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theorynexus · 5 years ago

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The 30th One: In Which ROMANCE Is Discussed

That is an interesting effect that I have not heard of happening in real life~

This is definitely a conversation that I thought they’d have had before, but I guess those three just like repeating stuff, based on what’s been said before. I am not opposed to some useful exposition to the audience about things that we have missed for the sake of also demonstrating that Jade is constantly pushing for the development of their romance, which had been said but not shown, earlier~

And yet trolls have been talking about this with humans nearly as far back as their formal reveal (I don’t want to pinpoint the exact moment it began, considering all the skipping around from different temporal perspectives that was going around at the time), and humans in real life have been discussing troll romance+using it as a way to discuss romance in other series/franchises from nearly the point it was properly explained. Be a big boy, Karkat, and don’t treat these guys as if they don’t already know possibly far too much about the topic. (Not to mention the fact that I’m sure that you know that they know about it, you derp head!)

I do quite appreciate the idea of them being special enough to each other that it goes beyond the norms and/or labels of traditional romance in either culture, considering the lore relating to the Ancestor Trolls (particularly the Signless, and his own suppose matesprit). Karkat being Dave’s Karkat, and Dave being Karkat’s Dave sort of works toward that logic being fulfilled. On the other hand, I feel somewhat conflicted insofar as this could suggest that Dave still has a bit in the way of hangups concerning perceived “homosexual behavior,” which I thought that he had gotten over by this point. As such, this could be interpreted as character regression. I, personally, think that it seems pretty natural: while a character might have epiphanies, sometimes it is hard to put what one mentally realizes at one point into practice, and therefor to so cement it in one’s mind and being. It’s also quite rational if one or both of them feared potentially hurting their relationship by pushing things too far. Most importantly, though: they don’t have to push things into a more physical direction if they don’t have to. Relationships between loving and consenting individuals don’t necessarily have to be restricted/oriented to societal norms/expectations. If they are fine with bonding in other ways, then that is fine. Jade does not necessarily overstep by bringing up these sorts of questions, though, especially considering what she’s feeling, and how things are between them. It makes a great deal of sense for someone in her situation to question and see if things can be properly laid out/codified/disambiguated.

I do like that Karkat brings that line of thought up. Also, I would just like to say: friendship does not necessarily need to stop at the borders of romance. Romantic partners, optimally, should have been friends to begin with, and that friendship should continue after the beginning of a relationship that extends into romantic territory. (On a related note: Before the scientific drives that humans began exhibiting in earnest around the mid 1800s took hold, friendships had a capacity to be much deeper than they often are today, as well, to the point that it was quite normal and even expected that a person would have a bond deeper than the one that would be shared with one’s sexual partner [read: husband/wife, in most circumstances, for having lovers outside of marriage was not anywhere near as accepted at the time, with the exception of kings/queens and perhaps the higher tiers of nobility-- because it pays to be powerful, I guess] with one or more of the dearest companions that one possessed. It is honestly sort of a shame that sexual drives and fulfilling them have become such a big part of modern culture. Honestly, that may detract from the formation of deeper and more fulfilling relationships.) Honestly, I really do understand Karkat’s frustration, here. He comes from a society where intimate relationships are not related to or restricted by gender/sex at all, so it remaining a bit confusing that the concept of “gay” keeps being brought up (even if it does not necessarily persist as something that is relevant on that planet; I am not certain: it’s left as ambiguous whether this is sortof a hang-up that Jade has, or if it continues to be used in society at large) is something to be expected. I’m sure that part of the reason they are “Dave and Karkat” is as a sort of compromise. The two of them likely don’t want to have to deal with labeling what they are, in order to avoid the perceived weird interactions between human and troll notions of romance.

Oh, she was still wearing glasses. For some reason, “lenses” made me think of contact lenses. Must be a bit too early in the morning.

Hey, you can have a whole lot of fun staying in. Regardless: I guess I sortof understand what Jade means, there. She wanted to potentially experience what it might be like, even if she couldn’t get Karkat and Dave to make the dive with her. It makes it out like she was using the two chess people as stand-ins, which is rather cruel, honestly, but at the same time, I know that people who are desperate can potentially do things that otherwise might not seem too rational (such as pursuing a relationship outside of the one she really wants). It’s not too crazy, and I’m quite surprised that Karkat seems surprised by this. I guess maybe he convinced himself that that meant Jade had given up, for a while.

I do wonder if this is meant to suggest if Karkat is entirely uncomfortable with a polyamorous relationship (which could be a little weird to some extent, considering a troll being involved in one is honestly rather normal, though I guess it’s not necessarily super common, given the difficulties in balancing relationships that were associated with such an arrangement?), or if it’s just that he’s worried that Jade is a bit too flaky, and needs more experience being in a stable relationship before he’s comfortable “risking things” by including her. ... Oh, and Dave using flash step to dodge his wrist being grabbed was pretty hilarious.

I thought the expected limit was four. Hmm. That said: accidentally, huh? Heh. I wonder how much this is intended as continued flirtation on Jade’s part. I’m sure she understands the concepts of kismesisitude quite well enough to put that kind of effort/pressure into things (particularly under the lens that she seems to be interpreting the two of them as being flushed, rather than pale in relations, meaning that having a third person as a pitched partner could be considered optimal, assuming a set of three was all that was included, here).

A very valid question! And also one that is very funny to see the reaction to.

***laughs hysterically*** (On a random note: Dog hormones were previously mentioned as being a thing that she deals with. This makes me question if she is in fact in heat right at the moment... which is a really weird thing to be bringing up in analysis of someone who at least used to be a human being, but, really, is made somewhat necessary here. I don’t even know how to begin properly guessing whether or not that’s the case, though, so I guess this is probably about where the inquiry must stop: wondering.)

This is an extremely strange and silly conversation. ***wonders if this is about to cause mention of the Sufferer, or if the obvious comparison and possible in-story inspiration for/with Jesus is going to be ignored***

***begins to laugh like Karkat, especially as a result of the Problem Sleuth reference***

#Homestuck Analysis #Homestuck Epilogue #Weird Alien Romance #Romance #Homestuck Spoilers #Weird Alien Romance works from both the perspective of humans and of trolls #here #just so you know.

