#some would say you're justified to kill that person in self defense because you might have died if you didn't.

[abandoned-quiche]

i think what undertale fangames should really strive for is to push undertale's themes of mercy to the edge - push the PLAYER to see what their limits are on who deserves mercy.

[jewishvitya]

[This post was originally written in response to someone tagging me and claiming that a free Palestine would mean all Israeli Jews will be kicked out and where will I go, and how they can't understand why I'm so against Israel being our ethnostate. OP blocked me, so I'm reposting with a few edits, because I already wrote this and I might as well.]

Look. I understand your mentality. We're traumatized by a history of violence against us. We were shown that so many in the world want us dead, and so many others won't stop them. I get it. But I refuse to let myself silently become the face of similar oppression for other people.

Israel benefits from antisemitism and maintains myths that got Jewish people killed in the past, like double loyalty. It weaponizes it for propaganda reasons. It's supported by antisemitic Christian zionist organizations with terrifying motivations. It started out with violence not only against Palestinians but against Jews too. Israel isn't motivated by our safety, it abuses that idea. It manipulates and weaponizes our trauma to make us feel justified in causing so much suffering to innocent people.

You're right that I'll have nowhere to go if I'm kicked out of here. This is where I was born. My parents come from other countries that I won't feel safe in. But all of this is hypothetical. The ethnic cleansing and genocide of Palestinians is not hypothetical, it's REALITY. It's happening RIGHT NOW. And I don't understand how, as a Jewish person who knows what this kind of suffering and loss of life means, you seem unable to prioritize that. I tell you I'm witnessing a genocide happening right next to me and you keep telling me "but what if they hurt you instead."

The assumption that Palestinians will pull some sort of reverse ethnic cleansing against us is racist. This assumption is the reason Israel feels comfortable calling the carpet bombing of a civilian population "self defense." Killing them based on a this is not self defense, it's a racially motivated crime against humanity.

And I'm calling it an assumption because I'm not willing to pull from the Hamas charter that they've since replaced. Hamas isn't Palestinians. The only reason they became this powerful is Israeli funding, and Israeli violence giving Hamas free PR as the only ones who will stand up to the state that will keep them trapped and dying.

We control every aspect of their lives. Israel created a place that breeds radicalization. No group of people, living under the conditions forced on Palestinians, would be peaceful. They would fight back. Because peaceful attempts to have the human rights that Israel denies them got nothing. We stomped on every single one. We blocked all other routes and left them with only violence, which Israeli politicians have been using as an excuse for over 15 years to make a show of force with military campaigns whenever they wanted a boost in popularity. We created living conditions with such low life expectancy that half of the population is children because so few adults survive. They don't deserve this. No one deserves this.

Palestine was a land with people living in it. One plot of land can create multiple groups of people, especially when we've been separated for 2000 years. Our connection to this land does not cancel out theirs. Removing them to create our own country could never be right. It's not an argument saying that our connection to Israel gives us the right to move here to live ALONGSIDE Palestinians. That's not what we wanted. We wanted a country that enforces Jewish majority and legally prioritizes Jews. You're justifying this when I repeatedly state that the only way for it to exist is through ethnic cleansing and genocide. There's no way to make this concept into a reality without killing, displacing, and oppressing whoever's left in various different ways, from apartheid to other kinds of discrimination.

I'm not against safety for us. I want to be safe. I want my children to grow in a safe world where we can be openly and joyfully Jewish. I'm not willing to pay for that with the lives and freedoms of other people.

So I will be loud about this: Palestinians deserve to be free in every part of their homeland, even if it's our ancestral homeland too.

If safety for us means we're the ones committing the genocide, maybe we should rethink what safety looks like.

I'm terrified for the lives of millions of people in Gaza. Right now, all I can think about is this, and it baffles me to see people so willing to transfer the horrors of our history to other people.

I had a lovely conversation in DMs in response to the first post, about how zionism encourages us to isolate rather than build bridges in the places where we live all over the world. We can't ignore the way antisemitism saturates culture, but we should also remember the places where Jewish communities thrived for centuries, the places where our neighbors protected us. We're hated, and we're loved. Each form of oppression is unique, so no other group experiences what Jewish people do exactly, but we're not alone. We have a long and rich history of solidarity with other marginalized communities and involvement in liberation movements. We're actively working to make the world safer, and we have people fighting with us. I'm just participating in this fight where I am. The struggle for liberation is a human struggle. You can't use the trauma of antisemitism to silence me about other kinds of bigotry.

Never again. To ANYONE.

