#or because their victims seek a violent and deserved revenge?

[hypodermicfroggy]

I swear to god, dealing with writing servers should not be this hard. Surely there are anti-censorship ones not run by right-wing wackjobs. Surely there are ones where someone isn't going to hit you with the "glorify/fetishize/romanticize" trifecta of buzzwords and blanket ban any kind of dark or mature content, even with trigger warnings. Surely they won't do this after the fact and after you had established yourself as a part of the community. Surely there is at least ONE place out there, where they don't act like you're some kind of slavering shithead, just because you depict certain kinds of explicit content.

Surely.

[deathsbestgirl]

the thing about scully's horror at some of their cases. it's always something that strikes her deeply. either personally, professionally, or as a woman.

in irresistible, it's that pfaster desecrates the dead. the people she autopsies to tell their stories. to help them. it's too late to save them, but she can bring them justice. what she does is sacred. i think of this:

people don't stop mattering, don't stop needing help, just because they stop being alive.

-maura isles in "warm milk" by YoDrDeath

scully cares about the victims in the cases they investigate. they are the people who matter. preventing more deaths is the goal. and donnie pfaster is evil incarnate to her. it's something she can't fathom. then he takes it further, starts murdering to scavenge from women's dead bodies. so much violation. such hatred for women. a level of disrespect that cuts away at her. men take away women's autonomy all the time, that it should continue after death is unthinkable.

in 2shy, the man might have a biological imperative to kill. but he didn't simply kill. he targeted women specifically. preyed not only on their bodies, but their minds. he liked stalking them, softening them to him before brutally murdering them.

(tooms really seemed to kill as a biological imperative, but he did also seek revenge on scully + mulder)

in unruhe, she didn't care what schnauz's reasoning was. the result was still undue violence against women, stealing their minds & lives from them. in the end she "empathized" with him because she had to. she used everything mulder said about him, made the connection to his sister. the way gerry likened all these women to his sister. and the killings started shortly after his father passed, the man who abused his sister but gerry couldn't accept that. violence against women because men could never do anything wrong, or harm women. and he takes up the mantle in a very twisted way. violently, painfully lobotomizing them. as a doctor, she was sickened. medicine is meant to heal & improve quality of life. not steal people's minds & destroy any quality of life they could have.

then within the government/alien conspiracy. her abduction, the abductions of other women. having a chip implanted in them for untold reasons. to track them, to lure them to their deaths. cancer given to these women for reclaiming their autonomy. medical rape, ova stolen to create hybrids for a new race. autonomy & future children stolen. children sentenced to short, painful lives for science. and science is scully's strongest guide. it offers safety & answers, and at the same time, in the world she's entered with mulder, creates so much pain & loss & grief. violation after violation, all of it done against women by small, pathetic ego driven men with power & money they don't deserve and didn't earn. it sickens and terrifies her. it's a grim reality. it makes her distrust skinner. a man who has had their backs, a man she saved, the only one besides mulder who cared about melissa's case. she didn't know, but he also gave his life to csm to get the cure for her cancer. in the end, with mulder abducted, he was right there with her.

[zyana-wyvern]

Cazador used the Gurs to get his first spawn

A little theory/headcanon that I had downloaded into my mind in the dead of night.

There is a possibility that before he had gathered enough spawn to do this work for him, Cazador might have used the Gur to get him his first victims.

Maybe tell them some lies about a person, or make them seem worse than they were, or payed them, offered them protection etc, and then they'd go after the victim, kill them and he'd show up just in time to get his claws on them.

Someone theorized that Aurelia was the first he turned, Astarion maybe the third. So at the time he didn't yet have the numbers to do his work for him, not to mention, I am sure each new spawn needed some sort of "training" before he or she would go out and hunt people. He needed to start somewhere after he made the deal and started working on fulfilling it.

He was respected and had a reputation to protect in Baldur's Gate in those times. He couldn't go on his own and risk being seen doing such heinous acts. Also, he had to make it believable. He liked beautiful, high quality individuals it seems. He wouldn't choose any random rabble. Maybe these standards were lowered as years passed, just so that he could fulfill his 7000 souls quota, but at the beginning he seems to have cared about this. Many people in high positions could also have a bad reputation, be corrupted, or corruptible, which made their sudden, violent death at the hands of people seeking justice all the more believable.

Reading more about the Gurs they have been known to do such services in return for coin and protection because they had historically been shunned and poor. This was especially true in Baldur's Gate where they lived in the slums of the city, in terrible conditions.

And it makes even more sense why later the spawn would target Gur children as revenge. It appears Astarion wasn't the only one who did it. This could mean they all had a grudge against the Gurs for apparently no reason.

It seems interesting how the first thing Cazador does after Astarion disappears is employ the Gurs again to find him and how diligently they execute the plan, if you don't stop them. They effortlessly deliver him to Cazador. Seems almost like they have done such services for him before. I wish we had an option to call them out for working with Cazador because, though justifiable considering their plight, it also feels very hypocritical.

Not saying Astarion was the goodest boy and the Gurs just up and messed him up for no reason, but they can be used as mercenaries as it seems. Yes, they have a code of honour and follow Selune, but they can be bought with enough money or services.

My theory is that yes, Astarion probably was corrupt in some way, had probably stepped on some toes and was an easy target for that reason, but he might not have deserved actual death and the right amount of money and lies from Cazador would have easily motivated the Gurs to take him down. Then it would have been so easy for Cazador to just walk out of the shadows and present his offer.

Another option would be that he maybe tried pulling some strings to get them out of the city, or discriminated them in some way. Believable, considering most people did hate them. From there on it would be so easy for Cazador to give them money as an incentive for them to do what they wanted to do from the beginning - kill this magistrate who was making their already hard lives even more difficult.

Seems like something Cazador would do.

Then again, there is of course the theory that Astarion's memories aren't really reliable, or that he outright lies about the position he had, so in that case he would just be a victim Cazador wanted and he payed mercenaries to do his dirty job for him. This seems a bit...bland, so I don't see it used, though it could be interesting regarding his memories.

Regardless, I am quite convinced that he used the Gurs to get some of his victims.

It's all a cycle of revenge started by Cazador and it ends with the ultimate revenge, him dead at the hands of one of his victims.

Source used: Gur | Forgotten Realms Wiki | Fandom & my 2 AM brain.

[trans-xianxian]

I'm stilllll thinking about that post and like. I think something that ppl often forget about jin guangyao when trying to justify his actions is that he Was shown love and he Was shown kindness, but so many times he was the one sabotaging the positive relationships he had. you can't ignore the cruelty that he was shown especially in relation to his birth and social standing, that would be omitting both important parts of his character, and key parts of the themes of the story as a whole and parallels being made between jin guangyao and other characters that face similar circumstances, but we also cannot ignore the fact that even when jin guangyao was welcomed and shown love and given Power, he was still cruel

yes, members of the nie clan mistreated him, but nie mingjue and nie huaisang welcomed him in and loved him and treated him, for the most part, as an equal. and then, in his hunger for power, jin guangyao sets xue yang free, and kills the nie army commander when he catches him or mocks him for his birth or both. nie mingjue discovers what he's done, and he should punish him, it would not be unrealistic for nie mingjue to even kill him - whether you agree w those actions or not, they would not be out of place for the setting - but he Doesn't do that. he just tells jin guangyao to leave and never come back, a far kinder consequence for his actions than many other and more beloved characters would have given him. but jin guangyao Still feels the need to seek cruel and drawn out revenge, even after nie mingjue begrudgingly concedes to trust him again and become sworn brothers. nie mingjues actions were not perfect, and he was not always kind, but he was far more lenient and forgiving than most would have been, and jin guangyao returns this leniency with one of the cruelest and most violent deaths he can orchestrate

and jin guangyao is welcomed into the jin sect after killing wen ruohan, and he is not treated perfectly, no, still looked down upon in the whispers shared behind his back and his own father who merely uses him to do his bidding, but he is given power and he is given influence, and the second he is given the opportunity to enact that power and influence on other people, he takes it. jin guangyao, of all people, should know that others should not be punished by circumstance of their birth, that the disenfranchised should not be shown cruelty merely because it is easy, but he Still takes pleasure in torturing the innocent wen remnants. and it's not just to get into daddys good graces, to follow orders in order to climb the latter, jin guangyao Likes the feeling of having power over people who cannot fight back

but even being the sect leader of the most powerful cultivation sect is not enough for jin guangyao, no power is enough to sate him, and so he kills anybody who could get in his way or compromise his reputation, not matter how innocent they may be. and in the end jin guangyao Still claims being the victim of unjust cruelty to be the justifier of his actions, that he Deserved to harm and kill and take advantage of all of those people because he had been mistreated at different points of his life. no matter how much power he was given or how many people tried to welcome him in and show him love, to protect him from the unkindness of others, it was never enough

jin guangyao's parallels to wei wuxian are so clear, but the difference is is that wei wuxian is never given power, he is never forgiven by the world for walking his different path, and yet he Still chooses to be kind until the very end, when it is all finally too much, and he snaps

wei wuxian is not perfect, that is very much the point, but in so many ways he contrasts jin guangyaos unrelenting cruelty in the face of adversity. even through his mistakes and his quests for revenge and his loss of sanity, wei wuxian protects the weak, he never gives up his morals for power or status, and he remains, when he can, kind. there's that post that jokes about how the "it just made it kind" quote is not applicable to wei wuxian because he quite literally kills thousands of people, and it's true - when faced with unrelenting, undeserved persecution and unkindness and abuse, wei wuxian is pushed to do terrible things, but I can say with confidence and evidence that he still, somehow, remains kind

the story very clearly makes these parallels, wei wuxian and jin guangyao both react to their similar circumstances and the mistreatment they face because of those circumstances in different ways, and I do not think that it is a coincidence that in wei wuxians refusal to bend to gain power or the favor or others he is only shown more and more cruelty, but jin guangyao, who will do anything for power and anything for influence, is able to receive praise and respect. whether you like jin guangyao or not, no matter what you think of his actions and what you believe to be justifiable, you are not above paying attention the things that the story is trying to tell you

[pentacass]

How does Ves handle Aelirra's decision to allow Arcann to live and join the Alliance?

thenk for ask!! ves does what she does best: she flips her shit. and everyone else's. yours too.