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hotelbones · 5 years ago

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7 in 7: The road swirls forward, Jouissance hangs in the air

This blog post is coming later than the assigned date because the past week (and a half) has been difficult. I have blogged on here in the past about struggles with feeling a belonging, and panic over what I am studying. However, the past week has just been rough because I used my own emotions for the material of my work.

Day 1: Little Wander Games

For day 1 me and Yue worked together on games to help international students become more intimate with the city they have moved to. I wanted to collaborate with Yue because our projects felt like they had so much in line with one another. She is trying to find playful ways to help students feel more comfortable with the city. Part of that project entails making games that directly play with the city in order to make them more comfortable. My own intimacy games project was also about people using objects and other people for their real properties, not to be abstracted or suspended for how they exist in the real world. (We’ll see if that changes)

We met up at 17th and Broadway to start and decided that the project would be making the games along our wandering trip. We could make games and then try to execute them, but I wanted to try an alternate approach to making the games.

We started by walking through a couple of stores and determining what our frame of thinking was for our wandering. We didn’t determine any rules, but decided what was important was to consider everything like public space for us to explore. Already this utilizes something like the magic circle, so internally I felt a little weird about it, despite proposing it. There is also problems with considering everything to be public space. If this was true we could walk into people’s homes, sites under construction, and more that would harm us or others as a result. So instead, this line of thinking was merely a way for us to consider the market spaces as places we could walk into without feeling guilty for not buying anything.

I won’t go into detail on each of the games we made because it would be a lot of writing to do. However, we ended up making a total of 6 games that we played in various spaces.

Towards the end we wondered, why not just document all these games in a book? What does a game book look like if it is just an artifact of previous play experiences?

I’m probably the most happy with this game form from the 7 in 7. It ended up helping me think of games in a new way. Instead of games being something that makes us vulnerable, suspends reality, or entertains us. What if games were just prompts from another emotional lived moment? Me and Yue are hoping to have some people test this book and to see if this form of thinking about games is fruitful.

Day 2 & 3: Be Honest Breakfast

On that Thursday I had a pretty bad time feeling depressed about things. Not like I am depressed about the prospect of something, I was just depressed. I have it clinically so it just happens at times.

I decided during these two days of struggling to make something that it may be nice to create a game that helps meet with friends to feel like I have people to go to when I need support. I imagined this would be something nice to do over breakfast. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1rpEeQnFzMb-My_FYcHvJgiEV5gUzQxaUejMkzNx7G6E/edit?usp=sharing

You may notice that Be Honest Breakfast isn’t done. There aren’t even any rules. Honestly, these two days were just a dud. I think if anything Be Honest Breakfast is almost like a “conceptual game”. I can tell you what its about, I spent a long time thinking about it, it was something meaningful I thought through. It’s just an artifact of this period of thinking. As Robert Yang wrote, “ the most important thing about a game is that it exists, because that means you can think about it.”

Day 4: Ghost Support

The evening of day 3 I laid in my bed, browsing twitter before I went to sleep and a person I didn’t recognize showed up in my feed. When I clicked on their picture I realized it was one of the upper classmen in my highschool business class. I must have followed him when I made my twitter like 10 years ago and it was novel just to follow people I knew. As I looked at his profile Twitter displayed all the people I follow that also followed this person, all other people from high school I followed so long ago. And so, a rabbit hole began. As I wandered from profile to profile, I went from high school friends, to my coworkers during my working period between university, and my undergraduate friends. And it hurt. I don’t talk to any of these people anymore, but I missed the friendships/relationships we had during the time we knew each other. Their profiles remained the same as how I remembered them from years before, and they were actively still tweeting about what they were up to. But I couldn’t just contact a lot of them and reminisce on these old times. I pretty much ghosted all these people. Some of them were very unhealthy for me to be around, others come from me just being bad at saying goodbye when I move away and they never responded to me after that. There’s a bunch of specific cases in between those two that don’t fit in as well. I went to bed knowing I was going to have some bad dreams about it all. The next day I decided to try making something digital to address this feeling. Most intimacy games I have presented so far have been with other people, but this would be for just a single player.

I hopped on twine and imagined something like Jon Bois’ “What Football will look like in the future” but addressing someone directly about their anxieties about someone they had ghosted.

Here’s what I made

I’m not happy with the writing in this. It was just me kind of messing around with the idea and not fully diving into what needs to be addressed when helping someone with being a ghost.

Day 5: Intimate Theory and Mapping

Every Sunday I go to Brooklyn and work with Brianna Shuttleworth on various game projects. This last week we went really deep into theorizing what intimacy looks like. There were a lot of conversations but what was probably the best part was mapping how a relationship’s intimacy forms.

In the map above you can see a base relationship between “me” and a “person/thing”. This relationship can be physical, emotional, or relational. Once this has begun to form, the relationship exists in a state of ambivalency. It’s hard to tell how the person or thing will treat your relationship. If it reacts poorly, distrust, opaqueness and distance is formed. If it reacts positively, intimacy, trust, and transparency is formed.

I was a little hesitant to call this my 7 in 7 because it is just a whiteboard map, but really this was incredibly value to think about how intimacy is formed. I have thought so much about the magic circle and games, but this really started to push me to think what intimacy really can be, in and out of games.

Day 6: Chess for Loss

On the day my mom put my family dog Buckeye down I didn’t feel anything. That day was last week on tuesday afternoon. On the day my mom put Buckeye down, she also told me that my great aunt Pat died earlier that week. Dang....

What’s weird about this moment....is that I didn’t feel anything. I wanted to feel something. A person and a pet that I experienced life with had passed away. They are gone, I can never experience anything with them again. I wanted to feel distraught, miserable, defeated. But all I did was finish my Taco Bell and think about why I felt this way.