[jewish-vents]

(Sorry for the rambling, I started on one point and pivoted unexpectedly to another, lol)

There's a post going around Tumblr (or my dash at least) about how if someone tried to break into someone's home and rob them, they'd feel perfectly justified killing the person breaking in. Like "if you're invading my home, you are infringing upon my safety, and for my own safety I would kill you, no hesitation." And so many people reblogging and agreeing...and these are the same people who were against Israel retaliating for Oct 7, saying that their response is disproportionate... bitch, the dude breaking into your home might be unarmed and after your TV but you feel it's okay to shoot them in the head, you don't think that's disproportionate? That's fine, but for people ACTUALLY invading and actually killing, we're meant to treat them with kid gloves?

When it comes to self defense, you respond. There was an article in Vox that mentioned how you couldn't compare the Allies in WWII razing Dresden with the situation in Gaza, because that was already after we've seen the Germans kill millions of people, but: "Hamas may have genocidal intentions, but it does not have genocidal capacities." So we should wait until AFTER they do a couple more Oct 7s, wait until they actually achieve some of their goal, and only THEN it is morally acceptable to wipe them out?

No. They invaded my home. They threatened my safety. I can't let that happen again.

.

[raayllum]

in honour of this post, tags on another of mine i cannot remember that talked briefly about Rayla's issues, and that I've talked about Claudia and Callum's moments of being hypocritical, now I want to actually talk about Rayla's hypocritical tendencies cause it's something S4 and S5 made a fun little consistency - let's dive in

Rayla can sometimes ignore (or react indignantly to) other people possibly having their own reasons/justifications because she's tunnel visioned into only thinking about her own justifications as uniquely warranted

Let me explain

The first time I noticed this was in 2x03, mostly because it was one of those moments that made me laugh even though it's not trying to be funny because

Cause Rayla, honey, you know you lied to them too ("lying and hiding the truth aren't that different") - and Callum forgave you for that and is still your friend. Why would Claudia and Soren be any different to him? (And they are, but not the point of this point).

Now, unlike Soren (who is the person they're primarily discussing), Rayla didn't lie outright, but she did lie by omission - much the same way Claudia did. And Rayla has known her own motivations all along - probably worried they might give up on their mission if they knew (especially at the start), and she doesn't want them to hate her, and most of all by this point in the show, she didn't want to hurt them ("I'm afraid of hurting him" / "when you care about someone, it's hard to hurt them").

This made sense to me in terms of Rayla being good at being initially (often times rightfully, sometimes not so) indignant on her own behalf. She is able to justify herself and does so often, both angrily - as the next examples will show - and more neutrally ("How could I take his life?"). She defends herself both physically and personally to Corvus ("I didn't kill anyone"), she smarts at Callum when he (rightfully) tries to push at her ("I don't have to explain anything to you"), and is mad at Ethari when they initially talk ("Yeah, it's me. Surprised to see my face?"). This initial defense of herself doesn't usually persist and typically gives way to self loathing ("I can fix this" / "I don't deserve your trust, not yet" / "They're right to reject me") but it is there at first and is usually her first reaction, which is very fun.

However, this coupled together with the other two instances arc 2 brings up in terms of her being kind of a hypocrite makes it a pattern, beginning in early season four. (Callum also isn't at his best in early season four, saying he doesn't want to talk about stuff and then bringing it up the next episode to take a jab at her - but he's still dealing with the fallout of the problems she caused, so he absolutely gets more of a pass. As always, see my In Defense of Callum's Narrative Lens from way back in the day if you're interested in more of how his perspectives are portrayed.)

Because gee, Rayla, I wonder whose fault that is? And again, it does make sense that she's angry - she's spent two years just wanting to be with him with none of the messy complex heartbreak he had to go through because she was the one who made the choice to leave. She expected him to at least shout at her, not ice her out completely. And again, we see that initial indignant streak fade when he reiterates he wants to go, and she looks down disappointed, but accepting of it (and puts whether she'll stay or not in his hands, too).

Since she had a good reason for leaving, and it's what her parents did, while she expected anger, she also wants affection and love. Isn't her justification enough, in some ways? Shouldn't it be? And while Rayla wrestled back and forth with this, it's clear she does think that it should be (even if both seasons show she's starting to realize just why she was wrong).

But we do see this hypocritical tendency of hers perhaps pop up most prominently in S5 with Nyx

Again, in Rayla's head, lying and stealing the key wasn't perhaps the right thing to do, but the better thing to do than burden Callum with what she was going through / to be open and vulnerable. It makes sense why she'd do so - and her shot at Nyx gets a tiny pass cause she's technically sticking up for Ezran - but it still falls back on Rayla leaning too heavily on her logic / independent streak to justify actions that are actually counterproductive to having healthy, wilfully open relationships.