When the Commander returns to Odessen with Arcann in tow, Vestra confronts Aelirra right there in the hangar, in front of everyone, and yells in her face about denying Arcann's victims justice by letting him live.

Ael stands her ground, and Ves is forced to back down - push any further, and she may cause a schism within the Alliance. And Lana's there to pull her off if she jumps on Ael anyway. She storms off, but not without breaking Arcann's nose with her knuckles first.

She'll spend the next few weeks being a Big Mad Bitch about it, seething at Arcann and Aelirra in particular. Probably raise hell with Lana behind closed doors, for choosing a 'soft-hearted Jedi' as 'the galaxy's last hope'. Maaaybe barge into the Force enclave's sparring grounds while Ael is there, ignite her lightsaber, and demand a duel. Who knows? :3c

But, as badly as Ves handles it professionally, it is much worse for her personally. Losing the chance to seek justice/revenge on behalf of the people she'd lost is part of it, but seeing Arcann receive mercy and understanding will shake her very soul.

The ^ exchange she has with Ael drips so much hypocrisy. She probably has destroyed as many lives as Arcann in her long years on the Dark Council, perhaps even more. She has no right to demand his death as justice when she still breathes.

But she isn't fully hypocritical, is she? By this point, she'd accepted that her death will probably be violent, and that's fine. She deserves nothing else, after everything she'd done. Then Arcann comes along, and proves otherwise.

Is she angry that she'd believed a lie all along? Or is she angry because she is now denied an excuse to the easiest way out of her life?

Ves and Arcann will have an interesting dynamic, I think. Arcann being her mirror, and a representation of a better future that awaits her if she could just take the first step towards healing and atonement. And she does, after spending a long time hissing and scratching at this reflection.

Fic-wise I do have Arcann approaching Ves to ask how she deals with all she'd done, that are so similar to his own actions (even if for different motivations). His intentions are pure, to try and understand how to cope, but Ves swats him down. It'll take him a long time, but he'll survive these encounters. Eventually. Without his ears ringing. Maybe there'll come a time when she learns from him too.

[ahalal-uralma]

What did you think I was referring to when I said liked your pomegranates?

If you’re looking for an opportunity to gaslight and assume the role of the victim now, you are about to be extremely disappointed.

Considering I’ve posted nothing about the fruit outside mentioning their use in tea, and even then you wouldn’t have a visual opinion on any such thing to comment, it sounds like you’re playing on an innuendo and it’s not uncommon for women to hear their physical anatomy to be compared to food or other non-human objects.

I don’t appreciate people talking to me in that manner. It’s rude and tacky. I could, of course, ignore it but then there wouldn’t be a chance to tell you that behavior is unacceptable and you will likely repeat it. Granted you could anyway, but there is a surprising amount of men who only act malicious, because they are not aware they are doing so in the first place.

You need to comprehend that not every woman is going to tolerate or overlook being spoken to the way you did with me. You might upset the wrong person with it.

Some women are violent. Some will seek out revenge. You don’t want to cross them, because they’re relentless and nothing like men when they feel hurt or angry—men are used to being validated when they express wraith—that kind of validation brings satisfaction and they will stop more swiftly; but, women don’t give up on their anger easily and that has a lot to do with how we are raised and conditioned as children. We are always told we aren’t permitted to be anything but kind or pretty even when the way we are being treated is lacking empathy or holds no intrinsic aesthetic value.

When a woman finally decides to throw her foot down, and let go of her wraith, she is mentally and physically thinking about every man who has ever wronged her. It’s not just about you. It’s going to be the wraith of 100 men or more. However many she didn’t enforce boundaries with, when she should have. You’re going to get hurt badly. All those men she didn’t say “no” to, all those men who abused her, and touched her inappropriately, you’re going to feel that “no” in every hit, scream or severance of internal peace she can muster the strength to destroy.

I am not saying to assume that every woman will be this way, but there will be a woman who is that way and will not feel remorse regarding it, deserved or not; there will arrive a woman in your life that is a volcano waiting to erupt on a fool who assumes they can’t and won’t explode, and I’m telling you that you always have the option to not become that fool.

I am a total stranger that you went up to like that. It makes me wonder if you do this in real life the moment you can find a woman seeming vulnerable or if you are still given to doing this under the security of your keyboard. I am giving you a metaphorical door to which you can walk through and learn to introspect, because no one defaults to deserving this rudeness.

It’s in your favor to not make statements with no regard to personal consent. You will only risk making enemies with the alternative.

I don’t care what you think of my body. I do not care what any person thinks for that matter. My body is not food or anything else for you. At no point did you ever get to know me and find out if I like that kind of conduct (I don’t). I did not ask for unsolicited commentary.

There is simply one person who has liberty to talk to me sexually (bluntly or vaguely) and he doesn’t treat me the way you did. If my own lover isn’t being opportunistic to demoralize me and leave me feeling violated then what on earth is inspiring you, a stranger, to think you have some kind of excuse and advantage?

[whiskeyswifty]

i do really hope vigilante shit and anti-hero are connected and it's not just her accidentally picking the phone up wrong because [comics incoming] the way those two words are used in comics is always a really fascinating exploration of perception. by definition, they're the same person; a vigilante and an anti-hero both parade around outside the legal system enacting their personal, and often violent, idea of justice on the people they personally decide deserve it. however some get to be called vigilantes (batman, daredevil, spider-man) and others are scornfully called anti-heroes (catwoman, punisher, wolverine). why one is a vigilante and another is an anti-hero comes down to nothing but public perception, as the public is often who decides which category these people fall into. vigilantes get the free pass to go rouge with their violence and destruction because they claim to use their power to help the powerless public. they typically go after public enemies, those who everyone agrees upon to be evil, so the vigilantes get to be merely an "unconventional" do-gooder who does what the justice system can't do but must be done for the greater good. at the worst they're affectionately considered a menace but are ultimately beloved by and protected by the people. an anti-hero however typically goes after those who hurt them, and their targets tend to be figures that are popular with the public but secretly abhorrent. the anti-hero knows who those figures really are because they've been a victim of what horrors those figures are capable of. but the anti-hero is usually the only one who knows that and are unsupported in their pursuit of that same vengeful justice and seen as insane or evil themselves by the ignorant public. both go after targets who have caused harm and deserve the swift arm of justice in some way. its fascinating how the public is allowed to feel justified in seeking retribution against the figures that caused their collective pain and raise up the martyr who acts on their behalf. however the anti-hero who has also experienced pain, albeit private pain, is invalidated for seeking that same retribution, and is seen as selfish and "uncivilized" or deemed "insane" for wanting such violent revenge against their oppressors seemingly without cause. vigilante and anti-hero are two sides of the same coin, the same actions and yet completely different figures in society with the only difference being public perception.... idk but uhhhh i think taylor swift might have some experience in that department.

[kaibacorpintern]

Considering that Kaiba AND Jounouchi AND Honda are all disgusted with who they used to be (violent, cruel, bullying, etc.) and want to change and do better, i think not giving a similar arc to Yami was a missed opportunity... the only time he’s confronted with the violence he’s inflicted on others is when Kaiba comes back seeking revenge for the penalty games, but even this doesn’t give us the same moments of explicit reflection on his actions that Kaiba and Jou and Honda get. Yami does not stop to think “was this really the right action to take? should I have done this?” NOR does he get LATER moments where he’s like “oh I made a mistake, I need to do better.”

And part of it is that the narrative is protagonist-centered in its morality - it says that Yami was right to punish his penalty game victims, they were all mean and deserved it; so he doesn’t need to stop and reflect on what this means about him, but Kaiba and Jou and Honda were all wrong to bully people, so they do need to think about it. Kaiba is the only one of Yami’s penalty game victims who complicates this - surprise! the penalty game you inflicted did not fix this person! it just made them angrier and more vengeful! - but again, in the text itself Yami does not have explicit moments of regret or reflection on the penalty games, even after Kaiba comes back. He mind-crushes Kaiba in Death-T because he believes Kaiba will put himself back together better, and the narrative validates him by showing that Kaiba does become better, but don’t the OTHER victims of his penalty games also deserve this same chance? The petty stealing of children’s toys and Ushio and the classmate who takes their carnival spot and the shoe salesman and whoever - none of their actions are exceptionally worse than Kaiba, who tries to kill them all and almost kills Mokuba, but Yami says “hm, I believe this is fixable,” while not extending the same opportunity or belief in redemption to anyone else. Basically, if Kaiba deserves a chance, then everyone else deserves a chance - but we don’t see anyone else get it.

Sure, maybe it’s a question of “but do we HAVE to revisit EVERY victim of Yami’s penalty games to see if they can change?” and okay, granted. No, the story does not have to revisit Nagumo, who stole little monster fighter games and then Yami turned him into a monster fighter as a penalty game and let the shadows consume him. However, you’d expect Death-T to be a stronger moment of change/reflection for Yami in this regard - but he’s still inflicting penalty games after Death-T. If I recall correctly, the last penalty game he inflicts is on the Player Killer in Duelist Kingdom. Long after Death-T, he’s still doing it! He stopped to think about Kaiba, but he didn’t really stop to think about HIMSELF. What HE did. What HE is doing to people.

The other part of the missed opportunity is that Millennium World could’ve told a totally different story about a bad/evil king who was sealed inside a Puzzle to keep his evil powers under control or something and then as Yami regains his memories he’s horrified to discover who he was and is like “no... thanks to my friends, I know better now... they changed me and I’m better than I used to be” in parallel to Kaiba, Jou, and Honda, but no, the closest we get to this is Pegasus describing the Millennium Items as containing an evil intelligence but it was just Zorc all along, or whatever, and as it turns out, Atem was a good king who died to save his people and he had nothing to do with Kul Elna etc. blah.

