#like im genuinely terrified of loosing my basic human rights

[pirates-and-ninja-lover]

fuck politics btw <3

[astrologista]

Kristoph Gavin Character Analysis I

Part 1 of... fucking infinity, I hate this bitch so much lmao.

Well, it's Halloween time and I just thought, why not. So let's answer this question.

What makes Kristoph Gavin a scary character/villain? A soft spoken gentleman with a deadly secret... the Devil, who lives in his hand, that crazy evil scar thing, his creepy music theme... damn, he’s a scary dude. But scariest of all? His psychology, as we all know. (This is mostly gonna be headcanons. but ya know what, I have a license (hands you a piece of paper that says ‘i can do what i want’))

Kristoph seems like a person who is very aloof, particularly when it comes to personal relationships. At first he kind of just seems like the typical anime glasses guy whose main emotion is like whooa he does the glare thing with his glasses sometimes. But... what is he really about?

You know, let me digress for a moment, what's really interesting to me about the AA characters is how much depth they have in their writing. Case in point, Adrian Andrews. There's a character who you assume is just going to be the typical "anime glasses girl" who is a career woman who don't need no man, and is very aloof, cool, and as she says, not concerned with irrelevant topics or things. Later you learn about the true depths to her personality. The fact that she is codependent, that she needs other people telling her what to do in order to survive. Just because she masks these emotions doesn't mean they don't exist. I felt that really gave a lot of depth to her character and added another dimension that stories in this genre don't often address as boldly or fully (especially when it comes to a female character). So the quality of the writing is always really top notch with only a few exceptions. Take this as context...

Now getting back to Kristoph Gavin. Typical anime glasses dude, right? But no, though. One of the reasons why he's so interesting to me is how his emotional understanding of personal relationships really works. Or seems to, anyway. Based on the endgame testimony and his crimes, Kristoph Gavin is extremely dangerous because, should you get involved with him in any way, he will never, ever let go of you, ever. Once you are entangled with him he wants you to stay entangled, not unlike an overbearing parent who refuses to let you go. It's partly that he thinks he knows what's best for you (that is, to stay completely loyal to him). And also partly... because he is pretty dependent on what other people think of him. So he needs to keep them around him closely.

Kristoph's biggest fear was his lying being exposed for what it was. That Phoenix was really the honest, straightforward attorney, and not him. Kristoph would do anything to perpetuate his own false reality. He kept it going for seven years. His absolute worst fear of all was losing his reputation. Being seen for what he truly was in front of others. He could never accept that. That fear drove all of his murders. Fundamentally, he sees himself as benevolent... when nothing could be further from the truth of how he was hurting everyone who had the misfortune of crossing his path.

Kristoph has a need to perpetuate this false identity of himself above all else. A very adjacent second goal to that is to keep all of his personal associates very close and under his control in order to keep the first goal intact.

Reject him and he will stalk you until you are dead. By his hand, or otherwise. Slight him, and he will get you at the first opportunity, case in point, Zak Gramarye. (He only had to get a quick glance at the guy and his fate was sealed. Turnabout Trump is a chilling case.) Replace him, and he will tear your life and livelihood up into little itty bitty pieces. He will then continue to stalk you aggressively for seven years while pretending he is your best friend. Case in point, Phoenix Wright.

Create false evidence for him and you become a loose end. So does your daughter. Like I said, just don't get involved with him. If he feels threatened, Kristoph Gavin will not hesitate to end you. It's definitely an obsession. I mean the first word that comes to people's minds when it comes to Kristoph usually isn't "obsessed", because he gives off the aura of being calm and uninterested. But he is, he's obsessed. You have to be obsessed to do what he did. This shit consumed his every waking hour, and that's what he won't admit. That he was so sick, he completely lost the plot. Phoenix was already living in his head rent free the day he ordered the forgery. And even though Phoenix wasn't physically present at the Misham trial and was only watching everything by video camera, you can bet Kristoph was seeing Phoenix. Hallucinating him, images of him. Probably multiple images of him. That's how obsessive. Imagine letting something or someone control you to that extent. Imagine thinking that you're so important, that Phoenix taking Zak Gramarye's case at all was meant to be a slight against you personally. (It's funny because Phoenix mentions not even knowing Kristoph at all until after the disbarment. So Kristoph's own logic in thinking that Phoenix was just out to shame him absolutely doesn't track. Ob-sessed, dude.)  

