledgement of those edgy “It was all just a dream” theories, tricks Luz into thinking so? What if the Illusion Head trapped Luz in a simulation, where she wakes up to find out that everything about the Boiling Isles, all her friends and experiences- It was all just a dream!

         Maybe Luz acknowledges the trope as she did with how Isekais end with a return home for our protagonist… Pointing out this is VERY funny but not at all true, and a really dumb and edgy take anyhow! But the Illusion Head messes with her perception of reality, because again… Gus might be a teen prodigy but he’s still a kid younger than the rest of his classmates! What could a fully-experienced Illusionist, the head of his own coven, and presumably without morals as an agent of Belos, accomplish?

         It could be a dark parallel and contrast to Witches before Wizards… Not just in how the episode opens with Luz happily realizing it WASN’T all a dream, but also- Adegast tries to lure in Luz with her perfect fantasy, but she accepts reality as she is and dispels his lotus eater world! But then this… THIS messes with Luz and plays into that character development! She’s used to being disappointed, she learned to accept that things weren’t as great as they were… So when being told that it really was all just a dream?

         To Luz, who’s struggling with trauma and a bit more cynicism as of late… This might just feed directly into her insecurities, as she questions and doubts herself- Is she REALLY fighting the illusion? Or is she just in denial again, and she needs to accept the truth like she learned to beforehand…

         And, this could lead to a character moment where Luz basically learns to dream for herself again- To recognize that yeah, not everything is how she hoped it’d be… But there ARE good things in this world! It isn’t for nothing, and Luz? She learns to be more grounded for REAL this time… Previously she fooled herself with optimism, but now? Now Luz has fooled herself with negativity, assuming the worst, thinking she’s a terrible person and the others just barely tolerate her…

         She went too far in the other direction, so now Luz can balance out these takes- Things aren’t perfect, but they aren’t terrible. Yeah Luz has some room to grow, but she’s not the terrible person she thinks she is, she IS loved, and she’s allowed to hold onto and appreciate what she’s accomplished, all of her progress and effort! It isn’t wishful thinking, it’s real, and she won’t let anyone, not the Illusion Head nor herself, tell her it isn’t real!

         Again, it’d be a wonderful cap-off to Luz’s whole deal with perceptions, learning to love herself; Not be too positive, but not too negative either. It’d be such a nice parallel to an incredibly early, since-the-beginning episode, and cement another nuanced look at the whole fantasy and realistic expectations lesson. She’s still growing and adapting here, and Luz can accept that things ARE better for her, that things have improved, she’s done good things, and people do love her, actually.

         …Conversely, perhaps we might also see the Illusion Head play into Luz’s desires here. Maybe to adapt to Luz’s defiance, or not- Perhaps he plays up Luz’s wish to see Camila, to be accepted by her mother… Which is a neat contrast to our first Impostor Camila rejecting Luz, now we have one who fully accepts and loves her! And obviously the real Camila would as well, Luz will recognize that… But this isn’t real!

         Still, caught between not wanting to relapse into wishful thinking, and her own dreams being waved in front of her… And Luz might just be further confused. Is she playing into what she wants but isn’t real, or is she being too negative? It’s a mix of what she DOES want, and what Luz dreads… Like real life, and that’s just all the more confusing and traumatic.

         Maybe Luz gets taunted with Camila rejecting her, or a vision of an ‘ideal’ version of herself that Camila actually likes… Maybe even a look into Creepy Luz? It could lead to a dark moment where Luz insists that this isn’t real… Only to find Creepy Luz after all, and have a crisis- Maybe wondering if she ever DID leave the illusion, if she’s been trapped all along… If the truth was being told? Maybe dismissing Creepy Luz as fake, only to see she’s very much real, and so is Camila’s preference, etc.

         The Illusion Head might show Luz what’s going on back home, or illusions of her friends talking behind her back, about how they never really liked Luz anyway… And we could get a sweet moment where Luz is reminded of her genuine moments with them, potentially by said found family, as she scrolls through all of their kindness for her, such as the palistrom wood, Amity’s kiss, Willow and Gus’ Conformatorium protest… And Luz realizes and remembers that THIS was very much real, and she can’t be fooled here!

         It could also lead to a very cathartic moment where Luz reunites with her friends and accepts them with all her heart, so happy and relieved and whatnot… Just a very nice resolution, even as Luz holds everyone’s hands, hugs them hard, to assert that this IS real and not some trick, and finding comfort in that, in all of the little senses familiar to her about her friends, that are stimulated as reassurance. The smells, the textures, etc., it’s all there and it’s very much real, and it keeps Luz grounded and at home here.

         Just… With how Luz’s whole schtick is dividing fantasy between reality, I think an interaction with Illusions could be a VERY fun and clever episode- And get very twisted and messing with the viewer’s mind, as they question how much real and what wasn’t, if the ending is actually fake, and to what degree? An ending cliffhanger where at least one thing ISN’T real after all… Or something was unnoticed amidst the mind tricks, etc. Maybe even Luz and the audience wondering if she’s already been in the simulation, for a while…

        Again, anything that makes you question reality and perception, and struggling to interact with your world because you can’t even tell if it’s real or not- That is by far one of the most terrifying abilities ever, and I wouldn’t be shocked if the Illusion Head has genuinely traumatized people with his spells.

[astrolology]

The Love-Hate Relationship with Stelliums (Pt. 1) ✨

Guysss pls remember that astrology is holistic and this should be read taking into account your overall chart placements, as well as the planets in your stellium and what sign rules your stellium. TAKE NOTE lol

1st house

❤️: You may be a person who is very driven towards a particular goal, single-minded in behavior and with a sense of determination that is hard to beat. The focus is on self-improvement and is rather internally driven - there can be large amounts of time focused on figuring one’s identity out. You’re not afraid to say things as they are - you’re able to dish out criticism hard but you give credit when its due. You extend the courtesy you receive to others. You may have an innate sense of wisdom that you keep deep within that you don’t let slip unless to extremely close ones but in times of hardship you are a good source of motivation. You always seek to improve yourself and it’s hard (if not impossible) to drag you down because of your strong personality and how you tend to always move on no matter what. I think 1st house stelliums are the embodiment of “don’t look back” and y’all always try to make the best out of every best situation, sort of like seeing the silver lining in everything. And also when crises emerge you’re able to keep a calm head on your shoulders and are good at making snap decisions, which makes you good on your feet!

👹: I don’t think y’all are as self-absorbed as ppl make you out to be but there’s definitely an element of self-centredness such that when you do something, you often consider what is most convenient or productive for you. You might get upset when your plans are disrupted but sometimes do the same to others even though you might be aware of what you’re doing - in that aspect, 1st house stelliums can be hypocritical. For you, there is never enough - you’re never satisfied with anything, be it yourself or for other things so you can seem really unappreciative. Keep in mind that you also tend to force others to agree with you and don’t be so quick to dismiss the other party’s POV no matter how dumb it seems. Remember that there’s always something to learn from other people, no matter their status. You need to work on expressing your appreciation to others in a more genuine manner (altho I know y’all do it in gruff, slightly awkward ways when sincere - kinda cute ngl).

2nd house

❤️: You may be a person who has a strong moral code and has a staunch value system that you won’t deviate from no matter what. Sense of loyalty is usually unbreakable and it can take a lot to truly anger you. You can have a good financial sense and good instincts/foresight that allow you to plan ahead for stability’s sake. More often than not in certain areas you are a master of categorising and structuring things which means that your mind is analytical, critical and (usually) organised. You hate it when people think they know you because you (understandably) know yourself the best - there are many privatised layers of yourself that you prefer to keep... private so yeah it just annoys you when that happens. Y’all are a leader in certain aspects of your life and even though 2nd house stelliums tend to prefer being the right-hand man, your control freak tendencies come out and you end up leading anyway. You become really productive because of the fear of failure - you have crazy high expectations for yourself and expect the same of your closed ones (although ultimately you’ll support them in whatever they do). There is an appreciation for the finer things in life and when it comes to your loved ones you’re not afraid to spoil them hard. 

👹: Be careful not to let this driving need for stability restrict you from spontaneity and following your heart’s desire. There is an inherent inflexibility in your nature; stubbornness can really be your kryptonite. You don’t really take any opportunities that you think might threaten your security which, while giving you a stable fort, can hold you back in your own happiness + prosperity. You might realise that there is a limit to your perspective but really struggle in seeing outside of that perspective mainly because you spend so much time thinking about what matters to you that you’ve become accustomed to your train of thought (altho when you do break it it’s lowkey groundbreaking). The focus on this house is on stability, not only on material wealth, so while you may be reaping in one aspect you might tend to lack on the spiritual or emotional elements of life. You can be very, very controlling and demanding so you might want to tone it down a little if not people might get the wrong impression. People might think of you as judgemental (and you are tbh) but I believe it’s just 2nd house stellium’s way of assessing a person’s character/abilities. 

3rd house

❤️: You may be a person who puts in a lot of effort into various forms of self-expression (not limited to verbal communication but also finding a specific niche such as music, art, writing etc.) Your brain is naturally sharp and inquisitive and you may be able to pick things up very quickly. You might be rather adaptable but are surprisingly stubborn when it comes to your opinion or intellectual capabilities. You might have a dark/dirty sense of humor and because of that you also have a keen ability to see past the societal nuances of propriety and get to the heart/root of whatever a person is saying. You can spend your entire life trying to understand people and why things work the way they work - your brain needs to be stimulated in order for you to feel alive. Passion for you has to be applied in a productive manner - you probably aren’t a person to just take a passion for something as a mere hobby. Rather, you would either apply that passion to one of your existing projects, create a new one or use it as a motivating factor. Your interests are wide and varied, which makes you really well-rounded in certain aspects! 

👹: Many people say y’all are flighty beings and I can certainly see why they would think so. Because of your perceptiveness, you tend to change your narrative whenever you’re speaking to different people, so as to make yourself sound more convincing. In that aspect, you can be quite manipulative. Your ego probably isn’t the smallest either haha - you can tolerate being slighted at some things but if it’s a challenge to one of your passion projects you’ll probably become very upset. You need to stop giving people the hot and cold shoulder all the time and even though you’re quite sociable you tend to flaunt but hide your true thoughts. You have to be more open and honest in your self-expression, and not that idealised, constructed version of yourself you think people will find interesting. I’ve noticed that 3rd house stellium ppl have an obsessive need to “stand out” and make themselves feel unique which, despite all your charms and popularity, might be the reason why you find yourself sometimes so isolated. You’re a perfectionist (although you would deny it) and secretly quite controlling but unlike other stelliums you can manage it better I feel. 

4th house

❤️: There is a pressing insistence regarding relationships in your inner circle - be it your family, closest friends, or your future family. Extended focus on your cultural heritage can also be possible. Deep down, compassion is at your core and you are very protective of your friends in a silent but aggressive way. Having a stable family life is very important to you but I’ve noticed that more often than not, 4th house stelliums have turbulent family relationships. The beauty of 4th house stelliums is their ability to break through whatever toxic relationships they’ve been in and to create families of their own - be it unconventional or not. They are the epitome of “we choose our own families”. Y’all can be very empathetic and rather selfless to the point where you allow yourself to be manipulated (even though you’re aware of it) - but it’s usually for a justifiable reason. You find it easier than most to balance the emotional landscape but there are moments where you need an outlet to express yourself. There can be an obsession/possessiveness over your own culture - you take pride in your roots and become lowkey insulted when people disrespect it (and if you don’t, you somehow nearly always manage to find some other culture to assimilate yourself in). 

👹: Y’all probably get very upset when things don’t go your way but the problem with this stellium is that there is a want to speak out but you choose to bury everything inside instead - giving you a very passive-aggressive and even aloof image. Internally, you guys might think that you are giving off a very soft/giving aura but some people are wary precisely because you are hard to read. You are very, intensely private (rivalling 2nd/7th house tbh) and you have to learn how to share your true thoughts, no bullshit, no suger-coated thoughts with your family and dearest friends even though you are capable of handling yourself. You are independent, ambitious, and people often underestimate you, but you have to let people in first in order for them to know what you’re capable of! Also, idealisation of certain things (eg. a future family life/partner) can be prevalent and you overthink things to the point where sometimes you make yourself miserable. Again, please talk to someone hahaha you don’t have to deal with everything yourself. 

5th house

❤️:  Insecurity runs rampant in any 5th house stellium BUT y’all are quite paradoxical in a sense that you also have a very strong aura of confidence. Sometimes, in crucial moments, you manage to convince yourself and others that you are the most important person in the room haha - literally the epitome of “fake it till you make it”. Still, a deeply rooted kindness is found in 5th house stelliums such that you’re always looking out for the underdog in the room. If you are developed you probably have a strong sense of righteousness which prompts you to look out for people who might be struggling. Y’all are very concerned about your physical appearance and most of the time you like to keep your body in good shape, which draws the attention of people in the room. You likely have an infectious smile (this is just a hunch but I don’t believe 5th house stelliums smile a lot - y’all quirk your lips or smirk but a true smile is rare so when you do... it melts the hearts of people). Everything that you do will have a youthful flavor and you have a healthy appreciation for downtime/self-care so while you might not (contrary to popular belief) be that fond of kids, kids are attracted to you. Oh and actually I think the stronger this stellium is in a person, the shyer the person seems at first impression but inwardly and as time goes by, they become more humorous and dramatic. 

👹: You aren’t exactly manipulative, but you know how to use the power of suggestion (and your charms) to get what you want. If unchecked, it’ll become a habit because to you, it’s an instinctive thing to do and you might not realise you’re hurting other people because of it. You are stubborn and prideful (which isn’t a bad thing sometimes but) you take criticism quite badly such that if a person tries to offer their opinion or goes against your beliefs, you might take it as a personal attack. You have a fear of being restrained/constricted (like 9th house) so you’re actually quite aggressive to those who you perceive to be a threat to your authority. You can also experience extreme mood swings (from crazy happy/hyper to melancholic in a snap) and when you do you expect people to give you attention. But you are hypocritical in this aspect because you yourself can be quite insensitive to other people’s feelings, or you brush them off if you’re not “in the mood”. 

6th house

❤️: You are most probably quite an organised person, not in a tidy way (although you could be) but in matters of life there’s an insistence on order and structure. The way you think can be very logical - you are able to think concisely and connect the dots in a quick manner and logic is probably prevalent in everything you do. However, in contrast to this pragmatic behavior, you are deeply caring and you won’t think twice to give up something if a loved one needs it. You are very disciplined in certain aspects of life and you are able to maintain a consistent effort in everything that you do. You’re probably someone who finds joy in small things and although you have high standards, it doesn’t take much to make you happy, as long as it’s genuine. You can be a perfectionist and really quite meticulous in your work which makes you someone who is detail-orientated. You give a lot of yourself to other people and most of the time you don’t expect anything in return, which is one of the great things about 6th house stelliums. You take effort into maintaining your physical health and you mighttt be a fitness freak or someone who keeps track of their diet really carefully. It’s likely that you encourage other people to follow your lifestyle and generally, you exert a sort of mellow influence around other people that makes them want to be better. 

👹: There’s a tendency for 6th house stelliums to fall into pessimism, precisely because of your pragmatic nature. Y’all may say that you’re being “realistic” but in actuality it does dampen the spirits of some people. You can also become really unreasonable and inflexible once you’ve made up your mind on something and that makes you a bit narrow minded because you simply refuse to listen to other people’s POV. This can also cause tunnel vision which can really limit your full potential and I think it’s something worth spending your time working on. When pushed into a corner or feeling insecure, y’all might try to cover it up by being condescending or giving the cold shoulder. There’s also a risk of being overly reliant on a schedule/structure and hence, cautiousness when it comes to being spontaneous or embracing something foreign. Because of your affinity towards maintaining health, your hypochondriac tendencies may be exacerbated and you need to try to lessen your over-worrying behaviour haha. Although you never dish out something you can’t receive (eg. high expectations - you’re truly your worst critic), your demanding tone can really make others cautious of you.

OVERALL, I strongly believe that the way to embrace your stelliums isn’t to reject or force yourself to change the values they represent, but rather taking those eccentricities and moulding it into something more precious and beneficial to yourself. It has to be done with a thorough understanding of yourself; with patience. 

-C

[powerbottomblake]

the P in Penny stands for (V8′s) Protagonist

So Monstra! Interesting name! Reminiscent of Monstro, the name of the whale from Disney’s Pinocchio (1940).

This confirms that the whale is indeed, here to complete Penny’s Pinocchio allusion. In other terms, Penny is the protagonist of this volume. The main conflict is her conflict; taking down the whale is her endgame and her turning point.

More undercut because apparently I am cursed with not knowing how to make brief and to the point meta

We know that RWBY uses the narrative beats of the original allusions (with some decisive tweaks that align with its overall hopepunk vision and themes), going as far as having direct visual parallels to the source material (Adam vs Bees fight/the original Beast vs Gaston fight anyone?). 

In the original Pinocchio movie, Pinocchio is tested three times before finally achieving becoming a little boy, and I think, likewise, Penny faces three tests before becoming a fully flledged huntress and maiden:

- Setback n°1: Pinocchio, still new to the world, the very concept of morality but eager to “do good” and willing to listen to Jiminy Cricket’s guidance, is tricked by a duo of conmen; in the movie, it’s into captivity, but the original story takes a much darker turn where the evil cat and fox - one pretending to be blind (Emerald and her perception bending Semblance) and one pretending to be a cripple (Mercury) - actually cause Pinocchio’s “death” through hanging (the author abhorred naughty children and was very...extreme about it). This is V3 Penny in a nutshell, discovering friendship and bonds and values through her own Jiminy, which is Ruby, but being set up by Mercury and Emerald to fight a losing battle that ends in her apparent “death”.