(This is why DOMA is good: Yami fucks up and gets taken to task for it, and his violence against Weevil on the train is depicted as the unwarranted and excessive violence that it is.)

[danganronpasurvivoraskblog]

Mod, who are your top 10 favorite characters and top 10 least favorite?

//I have actually been wanting to discuss something like this, so I’m glad someone brought it up to me.

//I’ll go through with this, but I won’t be discussing my least favorites, since I don’t want to bring any negativity, and to be honest, I enjoy writing pretty much everyone in this blog. I also fear if I share who my least favorites are in the main series, said characters won’t get as many asks, and I don’t want any unfair bias. I can definitely admit to hating Haiji though, because...well...he obviously won't be receiving any questions anymore. Besides, I doubt many people will disagree with me.

Honorable Mentions:

Makoto Naegi

Mahiru Koizumi

Kirumi Tojo

Kaede Akamatsu

Tsumugi Shirogane

Shuichi Saihara

Iroha Nijiue

Mikihiko Koyasunaga

Yoruko Kabuya

Tsurugi Kinjo

Uchui Porosen

Kibin Hatsudoki

//Though to be honest, everyone may as well be an honorable mention because I love writing every single one of these guys. Also, like I just said, don’t let this top 10 affect your asks. I love every character in this blog and I’m happy to make asks for each and every one of them. It was really hard to narrow it down to 10

#10: Tenko Chabashira

This might seem a little surprising, given that Tenko hasn't had a whole lot of screen time and story relevance so far. She's only been prominent in two arcs, Deadly Harmony and Novoselic Revolution, both of which she didn't have as much screen time as most of the other characters. However, not to spoil anything major, I have big plans for her, and what I've pulled out of her so far is something I'm proud of. My main goal is mainly to give her a bit of development, and tone down on the sexism element of her character. Not remove it entirely, mind you, because let's be real, Tenko unfortunately isn't Tenko without it, but basically to not do what the DR dev team did and make it the forefront of her character, while her other exceedingly good traits are just at the back until later on in the story.

#09: Kokichi Ouma

Kokichi is one of, if not, my favorite character in the original DR series. My main goal of him in this series is trying to grapple with his constantly changing attitude, mainly towards the DRV3 cast besides himself. At first he's glad to see them, then he turns spiteful towards Shuichi and Kaede when they try to fight him, then he straight up just abandons them and attempts to cut off contact. As he is right now, he's conflicted about how to feel about everyone. Sure, they all still hate him, but during Cabaret Kyojin's they came to his defense when he most needed it. That whole arc might've seemed pretty pointless and acted as needless filler, but my true intention of it was to flesh out the characters involved, mainly Kokichi and Kuripa. Speaking of which, that's another plot point that I'm looking forward to branching upon: the little companionship those two have going on right now.

#08: Monaca Towa

Monaca is a character I actually tend to struggle with in the grand scheme of things. The reason being that, arguably, she in canon is the second biggest antagonist in the series behind Junko. What I tried to do with Survivor though, is not make her an antagonist, but make her slowly become more and more redeemable, despite her actions. The reason why I went with this approach is mainly due to Monaca's last appearance in the series, where she states to Toko and Komaru that she's kind of just done with everything to do with Junko and Despair. I don't think it would be easy to bring her back as an antagonist because of THAT fiasco, and that is legitimately one of favorite scenes of her...which is funny because it's from DR3 and I kinda hate the anime. Her whole presence in Survivor is based around the idea of trying to seek redemption, but she doesn't outwardly want to admit this, nor does she really think she's worthy or deserving of said redemption. She's an adult now, and she grew a conscience. A guilty one that weighs her down and makes her come back to earth to basically settle things and make peace, and though it's been difficult, I love how she's turned out so far.

#07: Akira Tsuchiya

I understand many have their reservations about Akira after what he did this arc, but he's still legitimately one of my favorite villains in this blog because despite the fact that he's a psychopath who kills and ruins people all just for causing Despair, he's just kinda super relatable. He constantly lives with the attitude of just being done with everyone's shit, and I know a lot of DR fans can relate to that. He's also the kind of guy who marches to the beat of his own drum, which is obviously a very slow beat. He rarely ever does what Tsumugi tells him to do, unless the plan interests him or gives him something to do, and his character in general is based around the idea of "Shut-in NEET who just so happens to have a power complex." Overall, what makes him unique to me is just how normal he is, especially when he's compared to the chaotic sea that is the Danganronpa Villains.

#06: Mikan Tsumiki

Novoselic Revolution had the very important role in the story of mending Mikan. Without her efforts and the sacrifices she made in that arc, there's a high chance that the group would have failed to retake the kingdom from Angie and Mikihiko. It goes without saying that the screentime Mikan got in this arc was some of my absolute favorite moments on this blog from a writers perspective. A lot of people in DR dislike Mikan for her actions and character change in the third case of the second game, which I really don't think is fair. Mikan was just the character chosen to be afflicted with the Despair Disease. Nothing else would have been changed had it been a different character, so her role early on in Survivor is mainly her trying to come to terms with her actions, as well as things like making things right with Hiyoko (and Ibuki by extrension) and reevaluating whether or not she's a good person. Mikan is an emotionally and mentally broken child, and it's my full intent in my writing of her to heal her wounds like she does for so many other people.

#05: Narumi Osone

Easily my favorite Zetsubou villain in the blog. During Novoselic Revolution, I really buttered up how much I enjoyed writing Mikihiko, but in reality, I was just waiting for the Rebirth Duo (her and Akira) to burst onto the scene. She didn't make for as great a twist villain in Life and Lies of Akeru Yozora as I would've liked her to be, but even now, I still feel like she left an impact. I mean, she committed quite the number of atrocities. The main reason why I like Narumi though, is how she diverges from the rest of the Zetsubou group. While most of them are doing their evil things for reasons that constitute to causing as much Despair as possible, she does it for almost the complete opposite reason. She absolutely despises Despair, and the only reason she's with Organization Zetsubou, is so that she can patiently await and watch as the Hope that stems from the people fighting back. It's also plays into her ideal. Narumi is so obsessed with Hope that she believes that anyone and everyone who is without hope, and gives into Despair, doesn't deserve to live (and ideal that also allows her to easily hit it off with Nagito). To name the best example: The UUV. Their revenge fantasy is based around the Despair they feel post Ayumu and Marin's deaths, and not around the Hope of their goal of reforming society, even if by force. When Narumi notices this, is angers her so much she murders all of them in cold blood, believing them to be beyond redemption. As a final note, Narumi's violent nature and lust for bloodshed (and lest not forget her weird obsession with Makoto) is also made all the more tragic when you remember she's literally just a 14 year old kid with not a lot of life experience. For someone to be this far gone at such a young age is pretty depressing, but it also provides me with a lot of great writing opportunities, and god damn it she isn't a fun character to write.

#04: Mukuro Ikusaba.

I could pretty much just copy/paste the basic things I said about Monaca's personal conflict for Mukuro, but on a much more extreme level. This is something that I plan on actually branching on later down the line, but Mukuro's backstory and reason why she has a presence here is briefly mentioned by Sayaka in one post. To sum up what she said, when the Foundation were first starting to use the machines to bring back the victims of the first killing game, Makoto was the one who suggested possibly bringing Mukuro back, something that understandably, his classmates initially were against. However, at the time, Kyoko was still new to being the Foundation Chairwoman, and Makoto very much pressed the issue with her. Kyoko eventually agreed to the resurrection, but in exchange, any and all actions committed by the soldier, most notably any treacherous or bad ones, would subsequently be Makoto's responsibility. Of course, as you can imagine, Makoto accepted these terms, and Mukuro was resurrected. For a while afterwards, many were very wary of her presence, and most didn't outright accept her as a member of the Foundation, even when the Remnants of Despair officially signed up. What you have to remember is that Mukuro wasn't really brainwashed into helping Junko, at least not in the same way that the Remnants were. Most of what she did for Junko is what she did willingly, but Makoto felt that in reality, Mukuro was just another one of Junko's victims and she'd never known Hope in her life, which is why she turned out so chaotic, so his whole intention of reviving her was to redeem her honor, of which he was pretty much successful. The main trait of Mukuro's though that I tend to focus on, is arguably her most serious: her PTSD. Of all the characters who could have been hit hard with PTSD, it makes the most sense for it to be a soldier, and since the beginning of her revival, Mukuro has been cursed by the lingering ghost of her dead Despair sister. Junko's presence in her mind less drives Mukuro insane though, and simply makes her doubt herself and her presence, wondering if it was worth being revived, or whether or not she truly deserves to live. But regardless of how she feels, she's duty bound to the end, and still supports everyone unquestionably, especially towards those in her own branch being Makoto, her boss, the man who saved her, and of course her undeniable love interest, and Kuripa to whom she disciplines, but also acts as a mother/big sister figure to.

#03: Hajime Hinata.

It might just be me, but I feel like Hajime in particular is the fan fav in this blog. I feel he's shown up in more posts than any other character, which is fine by me given he's also one of my personal favorite characters, and is probably my favorite protagonist (it really changes depending on my mood, honestly, I think they're all as great as each other). The remnants of Despair's conflict is an obvious one that you commonly see in post-game fics such as this one, and in Survivor, and my personal opinion, Hajime is undoubtedly the one who has it the hardest. However, out of all of the characters in the series who HAVE trauma (and let's be real, that's undoubtedly a LOT of characters in both DR canon, and this blog) he's also undoubtedly the one who handles it the best. However, there is a limit to how much pressure he can take, and that causes him to lash out (like he did with Mahiru during Misfortune's Revenge, which I know we don't like to talk about but its the most notable example). He's been through a whole load of shit and the pressure is constantly crushing him like a gigantic boulder, yet he still forces himself to carry it. Outside of my own writing, Hajime has so many conflicting thoughts and trauma in other fics, and in Survivor, I don't intend to flat out copy them, but I do desire to live up to them. The reason why Hajime has so many burdens placed upon him, and as of Misfortune's Revenge now has double as many, yet is still able to keep going strong, is because he's no longer allowing himself to be weighed down by events that are in the past and out of his control. What makes his ideal unique, is that he has power, almost limitless amounts of it, but instead of focusing on what he can do with it, he's more conflicted and focused on what he CAN'T do, and changing the past is one thing he can't, and as of such doesn't focus on it. He only ever focuses on the present, and the future, and worries about that. And you've got to hand it to the guy, while it's definitely been better, his life is actually super good right now. He has at least 15 really great friends/found family members, a home on an island resort, an AI companion in his phone who will always help him out and support him, a smoking-hot red-haired girlfriend, a pretty good job and a lot more. For him, it's not simply a matter of abiding by the Foundation and fixing the chaos that he indirectly caused. It's also about the fear of losing what he has, and wanting to protect it.