It's actually pretty astonishing that someone like Apollo made it out alive. On a side note, I really think Kristoph enjoyed having someone to mentor. He sought someone like Apollo out. Someone naive and new to the field for him to indoctrinate. And maybe I have a post about that later, cuz that's a whole 'nother barrel of monkeys right there. (It kind of involves Apollo’s naivete (also, daddy issues, hello.) being a huge reason why he would gravitate towards having a mentor known for having a “caring” personality. And I think Apollo genuinely liked that about him, which makes the end result so much more awful for Apollo to deal with because to him, that was real.)

But now think of Klavier, right. Being forced to grow up with that. To live with that your entire life. To have a familial relationship that is that smothering, that suffocating, that strangling. That controlling, to criticize every single thing that you do or say right down to the way you say it. And remember... He's never letting you go. I would go on a world tour as a rock star, too. Anything to be anywhere he isn't. This is horror movie tier stuff. (now im imagining a horror movie trailer for aa4 focusing on gavins stuff... eep!)

And Kristoph Gavin markets himself as someone who simply doesn't care. He's the coolest defense in the west and he doesn't care for what you may think about it. Except... he does care. It totally consumes him. Your perception, your opinion, is everything to him. He has shitty self esteem, deep down, because he knows Phoenix is better than him. And tries to mask it with narcissism as the two duke it out. Appearances are everything, evidence is everything. What people think is true is the only thing that matters, truth doesn't. And it makes sense that his closest contacts and associates are the targets for his constant narcissistic abuse and gaslighting. Their opinions matter even more than the common crowd - of course, Kristoph hates them. Which makes it even worse for him when the jury decides unanimously that Vera is innocent (and by implication, he is therefore guilty). The jury verdict was kind of like the ultimate confirmation that guess what, the evidence doesn't matter. The common and boorish masses have passed judgement, no matter how "mindless, emotional and irrational" they are, even they can see behind his crappy little facade. Even a blind woman like Lamiroir can see that insecurity; even a common person can understand it just by looking at the facts. That's what absolutely wrecks him... that his “poker face” couldn’t hold a candle to Phoenix’s. And he loses the “hand” again (because of his “hand”... get it??).

The identity that he needs to maintain is part of how he sees himself in his mind. As Phoenix's protector, not as his stalker. As Klavier's benevolent big brother, not as his abuser. As Apollo's teacher and mentor, not as someone guiding him into ruin. He lives in a false reality.

Try to bring this up in any way, shape, or form and he will write it off. You're just imagining things...

Because at some level, Mr. Black Psyche Locks himself doesn't even realize. (I feel like that might just be basically canonical fact, based on Pearl’s explanation of how black psyche locks are supposed to work.) That’s pretty freaking terrifying.

At the end of the day this is a big part of the reason I think his character is just so interesting. In a very messed up way, Kristoph is one degree away from being such a good person. He could've been obsessively protective of Klavier - the way a big brother is supposed to be - instead of abusive, could've actually been very caring of Phoenix instead of manipulative. Terrible people can have good traits, just as good people can have awful traits. His attention to detail and understanding of psychology (like getting Vera those gifts she would like so much) could've been used for genuine good. He could've been someone who cares deeply about other people because he does care deeply about other people. But only in terms of their relation to himself, what do they think of him, how are they useful to him.

Maybe this is why I kind of like his character. Intelligent, semi-neurotic protective characters are just my ish. But, no, he has to have a narcissistic bent that skews everything into complete abuse. That’s what makes him awful... that he’s devoid of a moral compass or true compassion for other human beings.

So in closing, fuck off, Kristoph Gavin.

Postscript, he's also such a good foil for Phoenix for this reason. Kristoph does everything for himself. Phoenix does everything for Trucy, because he's a dad and he understands the weight of what it means to really care for someone. Kristoph couldn’t understand motives like that. And Phoenix can't help it if he's an order of magnitude smarter and more mature than Kristoph is. He was just born like that. Classy as fuck. You know what, Kristoph Gavin is like the dollar store version of Phoenix Wright as an attorney. Has many of the same functions but actually doesn't have a leg to stand on and will fail you when you need it. And is revealed to just be a cheap knockoff of the real thing.