- Setback n°2: Pinocchio is embarked on a trip to Pleasure Island, an apparent playground especially catered for everyone to be happy! and have fun! but oh wait they’re actually being turned into jackasses geared for labor or sold to the Dust I mean the salt mines! You’ve guessed it, this is Penny’s V7 arc. Atlas Academy is Penny’s Pleasure Island, masquerading as a safe place where  but the veneer of Ironwood’s civility and apparent conflicted utilitarianism finally cracks to reveal how it’s ultimately a place of indoctrination, producing no actual people-serving Hunters but perfect soldiers concerned more with following orders than doing right, and where the disadvantaged and the poor are ostracized, taken advantage of and ultimately sacrificed. Pinocchio escapes Pleasure Island with Jiminy’s help, but not unscathed, having grown donkey ears and a tail. Likewise, with Ruby’s help and constant strong supportive presence, Penny proves herself fit to receive the maiden powers and escapes Atlas, but she’s still not completely free of Ironwood’s hold, still having to grapple with his and the AceOps’ manipulation tactics, still not sure what her role, who she is and how she fits really are. Which bring us to the third and last test:

- Setback n°3: the Whale. In the original movie, Gepetto gets swallowed by the whale when he tries to follow Pinocchio to Pleasure Island to save him. Pinocchio then dives in, saves Gepetto and, in the process, apparently “dies”, before finally earning his existence as a “real” little boy after that show of bravery and self-sacrifice. And I think these are the beats to look for in Penny’s V8 storyline. As of Episode 3, Penny is about to join Pietro and Maria, and there have been strong hints (and by that I mean we were basically hammered over the head) that she’s about to be “hacked” by Watts. How do the original narrative beats play out? Here’s how I think it fits:

Gepetto is swallowed by Monstro: After Penny is effectively “hacked” and by that I mean that while her soul and spirit remain unchanged, Watts hacks into the mainframe and forces her to surrender control over her body the same way we’ve seen her do (but willingly) for Pietro. Penny essentially ends up trapped inside her own body as it follows Watts’ commands. I suspect Watts will force her to take Pietro and Maria (who’s of interest to Salem by being one of the last remaining SEW, and I strongly suspect her soul/aura could be used to make more of whatever the Hound is, but this is a whole other matter to delve into in a separate post) to Salem.

Pinocchio dives in to save his father and takes down the whale: I think Pietro and/or Ruby will appeal to Penny/be in enough danger that she will snap out of Watts control on her own, effectively reclaiming her bodily autonomy on her own and then creating a mayhem big and terrible enough with her powers that will take down the whale and give everyone else enough time to escape. This will be Penny’s heroic moment and her stand. Right now, everyone is making the mistake of having people protect the maiden powers. Penny realizes what makes her a maiden is to use those powers to protect the people; it’s a decision she makes on her own that cements her as a true Maiden and a hero of the people.

Pinocchio “apparently dies” but is then granted his wish and becomes a “real” little boy: Here I think Penny takes down the whale but goes down with it. We don’t see her die again onscreen (I think it would be overkill to show her “corpse” a second time and would cheapen her dying at all. In general I am wary of the resurrection trope being overdone or coming without a cost because it severely undercuts the emotional payoff of a death), but I think by the end of V8 she’s MIA (which would make her the second person Ruby loses that way, but also the first to return to her so). I think Penny uses her powers to stall Monstra, and I’m willing to bet good money that whatever Penny does next has to do with the Gravity dust that keeps Monstra afloat. The thing with Gravity dust is that, it does push things off the ground, but it can also pull things towards it. I think whatever number Penny pulls on the gravitational field ends up pulling her down in that sillage as well.

I know the popular theory is that Penny “dies” again and Pietro sacrifices his life to resurrect her one last time, and I can see it happening, but here’s the thing: RWBY subverts popular tropes, exploring new (and more hopeful!) paths. Just look at Qrow: RWBY said, oh the mentor figure, scarred and haunted by his past? is not just another stepping stone whose death cements the hero on his journey, but becomes a character with a drive of their own, and an arc of their own, and who gets to pass the torch and live to see it burn well and bright and to the end. Gepetto lives and mourns the apparent death of his son but is there to welcome him home when, rewarded for courage and abnegation, Pinocchio earns the right to become a human boy. I think Pietro, too, will live, and get to welcome a Penny that has finally earned the right to call herself Mantle’s Protector, no longer Ironwood’s puppet (heh) nor an extension of her father but an actual established hero of the people, around whom Mantle can rally and who can work with the right people (Robyn and the Happy Huntresses) for the right reasons and outcomes, people and reasons she herself chooses and decisions she herself makes and a power she’s reclaimed and accepted and knows how to use. 

Penny’s quest has always been one of identity, slowly transforming from getting her bearings and realizing what makes her humanity is her soul, her ability to develop and deepen and protect her bonds to people and her natural empathy and kindness (V3′s ”am I worthy of calling myself human, too?”); to navigating morality, the nuances of doing good and the need to make her own calls and judgement of what is right and wrong (V7′s “who should I protect? what should I follow?”); to now, having established that she’s worthy of being one, Penny still has to find how to be a maiden, what that role entails for her and how she can finally fit as herself and into this new role, 100% reclaiming herself, her body (even from Pietro!!), her title and her mission. V8 (and maybe onwards) is the culmination of Penny’s identity journey, and I see it playing very much as an Iron Giant moment.

“You are who you choose to be,” says RWBY (and Ruby!) to Penny.

“Superman A human, and a hero, and a maiden” will be her answer.

And just like the Iron Giant, Penny saves the world, and rises again.

[nexyra]

James Ironwood, for character ask? 👀

Aaaa thank you so much for the ask ♡ More rambling incoming !! Sorry for the wait btw, I've been both pretty busy and tired ;;

If you hate James Ironwood and don't wanna hear one good thing about him tap out now please ღ

My fav ship(s) for the character

I am not a super big shipper when it comes to James, but there are still some I like more than others soo here goes :

I think Ironwitch is a pretty good one. It's not necessarily a ship I'd search content for but I think these two would work well together ! Glynda is stern and honest and a no-nonsense kind of woman. She has the strenght to stand up to James when he slips or gets too stubborn when faced with the high stakes. At the same time, we've been shown that she cares for him and she knows he's only trying to do what's best for people. She has faith in him but also the ability to stand at his side as an equal. She seems to be the more steadfast of Ozpin's circle : loyal, you know you can trust her, and she will not crumble. This is the kind of personnality that I think James both admire and feel safe with. And the other way around, I think James is a good match for Glynda too. On a day to day basis, he's serious enough to not annoy here, but he's also a softie in some aspects and that's a nice combination to smooth out Glynda's edges.

Ironqrow is a completely different dynamic. The "we're annoying each other" dynamic is not one I'm particularly interested in usually xD But these two certainly had strong & interesting moments so it's a pretty valid ship !! Despite how they might butt heads because of the difference in their upbringing they (prior to V8) clearly trusted each other with their life. Even if Qrow jokes about shooting himself if he had to be one of James' man, when everything goes to shit there is no doubt in his mind that James wasn't responsible. Similarly, while James talks of shooting Qrow for his misbehaviour, when push comes to shove and we meet a tired Ironwood, run ragged by the pressure he's under... the only thing he does is hug him and reiterates how glad he is to see him. So again, they clearly have a lot of faith and trust in the other, and that's solid ground for a relationship.

My least favorite ship(s) for the character

Same spiel as always, shipping kids and adults is a big no from me; so any ships between Ironwood and RWBYJNOR can qualify here. That said, among the less uncomfortable ones, here are those I don't really like

This one is again because I love their relationship but platonically only, I'm talking of Winter Soldier. The reading I like best is not that Ironwood is Winter's Jacques 2.0, nor that he groomed her; but that he was an important father figure in her life. Protective and caring, who tried to help her escape with what he knew. I don't see James recruiting Winter as a way to gain a strong ally. But rather that Winter wanted to detach herself from her family name, and make something worthwhile of herself all on her own. And that the military is what Ironwood knows and understand, so naturally it's a career he'd see as a good path. Just like Winter then proposed it to Weiss. I like to think they care about each other a LOT and they're their own tight family in between the lines, even if professionalism might throw a wrench into it. For short I love them together but not romantically please =)

I don't know if there's a ship name for this, but Salem x James Ironwood would be a big nope from me too... In general, let's just assume I ship Salem with nobody because abuse.

My fav & least fav platonic relationship(s) for the character

Fav platonic relationship would be (have been because we dont talk about V8?) with Winter. Fooor the reasons I've explained above I suppose x) I (again) love the trust they had in one another and the quiet support.

There was also his relationship with Oscar that I really liked during V7, although it has been soured a bit by the (valid) reading from some people that Ironwood sought out Ozpin a lot through Oscar, and given his identity issues it is not ground for a greatly healthy relationship. Their interactions were still very intersting though ♡ I consider Oscar to be the kid who went at trying to appease James' fear or make him reconsider his decisions the best way. There was true understanding and hope for a working relationship here. I do feel that Oscar put in more work than James however (emotionally) and I wish there had been pay-back instead of a gunshot.

For my least fav relationship ? Probably Robyn or Watts ? Robyn was always very antagonistic toward Ironwood since their priorities are so different. And I overall just don't really like her after V7 so there are very few relationships with her I'm interested in (the exception is her ship with Fiona I think it's cute). Meanwhile, Watts is just a petty asshole hell bent on ruining Ironwood because he didn't pick his project. I'm not very interested in hate relationships, and since theirs wasn't deeply explored anyway, it's even more the case here. Their fight was great though, one of my favorite RWBY fights !

My favorite thing about the character

Well this was completely proven wrong by V8 buuut as of V7 I liked that he was a deconstruction of the military general (dictator) trope. Sooo you can guess how i feel about V8 X) In general among RWBY, several of my fav are fav BECAUSE they look like one trope but also have key differences that from the get go make the character stray away from said trope. For example I'm not a fan of the princess tsundere archetype at all, but I loooved Weiss in V1 BECAUSE she was extra-willing to listen and change her mind, and you could very easily tell that it was her upbringing speaking more than herself in most occasions.

Similarly, I wasn't a big fan of Ironwood before V7. I didn't hate him you know and he wasn't lower than most characters in my Tier list but I also didn't particularly care. But you know what ? I've aaaalways had a really soft spot for the "angsty angry traumatized teen". And RWBY made the mistake of extending that soft spot to "tired adults trying their best" (only to repeatedly beat them up/make them villains after making me care about them but what can you do uh)

Soo in general, I loved that Ironwood was trying so hard. I loved that he was tired and in over his head but learning and listening and trying to do good and be better despite his fears. I liked that he told his entourage about Salem and was loyal. I liked that he cared about helping the people above his own image and the way people perceived him. I liked that you could tell this was a terrible situation all around, and his decisions WERE questionnable but we could SEE that he meant WELL and was genuinely trying so hard despite how scared and tired he was.

My biggest criticism for the character

Well this won't be a surprise but in general I just wished he had stayed a morally grey character we were allowed to feel for instead of a cartoon black villain. I didn't need James to be THE Hero or anything like this despite some accusations levelled at those who like him. Him becoming one of RWBY's antagonist is honestly fine by me ! It is interesting. But I'd have preferred they kept him ambiguous and trying in his own way. (And smart because V8 Ironwood was dumb af)

I can be a tad overprotective of his character since he's just... so despised, so I think that I have inadvertently distanced myself from any of his flaws... somehow like "people are already yelling all of them so I don't need to add to this shit show" you know ? skjfkd But I KNOW he has them and it would still have been good to develop his flaws, just... not like that

But yea I'd have liked it if V8 Ironwood DID diverge from RWBYJNORQ and became an antagonist but not an iredeemable villain. LIKE,, we redeemed Hazel and Emerald and IRONWOOD is where the writers draw the line by saying "nope this one is rotten" ?? What ?

When was their writing at the peak according to me (ex : best season)

V7 definitely ! Ironwood carried V7 so hard haha. His character was fleshed out and given nuance and made to struggle and evolve and I loved him in that volume.

A song I think fits them & why

Hunger • Monsters & Men Human • Rag'n'Bone Man Way down we go • Kaleo Beekeeper • Keaton Henson Thistle and weeds • Mumford and Sons Castle of Glass • Linkin Park It's all so incredibly loud • Glass Animals

A headcanon to make up about them

His metal parts impact his metabolism so Ironwood is terrible at holding his alcohool and very little manages to knock him out. He's a workaholic. His low tolerence for alcohool is a great tool whn friends need to put him to sleep.

His joints crack and hurt in the cold, his metal parts as well and they are an hassle in the sand. James like to keep his room temperature warmer than the average atlasian because of this, otherwise he has to spend 30 min every morning simply unwiding muscles to move around efficiently.

He's not a good singer but has a nice low voice for telling stories. If he had kids, he'd probably avoid lullabies but compensate with bedtimes stories.

What I would change about them if I was making a re-write

As always, I'm kind of reflecting along the way as I write this, and one thing I'm thinking right now is... Doesn't it take away from the atlas arc message ITSELF to just pile up so many "standard bad guy" stuff on Ironwood ? Like, I wanna ask... why do we hate him ? Is he an antagonist because he lets fear get the best of him ? Because he's a classist who doesn't care about Mantle like some fans argue ? Because he's too stubborn and wants to be THE hero ? Because he doesn't listen to others ? Because he abandonned Mantle ? Because he kills peopke left and right ? Because he wanted to bomb a city ? I think you might see where I'm going with this : his status as villain is kind of messy. V8 just kept piling-up flaws and villainous actions onto Ironwood with no concern for whether this was a lenght he would go to (using the certainty that he would go to any lenghts to enact his plans), ,or whether these were one of the initial flaws/failings that led to his "fall" as an antagonist. What lesson is Ironwood supposed to learn ? Personally the very first time I yelled at my screen "No ! Why would the writers choose that ?" is when Ironwood shot Oscar. When answering criticism against medias, many people tend to look at it only through the lense of "well it makes sense in universe" or as if there were no other ways for the story to devolve. But at the end of the way, everything in a story is a choice from the writer even if it is influenced by the characters' personnalities. If I took the scene where Ironwood shoots Oscar, someone might tell me "he's crippled by his PTSD, he COULD do this." Maybe, that's a reading I can somewhat understand at least. But the writers have the power to NOT put his character in such a position. When I saw the wreck that was V7 finale, I ranted to my bestfriend about it and at no point did i say "why did Ironwood do that", I said "why did the writers make him shoot Oscar, the only point narratively would be to make irredeemable" Aaaand that's what they went for and I obviously didn't care for it. So if I had to rewrite it; I would have kept Ironwood's "mistakes" more focused. If he's wrong because he wants to abandon Mantle, because he's (understandably) scared and doesn't want to take risks; then stay focused on that. It's what makes RWBY leave, and out of all his V8 actions that's really the only thing RWBY needed to tell the whole world he wasn't an ally anymore apparently. - Don't make him shoot Oscar point blank, instead Oscar can simply fall because he flinches away from Ironwood's outburst; and a distraught/guilty Ironwood can decide that he doesn't have the time or capacity to help because of the tense situation. (Killing and not saving someone don't hold the same moral weight at all). - Don't make him kill people left and right or bomb cities, maintain the flaw of Ironwood struggling with his PTSD and his fear and not being able to take risks. - Don't paint him as a black villain, and eventually write V8 in such a way that RWBYJNORQ show taking risks might lead to a bigger victory, which was the volume's theme anyway. For example, following Oscar's destruction of the whale, a growth can occur that would bring back together the two anti-Salem factions : Oscar's risk put Atlas out of harm's way, which leads to Ironwood seeing that maybe there WAS a way to save Mantle as well as Atlas despite Salem's presence and he might have jumped the gun too quickly because of his fears. I'm not sure, I haven't thought about this extensively honestly but I hope you see what I mean. I think it would have been more focused & more in-character to focus Ironwood's failings on his fear; and the fact that he cares for the people and the greater good sometimes at the cost of the individuals. The idea that by sacrificing individuals too much you forget the people you're fighting for in the first place, could have been interesting to dig deeper into. Keep to the idea that Ironwood is somewhat disensitized to the individuals suffering for the sake of the greater good, instead of making him just

callous & uncaring.

My guess for their MBTI/Enneagram

I think pre-V8 Ironwood was an unconventionnal ENFJ. Aka, the type of character no one would type ENFJ because they go by stereotypes and Fe stereotypes are just enneagram 2 everywhere (aka nice, kind, helpful) whereas Ironwood has an enneagram tritype very common among xxTJs so that's what he looks/behaves like, but the way he thinks (what's best for the people, ethical values derived from an Atlasian upbringing) align more with Fe cognitively I think I'm going with ENFJ 6w5 1w2 3w4

Starting from V8 though, Ironwood veered clearly into ENTJ territory (types aren't supposed to change but I wouldn't say RWBY is the most consistent media when it comes to characters' personnalities)

One aspect that I think would be nice to delve deeper into ?

I understand why they didn't care to, but it'd have been interesting to get a few backstory hints for Ironwood. How did he lose half his body ? How did Oz recruit him ? Or some pieces about his upbringing ?

[linkspooky]

Scummy Heroes are to Blame

My Hero Academia has always been about this idea. In a literal society of heroes, there are people who do not get saed. Even though the literal job of heroes is to save people, heroes have become not much more than a militant branch of the police force in hero society under the thumb of the hero commission. 

This conflict comes to a head in Dabi, Twice, and Hawks who are all three of them people who weren’t saved by heroes. 

1. A Society Where Heroes Don’t Save People

Most of the heroic characters on their side of the story have a very vague idea of what a hero is, almost like that’s thematic or something. There seems to be two types, heroes who save people, and heroes who defeat villains, with the latter being the more popular one. However, there have been a couple of moments that idealize what a hero should be. 

Both Mirio and Deku say that a hero should always act to save a crying little girl in front of them. 

Twice says that someone who helps their friends can’t possibly be a bad guy. These are simple heroic ideals that we see Hawks a heroic character completely fail to live up to in the coming chapters. 

Twice is hardly acting like a villain in this scenario. He’s acting nothing like the threat to hero society that Hawks imagined him to be with his great ability to create almost an entire army of duplicates with his quirk. He is crying, and begging for help, like a person would. 

Hawks is faced with a person crying because someone they trusted, and wanted to be friends with and treated like a person betrayed them, and used them as a tool to complete their bojective all along. Hawks is faced with not a villain, but a victim. 

Hawks is, slaughtering copies of the true companions that Twice does everything for. Attacking a person who is helpless and crying out in frustration. Coldly deciding to kill someone who says out loud that the only reason they want to fight is for the happiness of their friends. 

In a traidtional sense Twice is the one fighting with Nakama power, and Hawks is the character who the power of Nakama has failed to reach and is instead  cutting those same friends down. Despite the fact that Twice is a terrorist and a murderer, and Hawks is a hero who has wholly dedicated his life to saving others the framing of the situation has been entirely flipped. It’s Hawks who looks like the villain, and Twice who looks like the hero struggling to fight for his friends. 

This is where the nuance of the series kicks in. Hero and villains are not strictly defined roles, they’re only called that because hero society dictates they are. 

One of the first things that Shigaraki says in the series is that heroes using violent suppression in order to defeat villains is just something that creates more violence in the end. Something which All Might pointedly refuses to listen to, accusing Shigaraki of just being a bad person who enjoys violence. Ironically this is something Shigaraki is utterly dehumanized by and accused of over, and over, and over again.