#02: Ayumu Fujimori.

I've said this one or two times before, but I think Ayumu turned out spectacular, and when I eventually had to kill him off, I felt really bad about doing so. The main reason why I removed him, and why I currently don't have any plans to bring him back, is due to my future plans, having him around would make little to no sense. He serves mainly as a catalyst for the new phase of the story, a much darker one, and with his death, we enter that phase. I know many people are worried about it, but it's not just Ayumu's reason for being in the story that makes him great. While it isn't obvious right away, the main character that I was trying to portray with him, is that he's basically the darker side of Hajime. The two of them share very similar traits in character, personality and backstory. Some notable points would be

Both of them are incredibly self-doubtful, and that self-doubt caused them to become Ultimate Hopes.

Both of them once held huge admiration for a powerful group of people. For Hajime it was Hope's Peak and for Ayumu it was the Japanese Government

Said power called them useless, which led to their transformation

Both have pretty sad backstories, which involve two different types of cruel parents and family's.

They both have a best friend who likes to sleep.

Said best friend ended up dying horribly right in front of them, with them both unable to do anything about it, which eventually leads them both to go insane and make some bad decisions.

Though their methods differ, ultimately, they both want the same thing: a brighter future for their friends and the people they love

Ayumu might be a threat, and an antagonist, but he doesn't really count as a "villain" per se. At the core, he's basically just a misguided young man, who the world treated like shit, so he just wants to get back at it. He's also an influential figure, pulling many people into his fight, and gaining many supporters outside of his friends in the UUV. For the short time he was on the blog, he was an absolute BLAST to write, and you can damn sure bet I'm going to miss him.

#01: Kuripa Kurafto.

This is undoubtedly the riskiest part of this list, especially since we're talking about an OC here, but I also think a lot of you guys saw this coming. I can understand why some of you might disagree with me on this placement, but I'll tell you now, if you're unimpressed, trust me, I am barely scratching the surface of Kuripa's character. As of such, I have to go on this based off of what's already known about him. His whole character I feel comes full circle at the end of the Ultra Despair Gang arc, in which the first monumental event in the blog actually happens: him killing Haiji Towa by stabbing him in the gut and sending him falling to his death. This is then followed by a speech to Makoto, Komaru, Toko and Byakuya, which basically lays out the key part of Kuripa's character, being his ideals. Every protagonist in Danganronpa goes by a certain ideal that contrasts that of their enemies. For Makoto, it's Hope, for Hajime, it's Future, and for Shuichi it's truth. Kuripa is the complete reverse, being a protagonist that represents Despair. He's not outright a villain, or even a generally bad guy, but he definitely has some apparent darkness to him, and is also incredibly violent when at the peak of rage. Of course, it all stems from a huge event in his life, the murder of his little sister Kotoko by the hands of Matta Gyalusetsu, which has led to his over-arcing conflict: his desire to find Matta and kill him as revenge. I tend to hate characters in stories who have the "My Sister is Dead" archetype or trope, but the main reason is because most characters who have that JUST have that, and for Kuripa that's something I'm trying to avoid. One of the most important parts of Kuripa's character is the contrast between his dark, almost psychopathic side that believes murder is a suitable way to indefinitely solve a problem, and his regular self, who to put simply, is a complete and total clown. He's like a walking meme, and makes a total fool out of himself, either through just being a mindless tomfool, a playful perv, or a loveable idiotic otaku. Still, his presence is indeed important to everyone around him, especially seen through his interactions with Makoto, Kibin, Mukuro, Uchui, Kokichi, The Kyojin's and the High Roller staff. This is another thing in regards to Kuripa's conflict that is quite saddening to. Similar to Hajime, as things currently stand, Kuripa has an excellent life. He's a successful animator who makes a lot of money from his work, he enjoys his time at the Future Foundation and really looks up to both Makoto and Mukuro who both treat him with a reciprocated amount of respect, he gets to work in tangent with his best friend, he has many pals, some of which are part of an anime club, and on top of it all, he has a cute girlfriend who playfully flirts back and forth with him all the time. He has everything a guy could possibly ever want, but due to his one track mind, he can never be satisfied knowing Kotoko's killer is still out there, and he will do whatever it takes to avenge her...even if he needs to cut a few people down to get it...

//Doing this kind of self-reflective character analysis is pretty refreshing and fun to be honest, although, doing it makes it sound like I have a big head, and am complementary of my own writing where I know many might disagree with my techniques and opinions. You're free to, believe me, but please keep any criticism constructive.

-Mod

[i-like-plan-m]

for a prompt, how about xue yang does the soul summing ritual for wwx, with the condition that he restore xxc’s spirit? your writing is really good!! thank you for answering prompts!!

usually not a Xue Yang fan, but this one was intriguing [Posted to Ao3]

*TW for blood, injury, implied self harm, and canonical death of XY*

The thing about powerful men was that they always thought they were smarter than you. Jin Guangshan, for example, was an honest to fuck moron, and stupid enough to shovel money over to the first stranger that demonstrated a little demonic cultivation.

Powerful men never thought that the homicidal street orphan could be a threat, because said homicidal street orphan worked for them and therefore would remain docile and in his place, subjugated to another rich asshole bloated on women and money.

Jin Guangyao, though… he was dangerous. He knew what it was like to be without power. He knew how those men thought, what they wanted, and how to make it happen.

In the end, though, he too fell victim to the lure of power and the curse of arrogance that came with it.

He forgot that Xue Yang was the most dangerous of them all, because he had no power but enough balls to do something genuinely insane to win.

It wasn’t that hard, in the end. He’d used up all of his goodwill, had been cast aside by Jin Guangshan and politely threatened by a smiling Jin Guangyao, who clearly had plans of his own that he didn’t want to risk Xue Yang fucking up.

So the killing curse wasn’t a surprise. The strength of it was, though; for cultivator with an embarrassingly underdeveloped golden core, Jin Guangyao knew how to put down a threat.

But Xue Yang had something neither of them did— the rambling journals of Wei Wuxian, the Yílíng Lǎozǔ. The greatest demonic cultivator to ever live.

Xue Yang knew no one alive was capable of succeeding in the tasks he’d set forth. So he’d turned to the dead instead, and found what he was looking for and more.

Blood dripped from a smile that bared his teeth as he smeared the array into the ground, shivering as the pain wracked through him. He embraced it. Welcomed it. Pain made him feel real, alive in ways that he’d never experienced without the bite of agony.

Xue Yang laughed to himself as the array came together, triumph burning hotter than the death curse searing through his veins. He knelt in the center, hair a wild, tangled mess around his face, robes hanging half off of him from when he’d needed to make another cut to draw the array.

He was panting now, breath coming short and harsh as the curse reached his lungs. The moon was a fierce, radiant light through the open windows, spearing down onto him. Through him.

It should have felt cold, harsh. Angry. Instead it was warmth and hope, neither of which he deserved. Neither of which he wanted, he reminded himself, but still could not bring himself to withdraw.

“I know you,” he whispered, pausing his work to watch the play of frosted light across his blood-soaked hand. Blood streamed steadily from his mouth as the light drifted across the array, exploring. “Have you figured it out yet?”

The moonlight was soft sorrow against his skin.

“It won’t be long now,” Xue Yang promised. “I figured it all out. All of it, and I made sure he would bring you back.”

If anyone could manage it, it was him. He would inherit the tasks of retribution and redemption Xue Yang had anchored to this body, would seek justice on Xue Yang’s behalf whether he wanted to or not. This summoning was Xue Yang’s final revenge, as a way to shatter Jin Guangyao’s carefully laid plans with the one thing he would never see coming.

After all, who would expect a dead man to crawl out of the shadows? Much less one with gifted Xue Yang’s final ambitions carved into his skin: one of wrath and ruin, and another of atonement and restoration.

One was more important than the other, but not even Xue Yang knew which.

Xue Yang tipped his head back. Let the light of the moon wash over him, embrace him. It was forgiveness that he did not deserve.

He set a small white bag between his knees, handling it with more care than he had anything in his life. He laid a snow-white sword reverently in front of it, the hilt and blade both smeared with his blood. As it should be, he thought with satisfaction.

The killing curse was close to his heart— but not close enough. Jin Guangyao was ruthless, but he should have killed Xue Yang long ago.

Xue Yang would make sure it was his fatal mistake. He would make it his undoing.

Resolved, with a victorious, manic grin, Xue Yang activated the array and embraced his end.

The array exploded into light, glowing so violently the moonlight was thrown back, out of reach. Xue Yang was left to face his death alone, to experience the sacrifice of his forsaken spirit with no one by his side.

He could not help the scream as his soul was ripped from his body, as the array flung it into the ether where it would remain without rest, without redemption. And oh, how it burned.

It felt like vindication.

It felt like salvation.

Xue Yang took his final breath, hand stretched towards the rays of moonlight reaching across the blood-streaked floor, and died with a smile on his face.

The moonlight dimmed as the light faded from his eyes. The sun rose bright and burning in its place, and Wei Wuxian opened his eyes for the first time in thirteen years.