[dvrkhclme-blog]

✕ — wasn’t that raven darkholme wandering the streets of new york, 1973? civilians know them as mystique and see them as a villain. as far as i know, the one hundred and fifty+ year old stands with the x-men (sometimes), and are rumoured to be pretty deceptive & misanthropic. ( julianne moore / gender-fluid / typically she/her ) 

{ trigger warnings : mental illness, suicide, sexual abuse, drugs, terrorism, murder  }

hey everyone, i’m sophia!! i’m trash and neglected the intros for all my babies soooo i’m finally getting to them now!! anyways, i’m super excited to be here at 1973hq & i hope we can all be good friends!! <3 sooo. more about my first baby aka my murder!baby under the cut  

LEVEL 1: INTRODUCTORY INFORMATION ABOUT MY MYSTIQUE //

im not even gonna touch the mceu version of mystique ok thx therefore shes gonna be combination of comics mystique and a bunch of my own headcanons — soooo

LEVEL 2: SURFACE LEVEL MYSTIQUE — THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE UGLY // 

( skip this part if youre familiar with the mcu its basically a shortened version of her bio )

the binch is oLD ok??/ old af. probably several centuries old. i’d say 200 years old at minimum but its never really been disclosed

don’t even get me started on wtf i think happened to her to fight just to survive at age 12 when her mutation kicked in bcus,,, yike

her entire life has been characterized by betrayals. whether it be mystique betraying someone else (most likely) or her being betrayed by someone else (in the case of destiny)

her n destiny met in the early 20th century. destiny asked her to help decode her prophecies and to stop the terrifying ones from being fulfilled. they fell in Luv. they are partners. gay ass partners. (the original idea for mystique n destiny was for nightcrawler to be their canon kid. via mystique in a males body. but this was retconned bcus of homophobia thx but i’d personally love this hc if we get a kurt & it’s ok w/ them anyway )

anyway after ww2 she met sabertooth n had her first (canonically recorded) kid, graydon. who. lo n behold, she abandoned.

that’ll be a trend, fyi, better watch out for that

but graydon turned out to be a mutant hating human so thats fun

then mystique from our time went back in time in attempt to assassinate graydon (which doesnt, in the end, work),,,, also fun

then she gets married to a wealthy german count,,, uses her power to start seducing other people, when she meets azael who  manipulates and seduces her. has nightcrawler via azael ,, its cool

raven murdered her husband and was then regarded by her townsfolk n as a demon. she escaped but abandoned kurt,,, also cool

she adopts raven then. and actually genuinely loves her. (more on this in the next section)

she founds the 3rd version of the brotherhood n they do more terrorist shit good job mystique #magnetowasright

sike mystique betrayed  magneto and turned him into the government, turned the brotherhood into the freedom force, n started working for the gov. working for freedom force is when destiny died and that triggered one of mystiques many breakdowns (also more on this below)

she was v depressed at this time and taken advantage of by the shadow king. raven let herself be brainwashed by the government into thinking she was her own government handler to take down the shadow king. didnt work. he torments her the rest of her life. yike.  

she had nanotech put into her head so the government could force her to work for x-factor, while with them she finds out destiny during their partnership had other partners and kids she didnt know about and one was a mutant

graydon has this mutant savagely beaten. before mystique can kill graydon for this, hs followers kill him n turn him into a martyr. super fun. cue operation zero tolerance.

mystique went undercover as the senators wife for a while n used her connections to the fbi to do shadier shit

she then ran away and took some random chicks form and became a model and made a ton of cash — u go girl

except this kinda sucked for her because she moved into a penthouse suite which in the neighbouring building had skulls plotting to take down mankind. they framed her for a murder, her powers stopped working, n she was arrested

the government eased all her alternate identities and froze all her assets and access to the money she and destiny saved up for decades. cue another mental breakdown

then she finds out destiny was responsible for founding the anti-mutant conspiracy mystique spent her whole life trying to stop, and that destiny also didnt give medical attention to mutant kids who were deformed from their mutations

long story short she has an even worse breakdown n goes completely nihilistic, realizing she cant change the world for the better, she remakes the brotherhood and impersonates moira mctaggert to get her research on the legacy virus  

a bunch more shit happens with raven ending up in the care of homeland security. xavier makes a deal with her and breaks her out. everyont thought she tried to kill xavier,,, when she didnt actually,,, because xaviers a shady fuck,,, but oh well. rogue disowns her for it. leads to another mental breakdown.