And it isn’t unreasonable that I felt this way. I get it. I don’t have anything from these two. I am hundreds of miles away from home, and I have been for more than a year. I haven’t spent time with either of them in any reasonable capacity in forever. I don’t have anything from home to think about them here in New York. No photographs, no gifts from a cherished holiday. With their deaths went the possibility of creating any more of those.

Later that night I went home and tried to make something that could help me feel something.

I have also been thinking about chess a lot lately. It’s something me and Christina started to pick up as we both became addicted to Overland. Every couple nights, we will have some fun conversation that is usually interrupted by, “hey let’s play chess and talk”. But then we don’t talk, because we are playing chess. And if you are playing chess, you don’t talk.

So I had been thinking lately during my time of making intimacy games, what if Chess was an intimacy game? So during this time of mourning my family, I decided to see if chess would make me feel better about memorializing them. Specifically, would playing an intimacy chess game about those I am mourning make me feel something?

In chess there is typically an 8x8 board with a certain set of 32 pieces along with a timer. For this modification of chess I decided it wouldn’t be one where I make written rules and test with other people. I just wanted to create an experience for me to share with those close to me.

In place of a chess timer that attempts to optimize the time it takes to formulate the digital strategies of a chess board, I placed a candle to create an immeasurable, but material estimate of time.

During the game of Chess for Loss, I used the pieces to try and communicate to others what memories I had left of those who I had lost. For my dog, it was fairly easy. I spent years seeing that dog every day and understanding his little behaviors. But for my Aunt Pat, I could barely remember what the inside of her house looked like. We used to go their every once in a while, maybe stop by the library. I could only remember the smell, there was something distinct about the smell of her furniture and the texture of her twill furniture.

Day 7: A Lecture on Intimacy Aesthetics and Design

(Currently the recording of this talk is in limbo due to technical difficulties. I hope I can post it soon in some form!)

For my Gaming the System class I had to run most of the lecture portion of class this past Thursday which Colleen Macklin usually runs. I was incredibly excited originally to run this on that very week because it was the time students started to ideate about their own games. However, in the coming days I was becoming incredibly nervous. My questions didn’t feel fully formed, and I felt that I would present something problematic.

However, the presentation actually went incredibly well. At the end, my PhD colleagues teaching the class all congratulating me saying things like, “WOW, you have set the bar high for presentations in this class”. That feels pretty good honestly.

However, this class seriously addressed something I had just started to think over the course of this 7 in 7. As a person in the front of the class asked during the Q&A post-lecture, “Intimacy can’t be designed.”

Shit.

I know its a bit of silliness to use a word like jouissance in an assigned blog post, but I think my brain really connects this word to the state of my work right now.

A couple people probably looked up the title “jouissance” to find that it means “enjoyment” in French. But the word doesn’t translate so easily to english to mean the same thing. I’m using it in reference to Lacan’s thinking of the word.

'That's not it' is the very cry by which the jouissance obtained is distinguished from the jouissance expected... Structure, which connects up here, demonstrates nothing if not that it is of the same text as jouissance, insofar as, in marking by what distance jouissance misses - the jouissance that would be in question if 'that were it' - structure does not presuppose merely the jouissance that would be it, it also props up another”

- Jacques Lacan, The Seminar of Jacques Lacan, Book XX: Encore, 1972- 1973 If I simplify this quote a bit, jouissance is the experience of satisfying desire completely and fully, but obtaining a new sort of enjoyment in what the structures of the world has to offer. Not in the way that you shrug and say, “oh well, at least I got something”, but in a way that is a bit painful. Knowing that original desire cannot be fully fulfilled. I bring this up in relation to my project because I think I am the one crying “that’s not it!” this weekend. Once my lecture had finished I seriously started to consider the idea that this wasn’t something that should be designed. James, one of the PhD TAs in my class noted in agreement with the Q&A person that not only does it seem like something that can’t be designed, but it seems like the cultural and social systems of the world have begun to fail at providing us all with intimacy.

Is this truly obtained jouissance as Lacan deemed it? Desiring to break away from DT’s standards of design to create something critical in my field, only to discover through that path that I had only been designing where maybe it wasn’t appropriate all along? I want to make it clear here, this moment of questioning my thesis isn’t a crisis. If anything, its been the most sobering moment of this semester. I spent this entire 7 in 7 designing games and creating this framework, but now its been revealed that maybe this isn’t the form this intervention in intimacy isn’t what’s best.

And isn’t that what we learn in DT? That we should always be creating the form that is best suited to what we hope to address?

The language around this 7-in-7 has been that we have been making in order to narrow down the direction of our project’s form. But that was never what I was attempting to do with my 7-in-7. This past week and a half has been a period for me to think through some ideas, and see how those sit with other people. It was a research project, and now that its done I have to determine what direction its going next.

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spongeguyandlelouchvibridankia · 5 years ago

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Iron Son Fanfic

@incorrect-spiderson

“Yes, Midtown High, it’s that time of the year again! Christmas is finally here!”, Betty Brant, one half of the Midtown High news anchors, delivered in her usual slightly peppy monotone.

“Yes, Merry Christmas to one and all! Especially you, Betty.”, Jason Ionello, the other, less intelligent half, expressed his unrequited crush.

“Jason, I swear, there will be nothing in your stocking but suffering and regret if you don’t BACK OFF…”

A “We’re Having Technical Difficulties” screen flashed on the monitor, and below it, the real action began…

“I have a plan.”

Sitting at study hall, an aquamarine-turquoise tinted room surrounded with cheesy Walmart bargain bin Christmas decorations and only slightly less cheesy self made kindergarten ones, Peter Parker and Ned Leeds found themselves going over a plan way harder than fighting The Vulture or acing their fitness examinations.

In fact, this was to be Peter Parker’s greatest challenge yet!

“Ok, so Christmas is any minute here, and I still don’t have a present for Mr. Stark, right?”

STAKES!

Ned, nodding his head, motioned for Peter to keep talking.

Peter’s soft and blue “Oh Geometree” sweater kept him warm as he continued explaining, the words tumbling out rapidly.

He was clearly every excited, but not in the good way, more like a toddler when his birthday is coming up and he’s going to laugh or cry any minute now.