[thumb3l1n4]

Thoughts on chapter #293 (AKA a very long post)

I made a post when chapter #292 came out and one person replied with "I love how everyone thinks that villain stans automatically agree with and condone the villains' actions". I don't think myself to be a villain stan, although I do love Horikoshi's villains, since they're all amazingly interesting characters. There are villains that I feel very compassionate to: Shigaraki, Dabi, Twice, Spinner and Toga. And I could instantly relate to Stain's philosophy, while being totally turned off by his actions. I don't think villain stans condone the violent actions of their favorite characters, I'm sorry if my previous post made people believe I do. But from the most recent releases I gathered that there is maybe a small fraction of villain stans that aren't really seeing the intricacies of the full picture. I don't mean this in a bad way: this is definitely the villains' time to shine and I know we were all waiting for the big Dabi-Endeavor showdown since theories were thrown around, so it's normal to be hyper-focused in what our favorite character is doing or what's happening with them. It's easy to forget that there are times and places where it's safe to show our compassion. I'm not gonna lie, I'm kinda annoyed that some villain stans seem to want the heroes to show compassion to Dabi right now, while they're in the middle of a battle that would decide the sorts of their society. Thanks to Dabi's speech, the civilian's faith in their "picture-perfect" system is crumbling (well, I hope so, because their society sucks on so many levels) and Best Jeanist, who was bashed for absolutely no reason all over Twitter last week, before the official translation was out, knew that that was Dabi's intention all along. Tōya could have told his own story right after Stain's video came out, if he so wanted. He chose to join the League, instead, because as we know now, he might have thought that he would have a better chance to kill Shōto, that way. I can't blame Tōya AT ALL for wanting and needing to see Endeavor, finally, rightfully, punished. However, Dabi throwing the compassion card around in the middle of a life-and-death situation (a situation where his main end-goal is to hurt people), is just peak manipulation...

... Which is awesome for a villain!

It's less awesome if you're standing on the Heroes' side and you're hearing about all the years of abuse that a colleague of yours put his family through, for the first time. I want to note that not a single Hero, till now, has said that they do not believe Dabi (not that I recall, at least). I saw one comment on Tumblr saying they didn't like that Best Jeanist used the word "dirty laundry", the chapter before, but I don't think the Hero said it in disrespect. I think it had more to do with Dabi's intentions behind revealing his truth, than Best Jeanist not believing him, or worse, dismissing him as a victim. Dabi's truth was called "dirty laundry" because Tōya didn't use it to seek justice, for himself and his family, but rather to get revenge on everyone, to create chaos and to excuse his own criminal actions. It's a truth tainted by hatred, not in the sense that fans of the manga and the Heroes should just forget about it: his past and pain are very, very real and Dabi and the rest of the villains need help. But the Heroes cannot take the time to feel sorry for their enemies, right at this moment, because if they do, that's the end. That's kinda what happened between Toga and Uraraka: she needs to stop Toga because while hurting people might come natural to the villain, that's not a healthy way to live. Toga didn't ask to be the way she is, and as a Hero, it should be Uraraka's job to give her the chance to get the treatment she didn't get as a child, that would teach Toga how to deal with her natural urges in a way that is not harmful to anyone. Mind you, Toga didn't seem to like the idea of conforming herself to anyone else's expectations, so she might not want the therapy. Uraraka would still need to give her all to stop the villain, no matter how sorry she actually feels inside for her.

If the villains win, the Heroes will not be able to rectify their society. Only after this fight ends and villains are taken into custody, it would be safe for the Heroes to show their honest reactions to Dabi's revelation. Only then we can hope to see them caring for the villains' health and their truths and possibly demand that Endeavor turns himself in (I actually want him to do so on his own, without external input). The Heroes aren't being heartless, if that's what some villain stans are thinking. They simply do no have the luxury to let Dabi's words manipulate them into feeling bad for him during a fight, because innocent people's lives are at stake here and just because Tōya had a horrible childhood, it doesn't mean that he's gonna care and let those innocent people be. Dabi wants to see the WHOLE world burn.

Onto Deku, now, the second character in two weeks accused by some, of being an abuse apologist.

He's the first character EVER to confront Endeavor on his treatment of Shōto, after seeing how his own classmate was spiralling and hurting himself, because Shōto didn't want to use HIS OWN Quirk to prevent himself from quite literally freeze to death, all because of Endeavor's abuse.

Deku has always wanted to follow All Might's steps and like All Might, he wishes to be able to save everyone in need. Toshinori, however, already told him that that's not realistic and Deku accepted the fact that he can only save the people in need that he's able to reach and as we saw with Shōto, Kota and Eri, he's ready to lay out his own life and break every single bone in his body to do so. He's so determined to save people, even against the worst of odds, that he can twist fate. I think it's exactly this determination of his that made him speak out this time, not only for Shōto, but for Endeavor, too. Do I like that Deku cares? Yes, I'm glad that people like Deku exist, people that genuinely care and wish and pray for criminals to regret what they've done so they can have a chance to right their wrongs and become a better person. Do I think Deku would stop Endeavor from turning himself in or defend Endeavor in front of the other Heroes so they don't take him away and bring him to justice? I might be wrong, Horikoshi can still make a fool out of me, but I don't think so. Deku knows the years of abuse are there and they will never go away. Deku is also the guy who told off Natsuo for trying to make Shōto feel resentful towards their father, when Shōto was somewhat past that and only wanted to heal. Deku recognized that the siblings have all different ways to deal with trauma and told Natsuo that his feelings are valid, but he can't push them onto Shōto, because Shōto's feelings on the matter are just as valid, even if they don't align with those of his big brother.

Just like villain stans can feel compassion towards Dabi because of his past, while being repulsed by his criminal actions in the present, Deku can feel repulsed by Endeavor's abuse of his own family and still see that a part of him (no matter how little it is) wishes to be a better human being. Deku didn't say that Endeavor should be automatically forgiven for his past actions, no one can deny that the abuse still has serious repercussions for every Todoroki involved (yes. EVERY). But the thing with Deku is that once he's seen this tiny, barely-even-there, light in you, he will fight to save you. I don't think that the people calling Deku an abuse apologist are giving his intuition or insight enough credit.

Dabi's not Endeavor: this means that Deku hasn't seen anything in this fight that might hint to Tōya wanting to be saved. Again, the same thing happened between Toga and Uraraka. And sadly, even Twice and Hawks (Hawks miscalculated sooo bad there). It's unfortunate that phrases like "you can only save someone if they want to be saved" and "you cannot help someone who refuses to be helped" still apply to this world, but that's the ugly truth and I'm sure that to someone like Deku that's a very hard and bitter pill to swallow. Endeavor said he wants to right his wrongs: in my opinion, he's still got a lot of work to do, since he should have really started it all off by being honest to everyone about his actions and let justice do its course. During this battle I'm forced to recognize (like Deku does) that Endeavor might actually be able to reedem himself, after actually atoning for his crimes. I cannot say the same for Dabi, because he doesn't want to atone for the bad things he has done. I didn't see Deku's speech as him excusing Endeavor's abuse to his victim or conceding the point to Tōya, that Heroes don't care about villains. I saw it as Deku telling Dabi to stop using his own abuse as an excuse to hurt other victims (Shōto, Natsuo, Fuyumi and Rei) because as harsh as it sounds, Tōya can't demand compassion for his own pain while being uncapable of showing compassion to his own little brother. Maybe Tōya doesn't actually know everything that Shōto has suffered through, maybe he thinks that his little brother got lucky with his Quirk and didn't have it as bad as he did. That's not his place to say. Dabi is making a contest out of their family's pain, trying to declare which Todoroki got it worse (clearly believing that it's him and that that allows him to do whatever he wants to, now), so I reiterate: he can't ask for compassion in the middle of the battle and the Heroes are actually doing the right thing, not letting themselves being manipulated like that and basically forfeiting the fight.

AFTER this arc ends, I truly hope to see the Heroes showing their compassion for the villains. I hope they would get rid of that obnoxious Hero Ranking and that the society would stop festering the idea that only certain Quirks and their users are strong and valuable and deserving of a voice. I hope they could change their world so that people like Tenko, Tōya, Jin, Himiko and Shuichi are able to ask for help AND BE HELPED before it is too late.

[tlbodine]

The History & Evolution of Home Invasion Horror

Here’s my prediction: In the next couple of years, we’re going to be seeing a sudden surge of home invasion movies hit the market. For many of us, 2020 has been a year of extreme stress compounded by social isolation; venturing outside means being exposed to a deadly plague, after all. 

And while many people have already predicted that we’ll see an influx of pandemic and virus horrors (see my post on those: https://ko-fi.com/post/Pandemic-and-Pandemonium-Sickness-in-Horror-T6T21I201), I actually think a lot of us are going to be processing a different type of fear -- anxiety about what happens when your home, which is supposed to be a literal safe space, gets invaded. Because if you’re not safe in your own house...you’re not safe anywhere. 

Home invasion movies have been around a long time -- arguably as long as film, with 1909′s The Lonely Villa setting down the formula -- and they share many of the same roots as slasher films in the 1970s. But somewhere along the way, they separated off and became their own distinct subgenre with specific tropes, and it’s that separation and the stories that followed it that I want to focus on. 

The Origins of the Home Invasion Movie 

In order to really qualify as a home invasion movie, a film has to meet a few requirements:

The action must be contained entirely (or almost entirely) to a single location, usually a private residence (ie, the home) 

The perpetrator(s) must be humans, not supernatural entities (no ghosts, zombies, or vampires -- that’s a different set of tropes!) 

In most cases, the horror builds during a long siege between the invader and the home-dweller, including scenes of torture, capture, escape, traps, and so forth. 

To an extent, home invasion movies are truth in television. Although home invasions are relatively rare, and most break-ins occur when a family is away (the usual goal being to steal things, not torture and kill people), criminals do sometimes break into people’s homes, and homeowners are sometimes killed by them. 