because of this she decides fuq u xavier and creates a mutant kid identity for herself known as foxx and joins the xmen to stop rogue and remy’s relationship

she helped the x-men during this time n also helped save rogue’s life via the messiah baby. but once again her intentions are misconstrued

she snaps again and impersonates bobby drake’s girlfriend & gets the poor boy hospitalized

norman osborn then recruited her to the dark x-men, injected her with nanites, then helped logans soul to hell, but then changed her mind and helped get him back. when he got back tho he uh. well. killed her. her and sabretooth were both resurrected by the hand (more on this later)

mystique then rejoined the brotherhood, impersonated alison, and took her place as mutant liaison for shield, harvesting her DNA to make MGH (mutant growth hormone)

LEVEL 2.5: MYSTIQUE’S PLACE IN THIS VERSE

i imagine she went back in time to 1973 under the guise of helping people & being “reformed” but in reality she was also doing shady mystique shit on the side and probably trying to tie up some loose ends, whether it be with graydon, the shadow king, destiny, or someone else. or probably a combination

anyways now shes staying w/ the x-men part time and playing Good Girl for now. she wants to show everyone that shes reformed n better n just wants to do things for the betterment of mutant kind. wants 2 get their trust too

shes pretty. level headed right now i’d say. betsy braddock helped her during one of her mental breakdowns by telepathically realigning her fragmented psyche — she’s still mystique n still awful but not as chaotic anymore. and less prone to attack rogue or other people aimlessly. it’s much more goal oriented now.

LEVEL 3: MYSTIQUES PSYCHE //

ok so she identifies as gender fluid bcus she shape shifts forms but also because i imagine shes so sick of having sexualized herself all these decades to get what she wants that shes just fed up with gender norms and thinks theyre bullshit. she’s fine to go by she/her pronouns but she doesnt really identify as a specific gender in my head

she drinks but mostly absinthe and only w/ people she trusts. along those lines it’s similar for drugs but she loves a good high and a good hallucination

she has bouts of psychosis that her wiki defines as schizophrenia. it manifests in much more anger and aggression. hallucinations. delusions — especially presecutory and grandiose delusions — lack of pleasure (hence the nihilism), social withdrawal, and poverty of speech. her sense of identity becomes so fractured that she cant keep herself consistently in one body without it taking all of her concentration — and sometimes that isn’t even enough. she gets lots of mood and cognitive changes during these episodes — and completely loses her sense of self

despite her grandiose ego she’s actually very self conscious and refuses to look in a mirror. actually she’s scared of her appearance. she cant look at herself normally in fear of seeing a monster look back

this is also the reason she was so easily deceived by azael. he looked like a monster, too, and embraced her for how she is. he didnt make her change to fit another appearance that couldve been “more beautiful”

lastly, her motives for doing things??? are always for the betterment of mutantkind. over time this got very skewed and her belief became that the only way for mutants to actually live is for all humans to die. shes a terrorist through and through, but she loves mutants. she just has a personal vendetta against the x-men that’s grown over the years — her constantly being betrayed by people during her episodes of psychosis and the x-men never actually believing the real story (but also like. why would they??? shes often so awful too)

shes attempted suicide canonically in the past. she loses control of herself. it’s also heavily implied she’s been assaulted in the past. anyways shes a sad baby too

— so thats about it for my murder baby! yike this got a lot longer than i expected it to but anyways i cant wait to write her with all of you!! <3

[official-pun-guy]

y’know, I think Batman’s pretty cool

There’s plenty of reasons why, but a more recent thinking session has brought up the idea to me that, above all else, Bats just Cares Too Much. The loose fan interpretation of Batman as this all-powerful badass fighting god is, ironically, the image he cultivates among criminals, because y’know, as he puts it: “Criminals are a cowardly and superstitious lot.”

I think to me though, the reason why he’s so cool to me is because despite that act he puts on, he believes more in humanity than literally like, anyone else on the planet. Animated Series Batman is considered the best one, primarily because it shows Batman AND Bruce contributing to the Crusade, in that Batman stops the criminals and says stuff like, y’know “stop this now and come quietly.” And then later, he genuinely tries to help them get better, especially with characters like Harley Quinn and Baby Doll. And of course, Bruce Wayne offers some inmates job opportunities to help get them reintegrated into society and whatnot, which also helps fix the honestly pretty shitty infrastructure of gotham.