However as we learn more of Shigaraki’s story we learn that Shigaraki was a kid with heroic ambitions, who was failed by society at every level. The reason he’s violent is because he was exposed to violence again and again as a kid, his violent impulses were literally beaten into them. 

The black and white morality of hero society blames victims for falling, and then insists the reason that they fell in the first place was because they were bad people. Hero society again and again intentionally lets people fall and then villainizes them rather than sympathizing with them as victims. 

If you fall its entirely on your own, and also a sign of your character. You have to get back on your feet on your own merits. If you fail to make it back into society than it’s not the fault of society, you’re just a bad person for becoming a victim in the first place. 

Mirio and Deku both believe that you should always help a crying girl in pain like Eri, but at the same time if they had not saved her at that exact moment, if they had let her grow up like Shimura Tenko grew up, to develop violent tendencies, to act like anything other than the perfect crying victim then she would have been left behind the same way Shimura was, the same way Twice is at this exact moment. 

In a society overflowing with heroes, there are people who are ignored and do not get saved. Shimura Tenko as a five year old, wonder if it’s his fault for killing his family that no one came to save him. Already by that time he’s internalized the idea that a bad child like him doesn’t deserve to get saved. 

Twice even says the same as well. In hero society only the good and the virtuous get saved. People like twice who are broken are left behind and forgotten, because it’s more convenient for society to function that way. 

I relate this idea to Albert Camus, the fall. A book that explores the idea of who is guilty for society, and comes to the conclusion that everyone is guilty. 

The Fall operates on the premise that all are guilty. This is indeed a classic argument for Camus, but the narrator of this novel goes so far as to suggest that all men are murderers, even if only by accident or through negligence (like not saving others from death). Since the novel was written in the aftermath of WWII, this is a particularly poignant argument. This sort of "universal guilt" makes any attempt at judgment completely hypocritical. A guilty man condemning another man of guilt is absurd by nature.

Everyone who participates in society creates it actively. I’ll explore this idea with Hawks more in a minute, but related to who is responsible for hero society it’s important to look at the conflict of heroes and villains. The heroes themselves blame the villains for all the ills of hero society. However, it’s important to remember who holds all the power. Sure, there are outliers like Re-Destro who are corporate millionaires with a vast infleunce, but for the most part all of the ruling power in society belongs to the heroes. While the villains are for the most part, homeless people, outlaws, with little resources or influence of society as a whole. Villains are outcasted and blamed for society, despite being you know... outcasts, people outside of society.

Which is why Villains themselves will always be nothing more than a symptom. Even the League of Villains themselves is just a rebellion. They’re not rebelling for the hell of it, they were created in direct response to problems already presence in society, and they demand that society address those problems. The ones who hold the real power over a corrupt system are heroes, villains are always going to be reactionary to that corrupt system. Sure, the answer might not be ‘destroy the entirety of society to make it better’, but the League are also the only people trying to do anything. Only the outsiders and the outcasts seem to be aware that something is wrong in the first place, because they’re the most directly affected by it. 

So, like Camus we are asked to consider who is really responsible for the fall of society? 

2. Twice and Hawks, to be an individual or member of society.

Which is why the way Hawks acts the past two chapters is so unheroic, even in accordance of the very loose ideas of what the story set up as what a hero is. Hawks isn’t trying to save Twice. He’s trying to save himself, his own cosncience, because he thinks it’s wrong to kill a “good person” like Twice. He’s acting to save Twice with no regards of what Twice’s wants and needs are. 

Rather than try to understand and sympathize with Twice, Hawks approaches him using his entire identity as a hero as a wall between them. He acts in the role of a hero, I am going to capture you the villain and put you in jail. Hawks makes this impersonal as possible and sinks into the role of being a hero, while Twice is still acting as Twice the person. 

However, Hawks only cares about saving Twice. Because Twice is the one he dubs as a good person and therefore worthy of being saved. He doesn’t care enough to empathize with the rest of the league, even though Twice cares more about his friends than his life. 

Which is what Twice explicitly calls out. That Hawks is not acting like a hero in this situation. He’s not acting selflessly. He’s not trying to save anyone. He’s only acting in ways that satisfy himself. Hawks is acting to reinforce his incorrect world view, that he has to be the one who makes sacrifices for the sake of a faceless majority, even if that person they’re sacrificing is crying and begging in front of them. 

Twice brings up the idea that Toga despite being a killer out for blood is also a person who was incredibly kind to him in a moment of weakness. Which is something we the reader know, that all of the members of the league of villains, violent as they are are still people, who are capable of both good an bad. Most of the league members didn’t even fall becausethey were bad, but because of abusive circumstances, parental abuse for Toga, Shigaraki,  failure of the social safety net in Twice’s case, victim of societal prejudgice in Spinner’s case. 

What Twice suggests is that all of these people that hero society leaves behind are still capable of good, capable of selflessness. Shigaraki is again and again called one of the most violent characters in the series who only cares about destroying for its own sake, and yet he’s the one who gave Twice a home. 

The league faces this accusation constant times. That the reason they do crime is because they’re bad people, that they don’t think about how other people feel at all, that’s the only explanation for why they would strike out against society. 

And time and time again we’re shown the opposite is the case. Dabi thinks about the heroes he’s killed so much he feels himself slowly going insane. Shigaraki feels such intense remorse for killing his family in what was a total accident, that not only does he take all the blame on himself for years, but he also purposefully triggers himself with their dead hands so he’ll never escape from the guilt of killing them. These are all people fully aware of the bad they are committing underneath their actions, but also who believe otherwise that they have no choice but to do these bad things. 

The league of villains has to rebel, because the response of hero society to all of their damage has always been the same thing. Exactly what Hawks does this chapter. 

Shut up and take it. Hawks is telling Twice to lie down and stop fighting against him because 1) he doesn’t want to kill Twice and it would be easier on his conscience, and 2) this is what Hawks has always done. 

Hawks always chooses to sacrifice himself. He always chooses the good of society over what he personally wants. He’ll always choose the worst option for himself if it means he can do better for others. Hawks in the face of Twice’s individualist rebellion can’t really handle it, because Hawks has never fought back against his own shackles of society. 

His plan has always been if he does everything the hero commission tells him to do then... that will somehow help him achieve his society where heroes have more freedom and agency in their lives. I’ve been over Hawks’ backstory a few times, but it makes sense for Hawks to be caught in this negative feedback loop. He’s been conditioned to fight all alone and achieve everything on his own by sacrificing himself his entire life, he’s basically had the ideals of a self sacrificing hero forced onto him. His personality has been intentionally molded to heroics, the same way that Shigaraki was molded to become a villain.

Which is why when Hawks gets someone who genuinely sympathizes with him and treats him like a person, and suggests to hawks something that he has never heard in his entire life, that he can rely on other people, that he can trust other people, that he can let other people help him Hawks genuinely does not get it. 

He chooses to fall back on what his abusers have taught him, rather than to trust Twice’s genuine good will. Which is once again common abuse victim behavior, a lot of abuse victims regress and fall into bad patterns because their abuse is what they know, whereas healthy relationships and boundaries are unknown to them. 

Twice even says so, that Hawks actions are pitaible here. How sad is it that hero or villain, nobody in the world trusts Hawks? He doesn’t have a friend on either side now, and he’s trying to kill the one person who sympathized with him genuinely as a person because Hawks doesn’t know what to do with that sympathy, or escape the cage he’s been trapped in his entire life. 

The difference between Hawks and Twice is that while they have both been wronged by society, Twice fights back with his legitimate grievance against society, whereas Hawks will never fight back. He chooses to let himself suffer if that means that the faceless majority will be spared his suffering. It seems like Hawks is making the sefless choice here, but in choosing not to fight back he’s also repeating the evils of hero society. 

You can see it in his monologue to Twice. The one hero that Hawks idealizes the most, is one of the most abusive members of hero society. An abuser who did to his own children what he hero commission did to Hawks. Hawks holds up to an ideal the most toxic element of hero society, the idea that heroics is just numbers. Hawks runs his hero agency the exact same way Endeavor does, efficiency, above all else, it’s just Hawks cares more about saving people and Endeavor cares more about catching villains and resolving cases. His ideal hero is somebody impersonal like Endeavor, who puts efficiency and speed above all else. Hawks’ goal is to be the most effecitve tool possible.

In Hawks’ choice to side with hero society however, we see him passively repeating the abuse that was done to him. 

Hawks encourages Endeavor of all people to train his interns hard. Because the hero commission is planning to use a bunch of fifteen year olds as their backup in case their main plan fails. Which means Hawks is actively encouraging what was done to him, (being robbed of his childhood and raised as a child soldier solely for the purpose of being a hero) to be done to the UA students as well. He doesn’t really interact well with Bakugo, someone who is also a child prodigy who has been affected all of their lives due to the fact that he had a quirk suited for being a hero. 

By choosing to passively do what he’s told, Hawks ends up perpetuating Hero Society’s ills. Hawks’ offer to Twice isn’t really one that will genuinely save him (ie guaranteeing the safety of him and all of his friends if they stop violently resisting) but rather he offers Twice the chance to conform so he can fit in with society’s ideals. Just like Hawks always takes the choice to conform himself rather than try to be an individual in any way. 

Which is why we finally get to Twice’s accusation. That Hawks isn’t acting heroic. He’s not trying to save the person in front of him that’s crying and begging for help. 

Why does Dabi get the jump on Hawks? It’s because Hawks’ wings aren’t meant to be used as weapons like this. he always trained himself so that his feathers could hear even the faintest cries for help. Suddenly Twice is literally screaming for help in front of him, and Hawks ignores him. He’s no longer acting like a hero, and so therefore his wings that can hear anything are now deaf, just like Hawks is trying to be by repressing everything else but his mission. 

3. Dabi and Hawks 

Once again there’s a point of foiling here. Twice and Hawks are both loners to their respective organizations. Dabi never tells other people what his intentions are and he acts with a begrudging sense of teamwork at best. 

As much as Dabi complains that he doesn’t care about Shigaraki’s backstory, that he doesn’t want to play friends with the rest of the league, he still in the end gives his absolute all in the fight against Deka City, and fights to the point where he’s literally burning himself alive on the inside because the elague asked him to. 

Hawks and Dabi are by nature very two faced people. They are both made up of two individuals, the person they present to the world and everyone around them, and then their real self which they choose to keep hidden. 

They are also total opposites in how they present themselves. Dabi acts like he’s callous and cold on the surface. He pretends to be someone who enjoys killing, when Snatch accuses him of being behind a string of murders he basically laughs it off. 

However, we’re shown in private that he’s the opposite of his public persona. Rather than someone who can laugh off what he’s done, and enjoys being a villain he thinks about what he’s done so much, with so much remorse that he feels himself going crazy. This is the opposite of how Hawks shows himself. In public Hawks is a very likable, carefree guy, who is totally dedicated to saving other people. Whereas when he reveals what is his “true self” in front of Twice, he plays the role of ruthless villain the same way that Dabi does with snatch. He even goes so far as to taunt Twice for trusting him. 

The way they both present themselves is totally reversed, Hawks plays the good guy while deep down he considers himself to be the conniving bad guy. Dabi plays the bad guy while deep down he considers himself to be a very conscience heavy person who knows what he’s doing is wrong but is trying to accomplish some kind of good. 

There’s a reason that Hawks’ entire face is shown in shadow in this cene. Hawks is incredibly repressed. He represses his ruthless side, in order to play not only the hero, but the helpless tool of the hero commission. The reason he’s shown in shadow is because his repressed side is coming out. All of his cold caluclation, the fact that he doesn’t trust a single person, all of these are traits that Hawks himself is unaware of but are nonetheless part of who he is as a person. 

Dabi expresses what Hawks represses. Hawks has all the bad traits under the surface to appear good, Dabi wears all of his bad traits on the surface to appear bad. They really are inversions of one another, and they’re also both fixated around the ideal of heroes. 

There’s a lot of debate over whether Hawks or Dabi gave the narration line “It’s the fault of us scummy heroes” it actually doesn’t matter who said it, the reason it was drawn over both of them is because it applies to both of them. Hawks and Dabi are both people who were failed by, and even manipulated by scummy heroes in their life, Dabi by Endeavor, and Hawks by the Hero Commission. When Hawks even admits that heroes were not what he thought they were, and he feels trapped and used by them to Twice the image that appears in his mind is Endeavor’s back turning away from them. 

Dabi and Hawks have been wronged by heroes, and raised and molded to be heroes as child soldiers and they both keep this idealized image of a way heroes should act in their heart. However, both of them have completely opposite responses, Dabi rebels, and Hawks submits. 

They have opposite reactions to their abuse, Dabi externalizing by trying to change the world around him (persecuting scummy heroes who don’t fit his stadndards) and Hawks internalizes he tries to change the world by changing himself. Dabi punishes others for not reaching the ideal of perfect hero that he holds, whereas Hawks tries to change himself and tries to become the perfect hero that is always selfless, and always chooses to save the most people possible. 

Neither of these are healthy choices, and both of them are destructive. You can’t even argue that Hawks’ choices only harm himself anymore, because we see him literally choosing to murder a person that is crying and begging in front of him, because he’s convinced himself he doesn’t have any choices in this situation. Just because you don’t make a choice for yourself doesn’t mean you’ll never harm someone, in fact your refusal to act on your own will can lead you to do something you don’t want to do and being unable to stop yourself which is clearly the case for Twice and Hawks. 

The one difference between Dabi and Hawks however, is the people surrounding them. Dabi is antisocial, always acts like he’s not a member of the group, and yet the people around Dabi choose to trust him anyway. 

Hawks and Dabi say a lot of things about who they are, but then reveal who they are in their actions. This too, is where they are inverses of each other. Dabi constantly insults his friends, doesn’t act like he’s a part of the group, says he doesn’t trust them, but ultimately when the chips are down Dabi gives his all to fighting with the league of villains. He complains about it the whole time, but he does it. Part of the reason why Dabi ultimately sides with them is because Shigaraki does give Dabi this trust to go off and do his own thing as long as he comes back at the end of the day. 

Dabi could have easily turned out to be someone just like Hawks, not interested in the goals of the League of Villains as a whole, and instead just there to use them for his own benefit. I believe his actions in the latest chapter show that he’s not. Dabi goes out of his way to save Twice, because Twice actually is a comrade to him no matter how much Dabi pretends otherwise. 

Now we don’t know if Dabi ultimately invited Hawks into the league knowing that he would betray them, or what his plans are, but ultimately his actions are the opposite of Hawks. Hawks the hero chooses to kill Twice in this scene. Dabi, the villain chooses to save Twice. Dabi is in a sense fighting for his comrades in this scene, where Hawks is fighting against the idea of camraderie and trust. He even, literally kills the symbols of all of twice’s comrades when he pulls duplicates of them. Hawks and Dabi are very similiar people, but in different environments, Dabi exists in ane environment of trust, Hawks in one where no trust exists, and because of that Dabi is able to make better choices in the moment. 

We see Hawks’ visor shatter in this scene just like it did in the pro hero arc, and it’s important to remember what the signfiicance of that visor shattering means. His visor is basically his mask he wears at all time. The thought he expresses when his visor shatters is what is underneath the mask, that he’s not good enough. 

Hawks decision to always sacrifice comes from his own sense of inferiority. He doesn’t feel like he’s enough to save the people he wants to save. The reason he doesn’t try sincerely to save Twice is because he doesn’t think he can. His self worth is so abysmally low. The reason that Hawks doesn’t try to fight back, to try to be a person, to do what he wants which is clearly not to hurt Twice is because Hawks himself has never been in an environment that sees him as a person. 

Which is why Dabi gets the upper hand on him. Hawks can make plans, he can act as ruthlessly as possible, but you can’t suppress yourself to the extent that Hawks does. Everything that’s suppressed will eventually come out. If suppression worked, Dabi wouldn’t have half of his body burned off, Twice wouldn’t be split in two, and Himiko wouldn’t have gone crazy with blood lust. What Hawks was suppressing was how much he did not want to hurt Twice in that moment. He wasn’t being true to who he really was, and what he wanted, and as Dabi calls him out for sentiment tripped him up.

What Hawks needs to do is ironically, not learn to be a better hero, but learn to be like Dabi. If he would only allow himself to be true to himself then he would have been able to save Twice in that moment. Hawks, Twice, Dabi, all three of them are good people but the current hero society doesn’t allow them to be good. They all have to learn to fight against society to be the individuals they want to be. 

[foursideharmony]

The Cat, The Prince, and the Doorway to Imagination (Chapter 1)

Summary: In the wake of the events of Putting Others First, Roman is desperate to feel like the hero, even if for just an afternoon. He invites the core Sides on an adventure in the Imagination, patterned after one of the great works of children's literature that features heroes and villains. But stories in the Imagination can take on a life of their own, and this one seems bent on pushing Roman to be the villain... 

Pairings: Platonic/familial LAMP/CALM, Platonic/familial DLAMPR

Content Warnings: None so far

Word Count: 1463

Read on AO3: here

“I thought I was your hero.”

Roman’s own words echoed hollowly in his memory. The fact was that the…the occurrence with Deceit—Janus—had just been the culmination of a long, slow crisis of purpose for the prince. It wasn’t just the wedding vs. callback dilemma; it had been going on for months. Thomas’s cringing recollection of past phases he had gone through had gotten him wondering whether his current life path would eventually be added to that pile. There had been the encounter with the old friend who didn’t seem to think YouTube was a proper career. Before that had been the dispute with Logan over whether developing his artistic career was even valuable for its own sake, or just a way to keep the lights on and the fridge stocked. In fact…

It seemed to Roman that the period of misgivings had actually begun when Deceit was introduced to Thomas in the first place. Roman himself had inadvertently drawn the connection between acting and deception, and for all Logan’s reassurances to the contrary, a seed of doubt remained.

If lying was wrong, and acting was a form of lying, and Roman was the linchpin of Thomas’s acting abilities…did that make Roman the bad guy all along?

“I thought I was your hero.”

Was that why Thomas seemed to be hitting so many blocks when it came to his passions? Had Roman tainted his own function?

What did it even mean to be a hero?

It had been so simple when they were young. A hero was someone who helped others, preferably by doing flashy, impressive things. Little Thomas had loved the idea of being a hero, and Roman—just Creativity, back then—had dutifully provided him with a portfolio of daydreams. In the fantasies Roman constructed, Thomas could be a firefighter, charging into a burning building in order to rescue a puppy. Or he could be a sheriff in the Old West, rounding up bandits and cattle rustlers. Or he could be a superhero, foiling bank robberies and catching crashing airplanes. But his favorite kind of hero to be was the fairytale prince with a magic sword, defeating wicked witches and saving fair maidens from dragons. He had sent his Creativity to tap that well so many times that the Side himself took on the form of the prince.

