1912-20

[surely-galena]

ToT Main Story 9 Commentary/Thoughts (Part 3)

[1] [2] [3]

This is the final part and I will be including some longer thoughts (and my bingo card) at the end! I've purposely stayed away from other people's episode 9 posts while I write this up (notably Zak and Sam's) so their thoughts don't influence mine, but I am definitely looking forward to seeing if the feelings/concepts I'm picking up align with what other people are thinking. Heads up that the commentary here is going to be slightly out of order so I can push my longer thoughts to the end.

Ohhh. Okay, this got me. Marius was literally physically attacked and no one (except Vincent probably) has genuinely cared enough to ask about Marius the person and not Marius the suspect/informant. I'm really glad MC chose to ask this question rather than let Luke interrogate him right off the bat. And the fact that Marius is surprised also speaks so much as to what he was expecting... I did not think I would be getting treated to good MariRosa today.

(He went down to the NSB office... alone. Marius...)

Vincent's back on the case again, I see. Truly, what would Marius do without him?

This bit confused me. Didn't Luke only tell MC about his illness in his first anniversary card? Am I missing something from the timeline here?

And hey, more details about the incident. The fact that Luke contracted the illness during his treatment and that the drugs were suspected definitely point toward NXX influence.

-

Longer Thoughts Incoming, Here We Go

All right, first thing. This scene on its own doesn't say much. It's when combined with the other things I've picked up on that it feels... a little off?

I don't know if I've spent too much time with fanon!Luke or if I've simply been reading too much into it, but episode 9 Luke feels different. He's really aggressive this time, which is nothing strange, we've seen Raven before, but it also feels like he's relapsing into keeping MC/Rosa in the dark? (It's not quite that, either, I'm having a hard time putting the exact feeling into words.)

That scene with Julian where Luke is trying to push him into standing up for himself? It was well meaning, but gosh was it tense -- especially with the lack of communication with MC. No wonder she felt the need to step in and help.

There's a lot of fist banging on tables and harsh sentences from Luke, a lot more often than usual (to Julian, to Skye, to NXX members). It's a good reminder of how scary he can be, but it also provides massive whiplash from all the fluff we've been getting recently.

Additionally, Luke's interactions with the other NXX members (notably Marius and Artem) feel more distant. Like they're potential enemies, not coworkers/teammates.

I also think it's possible all of this is because Luke is getting desperate. He's getting worse, the meds are doing less and less for him, and he knows he's running out of time. Despite this, he's still alive. He's still able to change his fate -- or at least he hopes he is -- but to chase after his goals, sacrifices have to be made. He can't afford to dawdle or spend time not getting to the point, because time is slipping through his fingers and he needs to do as much as he can before he's entirely done for.

Basically? I think Luke is becoming increasingly stressed and he's (either consciously or unconsciously) taking it out on everything happening around him. The only people he's been truly open to in this episode are Aaron and MC herself. He's beginning to close himself off, even to MC (*points to the final scene with him covering her eyes and talking about lying to her*). Physically, he's not fine, and mentaIly, I don't think he's doing okay either, and that is concerning.

Okay, now onto the second major detail that has been nagging at me. These are from the final scenes as example excerpts, but is it just me or have the NXX been weirdly hostile to each other throughout this entire episode?

In one of the earlier scenes (after Marius speaks with Tyson), Marius runs into Luke. The conversation sounds like fairly normal NXX team banter, but Marius' demeanor is strange:

"But when [Marius] gives Luke a side glance, his eyes reveal a sense of sarcasm and coldness, completely different from his tone." (Main Story 09-01)

I'd assume this is because of the recent NSB action regarding Pax, the press, and the NXX Team's investigation. Luke is a potential weakness in the NXX Investigation Team because he belongs to the NSB. But after all the team building events MC put her heart and soul into, this is honestly kind of tragic. For them to fall apart so easily, because it was only ever her who glued them together.

(I know @roshie-writes has mentioned something to me about the NXX team falling apart, but I didn't know it would be so soon, or be so abrupt. Not like this...)

Not only do Luke and Marius have some kind of under the surface conflict, we have Luke and Artem who have a much more overt kind of conflict (i.e. Luke pushing for Skye's guilt and Artem being Skye's attorney). I've got to say that this is really interesting because we've never had Artem and Luke on opposite sides before. It's always been Artem vs. Marius or Artem vs. Vyn. To have Luke be isolated because of his association with the NSB (and potentially his illness) is an interesting story move (even if it hurts the found fam enjoyer within me).

Considering we're passing off the lead role to another boy after this, MC will no longer be tagging along with Luke in the next episode. This means that while Luke and Artem are on opposing sides of the conflict, MC has the advantage of being middle ground (because, y'know, they're all in love with her).