And this is something I love about TDP. Even when the characters are genuinely making the worst possible fucking decisions they ever could (hi arc 1 Viren, Claudia and Karim constantly in particular) you completely understand how and why they're justifying those decisions, and Rayla is no different. Doesn't mean they're right, doesn't mean it's not logically stupid or fair or whatever, but it's emotionally consistent, and that's what matters most in the end. And now we have a fun little consistency to add to the pile

[attonposting]

Some Atton headcanons

-Atton was a mouthy kid and always had an independent streak that got him into trouble, but he used to be much more of a social animal than he is now. His Alderaanian upbringing and the cheerfully patriotic Republic recruitment drives left him ill-prepared for the reality of the front, and Atton got very attached to his bunkmates in the days that followed. He used the friendly faces in his squad to keep himself grounded from the shit he saw on a daily basis, found that fighting for them was easier than fighting for the ideal of the Republic itself... and one by one, turnover replaced them with new faces. Eventually he started holding his comrades at arms' length because it was easier than getting to know them. No point when they'd all be dead in six months anyway.

-Continuing on that note, it wasn't much of a leap when the Sith taught him to harm and kill innocents as bait. His service had already led him partway down that slope by the time he left the Republic. Ignoring the mass sacrifice at Malachor, which he was present for and which killed what was left of his faith, Atton would have been made to bomb some difficult targets in a desperate and losing war - camps with slaves and children, Mandalorian-overtaken civilian targets, overrun ground battles that still had friendlies on the ground. It didn't take much mental gymnastics to justify his actions when murder was already a well-trodden reality of war.

-Atton's eyes used to be brown. During his Sith days, he began showing dark side corruption – not heavily, as his Force sensitivity was only nascent, but his eyes started to lose color, alongside paling skin and darker, thinner hair. It receded in the years following his desertion, but his eyes never quite returned to the way they used to be, which is why they're a very washed out hazel now.

-Atton sees himself as a deserter, but he's actually fiercely, dangerously loyal to anyone he thinks has earned it, and that's the reason he signed on with Revan in the first place. He's just never had a cause that didn't let him down in the end, and he walked out of the Jedi Civil War too damaged to put his trust in anyone or anything before the Exile and their literally magnetic personality sucked him in.

-He's compulsively aware of ways to kill the people around him, an awareness that's fluid with the environment, all equipment in reach, and the distraction and emotional states of all parties involved. Intrusive thoughts up the wazoo.

-Between the above, the anxiety, and the self-hate, he's usually in a pretty bad mood. The pazaak and other techniques aren't just mental shields for the purposes of keeping out Jedi, they're also tools to help him cut off his thoughts and get out of his head.

-Banter is another mental defense of his. He incites stupid, meaningless arguments to pass the time and occupy his perpetually overclocked brain. Doesn't really matter what he's saying as long as it's something, you know?

-It's hard to say which was worse for his hypervigilance – his days in the Sith, between the cutthroat politics and hunting down literal telepaths, or his days after it, on constant lookout for Republic and Sith alike. Atton's pretty good at keeping his twitchiness under wraps, since his entire shtick is method acting being something he's not. If you startle him out of sleep, though, you're liable to end up in a headlock for the couple of seconds it takes him to get his bearings. It's hard to sneak up on him, but his reaction to being genuinely spooked is vicious. Not a guy to throw a surprise party for.

-Atton's never had a real relationship. If he's 29-32 in 3951, he would have been 16-20 when he joined the Mandalorian Wars, which doesn't leave much room for anything past high school sweethearts. And he was way too broken when he left the Sith some seven-eight years before the events of KotOR II – between the barely contained self-loathing, the walling off everything that might be a real emotion, and the running, there was no way Atton was making connections that he wouldn't compulsively sever. So when he asks Bao-Dur for romantic advice, it's genuine. Atton may be a master of the one-night stand, but he has pitifully little idea what to do about feelings. He swaggers and plays confident, but if the Exile actually took him up on his flirting, he'd be completely flat-footed.

-Though several parts of his dialogue allude to a death wish, Atton isn't suicidal, per se. He may have been in the immediate aftermath of his desertion from the Sith, and he doesn't think he deserves to live... but dying now would just make that last Jedi's sacrifice even more of a waste than it already was. I think he sort of sees it that he doesn't have the right to it either way, and at the end of the day, it's not in him to give up. It's more of a recklessness, a fascination with the knife's edge that keeps drawing him towards the situations his instincts scream warnings about, and that's why he can't help pissing off dangerous people, why he keeps taking risky jobs he knows don't add up. Atton's addicted to the thrill of fighting for his life, of only having his wits and skills between his head and the barrel of a blaster. Flirting with death excites him on a pretty unhealthy level, but he only rarely acknowledges it for what it is – just that it makes him feel something other than his usual.