As Thomas grew, his ideas about heroism became more complicated, the focus of his imagination shifted, and Roman’s job changed drastically, to cover his Center’s artistic ambitions (and in time, his romantic ones). He hadn’t minded for the longest time, because Patton had been there to handle the new complexities. If Roman’s understanding of right and wrong was a floodlight sweeping across an open field, then Patton’s was a fog lamp, cutting through the gray haze of moral ambiguity. Roman had always been perfectly content to follow Patton’s lead, knowing that the father figure would never steer them wrong.

But now…Patton was sharing control of the fog lamp with Janus, whom Roman had always understood to be one of the greatest villains of Thomas’s mind. Janus embodied dishonesty, selfishness, temptation to evil—exactly the traits a true hero should reject. The gray haze was where he thrived the most; how could they possibly trust him to help guide Thomas through it?

Roman just wanted to understand.

“I thought I was your hero.”

And until he could understand, he just wanted a break from it all. A day where he could just follow his bliss without worrying that he was either playing into evil’s hands, or pushing Thomas to the breaking point. A day where he could just be the hero, and know that he was the hero, and that he wasn’t about to be sucker-punched by all these nuances.

A day like the old days.

He wanted—he needed—a simple adventure, one where good and evil were obvious, and he was the leader of the good guys, and they were able to beat the bad guys with a certain amount of peril and excitement but no actual doubt that they could do it and that it was the right thing to do. And he needed…he needed his fellow Sides (his fellow light Sides) to be involved, so that they would see him as the hero. He needed that. He could set it all up in advance and take them through it, smooth as cream. And they would all have a great time and the other three would lavish praise on him for treating them to something so beautiful.

And as long as he was revisiting Thomas’s childhood understanding of the world, why not go all the way and model his adventure on a story Thomas had loved in childhood? Not a Disney one, for a change…something a bit more intentionally meaningful than that.

He knew just the thing.

Roman set aside his current project and marched himself into the Imagination, intent on his mission.

*****

Hours later, the prince burst into the common area, practically vibrating with anticipation. Four heads swiveled to notice him. He took in the scene in an instant: Logan, standing at an easel with a large whiteboard propped upon it, bearing the heading “WORK/LIFE BALANCE” and a number of bullet points scrawled in three colors of dry-erase marker; Patton and Janus (ugh) sitting on the sofa nearby, engaged in relaxed discussion with the Logical Side and each other; Virgil at the other end of the sofa, headphones clamped over his ears, keeping a wary eye on the proceedings across the room while simultaneously scrolling through something on his phone.

Roman faltered, uncertain of how to begin.

Janus sighed loudly through his teeth—and it was a sigh, not exactly a serpentine hiss—and proclaimed “Mercy me, look at the time.” (There was no clock within his line of sight.) “We’ve been at this for so much longer than I expected while making hardly any progress. I’d best be on my way so we can pick it up again later once our heads have cleared.”

“Aw, Janus, you don’t have to go just because Roman’s here,” said Patton.

“Perhaps not, but I prefer to,” Janus said, shooting Roman a look before spinning on his heel and exiting the room. He assiduously swerved around Roman on the lower steps as he passed, making no physical contact.

“For the record,” Logan said, dismissing the whiteboard and easel, “we have actually made excellent progress in our discussion. I suspect that Janus was engaging in his trademark falsehoods.”

Roman squirmed internally a little. So did that mean…Janus didn’t prefer to leave? Then why—

“So!” Patton said, shifting the room back toward a chipper mood. “What’s going on, kiddo?”

Roman found his voice. “I would like to invite you three…on a quest! Well, more of an adventure than a quest, if you want to get technical. Please come! The story is all set up and we just have to run through it!”

Logan frowned slightly as he often did when considering new information. “Approximately how long do you expect it to take?”

“Hardly any time at all,” Roman stated with absolute confidence. “It has this sort of time…warp…thingie, built in. We go into the Imagination, have the adventure, and come back out at the moment just after we left.” No one replied, so he forged ahead. “And it should be totally safe! A little scary or sad in certain parts, maybe but I can personally guarantee a 100% happy ending.”

“A happy ending sounds pretty good,” said Patton.

“My principal objection has been eliminated as well,” Logan agreed.

Virgil heaved to his feet. “Sure, why not. Got nothing else to do tonight.”

Roman felt his heart swell with pride and affection. It was working! This was going to be amazing! “This means a lot to me, guys. Really. Come on, then! I can't wait to show you!”

He led them upstairs and to his room, where the doorway to the Imagination had been transformed for the occasion. It was always an ornate double door, made of dark-stained hardwood and covered with carvings of fantastic creatures, but now instead of being flush with the wall, it was part of a tall cabinet, a couple of feet deep and smelling faintly of cedar and camphor.

Roman took hold of the door handles and paused theatrically, looking over his should. “Do not be alarmed by what you see inside.” He threw the doors wide, revealing an assortment of fur coats.

“What is this,” Virgil scoffed playfully, “a wardr...wait a sec.” His eyes widened. “Wardrobe full of fur coats...time warp thingie...dude. Are you taking us to Narnia?”

Roman nodded, beaming. “I'm taking you to Narnia.”

[constablegoo]

@astralglam​​​​ filed a report .

mint: does your muse view themself as virtuous & moral? what do these words mean to them?

OHOHO. hey hi ily. this is, of course, one of odo’s deepest ongoing battles, and the moment he stops questioning it is the moment he becomes a founder.

the founders grant themselves god status.  GOD!  status. they just reach out and pluck it. Within their range of power, the founders become unquestionably Just and Virtuous and Moral, their Word becomes Law, it becomes “the way things are” and “fact” and they create their own reality stemming from thousands of years of intense xenophobia. they’re above it all. gods don’t make mistakes, right? sure, maybe changelings were hunted and feared ages ago but they still fear it, and that drive for Order and Control over the galaxy is now encoded into their genes and they place a companion structure into the genes of every other species they control, subjugating them to the founders’ own cozy position as Gods, or-- ‘gods’. the founder (i rly don’t like saying “female” founder so she’s THE Founder. she speaks for the link.) makes it quite clear on many occasions that the founders are not here to negotiate. they fully intend to control EVERYTHING at any cost. it is absolutely  chilling  when she cuts garak down with: “they’re dead. you’re dead. cardassia is dead.” and draws the line between the dominion and everyone else miles deep into the sand.

that same genetic coding is one of the first semi-concrete things odo comes to understand about himself and, horribly, he’s landed into conditions under the occupation that very easily could have taken advantage of a less meticulous or stubborn changeling. no, odo says initially (and incorrectly), i am not bajoran** and i am not cardassian and i stand apart from either side of this conflict and so i am bound to PURE Virtue and Morality because of it. he can’t be bribed or bought or won over, and he won’t allow for anything less than a kind of incorruptibility. this effectively wins him allies (and enemies) on both sides, however -- that’s just not how the universe works. the truth of it is that no matter how much he tells himself he is not a part of their regime, his working with the cardassians makes him a collaborator in that he has then recognized their authority and ultimately upheld their legitimacy, even if he never agreed with the cause, even if he was also on some level a casualty of it. at some point when he moves past ‘contract’ investigation and begins to work permanently, he falls into the trap of thinking Order is the same thing as Justice... huge yikes. in that moment he becomes a true and apathetic villain, but he’s subsequently haunted by the resulting execution of innocents. it shakes something up in him. years pass and he still wonders, what other mistakes has he made? what other less direct consequences of his ‘neutral’ arbitration exist? he (and everyone around him) has to live without really knowing, and it’s a constant reminder to him of the power he holds and it informs his understanding of what Real (and imperfect) Justice Means.

**sidenote but later in s7 he introduces himself as ‘from bajor’ and AAAAAA. its good. very good. yeah, you’re bajoran, odo. he gets it now.

Mirror odo is really the ultimate example of an odo having taken those instincts to extremes in an environment that rewarded him for them -- there is no guilt there, and even a sadistic kind of pleasure in it. i’d argue that gaia!odo is another, less extreme example of an odo who’s been alone too long and lost sight of things when he single-mindedly (and against kira’s wishes) chooses her (one person) over 8000. like holy shit? NOT ok? uhhuhhhhfff. anyway. very fortunately, neither of these are OUR odo, but act as great foils to reflect on the worst (bastard cop) qualities or potential qualities of our goo pushed to highly visible extremes, which star trek just loves to do all the time.

but regular/prime odo isnt exactly a rule-follower, either. throughout his life, he frequently takes things into his own hands, uses his abilities to his advantage, spies, wiretaps, eavesdrops, and yes, harasses [quark] sometimes -- he develops his own set of values and personal rules and follows them; even starfleet comes in wary of him and how he operates and hes on thin ice. but because of possibly his most redeeming quality, odo is able to adapt those self-ordained values toward something increasingly honest: for how rigid he can be in personality, he is HIGHLY influenced by the world around him,  listens hard  to what his friends and allies have to say and adapts that feedback; this allows him to evolve and grow and take important matters to heart. he becomes more flexible and better able to hold onto what’s really most important after locking into a decision, because above all else, he is passionately committed to doing the Right Thing. he PLEADS with himself in things past, “your job is to find the truth, not obtain convictions.” by his tendency to push back against what is laid down as ‘law’ (something he becomes more and more aware of and effective at doing) as not always being good or right, or necessarily even creating Order (the thing he’s driven genetically to want), he prepares himself to challenge the most deadly voice of authority -- that of his own people.

so... yes and no. odo’s role and persona as ‘your average security chief’ might dictate that he be virtuous and moral, but he so obviously can’t fit the same exact mold as others in his position -- he has these insane abilities and this mind-consuming nature and it requires he tread with extra care, but he also has a potential for more adaptive, more nuanced morality. he has to build up his own definitions to the words, constantly examine and tease and test them, or else he risks straying too far from what he really wants to achieve -- harmony, honest justice. he has to accept that he’s a part of the system he operates in (not, in fact, alone or isolated! something he actually wants), and know that he is not exempt from making the wrong choice, just like anybody else.

carnation: what is your muse’s relationship with their gender? how do they express or not express this relationship?

ODO AND GENDER!!! i love odo and gender. let’s take this one step at a time. he starts out as an amorphous glob -- he has no gender. there’s no basis for assignment, no culture of difference, and all the goos are goo. odo takes on the shape of the first living thing he sees / the thing he sees most frequently: dr mora. he adopts an image of masculinity from mora and he adopts the hair. that’s about it, and it’s pretty much arbitrary. (maybe the hair is simple enough for his skills, too?) the next people odo meets are also these very masculine, military, cardassian leaders, so again -- this is all he knows! this is neutrality. i imagine it takes him some time to work out what the differences in gender are, and sex, and orientation, romantic vs sexual stuff, all of that. it’s all got cultural baggage he knows nothing about and does not experience, and he’s also dealing with multiple, clashing cultures to boot. since he doesnt have any strong inherent leaning, he simply opts out. he/him becomes his default because thats where he started, thats what he’s been able to successfully present and how people know him, and, terrifyingly, under cardassian rule, it probably offered a bit of safety, too, which was obviously something he needed at the time.

way way way way way down the line in season seven, odo asks kira to (paraphrasing) look at me. what do you see? [i see you.] but this is NOT me, this is only a shape ive assumed in order to fit in. she says, yes, i know that. but this is who you have chosen to be. “a man. a good and honest man.” (i knowww shes not really talking abt gender here BUT) its hard as a trans person not to read the metaphor. he’s chosen to express SOMETHING. he’s chosen something other than what he was given (neutrality) and although he doesnt personally buy into what ‘masculinity’ “should be” (ie the ferengi, smh) / would certainly not argue he doesnt feel non-binary, this is how he has presented all his life, its how hes been treated, and it is what he has chosen to adhere to. there’s a choice in that, kira’s right, and now it reflects something about him.

parallel this, i’ll mention the “female” founder again bc of course there is no discernable reason for her to have a gender -- other than to appeal (im not talking sexually here although there’s,, obviously weird shit happening with the link... yike) to odo in the sense that until that point odo has lived with “gendered” individuals and, i think importantly, kira is with them when they first meet. i think its safe to say the founder saw her, figured she was a friend/ally to odo or at least familiar to him, and took her general representation to appeal as a friend/ally.

otherwise... why, honestly? the founder’s got NO love of humanoids lmao why would she bother.

anyway i’d like to see odo experiment a bit. because when hes safe, he can!! aside from his own doubts and insecurities about shapeshifting, at some point he really has no reason not to, at least a little bit. really, it should just be another thing to practice, much like becoming a convincing rock or a leaf, its just that there are other significances in the cultures around him. i’d just like to see him loosen up a little. have fun. grow ur hair out a bit, odo, why are u still looking like ur terrible dad.

[c-is-for-circinate]

I've been trying to figure out why I dont like Caduceus and your last meta reply got me closer to figuring it out. Like, I've been trying to like him, or at least figure why I dont, and describing him as 'a good person who doesnt have the self awareness to realize hes a jerk' I think got close to my issue with him, so thanks for the Good Meta

This is in response to this post, which I know some people agreed with very strongly and which made some other people very upset.  I’m glad it clicked with you, at least, and that it helped clarify some Cad stuff for you!

I think that a very big thing about Taliesin’s characters across the board, for me, is how intensely judgy they have the capacity to be.  In many ways, Caduceus is less judgmental than Percy or Molly, which is a fascinating thing to think about.  And I have found that fascinating since pretty much my second or third episode of Critical Role, because so much of that judgment tends to be couched in, ‘I judge you for not accepting other people the way I think you should’.  Percy loves Keyleth but also thinks she’s naive, too idealistic about what people ought to be rather than acknowledging and planning for the flaws he’s sure he knows they have.  Molly dresses and talks and walks and presents himself in such a flamboyant way specifically to elicit reactions, specifically so he can decide who to write off completely and not worry about any more.  In both cases it’s this super-interesting, incredibly relatable picture of a person who judges other people for their judgments.  

Because Critical Role is such a long-form show, we got to see Percy be proven right and be proven wrong, we got to see him smug and we got to see him humble, and we got to see a lot of different angles on both his standards (what other people ought to be doing) and his stubbornness (how ready he was to dismiss people who didn’t meet them).  Because we lost Molly so early, we only really got to start scratching the surface of his assumptions and certainties, and one of my biggest regrets is that we didn’t get to explore them so much more.  In both cases, that stubborn sureness--I know how the world works, better than anybody around me--was one of my favorite parts of the character.  It’s such an interesting flaw, because it wasn’t always detrimental.  Both Percy and Molly were often right, or at least they acted in line with their assumptions and the universe responded how they expected, and the team benefited from it.  Both of them had a certain amount of ‘and it’s our job to be decent to other people’ as part of that worldview, which really helped in making them likable.  Both of them made sense, which led to the (for me) really great cognitive experience of, “okay, I agree with this character, but also I don’t think they’re the ultimate authority they believe themself to be!  but I do think they’re right!  but maybe they shouldn’t be so sure they’re right!”  I find internal narrative conflict like that extremely compelling, and in particular the exploration of being judgmental about other people’s judgment resonates with me a lot.

So I’ve been waiting for cracks and criticisms with Caduceus, because I suspected from very early on that he, too, would be Extremely Sure He Understands How the World Works At All Times.  I have been looking for the places he Knows He’s Right, and I’ve been eating them up.

Cad’s certainties are completely different than Percy’s and Molly’s, but once again, it’s incredibly difficult to say he’s wrong.  He believes in fate--well, if you declare that everything that happens was supposed to happen, how is it ever possible to say he’s wrong?  He believes Melora is watching and guiding and wants for him to do things--it’s D&D, she literally is watching (and if she happens to be a lot less invested in any specific outcome than Caduceus thinks, she’s not about to tell him so).  He believes he has a job, has a purpose.  Because it’s D&D, because it’s a story, because the story needs to go places and as the PCs it’s their job to do things to get there, on a very real meta level he’s literally correct.  

He thinks that his job and his purpose is to help people--and how can we say he’s wrong?  How can we say he shouldn’t try to be a good person, try to help?  And he’s doing his best, and his best so often does help, and when it doesn’t, then it’s not his fault because there are other circumstances.  It’s almost impossible to argue with that.  Objectively, Caduceus is doing his best.  Objectively, in many cases it is helpful.

And yet, that doesn’t mean that Caduceus objectively knows the best way to help in every situation--which even he readily admits.  It doesn’t mean Caduceus necessarily knows the “best” way to help even in the situations where he is helpful.

Because right, the other thing about D&D is, Caduceus fundamentally cannot be the Sole Correct Authority on Everything, no matter how much sense his sureness makes.  He literally can’t be, because Tal is one of eight people at that table, and he’s not the one running the world.  He can be absolutely justified in being mad at Nott, which he absolutely is, and it still isn’t a universal truth that Caduceus Is Right and Nott Is Wrong.  There are no universal truths at that table.  Not even Matt has universal truths, not about what characters think or feel or do, not about moral absolutism.

(I’m someone who gets really twitchy around people who are Extremely Sure.  I’ve known a disproportionate number of them in real life, and I’ve got very specific instinctive skills for not pissing them off that I occasionally wish I hadn’t had to develop.  Part of turning from a conflict-averse 20-year-old into a grown-ass adult on my part has involved learning not to automatically agree that the universe must work a certain way, just because a very smart, very sure person who makes sense says so.  Part of it’s involved learning not to be that very sure person myself.  

I think I grab at moments when Caduceus very clearly isn’t 100% correct because of that.  I love the fact that, in Critical Role, we have this multi-layered, many-voiced story proving that even if a character is right, they’re not necessarily the bearer of Objective Universal Truth.  Rather than a story where it feels like the author and the universe are trying to make me agree with one person, it’s a story where a character can be right and not right from a thousand different directions at the same time.  (Which, if nothing else, makes the story and the character feel so much safer to me.))

Caduceus is a little bit passive-aggressive sometimes, going back to Caduceus and Nott and the original discussion of that other post.  And, right, he wants to avoid conflict within the group so he doesn’t make a big deal out of certain things, and just like all of his opinions, it’s hard to say he’s wrong in that.  And he has every right and reason and justification for having emotions about some of the many very big things that have happened to him lately.  He’s right (he’s not wrong) about a lot of things.  He’s actually really good about recusing himself from situations where he doesn’t have the background or knowledge to be right at least to his own standards.