He was on edge, and he was worried; and with Peter Parker, this usually meant trouble.

“Right, so, I’m thinking, “What can you get for the man who has everything?” and I was thinking…”

“Money! Money’s the answer!”, Ned suddenly pointed enthusiastically, glad that he solved the problem.

He always looked jolly, but his “Santa riding a shark” sweater somehow added to that.

“…Ned, Mr. Stark is rich.”

“So? Rich people want more money! Have you learned nothing from Monopoly?”

“Apparently he also learned nothing from history class.”, Michelle suddenly chimed in, causing Peter to jump and let out a little gasp.

As ever, Michelle refused to live by society’s rules: She wore no sweater, instead choosing to flaunt a winter coat that hid her hair, but not her face, which was apparently doing something to Peter, why, he was blushing immensely!

Trying to look cool by leaning on his hand with his face (and failing by falling on the table), Peter “tried” (emphasis on “tried”) to greet her.

“MJ! What are you, what are you, what are you doing here?”

Michelle barely responded to the greeting, a dry expression on her face.

If she was feeling as flustered as Peter, she was clearly not showing it.

“What are you two losers doing?”, she asked, leaning on the wall, a “Don’t refund gifts, Children!” poster behind her.

Ned, turning his face around to answer her quarry, pointed at Peter.

“He’s buying a gift for Iro…”

Ned suddenly shouted out in pain, because a well timed kick to the shin stopped Ned from screwing up continuity.

“I mean… Peter’s buying a gift for a family friend, and he’s not sure what to get him because this guy is like, loaded.”

“I mean…”, Peter started, Michelle raising an eyebrow in mild interest. “It’s just a gift.”

“Peter’s getting all nervous about it.”

“He’s just a friend.”

“He’s been wracking his brain about it for months.”

“Honestly, I doubt I’d lose much sleep over it.”

“I caught him crying about it at Spanish.”

“Shut up, dude!”, Peter said, annoyed, but Michelle was already beginning to walk out.

“Ok, well, you can keep crying if you want, but if I were you (and thankfully, I’m not), if I wanted to get something for someone, I’d check out Lee’s store, the one near Delmars.”

She almost left the room, Peter still feeling her presence, as she said “He’s got surprisingly lenient prices, even on Christmas.”

She then suddenly walked back in, a less confident than usual look on her face.

Gone was the smug smirk, replaced with a sort of anxiousness in her eyes.

“Not that I care about your stupid problems or anything. Just… Just some helpful advice.”

She almost blushed, before ducking out and hiding behind the wall, listening in, a strand of her hair on her nose and another near her ear.

Peter got up, a sense of urgency in his heart, and, high fiving Ned without even looking, began his journey towards Lee’s.

His confidence swelled and his resolve strengthened as his footsteps echoed down the halls, his eyes shining as they always did when he did the right thing.

The confident smile was momentarily replaced by a shy one as he whispered to himself on the way out (not knowing she was there) “Merry Christmas, MJ…”

Another thing he didn’t notice? Michelle’s soft and small smile as she whispered…

“Merry Christmas, Tiger…”

The sky was clear.

For now.

He looked back, just for a second, to make sure he didn’t miss anything.

If what had been haunting him for 4 years wasn’t out there.

And it wasn’t.

…For now.

“Mr. Stark?”

Turning around, after one last side glance, Tony Stark finally put all his attention onto the woman before him, the brown interior of the living room, filled with couches, plants, and close to a mini kitchen, giving off a more comfortable vibe than there actually was.

Feeling that ever sore left arm, and pretending that all was right with him, as per usual, Tony walked past a photograph of Steve Rogers and sat down on the armchair in front of his conflicted guest.

“I see that the spider doesn’t fall far from the web. He calls me that all the time.”

“Have you tried to correct him?”

A voice rang out from a different room, mechanical yet authentic, with a warm glow to it. “I’ve heard him try 232 times, and that’s only all the times I’ve been around them.”

“Vision!”, Tony called out in a humorously scolding tone. “What did I say about listening in?”

“…Not to do it. But I was just answering a quarry, Mr. Stark.”

Tony shook his head, smiling to himself, before looking again at May Parker. “So…”

He repositioned to make himself comfortable, but it didn’t help: No matter how he sat, he couldn’t rest.

Still, the least he could get from this is a straight answer.

Sighing, he locked eyes with his guest. “…What do you think?”

May Parker bit her lip, never more unsure of anything her entire life.

For the last 11 years she had raised the boy as well as she could (with help for most of those from Ben), and as he had grown up with her, she had grown too; grown to see him as her son, in a way.

Her Peter.

The little genius who was always getting picked on.

The shy kid who helped whenever he could.

And now the hero of an entire city, keeping everyone safe from maniacal criminals.

She wasn��t all too happy at first with Peter’s superhero life; In fact, she had very much considered banning it.

But after a long and quiet discussion with him and his admittedly more trustworthy than she thought mentor, she had relented (even quite happily), and allowed him to continue doing his thing, provided he was more careful.

And he was, so there was that!

But just because May had grown to accept her odd life did not make this just a little odd.

No, scratch that, it was not odd: It was just a lot to think about.

“Look, Mr. St… Tony…”

She didn’t want to say no, but she wasn’t sure if yes was the right answer: There was so much to think about, and not much time left.

“I’m sorry I took so long to ask, and especially today.”, Tony said, as if he was reading her mind.

“Could he do that?”, she thought, and for a second, she was convinced, but then she reasoned that he wasn’t THAT kind of billionaire.

“I mean, I would have asked sooner, but I’m just so busy not dying, and I didn’t see you in the supermarket, and I’m not a member of your book club, so you see how it slipped.”

“Uh huh. And this isn’t because the great Tony Stark was afraid of asking someone something that personal?”

“…I threw a nuke into a wormhole. You’d be surprised how easy that is compared to this.”

May couldn’t help but warmly chuckle before adding “I actually wouldn’t.”

She looked down for a moment. “I… In a way, I had to do that too. So I know why this was hard yet important to you.”