In the 1960s and 70s, this certainly would have been at the forefront of people’s minds. Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood detailed one such crime in lavish detail, and the account was soon turned into a film. Serial killers like the Boston Strangler, BTK Killer and the “Vampire of Sacramento” Richard Chase also made headlines for their murders, which often occurred inside the victim’s home. (Chase, famously, considered unlocked doors to be an invitation, which is one great reason to lock your doors). 

By the 1960s and 70s, too, people were more and more often beginning to live in cities and larger neighborhoods where they did not know their neighbors. Anxieties about being surrounded by strangers (and, let’s face it, racial anxieties rooted in newly-mixed, de-segregated neighborhoods) undoubtedly fueled fears about home invasion. 

Early Roots of the Home Invasion Genre

Home invasion plays a part in several crime thrillers and horror films in the 1950s and 60s, including Alfred Hitchcock’s Dial M for Murder in 1954, but it’s more of a plot point than a genre. In these films, home invasion is a means to an end rather than a goal unto itself. 

We see some early hints of the home invasion formula show up in Wes Craven’s Last House on the Left in 1972. The film depicts a group of murderous thugs who, after torturing and killing two girls, seek refuge in the victim’s home and plot the deaths of the rest of the family. In 1974, the formula is refined with Bob Clark’s Black Christmas, which shows the one-by-one murder of members of a sorority house and chilling phone calls that come from inside the home. 

Even closer still is I Spit on Your Grave, directed by Meir Zarchi in 1978. Although it’s generally (and rightly) classified as a rape-revenge film, the first half of the movie -- where an author goes to a remote cabin and is targeted and brutally assaulted by a group of men -- hits all the same story beats as the modern home invasion story: isolation, mundane evil, acts of random violence, and protracted torture. 

Slumber Party Massacre, directed by Amy Holden Jones in 1982, also hits on both home invasion and slasher tropes. Although it is primarily a straightforward slasher featuring an escaped killer systematically killing teenagers (with a decidedly phallic weapon), the film also shows its victims teaming up and fighting back -- weaponizing their home against the killer. This becomes an important part of the genre in later years! 

In 1997, Funny Games, directed by Michael Haneke, provides a brutal but self-aware look at the genre. Created primarily as a condemnation of violent media, the film nevertheless succeeds as an unironic addition to the home invasion canon -- from its vulnerable, suffering family to the excruciating tension of its plot to the nihilistic, motive-free criminality of its villains, it may actually be the purest example of the home invasion movie. 

Home Invasions Gone Wrong 

Where things start to get interesting for the home invasion genre is 1991′s The People Under the Stairs, another Wes Craven film. Here the script is flipped: The hero is the would-be robber, breaking and entering into the home of some greedy rich landlords. But this plan swiftly goes sideways when the homeowners turn out to be even worse people than they’d first let on. 

This is, as far as I can tell, the origin of the home-invasion-gone-wrong subgenre, which has gained immense popularity recently -- due, perhaps, to a growing awareness of systemic issues, a differing view of poverty, and a viewership sympathetic to the plight of down-on-their-luck criminals discovering that rich homeowners are, indeed, very bad people. 

Home Invasion Film Explosion of the 2000s 

The home invasion genre really hit the ground running in the 2000s, due perhaps to post-911 anxieties about being attacked on our home turf (and increasing economic uneasiness in a recession-afflicted economy and a growing awareness of the Occupy movement and wealth inequality). We see a whole slew of these films crop up, each bringing a slightly different twist to the formula.

*  It’s also worth noting that the 2000s saw remakes of many well-known films in the genre, including Funny Games and Last House on the Left.  

In 2008, Bryan Bertino directed The Strangers, a straightforward home invasion involving one traumatized couple and three masked villains. By this point, we’re wholly removed from the early crime movie roots; these are not people breaking in for financial gain. Like the killers in Funny Games, the masked strangers lack motive and even identity; they are simply a force of evil, chaotic and senseless. 

The themes of “violence as a senseless, awful thing” are driven further home by Martyrs, another 2008 release, this one from French director Pascal Laugier. A revenge story turned into a home-invasion-gone-wrong, the film is noteworthy for its brutality and blunt nihilism. 

2009′s The Collector, directed by Marcus Dunstan, is another home-invasion-gone-wrong movie. Like Martyrs, it dovetails with the torture porn genre (another popular staple of the 2000s), but it has a lot more fun with it. The film follows a down-on-his-luck thief who breaks into a house only to encounter another home invader set on murdering the family that lives there. The cat-and-mouse games between the two -- which involve numerous traps and convoluted schemes -- are fun to watch (if you like blood and guts). 

In a similar vein, we see You’re Next in 2013, which starts off as a standard home invasion movie but takes a sharp twist when it’s revealed that one of the victims isn’t nearly as helpless as she appears. Director Adam Wingard helps to redefine the concept of “final girl” in this move in a way that has carried forward right into the next decade with no sign of stopping. 

2013 of course also introduced us to The Purge, a horror franchise created by James DeMonaco. If there was ever any doubt as to the economic anxieties at the root of the genre, they should be alleviated now -- The Purge is such a well-known franchise at this point that the term has entered our pop culture lexicon as a shorthand for revolution. 

Don’t Breathe, directed be Fede Alvarez in 2016, is one of the creepiest modern entries into the “failed home invasion” category, and one that (ha ha) breathed some new life into the genre. Much like The People Under the Stairs, it tells the story of some down-on-their-luck criminals getting in over their heads when they target the wrong man. However, there is not the same overt criticism of wealth inequality in this film; it’s a movie more interested in examining and inverting genre tropes than treading new thematic ground. The same is true of Hush that same year. Directed by Mike Flanagan, the film is most noteworthy for its deaf protagonist. 

But lest you start to think the home invasion genre had lost its thematic relevance, 2019 arrived with two hard-hitting, thoughtful films that dip their toes in these tropes: Jordan Peele’s Us and Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite, which both tackle themes of privilege in light of home invasion (albeit a nontraditional structure in Parasite -- its inclusion here is admittedly a bit of a stretch, but I think it falls so closely in the tradition of The People Under the Stairs that it deserves a spot on this list). 

What Does the Future Hold? 

I’m no oracle, so I can’t say for certain where the future of the home invasion genre might lead. But I do think we’re going to start seeing more of them in the next few years as a bunch of creative folks start working through our collective trauma. 

Income inequality, racial inequality, political unrest and systemic issues are all at the forefront of our minds (not to mention a deadly virus), and those themes are ripe for the picking in horror. 

I know that Paul Tremblay’s novel The Cabin at the End of the World has been optioned for film, so we might be seeing that soon -- and if so, it might just usher in a fresh wave of apocalypse-flavored home invasion stories. 

Like my content? You can support more of it by dropping me some money in my tip jar: https://www.ko-fi.com/post/Home-Invasion-Stories-A-History-R6R72RV7Y

[tea-mew96]

Analysis: TFP Optimus Prime and a Discussion on Revenge

Disclaimer:  This post is going to be a long vent about my frustrations with TFP Optimus Prime, specifically with the advice he gives to Arcee and the audience in regards to revenge. So if you’re someone who does likes him or hold similar views to him, you are probably not going to like or agree with what I’ll say in this post and that’s completely ok. The whole point of this post is to provide another perspective and open discussion with me and anyone else about this (But do so respectfully, please).

Also, there are going to be spoilers for Transformers Prime in this, so skip this post for now if you don’t want the show to be spoiled for you.

So without further ado, let me explain why TFP Optimus Prime’s stance on revenge is wrong.

For those who aren’t familiar with Transformers Prime or don’t remember everything, one of the biggest subplots of the show was Arcee and the loss of her partners, Cliffjumper and Tailgate. Throughout most of Season 1 and Season 2, Arcee is on the hunt to find out who killed Cliffjumper and to get revenge for Tailgate by going after Arachnid. 

Everything with this arc was going ok...until Season 1 Episode 20, Partners.

During this episode, Arcee ends up following Arachnid, much to Optimus’ distaste. After Optimus saves Arcee from Arachnid, he tells her that seeking revenge for Tailgate is a bad idea. Later on in the episode, Starscream lets slip that he was the one who killed Cliffjumper, and Arcee reacts accordingly by attacking him. She almost kills him, but is stopped when she realizes Bumblebee is watching them and she lets Starscream go. The episode ends with Arcee saying that she thought settling scores would allow her to move on but that her actions instead lead to the Autobots losing an ally. Optimus comments that wisdom is gained, not automatically earned. This arc continues in Season 2 Episode Episode 10 Armada, where Arcee ends up trapping Arachnid in a stasis pod, ultimately ending their rivalry. The pod is taken back to base, where Ratchet says Arachnid “deserves worse”. Arcee responds that she “intended worse, more times than you know” and Optimus responds that Arcee is “stronger” for her choice.

These series of events are what ruined both Optimus as a character and Arcee’s arc for me.

Optimus tells Arcee that seeking revenge is bad and that she’s a “stronger person” for giving Arachnid a fairly merciful fate of being put in stasis. There’s one problem, though: he’s wrong. And apparently no one on the writing team knew that.

What Optimus ends up implying is that Arcee’s anger at both Arachnid and Starscream is not justified, that being mad at them for hurting her makes her a “bad person” and wanting them to suffer consequences for it is not the right path to take. Except none of that is true.

I think it’s fair to say that Arcee is victim of murder, and has a lot of trauma and emotional damage because of it. She has lost two partners that she clearly cared for and were close to, with one of them (Tailgate) dying right in front of her optics. She displays signs of depression throughout the series, and if the flashbacks in Season 1 Episode 12 Predatory are any indication, Arcee probably has a good case of PTSD too. 