The thing that has me calling Caduceus a little childish is that he’s so utterly disinclined to acknowledge the possibility of nuance.  He knows how to help Fjord (he’s decided that he knows how to help Fjord), so he does.  He doesn’t know how to help Nott, so he doesn’t.  We’ve never seen him take so much as a moment to consider whether or not he’s right in his assessment of his ability to help in either case.  And yeah, to me that does feel a little immature.  It’s not that he’s got a philosophy and he sticks to it, it’s that he lacks the self-awareness to even acknowledge the blind spots it might give him, let alone try to amend them.

And that’s okay.  Acknowledging that Caduceus might possibly be a little bit of a hypocrite, a little judgy, a little wrong in his mental image of the universe and his place in it, makes him so much more interesting.  It makes him a person.  Not an infallible mouthpiece from God; not a perfect sage holding all the wisdom of the ages.  He’s a good person, trying to do his best.  

He’s a good character, because he’s an examination of how all these traits both hinder and sometimes help his attempts to be a good person.  Stubborn certainty got the M9 up on their feet after Yasha left, comforted Fjord away from U’kotoa, saved a tribe of giants.  Caduceus is multifaceted, and the game is multifaceted, and the very same characteristics can be great in one situation and a real problem in another, just like life.

[pass-the-bechdel]

Marvel Cinematic Universe: Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

Does it pass the Bechdel Test?

No.

How many female characters (with names and lines) are there?

Six (31.57% of cast).

How many male characters (with names and lines) are there?

Thirteen.

Positive Content Rating:

Three.

General Film Quality:

Entertaining, but overrated.

MORE INFO (and potential spoilers) UNDER THE CUT:

Passing the Bechdel:

Though Nebula and Gamora trade a couple of lines on a few occasions, they invariably speak about either Thanos, or Ronan. 

Female characters:

Meredith Quill.

Bereet.

Nebula.

Gamora.

Carina.

Nova Prime.

Male characters:

Mr Quill.

Peter Quill.

Yondu Udonta.

Ronan.

Korath.

Rocket.

Groot.

The Broker.

Drax.

Thanos.

The Collector.

Denarian Saal.

Denarian Dey.

OTHER NOTES:

Seatbelts on spaceships should really be mandatory.

Aahahahaha Peter has a woman on his ship whose name he can’t remember and whom he forgot was even there! Oh, it’s so funny and charming! What a classic misogynistic cliche intro! Garbage.

Rocket chastises Groot to ‘learn genders’, and I don’t think the irony of a raccoon (a species with almost no visually-evident sexual dimorphism) saying that to a tree-person (whose species - if sexually dimorphic at all - certainly has no reason to adhere to the humanoid/mammalian model) is deliberate. The other alien higher-life-forms they encounter in the film are pretty uniformly human in appearance (not much effort going on in the ‘alien’ department besides just painting people in bright colours), but lack of imagination from the creative team doesn’t mean that the binary gender system we’re accustomed to on Earth has any broad bearing on the galaxy at large. 

Aaahh, and now Peter is explaining his scars to Drax, with lovely stories of women he cheated on in the past because he’s ~such a stud~.

Thanos tells Ronan off for his dull political raging and whiny behaviour, but he’s sitting on a shiny floating throne himself, so I’m not sure he’s earned the right to criticise what other people have got going on.

Rocket suggests that Gamora trade sexual favours to get things from other prisoners, because we’re being Like That with this movie.

The Collector keeps female slave ‘assistants’, whom he evidently treats so nicely that Carina commits suicide by infinity stone at the first opportunity in order to escape him. We’re just doing so well for the ladies in this film.

As a great comedic beat, Drax calls Gamora a “green whore”. It’s both a shitty line, and nonsensical, since Drax isn’t supposed to comprehend metaphors and he has no reason to believe Gamora is a literal ‘whore’ (nor is he likely to use such a colloquial term, considering the calibre of his standard vocabulary). Basically, it’s a rubbish line from every angle, and all in service of a misogynistic joke. 

This film is a terrible waste of Djimon Hounsou.

Ronan is very theatrically over-the-top in his pronouncements, but Lee Pace does his damnedest to make it work on delivery.

Why does Ronan’s flashy purple infinity stone weapon not kill people when he shoots them with its energy blast? Obviously it would be terribly inconvenient to the story if he just casually killed all the good guys, but honestly. It doesn’t make much sense. They coulda at least pretended there was a reason.

The part of me that is susceptible to acts of heroism is affected by the guardians all joining hands to share the stone’s power. Not enough to feel that the film or the character relationships actually connected on an emotional level, but enough that this ending doesn’t feel totally unearned.

Drax patting Rocket’s head while he’s crying over Groot is a lovely touch. THAT is the strongest character interaction of the film.

So. I’ll be honest: I don’t like this movie. I don’t think it works. I think it’s essentially just a string of gimmicks, loosely attached, entertaining enough on the surface but with no meaningful depth to hold in the mind or keep the audience engaged once the credits kick in (it’s also much heavier on the sexist tropes than any other MCU film previous). I don’t hate it, but it doesn’t give me anything that I value in a viewing experience, it just happens and then ends and that’s it. And the reason it doesn’t work is, frankly, the writing is lazy as shit. It makes a sub-par effort at establishing character and thus relies heavily on cliches, it rarely bothers to incorporate relevant plot and motivations and such into the story at early points in order to generate narrative pay-off, and the world-building is hazy at best and, like the characterisation, trades predominantly on expectation of stereotypes rather than actually creating anything original.

Let’s start in the obvious place: with our lead character. I’m tempted to just say ‘Peter Quill is garbage’ and then move on, because it’s true and also, he’s just not complex or interesting at all, which is ridiculous because he’s got that whole ‘alien abduction’ origin story and there should be like, literally any layers at all to his story instead of him just being an obnoxious Lothario who makes pop culture references like that counts as having a personality. But, here we are. I’m not familiar with the comics so I don’t know if this is a common complaint from fans who can’t believe their boy got all his nuances deleted in favour of such an inane cliche, but if this is exactly what Quill is like in the comics too? That’s no excuse. Part of the magic of adaptation is the opportunity to improve upon things the source material did wrongly or badly. The Quill we’ve got here in this movie is such a bland template he’s almost functionally useless; he barely impacts the story at all, especially in any way that is relevant to his personality or skills and necessitates his presence (the dance-off distraction is the only good Quill moment, and it’s also one of the few inspired choices in the whole film). At the end of the day, Quill exists so that the story has a Main Guy, being a straight white American male (and making sure we all, excessively, know about it), because God forbid we be expected to identify with anyone else. I have heard people sing the praises of the film for ‘subverting cliche’ by not having Quill and Gamora actively hook up by the end, as if that somehow makes it better that every single other aspect of that tedious forced romance plot is still squarely in place and set to play out in future films (pro tip: if the main guy still ‘gets the girl’, only it doesn’t happen in the first film, that’s not subversive. That’s still playing the trope dead-straight). Quill not immediately being shown to be rewarded with sex is not some incredible feat of original storytelling, and it certainly doesn’t absolve him of being a dime-a-dozen pig of a character. If that’s the most ‘unexpected’ character element you can cite, you’re in dire straits. 

Now, I’m not gonna talk about every character individually, because in most cases there’s not much to talk about; Drax is the big warrior guy with the Fridged Family backstory we’ve seen so many times before it elicits zero (0) emotions now; Groot - though an interesting idea on paper - is basically just a Deus Ex Machina of whatever ability is most useful at any given moment, too ill-defined to have boundaries to his powers and conveniently not using his full potential whenever it would allow the characters to win too easily; and Rocket, well, Rocket is actually the only one of the leads who manages any meaningful nuance, which is unfortunate because most of the time he’s just used for sarcastic comic relief. The other character I am going to talk about is Gamora, and it’s because she’s a prime example of how this movie fails to establish things so that they feel like they actually matter or the character’s motivations are understandable, etc. We are introduced to Gamora when she overrides Ronan’s order for Nebula to retrieve the orb from Xandar; as it turns out, Gamora’s introductory moment (literally the first time we see her or hear her speak) is also her act of rebellion when she puts into action her plan to escape Thanos’ clutches and go her own way. The problem, obviously, is this is her introduction. We’ve never seen this character before, we’ve only just met Ronan and Nebula as well, Thanos is barely more than a concept, as is the planet Xandar and the politics around it. Nothing has been established yet about the life that Gamora occupies, so her ploy to escape it? Meaningless. We don’t even find out that Gamora was not planning to retrieve the orb for Ronan until she tells us so after she’s been arrested, and we have literally no reason to believe her because we don’t know her yet because her character has not been established at all. The traditional way to do this would be to show her in her old life, doing as she’s told and/or witnessing terrible things being done by her compatriots, and showing the audience that she has clear misgivings so that when she turns, we understand the context and can believe that’s a logical character decision based on established personality and morals (think of Finn’s introduction in The Force Awakens for a textbook example). Because no time or effort is ever invested in establishing who or how Gamora is, everything we know is delivered to us directly in dialogue, all tell, no show, and what could easily have been the film’s most dynamic character is instead hampered by having her development choked off to avoid spending time on letting her origins matter (despite the fact that those origins are essential to the plot).

On which note, lets talk bad guys. Thanos first, because there’s not much to say, and that’s not a good thing: Thanos is actually pointless to this film, the only reason he’s there is so that the MCU can use him to actual purpose in later films and his relation to Gamora and Nebula and the hunt for the Infinity Stones needs to be established first, but as with everything else this movie is terrible at establishing things effectively. Consequently, Thanos...just floats around on a chair, and then Ronan tells him to piss off and we don’t see or hear from him again in the rest of the film, and there’s no real effort made to integrate Thanos into the story so that he seems like anything other than a dead-end subplot cluttering up the movie for no reason. The closest Thanos gets to anything notable is when he chides Ronan for his boring politics, but even that is symptomatic of the wider problem with this movie’s lazy writing: Ronan’s whole character is essentially just another dull archetype - in this case, the extremist villain - and a solid nothing at all is done to establish his politics or what they mean, other than death for the people we’re told are the innocents. This is a problem with the world-building of the film as a whole, because none of the galaxy’s politics is fleshed out, there’s no context to why the Kree have a problem with Xandar or why we should care, and Xandar kinda gets treated like the centre of the universe but it also seems that’s just for convenience sake so that the plot can return to a previous location for the final act. Hell, I haven’t the faintest fucking idea where Earth is supposed to fit in to all of this, other characters talk about it so it’s clearly a known quantity to the rest of the galaxy, and yet no one knows any details about it and Quill never bothered to go back there for reasons which really SHOULD be explored and yet are not even mentioned (that would seem like some of that characterisation he doesn’t have), so I don’t know what we’re supposed to interpret from that. I’m not confident that the creative powers bothered to think about it, considering how much they didn’t think about anything else. This is a movie where ‘human, but painted’ passes for ‘alien’ and society apparently functions exactly like Earth, tedious misogyny and all, despite the absence of cultural sharing to explain the Earthlike similarities (and boy oh boy do I HATE the laziness of science fiction where everything being identical to Western culture on Earth is treated like it’s ‘just the natural order’ that should be expected to develop in any sentient species, instead of a complex system shaped by unique and varied influences over thousands of years and dependent upon environment, religion, philosophy, and a myriad of other factors not replicated in these poorly-drawn ‘alien’ cultures. I get that you’ve gotta employ at least some shorthand in order to get on and tell your story within time constraints, but come on. If you’re not gonna think about world-building at all, don’t set the story on an alien planet). Above all else, we know that Ronan is the villain because he’s painted (literally) as one; he’s the bad guy through visually-indicated othering, because we all know good guys don’t look like that (whereas most of Ronan’s enemies on Xandar are just regular-looking white folks. Curious...). Sure, Ronan is also introduced spouting rhetoric and then smashing a dude with a hammer, and that seems like villain behaviour, but that only reinforces the point: Ronan’s role is made unmistakable through age-old tropes, and it’s never explored or subverted or made dynamic from there. Like Quill as the ‘hero’, Ronan is a dime-a-dozen cliche.

So anyway. Lets talk plot. This one goes like so: Quill collects the orb from Morag, where he coincidentally runs into Korath and company who just-so-happen to be after the orb at the same time (how it is that multiple interested parties only just found out that one of the most powerful destructive forces in the universe is just chillin’ on this abandoned planet, they don’t bother to explain). Quill runs into both Gamora, and Rocket and Groot, the other parties happening to be after him for different reasons and coincidentally converging on Xandar at the same point. Everyone gets arrested and sent to prison, where they meet Drax and promptly escape and fly to Knowhere so that The Collector can exposition-dump about Infinity Stones. Drax calls Ronan up, just literally straight-up calls the bad guy to come and find them because I guess figuring out a normal plot reason for the villain to catch up with the good guys was too hard, so we had to go for extreme stupidity instead. Ronan gets the orb and goes back to Xandar to destroy it, and our main characters figure they should stop that, so they do. Roll credits. Now, you can make pretty much any story sound basic and stupid by breaking it down into its component pieces, but the important thing to note about this layout is how many convenient or just plain stupid aspects there are. There are almost no character meetings or story developments that come about logically through the sensible development of plot driven by character’s motivations springing from established narrative, etc, and part of that problem is absolutely because there’s so little established character/world-building to begin with, but it’s also because whatever there is tends to apparate when it is needed without any sign of existing beforehand; that is, very little of the story is seeded early on so that it can come to fruition later in a narratively satisfying fashion. The Nova Corps sentence the characters to the Kyln prison as if it’s a big scary concept, but we’ve never heard of it before so we have no reason to consider it trouble. Drax appears and other characters literally tell us why we should pay attention to him, instead of him being, say, pre-established (SUCH AS by having his family tragedy shown on screen as a dual-establishing event for him and Ronan, or something to which Gamora was privy in some way in order to intro her misgivings as discussed above, or even just having someone reference the legend of Drax the Destroyer BEFORE getting to the Kyln (you could also, y’know, establish the Kyln itself in talking about how Drax was sent there. Just saying)). Intro the idea of Knowhere and/or The Collector BEFORE heading there so that it’s less convenient for Gamora to just-happen to have a buyer already set up for the item we didn’t even know she had planned to steal as part of the escape plot we didn’t know she was hatching. For the love of everything, establish some actual REASON for Ronan to follow our characters to Knowhere, instead of just ‘Drax got drunk and called him’. Link the pieces of your story together with concepts and developments that build upon each other in a narrative progression. That’s the difference between having a plot, and having a string of chronological set pieces (some of which - like Morag and the Kyln - don’t even have a purpose anyway beyond providing some action-scene opportunities). 

Before I close this out, I just want to run through a little exercise to demonstrate something that you never, ever want to happen in a story. You never want to have a lead character who can be deleted from the plot without leaving a hole too big to be easily filled by the rest of the cast. But what happens if Peter Quill is removed from this story? Well, pretty much all of the misogyny disappears, so that’s a plus. Someone else is gonna have to retrieve the orb from Morag, but we could easily send Rocket and Groot to do that. Gamora can still fight with them on Xandar exactly as it happens in the actual movie, only this time it’s not just pure coincidence that they conflict. We saved vital time that the film spent on Quill’s inconsequential childhood abduction (and we could save more on trimming the pointless action on Morag), which is time that could be better spent on all that other establishing crap I was talking about earlier, tightening up the narrative. Quill doesn’t serve any important purpose in the Kyln, so we can remove him from that no problem, nor does he matter on Knowhere other than a frankly stupid and ultimately pointless moment when he saves Gamora (definitely unnecessary when we’re removing the romantic subplot bullshit along with Quill). And then what? The characters agree that not letting Ronan destroy the galaxy is probably a good call (not Quill-relevant), they head back to Xandar, fight some bad guys, hold hands, win the day. We lose Quill’s only good moment in the form of the dance-off, but it’s an acceptable loss in order to strengthen the entire rest of the film by deleting the most meaningless character: the lead. We also arguably lose the Ravagers in the process, but as much fun as Yondu is, the plot can also survive completely intact without him (the only time the Ravagers matter is for the previously-identified useless damsel contrivance with Quill saving Gamora, and then they do help out on Xandar in the end, but they aren’t necessary for that - the Nova Corps could have been expanded just a smidge and taken care of everything). On the other hand, if you remove Gamora, you lose the connection to Ronan/Thanos as well as the moral compass of the Guardians; some other character would have to be significantly altered to fill the gap. You lose major Deus Ex Machina skills without Groot, and without Rocket someone else’s narrative has to change in order for Groot to have a buddy (plus you need a new mastermind for various plans, though that’s an easier hole to fill). You skip Drax and you do lose a major plot development in the form of him drunk-dialling Ronan, but admittedly that’s one of the worst things in this whole dumb waste of a movie, so maybe it’s not such a loss. You could ditch Drax. But, that’s not important, because Drax isn’t packaged as the leading man: Quill is. If you delete Drax, you don’t really streamline or improve the story (you could fix the one big flaw in his character very easily, he doesn’t have to disappear for that). You delete Quill...I know, comic book adaptation, dropping the main character is not considered an acceptable alteration when you’re improving the story for the screen. But come on. The least they could do is make him actually matter, not just be a perfunctory inclusion for the sake of sticking this ‘weird sci-fi’ as firmly in the centre of over-done cliche as a lazy gimmick story ever could be. There are a few chuckles to be had with this film, and it’s not entirely boring, but it’s not half as endearing nor even an eighth as inspired as it thinks it is. I’m not impressed by any of it.

[pine-cloud]

GoT hot take

Daenerys:

Everyone is really angry about what GoT did to Dany’s character and I get it. They wrote it badly. BUT, it was always going to end this way. The problem is the show made us so invested in her character, had her triumphs celebrated, and then turned her evil in like 3 episodes and sighted flimsy evidence about foreshadowing. Saying that she was cold because she watched her  abusive brother be killed and that was enough to say that she would burn down a city full of civilians 7 seasons later is not enough. Her character ALWAYS wanted to preserve and protect the innocent.

Daenerys being brutal to bad people is not necessarily foreshadowing that she will be brutal to innocent people, as the show seems to think HOWEVER, it does illustrate her ability to be brutal, and could show how she will turn to brutality when she thinks she is right or that it’s for the greater good. The show said some of this afterward, but they didn’t properly set it up. I think GRRM will.

The irony of Dany being corrupted by power is exactly the kind of thing GRRM would write. It illustrates the corruptive power of the throne.