Even so, this part surprised me:

It's not out of character for Artem to prove MC wrong. What stands out is that he usually does it kindly. This is a laugh that MC knows to be directed to an opponent, and it hits harder when they're work partners. If there is anyone Artem can expect to be an ally, it's MC. But not in this case. Not now, when tensions are so high.

Then we have Vyn, who's being, what? Switzerland in all of this? In this episode he existed to have one conversation with MC, along with the absolute boldness to take it in front of his mystery guest. You do you Vyn, we love our behind the scenes guy doing suspicious things as usual. Notably he hasn't chosen a side yet, and neither has MC. We know that MC will follow her heart, and that Vyn will always look out for MC in his own way (which is true for all the boys), but it might be interesting to keep an eye on him as we head into Main Story 10.

I know the ToT main story can get pretty heavy, but this one was more emotionally draining than I thought it'd be. I'll have to see how it all connects before making a proper judgement about how much I liked it, but overall I'm glad we gained a lot of new info (and more questions to delve into later).

-

Here's my bingo card for the episode. I was so close to a bingo, but I got to cross off many boxes anyway!

[crows-home]

Hello hellooooo I have thoughts about Tiger and Bunny :) below the cut because it's so long lmao. I tried to keep spoilers out of it, for the most part, but this is mainly me talking about things i liked

I really liked the character designs. It's what immediately drew my eye and hooked me when I was just channel surfing and came across it. I was like holy shit!!! Black people drawn super well in an anime!!!! It's something that I wasn't used to, Made my heart sing yk.

I adored the character designs for the most part!! Yeah some of them (barnaby) looked silly, but it really fit their character. It's a superhero anime- I was expecting it!

Oh man, speaking of, I'm such a goner for superhero/ mecha stuff. Some of my favorite franchises growing up were Transformers, Power Rangers, and Tenkai Knights. So when I flipped through channels, saw the heroes in action and the fighting/ animation, my brain went "!!!!!!! Yes!!!" I gushed over Tiger and Barnaby's hero suits, heck, everyone's hero suits. It just scratches an itch in my brain.

I watched the dub, and I thought it was great!! Lots of funny lines and great deliveries :) ("and what's that over there?" "Oh that's. A building." "And that?" "...also.. A building." And "I don't talk like that!" "I dOnt TaLk liKe ThAT!" And God any line where Bunny was crying was just so good. Really pulled on my heart strings even when I wasn't expecting it to) Sure, some of the scenes were corny, but I was expecting it!

The plot was solid, though I can see where some holes might be poked. But there was so much character in every episode, I love the teamwork and the way everyone interacted with each other. And the attention that was placed on their relationships with their families. Even if I wish for more, it's fun to play around with in my head. Like, I'm sure Fire Emblem was a big step forward, in universe, for gay rights and their flirty, flamboyant attitude is the biggest "fuck you" to homophobes. I'm sure Dragon Kid's debut, at 13, caused a commotion about children doing hero work, especially when she's getting hurt so much. I'm sure there's a lot of background politics at play regarding heroes and their sponsors that we don't see. I know a lot of this was left out, because they wanted a story with one plot, because they weren't sure how far this series would go, because it just wasn't as interesting. But oh man, these things have been in my head ever since I watched it. Tiger and Bunny is a fun playground.

(I'm going to be honest, I went in without high expectations for the plot. I was just here for cool fight scenes)

I appreciated the direction they took Karina's crush on Kotetsu. I was really wary at first. She's 15? 16? and he's like 36. If they were going to be pairing up the underage girl with the grown man she had a crush on, I was prepared to drop the whole show and hate it. But no!! The progression was sweet, the way Kotetsu obviously sees her as a daughter, and how Karina evolved into her feelings was just :')

Also. Holy fucking shit. Barnabys entire life just. Put out there, for the whole world to see. I can't imagine the sense of perversion that creates. The world knows his name, his backstory, everything. He no longer has his own life, his own choices. It's ridiculous, and I'm glad he had people there to support him.

UNLIKE KOTETSU JEEZ. Man was getting the short end of the stick at every turn ToT I felt so bad for him every time he tried to hard to be recognized, but also just embarrassed. Give him a break!!!

And. Even before going into this, I knew that people would ship Tiger and Bunny. I've been around the block, I know how this shit goes, especially in these types of shows. Two guys being super close, going on about their friendship and all that, is bound to attract shipping. I wasn't against it!- I was just ready for it, but was mostly planning on ignoring it.

But. Holy shit. It's really all there huh. They're like. in Love Love.

("you're only partners for each other." "You two fight like an old married couple." "we dont need to talk to know what the other is thinking." "you're always making me think about you."

Kotetsu "I wonder how Bunny's doing again" Kaburagi and Barnaby "Have I told you about Kotetsu today yet" Brooks Jr. Neither of you are subtle.)