The thing about people who have been severely hurt and traumatized by others like this is that they need closure, and there are many ways that this can be accomplished. Forgiveness is only one way. Sometimes closure comes in the form of having the aggressors be given jail time or the death penalty. Sometimes with bullying, a victim will find peace by seeing the bully getting in trouble with the teacher and being suspended. Some find peace through therapy. Sometimes, people can only find peace by taking matters into their own hands and punishing the aggressors themselves (victims fighting back against their bullies and the story of Gary Plauche are good examples of this one). The point is that victims and their friends/family members affected by murder, rape, bullying, or any other hurtful acts is that they don’t have to forgive the ones who committed the crime, nor are they required to. In fact, many people don’t.

This is something that Optimus Prime simply doesn’t understand, and many adults don’t either.

I want you to take a quick read at these statements that people often give as solutions to bullying:

“Don’t react, just ignore them. They’ll go away.” “Don’t fight back, that’s stooping to their level” “Tell them to stop saying/doing those things, they’ll listen”

On the surface, all of these statements sound correct because these are all very tame, non-violent solutions. They’re all moral high ground statements. But almost any victim of bullying can tell you that none of this advice ever actually helped, and if you ever told a teacher someone was bullying you, you at best got ineffective solutions/similar advice to the above and at worst did nothing about it.

Optimus Prime’s statements about not seeking revenge come from the exact place that the above quotes come from: a place of wanting to appear moral and above-it-all but having none of the experience or knowledge to actually back it up. 

Optimus wasn’t as close to Cliffjumper as Arcee was. Optimus didn’t see Tailgate’s gruesome death first-hand. He may be older, but being old doesn’t automatically make you right. And I find it ironic how Optimus states that wisdom is earned at a cost yet he’s the one who is clearly is struggling with that concept when it comes to Arcee.

It upsets me to no end how Optimus is contantly tellling Arcee that she’s the one who has to be the more moral, bigger, stronger person. But Starscream and Arachnid? You know, the ones who caused all of Arcee’s anguish to begin with? Naw. Arachnid can continue to tease Arcee by asking if she’s lost any more partners and Starscream can pretend to feel bad about killing Cliffjumper and then immediately brag about it the next day. Yeah, those two don’t need to change. ARCEE DOES. CUZ REVENGE BAD. 

Remember how Arcee said she intended a worse fate for Arachnid and Optimus praises her for it? While the show treats that as “closure” and the end to that rivalry, I’m not convinced. For the longest time, Arcee wanted Arachnid dead. So for her to all of a sudden switch to being merciful to Arachnid seems off to me. And thus I began to wonder: Did Arcee decide to not kill Arachnid because she had a genuine change in morals, or did she do it in order to make Optimus Prime happy? Or in other words, is this a genuine change of character or this just the writers’ last-ditch attempt at pushing the “no revenge” narrative into the audience’s face? I don’t know for sure (although I’m pushing for latter in both questions) and the show doesn’t address this. And this is bad because depending on this answer, this could mean that this arc was never truly finished. If Arcee still didn’t believe or feel that having Arachnid in stasis was good enough closure, than the story isn’t fucking over. But no one of the writing team thought this far. No one was willing to put this kind of depth into the show.

Furthermore, I’d argue that this constant talk about Arcee being a “better person” is causing her to be critical of herself over things that aren’t really her fault or that she wouldn’t be able to predict the outcome of.

One is Arcee blaming herself for Smokescreen’s “death” in Season 2 Episode 21 Alpha/Omega. The other is Arcee regretting her attack on Starscream and losing a potential ally. But the reality is that Starscream is extremely fickle and having him join the Autobots wasn’t guaranteed to end in success to begin with. Even if Starscream did join the Autobots, there’s no promise that he would side with them forever. Almost all of his decisions are based off his own goals, and many times that can go against the ideas/goals of the group he’s in. Actually, Starscream does end up betraying the Autobot’s trust anyway in Season 2 Episode 23 Inside Job where Starscream uses the Autobots’ (ok, most Optimus Prime’s) trust to steal the Omega Keys and use them in order to gain Megatron’s favor again. Unsurprisingly, trauma victims in the real world also blame themselves for what happened to them too.

There’s many things about TFP Optimus Prime I can forgive. Boring characterization? Fine. An intriguing characterstic (lack of outward emotion) that has potential to be interesting but the writers never decided to explore it? Whatever. But I draw the line at shitty advice presented as a good lesson, especially when your audience is young kids who don’t know better and may need desperate help.

Kids get bullied and abused. Kids need to be told that fighting back against bullies and abusers who have hurt them doesn’t make them a bad person because the “lessons” and “solutions” that many schools and adults teach or tell rarely work. And telling them otherwise because it sounds right isn’t going to help. If anything, it’s only going to hurt those kids in the long run.

TL;DR Arcee is a good girl who deserves hugs and therapy, and Optimus Prime is a self-righteous moron who deserves to be thrown into a smelting pit.

[feralseraph]

Hi there, I was wondering if you could elaborate on your thoughts re: prison abolition. Thank you!

Sure. I’m gonna just compile all my thoughts here so if anyone else is ever curious about it i can link it.

Also, I’m not at all interested in ~debating~ the issue bc I have already done so many times irl and on other social media and my stance hasn’t changed so yeah. It’s just exhausting and annoying.

So anyway, I’d like to preface by saying obviously the current system is complete garbage (also im gonna be talking about the united states bc that’s where I live). Clearly I don’t support people being in prison for stealing lipstick from sephora or selling weed to their friends, etc. 

And yes, I have read a lot of what prison abolitionists have had to say (including Angela Davis!! Thanks!!) so, it’s not like I’m just picking on them for no reason. I’m not for it because I don’t feel like it’s a viable option for the world we live in right now.

I’ll just start where it always starts: violent crime. I really dislike how people are always touting that well rape and murder happen outside of prison and they never get caught. Or that rape and murder happen in prison as well. So, first of all shouldn’t we maybe change that narrative to be like, how can we do more to apprehend violent criminals? Also, there’s got to be better ways to contain violent criminals so that they aren’t in there just doing whatever they want to other people.

Also, personally I am completely uninterested in trying to “rehabilitate” like sex traffickers and rapists. These kinds of crimes aren’t just something to accidentally do because you were poor or something. They’re completely malicious acts and people that commit these kinds of crimes have to be separated from the people they seek to harm. And I don’t see how giving them CBT workbooks is going to make them see the error of their ways and suddenly uwu they’re nice. I’ve been told it’s cruel and unempathetic to assume that there is any group of people “beyond help”, but how exactly do you help serial killers? How do you help child predators? These people know what they’re doing is wrong and they will continue to do so unless they are removed from society.  No amount of therapy is going to “fix” people like that. Further, to say I’m critical of therapy and psychiatry is an understatement, but that’s another topic (check out my tags anti psychiatry and psychiatry for my thoughts on that if you’re interested.)

Another thing someone said to me once was, “well why not just kill violent criminals if you think they can’t be helped.” And my response is that I feel like most people would see that as an act of revenge and therefore it would be inappropriate for the state to enact revenge on criminals, whereas what the responsibility of the state is to punish those criminals and keep them separated from people they would harm.

I also feel like a lot of the times I’ve had these conversations it ignores the reality of violent  crime and the reality is that the vast majority of violent crime is committed by men, often against women (and children). Then, they’ll say that one of the goals is to raise boys so that they grow up to not be so terrible which is another task I’m completely uninterested in. What do we know now that mothers before us didn’t know? Also, if we’re supposed to get a few generations of Good Men and a violence free world then why are people acting like prison abolition is something that can happen any time soon?

I honestly don’t even think that prisons should look the way they do now. If these people are going to be kept somewhere then yeah they can have access to the outdoors and normal food. And it’s not like there will be no more court system where there’s trials and evidence presented and so on. Like if someone’s car slid on ice and they accidentally hit someone it wouldn't be treated the same as someone purposefully running another person over with their car. 

As a feminist I believe women deserve to feel as safe as possible and if they’re ever the victim of violent crime, the least that can be done is for the perpetrator to not have the opportunity to hurt someone again.

I think that about sums it up. Overall, imagining a world where there’s no more violence and therefore no need for prison is an interesting philosophical exercise, but I don’t see how it’s a viable option for the world we actually live in and people saying “we don’t have all the answers” simply does not do it for me. Like I said, uninterested in debating. I’ve been called a cruel heartless harpy often enough <3

Oh, one last thing. wrt ~community justice~ I don’t feel comfortable putting my trust in a community of leftist bros who can’t even hold their friends accountable for being assholes, let alone how to handle violent criminals in their community.

[ondeadair]

A Brief History

May be edited as plots happen. This can be found on the page Dossier. One-Shots about Alastor can be found under the tag The Devil of New Orleans.

Alastor was born to the Simmons family on June 14th 1900. His father, George Simmons, was a wealthy businessman from Louisiana with French ancestry. He met his future wife Lorraine during travel, in Michigan at a casino. He offered to get her out of the Saulteaux reservation where she lived in return for her hand in marriage. The couple later moved back to George’s hometown of New Orleans and welcomed their first and only child into the family.

During the first ten or so years of his life, Alastor didn’t understand the strife between his parents and mostly ignored it, though he learned very quickly when not to ask for things. Lorraine and George’s marriage was always tense— George often drank and gambled, leading to more than one occassion of cheating on his wife. He would also become violent at times, and lash out at Lorraine or Alastor, whomever was closer. Alastor just took this as a fact of life and tended to avoid his father. He infinitely preferred the company of his mother, and was quite the momma’s boy, all his life.

As soon as he was old enough, Alastor enrolled in the Boy Scouts program, something that would become extremely important to his youth. This allowed him to get out and explore while also avoiding his father. Win-win. Even at a young age, however, he did show some worrying signs of his lack of empathy. He was interested in the macabre of nature, and would inspect dead animals in the woods. Eventually he started trapping and killing small animals himself, fascinated by how they reacted to their impending demise. His mother taught him how to hunt with a rifle, which became a favorite hobby of his.

At age 12, he witnessed his father’s death at the hands of his mother. The two found him drunk and violent outside a club. He assaulted Lorraine and she pulled a gun on him. Alastor was shaken, but not frightened or particularly upset about his father’s death. He never mentioned it to his mother. He simply accepted it and moved on.