She then smiled at him, a genuine smile, that made Tony feel trusted.

…How he missed that feeling.

Instinctively feeling his chest, Tony listened intently as May spoke. “I… I need more time to think.”

“I’m not saying no!”, she was quick to add. “I just need to make sure that yes is the way to go. For both of us.”

Tony nodded, truly understanding. “Workshop it. We’ll do… Linner? Dinner’s at your place, so… My people will speak with your people, and…”

He began to walk out when suddenly Vison walked through the wall, making May shout out and Tony flinch.

“Mr. Stark, I was wondering if perhaps I could…”

“JESUS, VISION! I ASKED YOU NOT TO…”

Tony then realized that that was NOT an inside voice.

Closing his eyes, hands feeling his forehead, knowing another headache was coming on, Tony took a deep breath and hoped that he could keep it together.

“…Vision, please tell me why a superbot who has a magic stone in his forehead can’t compute the simple request of “not walking through walls”.”

“Wanda didn’t mind it…”, Vision said, almost like a guilty child.

Tony smiled sympathetically and shook his head. “What did you want?”

Vision pointed at the still startled May and asked “I thought I could be of assistance and keep Ms. Parker occupied. Trust me, it can get quite dull alone in here.”

Tony wished he could get rid of that problem, but he had such a list, that getting Wanda back was not exactly an option.

Still, if he could make his friend feel a little less lonely…

Taking out a chess set, Tony motioned Vision to sit.

“Don’t beat her too hard, buddy.”

“I’ll try my best, Mr. Stark, but it’s not exactly in my nature.”, Vision said, a small smile on his red face.

May nodded as Tony made a “Call me” sign and closed the door.

“So… Superbot?”

“A very long story, but super is quite the bragging term, and I’d rather be known for my more human elements.”

He extended his hand, a polite smile offered too.

“My name is Vision.”

“May Parker.”

Looking outside yet another window, Tony was not surprised that nothing was out there again.

He was also not surprised by Pepper appearing and caressing his shoulders.

“Tony…”

“I’m not worried. You’re not a mind reader, and if you are, then all those worries you detect are fake ones.”

“I don’t need to read minds to know that you are worried.”

She rested her head next to his ear.

“Besides, if anyone is worried, it’s me.”

“See? Wrong again, Ms. Potts. You’ll never reach double Jeprody like this.”

A ring glinted in his eyes.

“I already am. I’m marrying you.”

“If you can understand the danger in that, then there’s hope for you yet.”

Pepper sighed as Tony stayed stiff, still looking outside, not looking at her for a second.

“…Tony, everything will work out. You’ll give Peter your gift, and you’ll stop whatever is in there.”

She pointed at his head, and Tony smiled.

She believed in him, after all those years.

But he could still feel her falling.

He could still hear her screams.

Their screams.

“You could have saved us…”, Steve said.

“I would have saved her.”, Killian wounds.

“If you die… That’s on me…”, he reminds Peter.

“I’m the man who killed the Avengers.” He reminds himself.

“I’m sorry, Tony…”, Steve says, but is it too late?

“I’m not the one who needs to watch her back…”, Natasha warns.

…

“Why didn’t you do more?”

Suddenly, he feels him.

His presence.

The man who’s behind his suffering.

The one who’ll destroy earth.

Tony Stark had to succeed.

He had to.

Pepper could feel his shoulders sag, his breath run cold.

“…You all right?”

Tony closed his eyes and focused.

“I help Peter… And I help another person… And I’m that much closer to resting. To finally saving them all.”

He opened them and lied.

“…Always.”

(Electric guitar begins to play “Jingle Bells Rock”)

“Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell rock”

“Jingle bells swing and jingle bells ring”

“Snowin’ and blown’ up bushels of fun”

“Now the jingle hop has begun!”

Walking down by Delmar’s, Peter had a hard time tearing his eyes off it.

Queens was awash with lights already, though the midday sun was still up, and all around one could see festivity!

Santa’s ringing for charity to your left, kids playing in the snow to your right, and smack bang in the middle were smiling men and women, not a frown in sight!

Peter loved the holidays, so it always warmed his heart to see so many other people enjoy it too.

“And some of them because of me…”, Peter thought, as he waved at an old woman he once helped who gave him a churro.

Feeling a little bit warmer, despite not adding a single extra layer of clothing, Peter stepped up to Lee’s store, hoping to find something special for Mr. Stark.

KNOCK KNOCK!

“Come in, True Believer!”

The nice old man voice felt very welcoming, and even more welcoming was the warm insides of the store: Green and red lights merrily lit, a small and cheery tree flashed, Bing Crosby was wishing for a white Christmas, and Peter could swear he smelt…

“Hot chocolate?”

Peter was so taken by surprise he nearly burnt his hand, but he was lucky enough to taste the drink.

“Oh, wow! This is amazing!”

The old man smiled cheerfully from behind his black frame brown lens sunglasses.

“My wife Joan. She was one heck of a gal!”

“I bet!”, Peter complimented, savoring the flavor.

Suddenly, he found a long arm greet him.

The smile behind it was somehow longer.

“Welcome to my store, son! What’s your name?”

Peter happily shook back. He was liking this guy already!

“Peter Parker, sir!”

“Glad to meet ya, Peter! My name’s Stan Lee. As in Lee’s Store.”

Stan walked back to behind his counter, where he sat and sighed contently.

“Nothing quite like the holiday season, eh?”, he asked nostalgically as Peter admired all the other knick knacks in the store.

Wonderful decorations of angels and snowmen and reindeer surrounded the store, and everything seemed to twinkle and shimmer and glow.

Peter’s eyes sparkled as well as he took it all in, leaning his back on the counter.

“Yeah… Nothing quite like it.”

Stan then chuckled as he realized he was wasting time.

“Sorry, kid, I’m holding you up! What do you want to get?”

Peter was quick to correct him. “Don’t worry, sir! I’m just taking in the view.”

Stan laughed again, and he joined him.

“So, who are you buying for? I don’t want you to be late for your family.”