Jon being forced to kill her fulfills the Azor Ahai/Nissa Nissa story, further proving that he is the prince who was promised. The prince who was promised prophecy being fulfilled will tie in the red God in a much more satisfying way then the show ever did.

In the house of the undying, Dany touches the throne, then goes through the gates of the wall, then sees her dead husband and son, foreshadowing that she will die before getting to sit on the Iron throne.

Dany wants to tear down the systems that have kept corrupt people in power—but she always excludes herself and her house form that power structure. She is blind to her own flaws.

While the show shows her conquering people and the Dothraki as badass and admirable, and her intentions are, there is more nuance. “A Dance With Dragons explicitly undermines the white savior narrative by suggesting that violent interventions to reform foreign societies are always more complicated than they appear, no matter how good their intentions. But this nuance may be lost in the television medium.” (I recommend reading the full article, it lays out a good example of the nuance of the white savior trope in the books versus in the show-but that’s a whole different post.)

All the ASOIAF characters are morally grey and Dany is no different. She’s not a monster, she’s wrong. Unfortunately, her mistakes she have the power to cause devastation.

Dany has often had violent impulses, but when she listens to council, she sees reason. What will happen when she is stressed, paranoid, distrusting of all those around her, and so close to her goal? So far she’s been on the right side, but her ability for brutality and power hunger can turn (just not in only 3 episodes).

The whole point of the story is that it doesn’t matter who sits on the Iron Throne. The power is corruptive. Even good kings have parented bad ones. Why would it end with another Targaryen on the throne? What would be the point?

Bran is king and it makes perfect sense:

Yes I get the critique that he is very connected to the North and it’s culture, but he’s not Bran Stark of Winterfell anymore. He holds the memories of all of living history.

Bran rebuilding the realm echoes Brandon the Builder, it comes full circle.

He makes sense as a ruler. He can see through corrupt officials and councilors. he will probably live hundreds of years (unless he needed that tree to support his life in which case, never mind), which will give the necessary time to rebuild and be stable after the 30ish years of massive instability. He is the only person ever that is completely subjective. He set a precedent of electing rulers. Although both he and Dany are infertile, she still probably would have chosen her successor. It is not in her character to establish any form of democracy. She always believed that the throne was her family’s birthright, even while admitting that her father was bad.

People are mad because he didn’t do anything to help and now he’s king. Here’s the thing, he’s a bigger character in the books, after season 4 they just kind of dropped his story, but he has much more power than they ever showed.

He is the antithesis to darkness and death and all that the White Walkers represent. His character represents human life and redemption.

If his mystical powers don’t come to some fruition, then what was the point of his, or any magic, storyline?

The Wall is where Jon should be:

He was raised as Ned Stark’s son, he won’t forsake his watch vows in the end. He would never have abandoned his brothers forever, especially since he has a duty as their lord commander (both 998th in his old life and 1000th post resurrection)

 Even though the night’s watch is no longer needed to fight the white walkers, but they are necessary to have as a place for displaced people. Also they can help assimilate the wildlings into the north, and no-one would do that better than Jon.

Jon belongs in the North. So does Ghost, and Ghost is a physical embodiment of Jon’s soul and the dire wolves have always represented the Stark children’s connection to the North. It’s not a coincidence that the only one with a dire wolf in the end is the only one in the “true north”.

If his true heritage was found out, he would always be a threat, someone would always be trying to use him in a plot. At the wall, it doesn’t matter. That’s why Ned wanted him there in the first place.

Jon will want to do penance for the rest of his life for what he did to Dany. At the wall he will have purpose.

Other things:

Jaime and Cersei-I agree that it was total bullshit. Yes I think they will die together, but not like that. Jaime’s character development had no payoff and the Valonqar theory wasn’t addressed. I get the irony that she died because the world she built literally crashed down on her, but that will not be how Jaime ends.

Arya going off adventuring makes perfect sense. She was never going to sit still, especially after all she’s been through. But she also will never give up being Arya Stark.

“It doesn’t make sense that they repeated ‘the lone wolf dies but the pack survives’ if all the stark children are going to be apart!” It is completely different. They were apart due to circumstances beyond their control, they lost track of each other and they didn’t know who was alive or dead. They found their way back to each other and now they are closing their own paths, not being ripped apart by circumstance. They know where they are, and they’ll see each other. Jon never felt truly at home in Winterfell, so he’s ended up in the only place he felt fully accepted. Arya will never again sit still, even in her own home, but she’ll return someday. Bran has a larger purpose now. Sansa wanted desperately to leave in the beginning, and then she realized she just wanted to be home. She is the best fit to rule the north.

In conclusion; they (more or less) followed George’s plan, but they didn’t have the books to go on after season 5, so the way they set up the story is barebones. The books have lots of problematic things but they are also more nuanced and much better planned. Even if you are disappointed with GRRM’s endings, I think they will make sense.

Anyway watch Emergency Awesome’s video on the book vs. show’s endings.

[theanimeview]

Reboots: They’re for who?

When I was interning a handful of summers ago, I remember talking with a handful of editors and peers about our favorite comic to television adaptations. I said honestly that I am not a fan of Teen Titans Go because I don’t think it has a lot of substance when compared to Teen Titans or Young Justice. It’s a problem I have with a lot of reboots, and I remember distinctly one of the editors saying that reboots “aren’t for you.” That’s a fair statement, they’re not for me specifically, they’re for... who exactly?

What the editor meant, I believe, is that a reboot isn’t really for the original fans of a series. It’s for a new generation to experience the characters and become fans. The characters we see from one show to another are kind of like reincarnated versions--they may have similar names and art styles but, the characters are kind of new because their stories are new. I think that this is often correct. However, I want to disagree a little with the idea that reboots aren’t aimed for older fans. Good reboots should have something that the older fans can enjoy too. I say this because clearly reboots in some ways market to the audience that watched the previous iteration(s), sort of like a big sign saying, “Hey, remember this show you loved as a kid? The one that we sold a lot of for a long time? Yeah? Great! Why don’t you check out our new version and show it to your kids/younger siblings/others?!” Their’s nothing really wrong with that, its an effective sales/marketing strategy, but for it to work the new iteration needs to have something old fans will appreciate.

A great example is My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic - the series takes the older characters, characters that fans of the previous iterations have loved for a long time, and translates them to the current climate of television, allowing for a new generation of fans to fall in love with the characters. The new show still holds some elements of the underlying message that the original show or stories held. What I mean is that My Little Pony has always focused on friendships and what it means to be a good friend; this message has carried on over the years to what we see today. The old fans can appreciate that the morals or backbone of the show are still there and the new fans can fall in love with these reborn-characters on their own.  

I remember watching the vintage version of MLP on youtube in middle school and loving it. When the new version came out around my junior year of high school, I never quite got into the show again, but when my nieces started watching it, I had no problem enjoying episodes in passing. The same thing happened in college when many of my friends liked binge-watching seasons of it on Netflix. While I still wasn’t a die-hard fan again, I enjoyed that the friendship elements were still there and felt comforted that my nieces not only enjoyed a collection of characters I had loved previously but also by the fact that the show was still teaching aspects of how to be a good friend and responsible individual. MLP FIM is a perfect example, to me, of what a reboot should be. It’s easy to merchandise to new and old fans (which the company producing it will like), it’s still got the elements needed for the nostalgic appreciation and a revival of the fandom in older viewers, and it provides something a new generation can enjoy. If I’m babysitting and my nieces and they say let’s watch it, I’m 100% down for the reasons stated above.

Now let’s look at shows like Teen Titans Go from 2013, or The Powerpuff Girls 2016. Are the shows merchandisable, of course--but do they hold true to the same values that we saw in the originals? I would say, No.

Teen Titans was a beloved show. We saw a mix of comedy and adventure expected of a story with teen superheroes, but we also saw some serious elements befitting characters who are transitioning between childhood and adulthood-for all intents and purposes-alone. They’re, in many ways, outcasts who are bound together by their friendship and a mission to protect the planet from harm. Their episodes are memorable and often have a deeper underlying message. In many ways, the show begins with an examination of crime, and the adult world at large, as being one of black-and-white. It’s how children often see the world, but as the series progress or even single episodes, characters learn that there is a lot more grey area and nuances than we previously thought or understood.

Like, I remember the episode “Sum of His Parts” where Cyborg confronts, not for the last time, challenges with his disability as a half-man, half-machine individual. While the robotic parts give him great abilities most of the time, there are situations where they become more of a hindrance than helpful. It was a meaningful episode that allows us to see that despite having a cool robotic exterior, and the name “Cyborg,” the character himself is a human being with complex emotions that will not always show on his face or in his interactions with others. When I first saw the episode, I remember Cyborg’s last line, “I am just like you, but it’s not your arm that makes us the same, its the stuff that’s connected to it.” It reflects a lot about the character and the emotions he has, as well as stating something about image and what’s inside. While I don’t have a robotic arm, I felt like a part of me was reflected in his character in that episode because I have insecurities (everyone does), and while I sometimes hide them well it doesn’t mean they aren’t there. I also remember the episode “Troq,” in which Starfire faces racism. She and her team (once they are informed of how she is being treated) must set aside their anger for the greater good. It’s a difficult episode for many reasons, the most important of which is that 1. Racism still exists and is something people must fight against 2. Sometimes you have to work with your enemy to prevent a greater evil from taking place. Both are difficult to accept, especially as children, but they’re realities of our world. As I get older, both seem to become more prevalent in my life, particularly the later as sometimes you have to work with awful people to get a job done. Even the former though is something I’ve had to see and face in life.

The original Powerpuff Girls, likewise to TT, had memorable episodes not so much for their imagery but for their stories. For example, “Equal Fights” is an episode I may never forget. In it, a female thief behaving like a radical who hates men points out to the PPGs that women have suffered a lot in history and uses this as an excuse for her behavior. It seems almost justified as retribution against the patriarchy for how women have suffered, at least, until the PPGs’ primary female role-models step to remind the girls and the audience that two wrongs don’t make a right. The common theme with these memorable episodes in these memorable shows is that we, the audience, should learn something from the presented morals and ideas. They encourage us to think more about our situations and our autonomy in society.

Overall, these shows attempted to help children navigate the difficult world around them--that is what made them beloved by their audience. Perhaps the greatest proof of this is that new shows that have gained popularity today seem to continue this message of helping youth transition into thoughtful adults - like, Steven Universe.

However, some of the reboots seemed to have missed this point entirely. Rather than aiming to create an encouraging message for kids, they instead aim to briefly entertain--like a meme. The episodes aren’t memorable, not really. I think the most memorable thing I’ve seen from Teen Titans Go is "Let's Get Serious!" where Young Justice characters make a unique appearance. Aqualad critiques the Teen Titan Team about their ridiculousness and, in all, a very meta-episode in which the end leads us to believe that Teen Titans Go is just supposed to be a joke and we shouldn’t be so serious all the time about a children’s show. Ha Ha. (Let that sarcastic laugh sink in.)

I don’t have kids (yet), but I have nieces and nephews that I care about--and I know how easily kids can be led astray or tricked. Hell--I remember being a kid and how easily adults could manipulate me and my peers simply because they hold the authority. Adults can be manipulated too, I mean look at the Milgram Experiment. So when I look at these poorer reboots and see nothing of substance, when I look and see things that seem to encourage stupidity and lack of thought, I don’t feel like letting them watch the show because some of them aren’t old enough to understand that Beast Boy’s inability to open a textbook is supposed to be a joke. Particularly when he “saves the day” at the end. Sure, I can laugh at it, because I can see it as a joke, but one of my nephews might see a cool and funny superhero shoving a banana into his ear and think “that’s funny, I’ll do it too to make someone laugh” and end up with an ear infection (which is something a friend of mine’s little brother actually did).

In the case of Teen Titans Go, perhaps the creators really do intend for it all to be a joke, like a subversion of the original’s message(s). But then that, to me, is evidence that these are not truly marketed to a new generation of viewers--it’s marketed to the adults that watched the show previously. The joke is that the series is meant to be a form of high comedy with low comedy dialogue (if you don’t know what high comedy and low comedy are, please see here: https://www.enotes.com/homework-help/tell-me-about-origins-comedy-whats-difference-276012). If it is, in fact, not for the older audience, but to a growing generation, then I don’t think the joke is a good one because in some cases it insults the audience’s intelligence and in others overestimates the still-developing cognitive abilities of some viewers.

If TTG is for the former audience, I can appreciate it as a joke. I mean that sincerely, as I’ve found a handful of episodes to be funny and enjoyable. However, I would not recommend the show to kids.

As for I’ve seen some of PPG 2016, I can’t remember anything story-wise, only a collection of meme-like images, like the girls twerking. It’s, again, a show I wouldn’t want kids watching simply because it doesn’t seem to have any value--even from a comedic standpoint.

Of the reboots I’m mentioning, there are many more.

In conclusion, I think that good reboots are intended to be primarily for a new generation of viewers but also hold something that a majority of the previous iteration(s)’s audience(s) can appreciate or even love. Bad reboots focus on the “instant gratification” of entertainment and seem to ignore part of what made the originals so great. They seem to be created for meme-like instant laughs, not memorable content. That seems like a flaw to me but clearly works as a selling point for some shows. Of the two reboot examples I gave, TTG continues. Why? Probably because it holds comedic value to an older audience while providing content that’s not entirely unstable for kids to see. PPG, though, struggled with its release because it didn’t really have value to the older audience that formerly loved the show and relied to much on instant comedy to create a storyline that would keep a younger audience interested. 

Essentially, TTG assumes that the new audience is smart enough to understand that the Teen Titan team is acting stupid. It likewise creates comedy that the older audience can laugh at. TTG will never have the same level of appreciation for storytelling that it’s original once provided, but it’s not intending to. PPG’s creators may have had similar intentions, but didn’t fulfill. 

[rtcessays]

essay 2

Its only a paper moon Tick Tick Time there is love in your body (you can't hold it in) The sun no longer shines (on your side) Q’s for Lise

How did you find writing Tony Stark? Remarkably enough, for a character I often find myself frustrated by, I really enjoy writing Tony. He’s fun - his glib way of talking, often using more words than necessary to talk around whatever he’s trying to get at, and at the same time terrifically blunt - is in a weird way kind of adjacent to Loki. They both tend to circumlocute, but in very different ways.At this point in the series it’s especially fun - developing Tony’s relationship with the idea of Steve/Loki from here to...where it is at the current point was something I enjoyed doing, even if it largely happened “off screen.”But this iteration of Tony has a better sense of what’s going on (in some ways) than Steve does, because from an outside perspective he’s not dealing with the level of denial that Steve feels.  What was your motivation for the ending of The sun no longer shines (on your side)? At this point I was coming to (what I planned to be) the end of the main series. I’d been having Loki and Steve circle each other, Loki moving in and out as he pleased and walking a fine line without ever committing to anything, even as he and Steve get more and more tangled together. I actually knew that once I introduced Doom in “Tick Tick Time” that I was going to use him for...this, basically. When Loki is scared - when Loki is freaking out especially about the prospect of emotions - he tends to run in the other direction. If I wanted to get them somewhere, I needed to force Loki to stop running.In retrospect, there’s a kind of neatness to the fact that Loki and Steve’s relationship started with Loki crash landing in the Tower, and here it comes to a crossroads in the same way. Why I chose to end the fic there - I think it had to do with the fact that this fic was a specific arc and I knew that I had a whole other arc that it was moving onto. “The sun no longer shines (on your side)” was about bringing them together and forcing both of them to confront that this Thing they’ve been doing isn’t just a passing fad. The next fic (that I wrote, not chronologically), “with an untrained voice” (and here I am looking ahead), was about closing the circle. I do this a lot throughout the series - writing a specific story and then, rather than adding another chapter, having a separate fic that deals with the aftermath and repercussions. For some reason, I feel a need to separate those things. - Here at the beginning of ‘its only a paper moon’, we find ourselves with a face full of Tony Stark; how else can one describe the man? Tony’s...Tony-ness is often difficult to pin down but the author has enough of his cadence and flavor for succinct verbosity that you can hear Downey’s voice when you actively read the first scene of ‘its only a paper moon’. A treat, to be sure, and its Tony who asks the questions that’s been on the readers’ minds, namely, “What’s the deal with you and Loki?”. Its something of a thesis statement. “He raised a hand and crooked a finger, beckoning Steve. He didn’t really think about taking a step forward, but he took two toward Loki before he stopped, maybe a foot between them. He laughed, a little nervously.” 

Loki’s bordering on erotic pear eating might be on Steve’s mind, calling back to the first time he thought of Loki in a romantic light. Here, the tension ramps up despite Steve’s nerves. Loki offers his hand, and Steve takes it, marking the beginning of whatever the hell its is that Steve and Loki become at this point, at least in Steve’s mind.

“He pushed the rest of the way down, smashing his lips to Loki’s with enthusiasm if not skill, and it felt right.” 

Here’s Steve’s instincts again, which he’s relied on heavily in regards to his interactions with Loki up to this point. Tony discerned it before it happened, but now there is no turning back. He kisses Loki and is ensnared, whether he likes it or not. “Dangerous, whispered a faint voice at the back of Steve’s mind, but most of him thrilled to it, his heart pounding against his ribs.” Steve’s mind is full of what Loki can be, can do, his fantasies of a trust in him that Steve’s instincts nearly begged for. Of course, everything isn’t as it seems. “He reached down, fingers wrapping around Steve’s cock, and squeezed so Steve arched up with a shout-And lurched into consciousness with his cock rock hard and his pulse pounding, for a moment still groping after a dream before he registered what was going on. Dreaming. He’d been dreaming, but it’d been so vivid-” Not a truth, then, just a fiction. A dream. But what an incredible way to set up Steve’s attractions, to make clear just what it is his mind and body wants with Loki. Writing it off as a product of Tony’s words, Steve gives in anyways, surely thinking of Loki the whole way through his release.Tick Tick Time is the longest installment thus far, clocking in at almost 12k words. We get straight to it; the team has found out about Loki. This dates back to the installment before ‘its only a paper moon’, which was ‘the fog won’t lift in your town’. We find ourselves in the middle of an Avengers meeting, which definitely doesn’t go great, but could certainly be worse, at least from Steve’s point of view. Someone like Clint, on the other hand, might think this is more disastrous than any other present.   Onto Steve, alone in his room, pondering over everything from Loki’s nature, to his likeness spilled out over his sketching paper. He’s turned around by Loki having saved him. The implication of the thing trails into his dreams...or is Loki truly visiting him in his dreams? The reader wonders, and hopes. Loki is getting under Steve’s skin in such a way that he is left fretting over where Loki might be, if he is alright. For a month, this happens, and even someone of peak physical and mental stability (though the latter could be argued) might be driven in circles worrying. Of course, Loki appears again. Steve immediately asks where he’s been. The previous month of mixed up emotions has clearly gotten to him, and Loki, in his way, is surprised. The slow burn continues. Each sentence leaves little bread crumbs, little markers of subtle increases of care and concern they have for one another. The characters themselves are completely oblivious, but a well minded reader who’s in it for the romance will certainly pick up on it. Again, however, the conversation comes back around to whether or not Loki might change his ways, change his modus operandi and make up for his ill made decisions. It's a common theme, to be sure, but in this context it is electric: ‘“They didn’t like it,” he said, “But yes, they accepted it.” He took a deep breath and then added, slowly, “If you gave them a chance to…” “To what,” Loki said, unmistakably amused. “To glimpse my better nature?” Steve pressed his lips together, feeling a prickle of frustration at the note in Loki’s voice. “You don’t need to make it sound as though the idea is so absurd. You’ve proven to me-” “What have I proven to you?” Loki’s voice was suddenly quite sharp and he sat straight up. “What, other than my ability to carry on a civilized conversation? You attribute too much to a whim born of simple boredom.” “Why are you so quick to tell me that I’m wrong?” Steve asked, the twinge of irritation becoming more definite. “It’s like you want me to assume the worst.” Loki’s laugh was bright and sharp. “Hardly! I merely have little interest in hearing you grasp at straws to maintain your absurd hope that I will someday realize my sins and repent, casting myself on the mercy of such heroes as yourself.”’