The problem this creates, is the same problem that we see Batman get challenged with again and again, is that he believes TOO MUCH that people can change. Again and again we see him fail to completely stop the Joker by killing him, and continue to offer chances to rehabilitate and give the Clown a ‘normal life’ again, which as we’ve seen, results in stuff like Red Hood, and Barbra’s loss of her legs. This is especially obvious if you look at a lot of the ‘alternate universe’ stories wherein one or more of the heroes lose their grip on being heroic, and start world wars (Flashpoint) or create massive fascist regimes (Injustice). You look at those things and you say “huh, batman always seems to be the guy who doesn’t go crazy.” and that, is because Batman CARES. TOO. MUCH (except in flashpoint because its TECHNICALLY a different guy or whatever but even then, ol Bats still helps save the world). Even when there was a “batman is actually evil” story, they had to try and make the Joker the good guy in order to pull that off! What a shitshow that was, huh?

At his core, Batman is a character that is super unhealthily obsessed with his mission of saving people and ending crime. People joke about him fighting the mentally ill, but Bats is TOTALLY mentally ill too. That trauma that guided him down the BatPath was so driving and terrifying for him that he wants to eliminate the thing that caused it, but the way that it happened was also so important he wants to do it on his own terms. And naturally, MANY people have had MUCH worse traumas than he has, and he KNOWS that. He can’t possibly understand exactly what they went through, but what he does know is that trauma can irreparably scar someone and force them down paths they may not want to take, and he wants to make sure they get the help they need.

That obsession towards the Crusade also drives that desire to make sure no one else around him gets dragged into it, which only gets worse whenever one of the Robins decides to drop (and then come back later), and he gets all broody, and talks about not making attachments, then accidentally adopts 43 kids and 3 dogs. His relationship with catwoman is also great, though I also love his relationship with Superman and Wonder Woman as well, I am not qualified to talk about any of those because im an idiot and can only think about this right now. Even the actions he takes against his own allies in stuff like Justice League Doom are viewed (by him) as obvious countermeasures against the JL going nutso. There’s some special features on the DVD for Doom where Bats details the plans he has for each member, which includes himself. Id recommend giving it a listen, because when he talks about himself it gets real sad.

To wrap all of this shit up, I think that Batman at his best represents unflinching optimism towards the human condition, wrapped in a thin veil of indifference and darkness. If you think back to the characters that are meant to mirror Batman, my mind goes to three of them; Joker, Bane, and Owlman. Joker is the big mirror of Batman, a man who cares so little for all life, it’s basically nihilism wrapped in a joke ball. Bane is a lot harder on people in general, representing what I think is an alternate path Bruce COULD’VE gone on if he had decided on a different path. Owlman (Crisis on Two Earths specifically) is also similar to Joker, in that he represents what people THINK batman is. Cold, unfeeling nihilism and disregard for all life. But that AINT WHAT IT IS! 

BATMAN CARES!

im going to bed im real tired

[dawittiest]

Initial thoughts after watching The Punisher:

(major spoilers under the cut)

first things first: Dinah Madani is the love of my life and probably most likely the best character in the enitre Marvel Cinematic Universe. i think we should take a moment to appreciate how blessed we were. i could wax poetics about her for paragraphs on but let me just say, the show is worth watching for her alone

okay, now for a general opinion on the show: the pacing was weird at times, and i was bored a little at the beginning but otherwise i liked it. it wasn���t like, a masterpiece, or my next favorite show, but the characters were great and the soundtrack. it was Very frank

that being said, i’m not the biggest fan of the major plot. i mean it was well executed and engaging and all, it’s just. i didn’t really like the executive choice to make frank’s family’s death not random. it takes away from that sensless tragedy, of how unfair it was, and that doesn’t quite sit with me. and honestly i wanted us to move past frank’s quest for answers about his family’s death and branch out beyond that

on that note: frank barely did any punishing?? i mean, he tied up some loose ends at the beginning and then just hung his vest?? and then, at the end of the show, seemingly hung his vest again??? come on, guys, you know we’re not here for that. give us the punisher we deserve