Peter gulped, remembering the size of his task.

“Well, you see, it’s for… Well, someone very close to me.”

“A girl? A boy?”, Stan asked with a wink.

Peter blushed heavily, thinking of MJ. “What? Nooooo! It’s for a…”

Peter had never really admitted it to another person before.

He was barely able to choke it out for May!

But he had to do this for Mr. Stark, teen embarrassment be damned!

“…A father figure of sorts.”

“Ah, I see!

Stan and Peter kept observing the shelves and Peter continued explaining.

“I want to get him something special, but you see, he’s rich, so, like, what do you get for him?”

“That IS a problem…”, Stan agreed, nodding but not looking at the teen.

“I know, right?”, Peter said, gesticulating. “Anyway, a friend told me that this place has good stuff, so I came here.”

“Your friend has good taste.”, Stan said, and Peter replied “She sure does…”

“A ha! So there IS a girl!”

Stan laughed as Peter got flustered. “Ok, there is, but not today! Today is about my…Father figure.”

“I’m just messing with ya, kid!”, Stan reassured, and he resumed glancing at his store.

Both men thought all the things at the store were marvelous…

But none of them had that zing, that UMPH that was so necessary.

None of them were special ENOUGH.

Stan was a storeowner, but he was a man of his word.

He was all about the joy of Christmas, and he knew that he needed to come up with something truly special for this kid.

“Aw man… What do you get for the man who has everything?”, Peter asked himself in a worried mutter, and Stan realized he might have a solution.

“…Peter... If I can call you that…”

“Of course!”

“Thanks. Well, Peter… What doesn’t he have?”

Peter blinked in confusion.

Stan smiled that bright smile of his and explained himself. “No man has everything. In fact, they mostly end up having nothing of true worth. Is there something our rich father figure here doesn’t have?”

Peter put his brain to good use, and soon came up with an answer.

“Well, he doesn’t stop working! He never takes any vacations, and trust me, he’s busy!”

It was what Peter said next that clinched it for Stan. “Man, if I could get him to rest for just a bit… To just feel safe for a moment…”

He could feel the ticket in his pocket, and a small lump in his throat.

She would have wanted this.

She would have done it herself.

Wiping a tear, Stan cleared his throat. “Her time was up a while ago anyway…”

Peter stared at him, once again puzzled.

“And honestly, I’d rather not go on my own. I have all I need here.”

Peter continued to be confused, until he found a slip of paper in his hand.

“Here! Give it to your dad.”

Peter wanted to say “Father figure”, but instead he said “What? Is that…”

“Tickets to my winter vacation spot in Florida. Lovely this time of year, you know!”

Peter was flabbergasted, his face a mixture of surprise, shock, and gratitude. “Mr. Lee, I… I can’t take this! That’s your vacation, that must have cost a fortune!”

“Eh, what’s a fortune when the spirit of giving comes in?”

Stan nodded as he made sure that Peter’s fist closed around the ticket. “The man’s got money, but no brains, if you described him right. He’ll HAVE to rest now.”

“But… But what about your trip?”

“And I’m sure he can pay for you and your family.”

Peter looked down at his palm, the ticket on it, and he looked back at the beaming man, and he didn’t know what to do.

“Mr. Lee…”, he finally exhaled. “…Thank you. Really. But… But I can’t take this. It’s not the right thing to do.”

“Son, I’d rather you had it. I started all this in the spirit of giving! So let me give it to you!”

“But what can I give you back?”, Peter asked immediately, and the old man smiled warmly and patted his back.

“Just be kind. That’s all I ask.”

Peter swallowed his gulp, and nodded slowly. He DID want to make Mr. Stark happy…

And as he walked out, saying “Thank you” (“You’re welcome, son!”), he realized there was a way to pay back Mr. Lee.

“Don’t worry, Mr. Lee.”, he thought as he ran back home. “You’ll get a good gift too!”

Entering the house, Peter opened the door excitedly, not even noticing the silver Audi outside.

“May, sorry I’m a little late, I was just getting a present for…”

But Peter was stopped short in his dimly lit yet colorful living room when he saw who was sitting on the couch with a Santa Hat Iron Man sweater and a freshly made cup of hot chocolate.

“…Mr. Stark?”, Peter asked, half startled half enthused.

His smile grew wider as Tony greeted him. “Hello there, Mr. Parker. We’ve been waiting.”

May suddenly walked out of the kitchen, oven mittens on. “Peter!”

She scooped him up in a hug and kissed his forehead. “I was beginning to get worried!”

Peter smiled, a little embarrassedly, but he hugged back. “Don’t worry: I’m fine.”

He then looked at Tony. “Actually, there’s something I need to do…”

Tony suddenly walked past, surprising Peter. “I too have something to say, Mr. Parker. Would you mind accompanying me outside?”

May seemed surprisingly emotional suddenly, and Peter could see that there were wet stains around her eyes.

What could it be that had gotten her so upset?

At first, Peter just wanted to make her feel better, but she shooed him off, so he went with Tony outside.

The air was cold, and Peter was shivering a bit, but Tony’s warm hand on his shoulder made it all worth it.

Looking up at him, Peter felt safe.

That was something he wasn’t used to.

Smiling softly down at him, Tony seemed to be holding a folder. “How had he not noticed that?”, Peter wondered.

“You have NO idea how long it took to get most of this signed, and there’s sort of a long process anyway, but…”

Peter was now very confused. Signed? Like… A contract?

Tony finally handed it over, but his hand seemed to be shaking.

Peter was getting a little worried: What was this all about?

“…Well, take a look.”

Peter looked and saw a lot of legal talk.

“…Skip down to the bottom. That’s where all the important stuff is anyway.”

Tony seemed to be looking aside as Peter read the inscription.

“When all is settled, two parties will be considered lawful guardians and parents to Peter Parker: His aunt May Parker and…”

Peter put the paper down, in shock.

“…Tony Stark…”, he barely breathed out.

Tony seemed… Distant.

“I know it’s not a conventional present, but… I want to protect you. So May and I agreed to a partial adoption, and…”

Tony was then squeezed by the biggest hug he’d ever received in his life.