During high school, Alastor began showing more interest in his heritage and learning about Saulteaux legends, which he would relay as campfire stories (with his own embellishments) to his fellow scouts. His fascination with legends drove him to start learning about more, and that’s when he stumbled across Voodoo. It instantly captured his attention and he began to practice Voodoo magic. He was a natural at it, and drawn in by the promises of power, he practiced black magic along with other spells. He found excitement in being able to rewrite fate and alter luck.

He continued to practice Voodoo into his college years. In the public eye, he never revealed his connection to the craft, but in secret meetings and the night market, he became a notorious witch doctor. To most, however, he was a simple college student. And quite a talented one at that. He excelled at his studies and likely could have pursued any career, but he was most interested in journalism. Current events intrigued him— especially the more macabre. He loved to write and share reports of corrupt businessmen, of the sly women they slept with, and a good murder was his favorite to report. His natural charisma and strong oral skills made him a perfect fit for radio broadcasting, his eventual lifelong career.

During his college years, he frequented a club where he met Mimzy, a cabaret performer whom he quickly befriended. He and Mimzy bonded over their hatred of most men, especially the types who slept around and cheated on their significant others. Alastor hated them because of his father. Mimzy hated them because they’d harass her, even those she knew had loving wives at home.

One night, late in Alastor’s senior year, he arrived at the club and couldn’t find Mimzy in her usual spot. Something felt the matter, alarm bells instantly went off in his head. He snuck into the back of the club to seek her out, checking her dressing room. Within, there were signs of a struggle. Her belongings were scattered about on the floor. He grabbed a hairpin as a weapon and raced out to continue his search. The sounds of struggle lead him to the alley just behind the club where the worst was happening— a man was assaulting his dearest friend. The man didn’t even notice the new arrival. With deadly intentions, Alastor swept in behind him like a phantom in the night and drove the hairpin through the man’s neck. After a few moments of struggling for air, the assaulter dropped to the ground, releasing Mimzy. She thanked him breathlessly as Alastor helped her properly dress herself and lent her his jacket to hide torn straps. Then their business turned to the body. Alastor suggested they hide it in the deer hunting ground, and so they did. They both agreed the man deserved to die. And not only him, but so many others... they made a pact and thus began their secondary careers as The Devil of New Orleans.

On the front, Alastor remained a respectable radio host, one of the most popular in Louisiana at that. Mimzy continued the cabaret, earning quite a bit with her nightingale singing voice. But in the dead of the night, they planned revenge on the horrible people who made life just that much worse for everyone else. Alastor also introduced Mimzy to his craft of black magic, something he knew would grow stronger with the more murders they committed. In fact, with deep research, he believed he had found a way to harvest the power of the soul they killed by trapping it in a talisman of his. He acknowledged that they were both likely going to Hell after they died for what they did. “May as well put on a show when we get there.”

And grow his powers did. Using the strength of his captured souls, he grew his own magic to a terrifying degree. He found he was able to influence people’s very luck with spells and he could coerce certain movements from them. He could implant ideas in their heads if he so desired, and he and Mimzy used that to trap their victims.

But even with that power, he could not prevent the inevitable fate that would await the two of them. Mimzy was caught in the act of murder when Alastor was off on a business trip. With investigation, they nailed her for a few other murders the two of them had committed as well. She never revealed she had a partner, loyal to the end. She was put to death. Alastor was the one to announce it over the radio, no hint of remorse, no hint of nostalgia in his voice. Unfortunately for him, some of the club’s workers recognised that he was her friend and grew suspicious. Rumors spread about him in a small community, and when the wife of one of his victims heard, she decided to take action.

It was an unremarkable day for Alastor until that night. A day off, he spent it hunting and was eating his dinner in peace when he heard the barking of hunting dogs in the distance, but growing nearer. Out his window he saw an approaching mob and he knew his time was up. They knew. He ran, leaving his dinner half eaten. The hunting party tore through his house and the dogs of war were hot on his scent. No matter how quickly Alastor ran through the woods, the dogs ran faster and with vicious bites they slowed him down enough that the rest of the party caught up. They shot at him in the dark and a cry of pain let them know that someone had hit their mark. They approached their target and in their lantern light, they saw him struggle in the grip of the dogs, bleeding profusely from a shot in the chest, eyes as wild as the beasts’ attacking him. Even still, when his eyes met theirs, he smiled through his pain.

“ I’ll see you all in Hell. “

Those were the last words he uttered before they put a bullet through his head. Little did they know, his notoriety was only beginning.

[freespiritcreations]

Irréversible Analysis

Hello, everyone! Lately, I have been watching a lot of movies portraying psychological violence. For the past few weeks, I’ve watched several different movies regarding such genres. Personally, out of all of them, there was one that really stood out to me. This movie is known as Irréversible (2002), which was directed by Gaspar Noé.

Before I go on, let me just warn those who haven't or wish to see the movie. I will be analyzing this film in grave detail. Proceed reading this blog in caution.

Firstly, let me explain the premise of the movie, as well as the director's intent on the film. Irréversible follows a man named Marcus and his friend Pierre seeking revenge, after Alex was raped and beaten into a coma. Vincent Cassel plays Marcus who is the boyfriend of Alex, who is played by Monica Bellucci. Le Tenia is Alex’s rapist and is played by Jo Prestia. Albert Dupontel plays Pierre, who is not only Marcus’s friend, but also Alex’s ex boyfriend.

A unique aspect about this movie is that it is told in a reversed chronicle order. Therefore, all of the events leading up to Marcus and Pierre killing Le Tenia are told backwards. The movie initially starts off with Pierre brutally killing Le Tenia, and it ends with Marcus and Alex getting ready for the party. When pitching the story of Irréversible, Noé intended for the story to be told in reverse. This idea came from capitalizing off of Christorpher Nolan’s film Memento due to its popularity.

Irréversible sparked huge controversy because of it’s violent nature. A lot of movie critics felt that this movie was incredibly grotesque and extremely homophobic. The majority of the film contained scenes that emotionally and physically emphasized the effects of being a victim of rape. For instance, during the 10 minute long rape sequence, the entire scene displayed an violently detailed sexual assaults' within one single shot (42m:56s - 54m:01s).

During which, Le Tenia violently rapes Alex and beats her into a coma. This entire sequence shows exactly everything happening from start to finish. Personally, as a woman, it did make me feel quite uncomfortable watching Alex go through such trauma. This scene captures the brutal reality of being a rape victim, and the camera captures every moment of Alex’s distress. Therefore, watching her go through this did make me feel quite squeamish. It felt as if I could feel Alex’s pain within that very moment. Especially, considering that events such as this actually happen to women in real life.

A scene that I found to be quite captivating yet visually appealing was the fire extinguisher scene (22m:17s - 24m:04s). During this scene, Marcus finds Le Tenia and begins to fight him. However, Le Tenia gets the upper hand and attempts to rape Marcus. Suddenly, Pierre beats Le Tenia with a fire extinguisher to death by crushing his skull with it multiple times.

Most critics find this scene to be incredibly overrated because of how gruesome the scene is. As well as that, many feel like this scene creates a negative impression on the LGBTQ community. This is because this scene takes place in a homosexual bar, and most of the patrons appeared to be incredibly pervasive and overly sexualized. The setting also has an ominous undertone because of the color, lighting, and types of individuals present. Also, Marcus and Pierre would often refer to the patrons as ‘faggots’ which is an offensive term to the LGBTQ community. Furthermore, because this scene is within the first act of the film, it may implicate that Le Tenia was a victim of a hate crime. Until, it is learned that Le Tenia is exactly a sex addict and a violent rapist. This type of narrative may have made some audiences feel like it was painting a bad picture on homosexual males.

On the other hand, I don’t feel that wasn’t the intention when developing Le Tenia’s character arc. When first watching it, my initial thought was who was Le Tenia, and why were those men looking for him. Then, I began to observe Marcus’s behavior and studied his movements and language. I could tell that he was incredibly emotionally disturber and was probably not sober. Marcus also had an irrational thought process and was quick when making rash decisions. However, once Le Tenia is found, I began to realize that he must have done something for Marcus to be incredibly provoked. After watching it, it made me want to learn more about why this happened in order to understand the men’s actions. Despite it being incredibly violent, I do feel that this sequence does capture the attention of an audience because of how aggressively obscure it is.

Another sequence that stood out to me was the party scene (54m:03s - 1h:06m:27s). Although this scene is not very notable nor is it violent, it does highlight the three characters Marcus, Pierre and Alex. During this scene, we get to know more about the characters personalities, before they went through such traumatic yet disturbing events.

Honestly, considering how appalled Marcus was about Alex’s attack, it was a shame to see him flirting with other women behind Alex’s back. With that in mind, I do want to acknowledge the fact that he was in fact drinking that night. Which could imply to why he was acting disorderly throughout the film. This could also explain his flirtatious behavior towards the other women. As far as Pierre, his role in the movie was quite undetermined for a while. Throughout most of the movie, he was more level headed and in control of the situation. He didn’t seem as distraught as Murcus; however, this particular scene does further emphasize the reason for him killing Le Tenia. Once we learn that Pierre was Alex’s ex boyfriend, he begins to show how much he really cares about her and loves her as the story continues. Pierre is devastated that Alex is with Marcus; especially, because he knows that Marcus isn’t good for her. Once I realized more of his feelings towards Alex, it reveals the deeper emotional trigger beneath Marcus killing Le Tenia.

Despite all of the violence presented in this movie, I do feel that it was a stunning representation of how deep connections can prone someone into harming others. The storyline overall was incredibly suspenseful and full of anticipating excitement. Honestly, I don’t feel that this movie’s purpose was to make a negative stereotype out of the LGBTQ community. Instead, I feel that this movie highlights how rape can affect not only an individual, but also the people around that individual. It also reflects on how one man’s decisions can cause their actions to come right back at them. Overall, I feel that this movie deserves a five-star rating.