now, what’s probably my biggest issue with the show: they really dropped the ball on Maria Castle and the kids. i was really hoping they would do them justice and, well, i just feel like we learned more about them in Daredevil than we did in the actual Punisher show which honestly sucks, especially considering the amount of dramatic flashbacks of Maria smiling and not really saying much that we got. which tell us absolutely shit about her as a character, btw. i want to care about her, and the kids, but we just didn’t get anything and its frustrating. i was more invested in frank’s relationship with sarah lieberman, which. (btw, it was great. they had amazing chemistry, she was basically everything i hoped maria would be. i kindof cheered when they kissed)

KAREN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! there was not nearly enough of karen, lbr. but what little there was, was GREAT. just, Karen, my beautiful fierce daughter, doing her thing there. i loved her so much. i was kind of dissapointed that they never touched on the fact that the last time they saw each other, karen shouted at frank he’s dead to her, and then just? forgave him without saying anything? which made no sense. but their relationship was amazing, and that last elevator scene they had, it was everything i ever wanted (although i wouldn’t mind if they kissed. js). and karen’s FRANK’S FAMILY. god, i have a lot of kastle feelings rn

(this is sort of self-indulgent but i was hoping they would at least allude to Matt’s death. i would’ve really loved seeing frank’s reaction, also maybe a hint how karen’s dealing with it)

frank spray-painting a skull on his vest still cracks me up. dude makes fun of matt’s costume but his own is literally arts and crafts project. i love it

i still thoroughly enjoy watching frank murder people. still unapologetic about it. the way he murders people is poetry, bite me.

i sort of hate micro, which is a damn shame because his relationship with frank was flawless. their dynamic was amazing and i enjoyed their banter, and under different circumstances i’d be all over that shit but honestly, micro was annoying and i didn’t really care whether he lived or died, so that kind of put a damper on that

BILLY RUSSO WAS GREAT. i loved loved how they did him in the show. i have a secret soft spot for jigsaw so it was a treat watching him so lovingly translated into the screen and given so much emotional weight. his relationship with frank was beautiful and heartbreaking and i expect to see many amazing fics exploring that *wink wink*. i gotta admit though, i kept screaming at frank “PUT HIS PRETTY FACE THROUGH GLASS ALREADY” every time they were on a screen together. i am a woman of simple pleasures

CURTIS !!!!!! MY MAN !!!!!!!! he was the best and god i was so scared they’d kill him off but they didn’t, and instead they sort of gave frank as-happy-as-can-be-considering ending with him??? im emotion

frank is still the saddest man and i wanna wrap him in a bundle of blankets (probably before i set him loose to murder some bad guys and watch him do it because damn). but god, jon bernthal’s acting never ceases to amaze me. he’s so expressive and so damn complex, like here’s this guy, blood-curdling, gravelly voice and all, covered in blood only some of which is his, and he’s genuinely terrifying, and at the same time his eyes are  welling with tears, and he wears his hurt on a sleeve and he’s vulnerable, and he just feels so fucking human, you know? i really can see how deeply he feels everything and how much he cares, against all odds (there was a good line about this in the show but im too lazy to google it). i just. it’s really easy to emphatize with this frank castle, just saying. (im so grateful they let him actually cry on screen. it twisted my heart in the best way.)

special mention for the gnucci family easter egg and WELCOME BACK, FRANK. i’m so easy, i swear

i can’t believe i almost forgot that but hipster frank. it was amazing. ‘been flirting with the idea of going full man-bun’ hOW DARE THEY TEASE US LIKE THAT (fan artists, i’m begging you. please deliver on it)

oh and couldn’t give less shit about that lewis wilson kid. he’s boring, his self-justifications are boring and im over that

ALSO: i really enjoyed all the women that appeared in the show. all of them were complex, and different, and felt human, and they all felt like characters in their own right, not just props or plot devices (well, maybe with exception of maria - still salty abt that, btw - but i already talked about that) and i really fucking appreciated that. and there were older women!!!! morally complicated women!!!!! women of color whose narrative didn’t evolve around frank!!!!! they spoke farsi on screen!!!!! it was pretty amazing. i mean, it’s babies steps, but steps in the right direction nonetheless.

conclusion: watch the punisher and come scream at me about it!!!!!