The topic dies down, but the heat doesn’t. It’s becoming more clear that there is an underlying thread here. ‘Loki raised his eyebrows and cocked his head to the side. “You don’t like me turning up in your bed unannounced?”Steve had spent enough time with Tony to catch that one, and refused to acknowledge the warm flush he could feel spreading on his face.’ They set up a coffee date, and the ensuing conversation to get Loki to stay is met with that epithet again, ‘my good captain’. Steve seems somewhat taken with it, but he seems somewhat taken with Loki in general, so no surprise there. Loki proposes a half an hour, where Steve can ask what he wishes and he’ll get an answer. Its a kind of trope that’s found throughout literature. And, it’s a means to maybe suss out some things about Loki. It goes on not quite as expected, as Steve asks more mundane questions than exciting ones, at least in Loki’s estimation. Natasha is the chosen envoy, or seems to be, the next day. The Avengers will tolerate Loki’s interactions with Steve “for now”. As Steve and Loki meet for their coffee ‘date’, the nuances of their responses to one another are clear in the narrative. And, all the more intriguing. Loki was present, again, at another Avengers battle and while Steve is initially irritated, Loki points out what a disaster it would be had Loki revealed himself. Steve’s preoccupation with...well, rehabilitating Loki is as endearing as it is maddening. Likely, Loki would agree. Nevertheless, it is a hope Steve can’t help but hold out for, at least at this stage in the game. Remember, the series at this point was meant to be winding down. Such a huge shift in characterization would require more time, and so this joint coffee excursion halts Steve’s thoughts of turning Loki at least less morally questionable.The trust has built up enough to allow Steve to be more comfortable opening up. He admits he wants to talk to Loki, and goes on to talk about himself in pre-serum terms. Loki makes it about himself, missing the fact (or choosing to ignore, maybe) that Steve was not proselytizing and talks entirely too much about how is is what he is. It’s almost a tell, this penchant for driving home the base opinion of him.

A story for a story, Loki says, and offers one of retribution, again going back to what a terrible creature he must be. Is he pushing Steve’s buttons? Is he genuinely trying to make a point, here? The sympathetic reader might feel their heart twist in their chest, but ultimately its likely a test. How long until the good captain breaks character and gives up on him?Steve is awfully upset by the story, but he sidesteps his initial reactions to ask himself a very important question; Why tell me this? Steve sees through Loki straight away, seems to know Loki must’ve been baiting him. After a silence, Loki clearly marvels at Steve, and not for the first time either. It’s a wistful thought for him, the idea that Steve may have done some good on Asgard had he been Aesir, and Steve is understandably thoughtful at the notion. Our final scene in Tick Tick Time cuts right to the chase. Loki has come to warn Steve of literal impending Doom. The argument that follows is a back and forth and ups the ante emotionally. Steve, being Steve, can’t understand why Loki would take up with Doom, come to tell him of Doom’s plans, and still not think of himself positively. In short order the argument provides us with some glimpses into what Loki has been doing, which will start to further unfold for us soon. Steve is left with a sense of failure, and we are left to wonder where this twist will take us next.

The next stop is an interlude, a look into Loki’s side of things. The summary for this installment is succinct; “Loki needs to get rid of this inconvenient Captain America Problem”. Loki picks up a man named William at a bar of some sort who has passing similarity to Steve. It’s not an uncommon scene in fanfiction, but it is infused with Loki’s internal ponderings which the audience has been hopeful for. Even in this simple way, we can see where Loki is emotionally fraying around the edges. “He will exorcise this need from himself, Loki thinks. This mad obsession.” Note this quotation says ‘exorcise’, a darker, deeper mindset than the alternative you might initially misread, ‘exercise’. This is a big step for Loki. It ends in his belated realization that Steve is in his bones, now, and there’s nothing for it. Perhaps his plan backfired, or maybe it simply revealed a truth, but it is a satisfying read. We know where Loki’s head is, where his heart is, and everything else. This is more than just a curiosity for him, this is more than a game. In this temporary moment, Loki’s hunger for Steve is established. Now that that is settled, we continue forward in ‘The sun no longer shines (on your side)’ with the backdrop of Doom’s attack. After the fact, Loki shows up unexpectedly, as he is wont to do, and Steve is somewhat exasperated. Lise’s ability to keep the same premise (Loki’s popping in and out of Steve’s life) in nearly every installment fresh is impressive, and part of what makes the read so good. With every meeting, there is another underlying layer of basically every tension between them, and with every meeting, we are hooked again and again to see what might be uncovered or divulged. The theme is generally the same; Loki’s sneakiness, his trickery, to Steve’s nobleness and stoutheartedness. One expects them to hate each other before the end of it but on the contrary, they seem even more drawn to one another. Their philosophical see-sawing gives way to Loki asking if he’s seeing anyone. Given the segment before this particular fic, your heart breaks for Loki. Why would he ask such a thing? Steve’s sure confused by it. He asks if this is a test, which implies a certain kind of paranoia. He wants to trust Loki, but he can’t quite get there. And honestly, who can blame him? “He found himself almost glad of that, that he got to have this private, special (bizarre) thing, whatever it was.” Steve’s affection for Loki is clear later on. His thoughts are constantly turning towards Loki, and it appears maybe Loki isn’t the only one with a fascination here. When he makes his appearance, Loki seems lighthearted to Steve, perhaps just in contrast. Quickly the reason for his visit is revealed; he asks Steve to dinner. Visibly anxious when Steve goes on the defense, your heart breaks for the Loki we saw in the previous installment. Steve agrees, and Loki suggests that it was a hard won dinner, an important nugget for later on.Tony shows up, apparently still working on figuring his way through how Loki’s magic works. It’s a nice segue into Steve asking after a classier outfit, and Tony noodles out what’s really going on. A date, it seems, and the scene turns to Steve waiting for Loki. The lead in is perfect. One gets the sense that Loki is obviously up to something, but experiencing it from Steve’s bashful confusion makes the scene. ““Never fear.” Loki’s eyes glittered slightly in the dim light. “I shall look after you with the most tender of care.” A bizarre, tingly feeling trailed down his spine as Steve blinked.” It’s another one of those pear moments, Steve responding to something Loki has done or said with pleasure.The ‘date’ seems to go well, except for the whole topic of Doom of course. At a later point, Loki reappears and nearly gets a skillet to the face for his trouble. The banter is familiar, until Loki remarks on how honestly good Steve is. Where he expected a certain corruptible center, Loki has found the opposite with Steve. ““I told myself it was but curiosity,” Loki said, and took a strangely prowling step in Steve’s direction, and then another. “What strangeness, after all. Surely beneath your shining exterior was a rotten core that I could bring to the surface. Why not? There always is.”” Loki sees Steve for who and what he is, beyond just the visage of Captain America, and its someone he craves. ““I would have you,” Loki said, his voice lower still. “And seldom do I fail in getting what I want.”” They kiss, at long last, and it’s a natural thing. The build up is minimal, you see it coming, presumably so the thing stays natural. It is a heated few minutes, cut short by...something. What, precisely, we don’t know, and Steve is left uncomfortably aroused. Loki promises to return and pick up where he left off, steals another kiss, and is gone. This time, it was real. The kisses were real, Loki’s intentions seem to be pure as he insists he’s not meaning to toy with Steve.Weeks pass, and the next that Steve hears from Loki is via JARVIS. Loki’s in the tower, unconscious. The team doesn’t argue (that much), and Steve is greeted to a gruesome sight and scent; blood. Excessive amounts of blood. Loki wakes and there’s some relief in the fact that he is himself, spiteful and full of sardonic laughter. Steve races to help, and we’re left with a cliffhanger of uncomfortable proportions.

[massistocchifontana]

Your woman reflects your deepest integrity 

Your woman reflects your deepest integrity 

 A night out anywhere in the world holds with it a marvel of interesting sights and experiences. These experiences allow one the opportunity to observe with ease whether a man has a great degree of integrity or not. 

 The definition of integrity is the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles. A beautiful phrase to hold in mind is "a gentleman of complete integrity". Although this is a simple enough definition the words honest and moral are two words which need to have a conscious and purposeful striving towards before we can get remotely close to its true essence. 

 I feel all human beings need a polarity of experience before they can truly understand and identify with their integrity. Much of this development stems from our upbringing and the values and beliefs that are transferred from our parents onto us. It is through these experiences in life that beliefs and values are either refuted or accepted and when accepted then they become solidified. 

 Observing a very wealthy older man with a 20 something girl in his company and his attention being on everyone else rather than being mesmerised and completely present in the moment with her, is a fascinating experience to observe. His attention is keenly focused on who is observing his "accomplishment" of getting such a young girl to be with him. Like most experiences in life, people’s actions and responses to life hold a myriad of different nuances and meanings. 

 As a starting point there is absolutely nothing wrong with dating a younger woman or younger man, however there is something very wrong when we apply the integrity principle to the experience. 

 We all have mirror neurons in our bodies, which are the human body's ability to mirror the behaviours, manners, and cellular function of another person neurologically speaking. This completely unconscious process applies greatly to the people we choose to have around us, and applies especially to the individual we decide to be our partner. 

 If there is this unconscious mirroring process occurring at all times with the world and people around us, we are completely oblivious to what is being shared. We can use our emotions as a means of identifying the impact and effect that these interactions have however we need to learn to sit more consciously with ourselves to become fully aware of this bodily change before we can make the very relevant changes necessary. 

 Unless the young woman chosen by the older man sees herself in high esteem in relation to the man, meaning… does she see herself as his equal on a financial, emotional, spiritual, physical and sexual level? If she cannot answer yes to being his equal in her own interpretation of the five areas then she will naturally subordinate herself against him. This means that she will lower herself and make herself feel lesser than him creating an unhealthy dependency on him until she has understood a way of seeing her own worth in the five areas to balance out the relationship. 

 We always look towards the other person in our life for qualities in which we lack within ourselves. We use this as a learning experience, however because this is done on an unconscious level, we often find ourselves in a situation where we disable our ability to grow. Instead we become dependant on what the other person offers us and we become fearful of loosing them. 

 This describes the occurrences that happen within personal relationships, which can be read more about at (www.massimo.love)

 The reflection that occurs from a woman to man reminds me of the story of narcissus. I would suggest in reading the story in greater depth as it allows us the opportunity to reflect on our own narcissism. In short, narcissus falls in love with his own reflection when he drinks from the river Tiburon. Instead of questioning the reflection and using it as a sounding board to grow and develop, he creates the first condition of narcissism where he feeds into the ego and dissolves any potential of any other person having a valuable space in his life. The key theme to the story is what our internal world displays to the outside world. In the same way, the internal world of a woman reflects the internal world of the man on many levels. The primary level that is in focus here is integrity. 

 I hold issue with the woman in the above-mentioned example. The reason I say this is that if I compare men and women, women are the ones who have shown real growth since the beginning of feminism whereas men seem to be stagnating unsure of where they stand and how they should act. Thankfully this is a process that is being corrected within the male community and this redefinition will take some time.

 This young woman, although acutely aware of the principle of leverage and manipulation has resorted to consciously subordinating herself to become a "kept woman", instead of realising her full potential and being focused on her own growth. This action occurs daily in many circumstances, and the most frustrating part of this equation is that men will use this to their advantage rather than being challenged to grow and become "good men" by their woman.

 This maintains a very basic level of relating, which keeps the man focused on his ego and never being able to transcend this ego driven state into a place where he learns how to understand his masculinity or contain his woman. I am very sure that somewhere in your life you have heard of someone or come across a situation where a man is in a relationship and he changes because of one woman. The manner in which he relates to others is a change so pivotal and drastically apparent that he is perceived differently immediately. We often make the judgement that this woman has "changed him", whereas she has led him to a place where he is now ready for the change away from the ego driven masculine. 

 Men all know the perfect type of woman for them. The one who they feel would be most suited on every level. The problem here is that these relationships do not necessarily work out for the best because men cannot tolerate the higher degree of integrity that a woman holds in comparison to his. 

 This leaves him feeling inadequate and at times ashamed at himself for not being as great or equal to the integrity being shown. Women will often hear, "I'm not ready for a relationship", "I need to focus on me", "I have a goal I want to achieve", "I can't give myself entirely in a relationship" etc. These are all statements linked with feelings of inadequacy and a very distinct realisation that the woman in front of them is too developed on a level of integrity and they feel they cannot match up to this. 

 So what is the solution?

 Men really need to understand the meaning of the word surrender. Being resistant to change brings with it a great deal of emotional turmoil, one of the things that all men dislike. There really is not an easy solution for this because it fundamentally comes down to the willingness of a man to want to change and grow so that he can transcend his ego. If a man places more value on their success in life this will be a difficult process, however by surrendering to one's masculinity does allow for a rare opportunity to embrace every experience that life has to offer eventually leading to a different type of success.  

 Men need to make a conscious choice as to whether they feel they need many women in their life, or whether they want one woman in their life. This decision in itself clarifies much for the mans' mind. However needs to be reflected on when in a lesser Ego driven state. A great analogy would be like going grocery shopping when you are full in comparison to when your tummy is empty--there is a vast difference between the two experiences. The same can be said with a more conscious state in comparison to the Ego driven state, but fundamentally the decision is yours.  

Via Con Dios

[arkus-rhapsode]

What If Azuma Turned Good? A Fairy Tail Discussion

Hey there guys! Rhapsode here, and this is something different I wanted to try. After being inspired by other creators like MasakoX, I wanted to try my hand with the “what if” scenario game only with Fairy Tail. I thought it would be nice to start of with an interesting villain character that sadly didn’t get much done with him so I thought I would ask the question, ‘What if Azuma turned good?” I don’t know if this’ll be a permanent thing, but if you want to see more stuff like this done by me, please send feedback. Also, I need to put this as a disclaimer.

This is completely a fan based work, this isn’t me saying the series of Fairy Tail would’ve been better with this change. This is just simply me wanting to explore a scenario for fun. Also in terms of context this will be me building off what Mashima has already made, there won’t be any drastic changes in canon from before this what if, so for good r for ill thing like Lisanna still being alive, Jellal still having been controlled by Ultear, and Juvia being gaga for Gray still exists regardless if I think they were good story choices or not.  With all that said, let’s ask, what if Azuma became good?

So we open all the way back on the Tenrou Island arc, where Azuma makes his first appearance easily defeating Rune Knight and Pantherlily. Azuma at this point shows himself off as cold and unfeeling to things that stand in his way. He meets Mirajane and Lisanna, provoking Mira into a fight. Though instead of a bomb Azuma just captures Lisanna in branches saying that he’ll crush her, which causes Mira to attack.

After a brief scuffle, Azuma comes out on top, securing himself as a threat to FT, but shows a level of nuance to his character by refusing to kill Mirajane out of respect for this fight that she gave him. This moment is crucial for Azuma as character as it illustrates he is not another cut and dry villain, but has a layer of depth that separates him from guys like Yomazu, Kawazu, Kain, and Zancrow.

Eventually we get to the climactic battle where Azuma and Erza fight, stating that his purpose for join Grimoire Heart was find himself a worthy opponent and he sees that in Erza. After a long battle, Azua looks like he has the upper hand and Terra Clamare on Erza. This results in and almost decisive win for Azuma and he gets a scene where he turns his back a utters some catchy badass anime warrior thing like, “You fought well, Titania”. But Erza survives and with her last ounce of strength she strikes and cuts through Azuma.

Now in canon, this is where Azuma dies, but in this universe, Erza still wins, but her slash doesn’t kill Azuma, but rather cuts of his right arm. This way we don’t diminish the badassery of Erza’s comeback, but we don’t make it so overblown that it seem like overcompensating. This also is symbolic for Azuma as not only has he tasted defeat at someone who is stronger than him, but Azuma also now has lost right arm thus crippling him and significantly breaking his pride as a warrior. With Azuma not dying, he and Erza manage to talk for a little bit, with him questioning how she got so strong that not even lost magic could beat her. Erza states that it was due to having a place that she could return home to, that she didn’t want to let down Fairy Tail. Azuma hears this and says that it must be some great place.

When Azuma asks to be killed, Erza refuses, showing the same respect Azuma showed Mira, but Azuma does manage to pay her back by revealing the part of the Grimoire airship that stores Hades’ devil heart. (Which when we think about it makes more sense why team Natsu would take the fight to Hades’ airship). The battle still commences with Azuma, after patching himself a bit, leaving Tenrou before Acnologia shows up, I mean, Ultear and Meredy made it out of Tenrou and in filler Rustyrose did, so it isn’t farfetched that Azuma couldn’t. And here’s the big moment, Acnologia “kills” FT, with many like Lahar, Mest, and yes, Azuma watching.

We go 7 years into the future, with Romeo coming back to FT after a mission, and I mean the first FT building, FT never lost it. We see Romeo return to FT, but he is harassed by a few Twilight Ogre mages who make fun of the fact FT has kids working at it and all of their mages are weak now if their best couldn’t beat a dragon. Romeo is stopped from fighting by Master Macao who says to not deal with them. Here Romeo highlights the actual problem with this universe’s FT and not because they are financially struggling, but rather they have no respect and are seen as a second rate guild by the tabloids and big name guilds like Sabertooth.