I'll make another post with some more detailed criticisms and takes, but for now, this is all my brain wants to gush about

[actualbird]

AFAHSJSSK ITS OK!! I just wanted to make sure it didn't get lost in transit or smth b/c ik tumblr is an abyss sometimes and likes to devour things AFAGAJS. 😂

I actually totally forgot that I asked about nxx polycule meeting mc's parents, so whenever u have the time, I'd love to hear more about that from u...and whatever my original question was for it 😅

IVE READ THE WHOLE SHIP TAG FOR DARIUS/ARTEM TOO! it is *sob* so small, but very very good! There was also a single marius/artem/darius fic in there that I Think about A Lot. It's a very delicious sandwich of age and height difference and a lot of other things haha

YES YES YES! I love how in darius/artem, darius is the older one b/c with the other nxx members, artem is the oldest, so it's an interesting dynamic. Their dynamic in general is SO GOOD I love the few moments we see them interact in the game. (also also insert horny thought here about darius' stubble and artems thighs 🙈)

Oooo looking forward to outsider pov darius fic on the nxx team whenever u get to it 👀 we just need more darius content in this fandom in general in whatever capacity that may be. (Also I hate that my 1st thought when u said that darius looks tired was "yeah I'm sure he definitely has a reason he looks tired all the time *winky face*" AFAHSJSJ- (darius has a secret lover, mayhaps?))

For my marluke question: yes, they're so funny!! I love the way u write them, their banter is always my favorite part of ur fics. Oooo I really like ur point about them being two stubborn people that push each other. It's always interesting to have a dynamic where the characters push each other in productive ways and where they are able to inspire each other to new heights, but they do so in very supportive ways where there's this equal give and take between them, and you see how they grow both together and individually. I love it!

I've been doing well too! just really busy, but I enjoy reading ur blog posts and catching up on ur tot thoughts and analyses whenever I get a break!

- 🐍

eyyo, snake!!! ( ﾟ▽ﾟ)/

irt asks MIA: oh man, felt. ive been using this website for a Very Long Time and am well aware of it's voracious hunger for certain asks kjgksg.

irt nxx polycule meets mc's parents: YEEEE, I'LL DEFFO get back on the topic. eventually. someday. who knows? certainly not me. i want to but i have a veritable PILE of ideas and topics im working on omg.

irt that sandwich: oh my ggOOOSSH I READ THAT MARIUS/ARTEM/DARIUS FIC. it was very good i loved it because 1) hoo boy, artem as the so called hinge in that poly relationship is incredibly fascinating and 2) ARTEM GOT DP'D?? TWO DICKS??? IN HIM??? AT THE SAME TIME???? everyday we are blessed.

(sidenote: another reason why i havent written darius yet is because his name rhymes with marius KJBKJKGSD. if ever i write him, i think i'll ONLY call him by his last name, morgan. tot eng localization team, why did u do this? ur making shipping harder...)

irt darius and artem dynamic: their canon interactions are GREAAAT. one i remember very clearly is main story 5.1 (or .2 or .3, not sure) where darius was like "hear that, wing? he wants to sue you. who would you get as your defense attorney, if that happened? that partner of yours---" and then artem is like "Stop." which is SO FUNNY and indicative of the fact that darius is comfy enough to playfully jab at artem like this and that artem seems to be used to it HAHA.

irt horny: ah. your horny thoughts and my horny thoughts shake hands. obsessed, im OBSESSED with artem shivering at the feeling of darius languidly dragging his stubble face across places where artem is most sensitive.

thighs is very good, yes. but im also thinking that if darius wants to be a rascal, he could just give artem a nuzzle on the neck at the station and artem is like "ALRIGHT. WE'RE LEAVING." because he gets so worked up just from that. i mean, how could he not? every time he feels that sensation, it's always followed by....much more intimate sensations. darius morgan has pavlovian conditioned artem wing to get horny at stubble feel. BLESS UP!!!!

irt why darius looks like he isnt getting any sleep at all: JSBGDJKSGKSD!!! HES TIRED BECAUSE HES FUCKIN ALL NIGHT!!!! i second the motion because it's hot and also hilarious

irt my wonderful baby boys: hhhh im glad u like how i write marluke!!! im on a mission to just flood the marluke ao3 tag, i live here now (but will occasionally make grocery trips to write for other ship or no ship tags) but i do get worried like oH NO AM I WRITING A FLAVOR OF MARLUKE THAT LIKE....SUCKS??? so ur words mean a lot :'). and YEA. characters who push other characters and also the story are just so much fun to work with.

oftentimes when im writing marluke, all i have to do is put them in the premise. and like....the characterization i have for them, they make all the choices from there on out. i, as a person, dont have to make the decisions, if that makes sense? theyre doing it for me.

truly, writing for me just feels like me running around and filming a documentary of little guys in my brain.

glad youre doing okay!! and i hope you have a nice day :DDD