Tears stained his shirt as Peter blubbered out “Thank you, Mr. Stark…”

Tony patted his back, finally returning the hug. “Of course, kid. Of course.”

Peter didn’t even know what to say.

And then, he realized that he forgot something.

“Oh man!”, he face palmed. “Now my present feels kinda lame compared to yours…”

“It could never be! Tell me what it is!”, Tony said, trying to be encouraging.

Peter smiled shyly and dropped the ticket in his hands. “A SUPER kind old man gave me this to give to you. Now you have to rest.”

Tony would later swear that those weren’t tears but that some fumes got into his eyes, but Peter knew better.

“And he said you could probably pay for me and May…”

“And Pep. And probably Rhodey and Vision, but I’d have to ask.”

Tony suddenly did something truly rare, and he initiated a hug. “Thanks, Pete. This is truly something. I’ll be more than happy to vacation with you and the family.”

Peter then decided to add one last clause: “But can we also buy one ticket for Mr. Lee, the guy who gave me this? I can’t bare to not give anything back!”

Tony smiled, proud of… His boy.

“Of course. I have money to spare, after all!”

He chuckled. “…You’re a good man, Peter Parker.”

Father and son smiled at each other, feeling closer than ever before, when suddenly they could hear May calling out for them.

Arm on Peter’s shoulder, Tony returned to his usual cheerful self. “Come on, now! Let’s not keep the woman who beat Vision at chess and made him cry waiting!”

As they walked in, Peter suddenly whispered “Merry Christmas… Dad…”

And Tony, again trying not to cry, but feeling the best he had felt in years, said “Merry Christmas to you too…”

“…Son…”

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drink-n-watch · 6 years ago

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Kriegspiel (‘War game’) is an unorthodox chess game in which the players only know for certain the moves of their own pieces. They have to deduce where the opponent’s pieces are by questioning an umpire. It is played on three boards with partitions between them. – via Wikipedia

You know, Crow was a bit nervous about reviewing this show, I think I strong armed him into it. I felt a little guilty at first but man am I glad now. I am loving this show and in no small part because I get to have these wonderful conversations around it. Your comments have also been fascinating and insightful. Please keep them coming. I can’t get enough of these talks.

Strong-armed? Hardly! You said you would like to review it — very politely, I might add! — so I watched the first episode — and to keep a theme going, I’m glad I did! And you’re absolutely right about the comments! Thought-provoking and imaginative stuff!

Oh, and by the way, my turn to be bold! At least in print! (That was Crow)

That’s quite a start

So remember last week when I said the arrival of Sister Krone could prove to be a disruptive presence for both sides!!!

Criminey, you weren’t kidding!

First though, let’s talk about that tiny bomb shell we got a the beginning. Every episode of The Promised Neverland packs so much in that it’s easy to forget the details, but one of the biggest things that stood out to me came from Ray, Norma and Emma’s conversation in the opening act, when they were still speculating on the transmitters. Apparently, it’s 2015!

that font is so not 2015

Obviously this is an alternate world but it places us in a grey zone. The technology we’ve seen so far in their daily lives is certainly not quite up to 2015 standards, but the teaching rooms seemed to be overly advanced. The demons may have some form of very advanced technology not available to the children but we haven’t seen it yet and the frequent use of nature (especially flower) motifs makes the seem more mystical than technical.

I’m not entirely sure why, but having the story clearly situated in time like that, felt important somehow.

Maybe an alternate timeline. But honestly, I’m not 100% convinced this is Earth — as in Sol III. It looks the same, but we’ve only seen a small part of it.

I’m not either which means we don’t know the rules governing what’s “human” which opens lot of doors!

brilliant!

At this point we also had a little speculation on the world beyond the farm. The kids discuss the fact that they must not be the only facility and that livestock comes from somewhere. The idea that demons probably rule the world. The kids seem to have pretty much the same line of thinking as we did. Except they have more pressing questions and trying to guess what’s out there isn’t very productive right now!

I’m still amazed at how clear-thinking they are! No unreasonable leaps of logic; just applied thinking based on their observations and thoughts.

These kids keep their eyes on the ball, then again, they’ve never known any other world. Emma, Norman and Ray, having figured out last episode that there had to be some type of tracking device on them are now busy trying to figure out where it is, while we get to know the newly arrived Sister Krone.

why not redraw the missing pupil? it would be so easy…jus for extra creepy?

I must say, with this much story and background to unpack, I don’t blame the show for resorting to Ray, Normand or Emma explaining the situation to each other (and by extension us) , but I couldn’t help but snicker a bit at Krone’s schizophrenic exposition. It was fun but just a little clumsy.

Did you like how she was portrayed? She almost seemed like a caricature, though her interactions with Momma (Isabella) were fascinating. And when she ran, she reminded me a lot of the T-1000 Terminator model from Terminator 2 Judgement Day!

I have to say, I quite like the notion of an addled, almost pathetic yet still threatening and entirely terrifying antagonist. Movies way too often play up particularly cruel villains as brilliant masterminds but I’ve always found that an opposite characterisation was very effective, and interesting. Someone who is just not bright or sane enough to tempt or coerce. Someone you can’t reason with….

Someone who’s bound to do anything…When I was really small, we had this electronic chess board you could play on. It had difficulty settings up to 10 (hardest). When you set it to 10 it would beat you instantly, unless you didn’t know how to play chess. You see, nonsense moves confused its algorithm. It would start taking forever, trying to figure out what your strategy was, while you were happily licking all the chess pieces or something. Once you get too smart, it starts to be very difficult to understand stupid, or senseless. Krone may prove to be a challenge… for everyone.

Meaning maybe Isabella won’t take her seriously as a threat — until it’s too late? This show has way too many ways to keep us off guard!

there are no cameras, no need to look for them

Of course she immediately decided to betray Mama, which I predicted cause I’m totally psychic and no other reason whatsoever. Say Crow, any thoughts on the judgement call behind deciding to loudly sing your treason plans in a crowded house with only a thin wooden door to block the sound?