However, we see another big change with this universe and it is an Azuma who is doing missions for FT. Azuma is now an ally to FT, but not a mage for FT, rather he did work in their time of need after Tenrou was destroyed as a way of paying back Erza, however he is not a member of FT. As Azuma’s sense of honor is why he is working to support FT, but his sense of guilt for what he did to members like Pantherlily, Mira, and Lisanna still haunt him.

I have to imagine Azuma looks different as well given the whole time skip redesign. My image of him is that he has shaved his hair, but kept those two little hair locks in front of his forehead and still has his goatee. Also his outfit having changed, still rocking the baggy pants, but his top resembles loose short-sleeved African-style robes, still with his green and orange color scheme. The biggest change in his appearance he now has a wooden arm that his manipulates with his magic (and this will come into play later) Azuma also now lives in East Forest close to Porlyusica and she doesn’t mind him as he is one with nature, making a hut out of trees with cutting them down and living off self farmed food.

An issue with Azuma being an ally with FT and not a member also crops up as while FT is grateful for what he has done, they are now looked down even more as “outsourcers”. When someone , lets just say Jet, suggests getting rid of Azuma, the person who comes to the defense of Azuma is Laki. Yeah, I wanted to take some time to at least re introduce some of the FT cast who was the background cast, and while guys like Nab having a running gag, Jet and Droy being tied to shadow gear, Macao and Romeo being already helped members of the guild and Max fighting Natsu, there really is nothing to reintroduce Laki except that she is also the other female in the group. So why not give her some tether to a Azuma, and the reason why… Well let’s dive into that later.

Suddenly, all of FT is off with BP who have revealed the re appearance of Tenrou with Azuma also coming along. They all meet and there’s definitely some awkward reunions with FT and Azuma. Erza isn’t quick to jump into forgiveness and Mira is still pissed after the whole almost crushing Lisanna. Laki seems to be the only one who speaks up for all the good Azuma has done and Laxus even states that they should forgive Azuma if they were capable of forgiving him and if what Laki is saying is true then Azuma has done more for the guild than Laxus has. However, while guys like Natsu, Happy, and Gajeel take to Azuma easily, there is still conflict between him and Mira.

We then get an eventual goading into the games as each of the tenrou FT members realize just how outclassed they are now: maybe Natsu meets Sting and Rogue Early and is shaken by learning that they could beat a dragon while he couldn’t, Gray meeting and sparring against Lyon only to discover that he can’t lay a finger on them, Erza seeing Jellal again and feeling how much more power he has now etc (there’s a whole bunch of ways that team tenrou could’ve come to realize how far their star has fallen. This leads into them wanting to train and instead of Ultear just hacking their bodies to grow even stronger, they do actual training. Speaking of Ultear, she knows of Azuma’s involvement with FT, but knows he has no interest in destroying Zeref and rather has something else, which we will get to.

Azuma offers to train team Fairy Tail, putting them through a trial that’ll hopefully make them stronger for the tournament. While this happens, Makarov is able to speak with Azuma and questions why he’s done all this and Azuma reveals he still holds a great respect for Erza and what she has done for him is worth being paid back a hundredfold. He states that he also sees Erza as his one true rival and that he refuses to fight her again till she is at her best, thinking that beating her now would be unsatisfying. This shows Azuma still has some of his old habits like his lust for battle, but now it isn’t the only thing about him. Finally, the GMG comes and all of team FT shine with their own events, however during the end of day one, something very important happens. Erza meets Kagura as well as Azuma. Erza is deeply troubled by meeting Kagura, feeling her enormous power and conviction. Azuma meeting Kagura results in him feeling the same sensation of setting her sights on Erza as he has had.

When Azuma begins to talk to Erza they both discuss her ability and that she can beat Kagura. Erza is still doubtful as Kagura’s sword style is almost the opposite of her magic, this leads to Azuma showing Erza his fake arm and recounts a tale when he first began assisting FT. Remember that Laki loyalty? Well the reason why is in the first few months of helping FT, Azuma was working with only one arm. Laki had followed him and witnessed Azuma’s arc of the Great Tree. Laki really is impressed by the wood magic and reveals her Wood-Make skill. Laki shows him the basis for remaking his arm with his wood. It isn’t crazy as Ur was able to remake her leg from ice. Azuma with his new arm developed a whole new fighting style with his tree arm. The moral of his tale is that what seems like a weakness can lead to developing a whole new skill. Overhearing this is Mirajane who still is uneasy about Azuma.

On the second day, Mira does snap at Azuma when he says the she might want to use her satan soul sitri. Mira wins without the use of sitri (and lets be fair Jenny isn’t that tough). Eventually we get to the dragons where Azuma and Ultear met again killing hatchlings. Ultear knows why Azuma has also helped FT and states that she knows the limit of the arc of the great tree and that’s Azuma will become a tree eventually. Yeah, did you think I forgot about that little limit to Azuma’s magic. This creates Azuma’s goal outside of seeing Erza as a rival and that is he is searching for a way to stop his magic from turning him into a tree.

Eventually GMG ends and we go to Tartarus, but not before a little exchange with Warrod in the Sun Village when Erza mentions that Azuma is a tree mage like Warrod, but when saying Azuma uses arc of the great tree magic specifically, Warrod reveals the sad part of that magic and how after prolonged uses of it it’ll eventually turn him into a tree. Erza, who also fought hatchlings realizes that Azuma’s new style wasn’t only to to regain his arm, but also to limit how much of his magic he uses. As well as there being a double meaning to Azuma’s story of your weakness being turned into a new skill.

Before Tartaros we also might get some lip service as Azuma is off searching for that ability to stop him from becoming a tree and that’s why he doesn’t show up for a while. But it just so happens that when FT is looking for the councillors Azuma is in the same town as Elfman and Lisanna. (Hey plot convenience still exists) Azuma she’s the now Macro controlled Elfman and when trying to stop him, Sayla wants Elfman to defeat Azuma as Sayla flees with Lisanna.

Azuma subdues Elfman, and while he brings him back to FT to warn about Tartaros, there is a bomb dropped on the FT building, but thanks to Cana, everybody is safe. While many go off to fight their own battles, Azuma and Elfman go to save Mira and Lisanna. This leads to Sayla and Lamby fighting the two, but not off the cuff. Sayla offers both Azuma and Elfman chances to join Tartaros as she can take away Azuma’s fear of becoming a tree, but Azuma says he won’t throw away all he’s done with Ft and justifies this by saying that he’s “dying to fight an etherios”. Eventually Mira joins Azuma in fighting Sayla while in Sitri form. Elfman goes to help Lisanna with Lamby, because he won’t lose his little sister again. Azuma and Mira come to terms with each other as they beat and Sayla and this means that all members of FT now forgive Azuma from Tenrou. However, the good times don’t last as After Tartaros, FT is disbanded.

We get to the Avatar arc after one year and Natsu runs across Azuma after a tip he got from Lyon. Why Lyon? Well as a rival to Gray, I think over the one year where Azuma travels to find a way of preventing his magic from turning him into a tree, Lyon and Azuma met and bonded over the rivalries they have with FT members. Now, Azuma is still struggling to figure out how to prevent himself from becoming a tree, but Natsu comes into ask him to become a full fledged member of FT. Azuma says he can’t do that, but Natsu shuts him up and says that everyone forgives Azuma and accepts as well as being together means they could help him search for a cure to his magic. Azuma is silent and Natsu says they need to speak to each other a different way and that’s via a battle. It is short, but ultimately Azuma accepts the offer to joining the new team FT. They also bring back Gray in the assault on Acatar and all that jazz with Ikusa-tsunagi. Azuma is now an FT mage, but still searching for his cure saying if he does find it, he wants to fight Erza.

Azuma doesn’t go to Alvarez to pick up Makarov, but an important event happens with Dimaria’s introduction as Brandish and Dimaria’s banter leads to a small nod about Dimaria being unable to to fully call her magic her own. A little foreshadowing to God soul and possibly something else, perhaps?

Another important moment is the assault lead by Ajeel as Erza’s participation in it is what DImaria takes interest in and sets her sights on DImaria and is why she wants the southern front, because that’s where Erza went. Azuma also ends up in the southern front with Wendy, Gray, Laxus, and Juvia. Also in the south is Lamia Scale so not only do we get a reunion with Wendy and Chelia, but also a small cameo of Lyon and Azuma interacting.

We see, Dimaria killing a bunch of people with her besting Kagura after we see Dimaria drink from an odd liquid. This liquid is odd as she drinks from it right before she attacks. When Dimaria learns that Neinhart lost to Erza she goes after her, but Azuma, Wendy, and Chelia interfere. This leads to the reveal of Chronos and the time stop. Ultear reappears saving the three and states that she became one with time thanks to Last Ages that she used in the GMG arc. Azuma is stunned by this, but the CHronos attacks, who also starts to seem different from the old DImaria. We see Chronos take a swig from that same odd drink and she begins to sound like Dimaria again. Dimaria reveals that god soul is different from other take over as the take over is able to retain its individuality. (We saw  this in the manga with a sudden personality shift from her normal self to more Chronos like in Chronos form) The liquid we’ve seen her drink is actually an element to negate Chronos from fully taking over, saying it was harvested from some rare fruit or lake with the ability to suppress a certain quality of magic.

Chronos wipes the floor with the three, Wendy getting beat to the point she can’t continue. Chelia knows that she stands the best chance, but Chronos is too powerful. Azuma then knows that last ages performed a miracle, at the cost of becoming one is the magic, so Azuma decides to sacrifice all restraint by using all of his Arc of the Great Tree and becoming a tree. When Wendy yells at him over what he is doing the states it’s okay and that if he’s going to die here “He’s going to do it against the most powerful challenge he’s ever faced giving everything he has”.

Super Azuma and Chronos fight and it is big, with tree manipulation and clock hands made of magic flying and explosion. Azuma gets to the point where he knows his limit so he ennares Dimaria in a massive tree trunk piston and has Chelia finish her off with her Sky God power. This works as Dimaria falls, but Azuma slowly becomes a tree. Chelia tries to grab the liquid Dimaria was using to make Azuma human again, but being a spoilsport, Dimaria destroys the liquid and says that Azuma can rot. Azuma becomes a tree, but thanks Fairy Tail for giving him more than he possibly would have wanted. Chelia feels very bad, but during this Wendy says that if Dimaria has been using that liquid for long, then she can go find where it is made in Alvarez and get it.

Wendy tells Azuma to wait, but she goes off to Fight with Irene and uses Azuma’s sacrifice as extra conviction of not wanting anyone else to die her in this war.

Finally, Azuma gets one little cameo as team Lamia Scale is hanging out by his tree form before FT arrives at Hargeon and says they need Fairy Sphere. We get the huge holding hands moment with Meredy even connecting to what is Azuma and in the epilogue we see Wendy and Laki embarking to Alvarez to find a cure for Azuma.

So that’s my idea of what would’ve happen if Azuma had became good. Please, tell me what you thought, and if you would like me to do more stuff like these, let me know. Hope you had fun and I’ll see you next time.

[koganae-nae]

keith/lotor parallels and thoughts on endgame configurations

so i think one of the most polarizing things about s4 which made people either love it or hate it was the fact that they seemingly scrapped all of the development we got in s3--keith starting to take on his role as leader as well as lotor being set up as the new series villain--and now we’re right back where we started, with shiro back in the black lion and zarkon back on the galra throne. not only that, but keith was essentially awol all season and lotor is now Universe’s Most Wanted lmao.

these are just my thoughts, but i honestly don’t think things are going to remain the way they are now, and i’m hoping that the seemingly lost development is just being stashed away for now so that we can come back full circle later.

first of all, the writers have been drawing parallels between keith and lotor since the very beginning of s3. after the final battle of s2, where both zarkon and shiro are out of action, it’s keith and lotor who have to step up and fill their shoes. it’s basically been set up so that we have two major protagonist/antagonist rivalries: zarkon vs shiro and lotor vs keith.

in s4, both keith and lotor have been alienated from the teams they previously led. keith’s is a little less explicit than lotor being straight up exiled--he technically leaves of his own volition to the BoM, but it’s clear this was a result of him struggling to find a place on team voltron where he feels useful now that shiro is back to take his rightful place as leader (especially since voltron is doing flashy recruitment activities where he feels awkward and not useful), and is defaulting to his mindset of “push others away before they can reject me”. i think that training with the BoM will be good for him in some ways, but it’s certainly a temporary solution that won’t last in the longterm. 

in these screenshots, we see their teams doubting them, huddled in a shot of their own and looking doubtfully at keith/lotor respectively. on lotor’s side, now that his father is awake to take back the reigns of the galra empire, he’s lost all his authority. the risk of prosecution + backlash from killing narti without any explanation has driven his generals to betray him in their best interests.

in other words, both keith and lotor are in a place where they rose to a position of leadership, lost it, and now must struggle to re-evaluate their goals, motivations, and methods before they can return. as of now they are both in their lowest place of the series. but, once you’ve hit rock bottom, you can only go up.

[more under the cut]

i say that they will return to their positions of leadership because i honestly don’t see shiro vs zarkon being the endgame clash. we already had that dramatic buildup and resolution in seasons 1 and 2--there’s not a whole lot of story depth left to wring out by rehashing the same conflict over and over.

despite the finale line of s4 here, i personally think that lotor is going to be the Big Bad of voltron. what i see developing here is a temporary “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” dynamic where team voltron strikes an alliance with lotor to remove zaggar from the picture because they can finally turn on each other.

i think lotor will be the endgame villain because, again, i don’t think there is a whole lot more zarkon can contribute as an interesting antagonist. from the start, zarkon’s motivations have been straightforward and a little bland tbh--universal domination, unstoppable power, yadda yadda. we’re not really left wondering about zarkon anymore. we’ve had our flashback episode regarding him and why he’s hell bent on taking over the universe. we know who zarkon is, what he wants, and why he wants it.

lotor’s ambitions (and background) are still a huge mystery at this point, even to the people who were formerly his closest allies. what does he want with huge amounts of quintessence, why does he need to go behind zarkon + haggar’s back, and what does he plan to do with the comet/rift to the other realities? his story has largely not unraveled, and that is why he has huge potential as a long-term antagonist in the making.

moreover, he has more autonomy in his motivations, whatever they may be. zarkon is corrupted by overexposure to quintessence, and a slave to the power-hungry, revenge-fueled nature of his corruption. lotor, however, is in full control of himself, and his motivations are shaped by what he has experienced and felt up to the events of the series. and that’s what makes him interesting--he’s far more “human” in this sense.

also, the “revived” zarkon doesn’t particular give me a feeling of menace. rather, he seems like a shell of his former self and this notion that the zarkon of s4 is not the threatening antagonist he was in the first two seasons is reflected in his new design/mask (guess who also got a new design in recent seasons?? that’s right, shiro, but i’ll get to that later). we no longer see what little facial expressions zarkon had, alienating us as viewers from the idea that he is someone who feels and is incentivized by motivations beyond “kill kill take over planets destroy voltron get power”. zarkon both looks and feels like a robot at this point, and that’s not endgame material.

so, the way i see it, lotor is going to claw his way back up the ranks and reclaim his position as the ruler of the galra. he will still be evil, but in a more nuanced and different way.

now for keith, who i think is similarly going to be the endgame black paladin, or at least a co-pilot for the black lion with shiro, since i also don’t think shiro should be having all that self discovery and bonding with the black lion from seasons 1-2 be scrapped. 

although keith willingly left to join the blade of marmora in what he thinks is in everyone’s best interests, we’re already seeing the roots of conflict in this decision.

ultimately, keith cares too much to truly belong in the blade of marmora. he’s never going to be able to truly cast aside his emotions for the sake of the mission like the blades expect him to. he’s unwilling to leave regis behind, and is visibly shaken at his death and keith’s own failure to prevent it.

although he is able to align his morals with the blade’s code in the case of self sacrifice (which...i am still Shook about and this boy is really not ok someone help him but that’s a whole ‘nother meta), he has not shown that he’s able to reconcile these two things when it comes to the lives of others, particularly his comrades.

keith hasn’t come to terms with the idea of being voltron’s leader because of loyalty. in his mind, that position belongs to shiro, who never gave up on him in the past and guided him to be a better person. he is keith’s leader in the truest sense of the word. keith’s constant insistence that shiro belongs as the black paladin is an extension of his unwillingness to give up on shiro in return--he wants to believe in shiro even when shiro won’t believe in himself, but he can’t do that if he’s taking shiro’s position from him.

i believe that keith’s inner conflict is what made him choke as a leader much of the time in s3--not only is he dealing with his grief concerning shiro’s disappearance, but he is also pressured to replace someone he believes is irreplaceable. 

without this immense pressure he faces from self conflict and guilt, he actually does a pretty great job of leading. in episode 6, keith is able to quickly deduce that something is wrong with the mission and gathers the rebel fighters to try and stop the battle fleet. keith is showing that he’s able to decisively take action, rally and organize his allies, and come up with an executable plan.

here, he’s not constantly battling his own loyalty to shiro (or grief) when it comes to leading. shiro has safely returned to his position, and keith doesn’t risk “robbing” him of anything. keith is able to take a hold of his own brand of leadership and is showing the potential that shiro likely saw when he requested that keith lead voltron in his place.

while we’re on the topic of shiro, i’m still not convinced that this shiro isn’t a clone or some sort of sleeper agent. given the focus on “operation kuron” and his “weird headache” in the last season, plus all the foreshadowing this season about mind control (coran + his weird worm drug, matt claiming that “the brain can never be hacked”), i’m seeing the seeds of future conflict. like zarkon, shiro is visually and behaviorally different this season. something seems off, and he doesn’t seem to have the same charisma he had in the first two seasons.

i think team voltron will eventually be put into conflict with shiro, and keith will once again have to take up the handle of the black paladin. this time, keith will have to come to terms with his place in the team and the reality that by embracing his own leadership abilities and desire for personal growth, he is not betraying shiro in the process. he’ll need to break out of the idea that by seeking things for himself, he is being “selfish” (something that has already been established as a great insecurity and fear for him). once he’s done that, he will be able to reach his full potential as a leader of voltron.

and once all is said and done and lotor/keith have rediscovered themselves, i definitely see them being involved in the final clash.

so yeah these were my extremely long and rambly thoughts that have been pestering me ever since i finished season 4. there were things i did and didn’t like about it, but i’m excited to see where we’re going for sure!!

shutting up now