That’s what I always do when I decide to betray someone! Seriously, I had to wonder at her sanity. Why would she possibly do that? Was the show just being funny? Or was it telling us something about her — namely, that she’s not entirely rational?

This said, even with her very limited presence this episode, I still find Moma to be the most chilling presence on screen. I also suspect that Moma let Krone know about the *older* children who had discovered the secret, for a specific reason. She doesn’t strike me as a woman who trusts readily or speaks carelessly. (I do both!)

I think your observation is spot on. There’re reasons Moma’s where she is, and one of them is that she’s astute. I think your title for this post is perfect. It’s Moma on one side of the board and Emma, Norman, and Ray on the other. Krone doesn’t know it, but she’s just one of Moma’s pieces.

terrifying I say

Speaking of deceptively smart, even though the series has so far established Ray and Norman as the masterminds of the series, with Emma seemingly playing the role of the enforcer, it was Emma who came up with the brilliant insight that the newly arrived baby might still have a scar from the tracing device incision. And when ging to check for herself, she also came up with the brilliant line of reasoning that the demons would probably not want to eat the implanted tracking device so it would have to be somewhere “easy to remove”…. Turns out, it’s the ear! That’s where we tag cattle – makes sense.

Remember I talked about feedlots? Yeah, we tagged the calves’ ears. The newer tags nowadays even have microchips in them. This is all terrifyingly familiar!

We are slowly seeing themes of human connection. The baby’s fingers coiling around Emma’s, creating that visceral instinct to protect our most vulnerable. It reminds us on this base level of the idea that we are all human and in this together. I assume this blatant set up is to only make those upcoming hard decisions even more devastating!

I’m having flashbacks to Made in Abyss… Which is to say, I think that’s exactly what they’re doing. And we’ll see those hard decisions through Emma’s eyes!

I desperately want t see that. I should get whatever platform i’s on…

they look a little alike

After having found the tracking device, or at least a likely place for it, it was time to turn to the practical question of escaping with everyone. Ray very appropriately pointed out that the smaller kids would have a hard time keeping up in their current state. Thankfully, it seems that hide and seek is already the main form of entertainment there, so this comes in handy for practicing kills like running away and, well hiding…

A game with Norman as the seeker serves as an excuse for Ray and Emma, serving as teachers, to show the kids some tricks. I quite liked this scene. It had all the ominous implications but because most of the kids think this is a simple game it was presented as joyful and sunny and relaxing. The contradiction was interesting to take in.

Very effective, dramatically. I felt like it also made the upcoming decisions that you already referenced feel even more dreadful. Those kids playing so happily will soon be running for a much different reason. With a much different consequence for being found.

well maybe not completely unaware

Speaking of blissfully unaware. More than once, the episode went out of it’s way to point out how beloved the caretakers are and how happy the children. Ray and Norman are eve gearing up for the possible necessity of lying to everyone because there’s a strong chance they would simply refuse to believe the truth and get them all killed. Once again, we’re being confronted with the limitations of Emma’s mercy.

It’s a great moral dilemma. Is it permissible to lie to save someone? And if you do, how far can you take the lie? Because once the kids found out they’ve been lied to, there’s no telling how they’ll react!

Krone had been eyeing all the older kids ever since Moma told her someone had discovered the truth. By not reporting it immediately, it seems Moma as broken the rules. Krone figures that if she can figure out the culprits and turn them over herself, she could usurp Moma’s role and become the new Moma.

Seeing the children play, Krone sees her own chance to do some recon and evaluate the children’s skills at the same time.

At this point, the game got a lot more menacing. How did you feel about it Crow?

run!

Oh, yeah! All those subtly menacing feelings we got while the kids were playing tag alone got bumped up a couple notices. Remember when she gathered up several kids at once and picked them up? I thought that was terrifying!

Having Krone discover a cowering Emma hiding two small children was pretty chilling, but not quite as much as Norman looking down from that boulder as Ray snuck up on Krone to win the game… See what I mean about Norman, gotta watch out for that kid.

He and Ray make a dangerous combination. I just hope they’re dangerous enough! And by winning, I wonder if they just made Krone more resolute? Or do you suppose that’s Moma’s plan — to make Krone and the kids focus on each other and leave her more free to operate?

how do they keep their clothes so white?

So test run no. 1 went a bit better than expect with Norman and Ray coming out on top. Still, depressingly predictable, Emma’s insistence on trying to save two small children, so they were all caught. Let’s hope it’s not foreshadowing…but it totally is. (I don’t know, this is as far as I got in the story)

It sure felt like foreshadowing! But if it was for a terrible decision Emma will have to make, or if it’s showing Emma preparing the kids to control even their breathing, only time will tell!

Man, I hope they can get themselves out of this mess!

oh man…this is so cool!

The episode ended on yet another bombshell and I must say I adore this one. After the game, Krone decided to back off, while Moma had completely disregarded Norman, Ray and Emma despite her obvious suspicions. The three soon come to the conclusion that the adults aren’t bothering with them because someone else must be keeping tabs and reporting back. But there’s only one option left, that someone else must be one of the kids.

This mic drop moment was spectacular. It completely changes the dynamics and interaction of the narrative. And since we the audience don’t have any extra information, we get to share in the kids’ paranoia! This was perfect!

If Emma’s hopes to get everyone out before looked unrealistic, now they look self-defeating. Because if they try to take everyone, and if “everyone” includes the snitch, then, to quote Han Solo, “This is going to be a real short trip!”

They’ve built a lot of suspense in three episodes, don’t you think?

I can’t believe this is episode 3. It could have been a built up season. Yet – it doesn’t feel rushed. Magic I say!

I may have said this before but: terrifying!

I just got over my Tsurune screencap disease and now The Promise Neverland is trying to drag me right back into it!

The Promised Neverland Episode 3 –Kriegspiel Kriegspiel ('War game') is an unorthodox chess game in which the players only know for certain the moves of their own pieces.

#action #anime #Collab #drama #dystopian #episodic #Promised Neverland #suspense

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