[thekimspoblog]

Iris Wexler-McGill (Born Dec. 2017) They/Them

The night dad didn't come home. They never forgave their mother for it.

They steal. EVERYTHING!

Poetic sensibility. Their sister warns them that their recklessness is going to backfire, but they went and shook-down the old HHM building anyway. The way they see it; that building always belonged to them.

FIGHT! Quick thinking and deception is the first course of action, but Iris will always stand their ground over fleeing. Thinking globally means realizing you cannot outrun tyranny.

That's a tricky question, because they would do anything for the cause, but it isn't really THEIR cause. They were born into a second civil war; defending feminism and LGBTQ rights with tooth-and-claw is all they've ever really known.

Iris isn't willing to kill, not by acting on purpose and directly at least. And there are many times where murder would have been the easiest option.

A lot of things, up to and including their gender. But the biggest thing is obviously that they were originally supposed to be born in June of 2004.

Absolutely. Call it a hereditary trait. But mostly just... see aforementioned Second American Civil war. As I've mentioned in other posts, this kid's gonna grow up post-apocalypse. If it wasn't for the time capsule Iris dug up, there would be little evidence this country ever even HAD law and order.

"Do the Evolution" by Pearl Jam

The sequel to BCS I want to write focuses more on how the Breaking Bad universe occasionally teases magical or supernatural elements. And yeah if I get bored it's going to stop being subtle and its' just going to turn into an urban fantasy AU. I'm waiting for "WYCARO" to air.

Iris can use guns for self-defense and intimidation tactics. But their most prized possession is the pinky ring they inherited.

Iris isn't LITTERALLY a reincarnation of Howard Hamlin, but there is a sort of symmetry to their character arcs. Iris spends their whole life into young adulthood fighting the same war/revolution their parents did, under great pressure to uphold some family legacy that promises to retroactively make all the bloodshed justified. But after a full television season of their sister begging them to reevaluate The Cause, Iris finally does decide to lay down their proverbial sword. The cause might have been righteous, but Iris isn't a messiah; they're just another stray dog roaming the wasteland. Kim and Jimmy took up this cause to give everyone's children a better future; neither of them would have wanted their kids to die for this crap.

I'm trying my best not to write Iris as a self-insert. This character (and other similar baby OCs from other fanfics) is significant to me because my mom is the person who got me into this show in the first place. A few years ago, my mom and I were fighting really badly and (to paraphrase) my mom said something to me: "If your 20-something kid is standing in front of you yelling 'you screwed me up!' it means you did at least TWO THINGS right; you kept them alive and you gave them the emotional freedom to be critical of you". MOM is a very crushing label to put on someone, and you're bound to be criticized for falling short sooner or later. But just remember motherhood is a primordial force of nature, not something you can actually succeed or fail at, no matter what the justice system says. And you can't be paralyzed by fear of failure from living your life indefinitely. That's what I think is the heart of any fanfic exploring a surprise pregnancy and Kim's mom baggage. So to answer your question, it's not about any specific overlap I have with this character (or Kim), but the intergenerational dynamic of mother/daughter is somewhat autobiographical.

Tough. Unflappable. Rebellious. Just. Always the one with the witty comeback and the plan to save the day.

Originally it was going to be Hadley Delany, but I guess representational casting would necessitate finding someone who's actually nonbinary.

High. Iris is a hardened soldier. Basically Se6 of Better Call Saul didn't turn out how I expected, but we DID get a post-apocalyptic miracle baby in the form of Frankie Nichols from Westworld. Iris and Frankie are basically the same character.

See #1 again. A lot of childhood was spent with the au pair, and their parents disappearing for weeks on end. It was always scary, the possibility they wouldn't come home that time. And then one night... it finally happened. RIP Jimmy.

It's more like if the Joker had a coherent and ethical reason for their actions? Iris is warm and bright and funny. Because "Mother's sharp ruthlessness + Dad's cavalier attitude = a dangerous winning combination" is the persona they've lived all their lives. But don't mistake that for intimacy; it's all an act. Their sister is the only one Iris actually talks to.

"One must imagine Sisyphus laughing" - Albert Camut. A lot of scarring things happen in Iris's life, but they're able to take most of it in stride. Because they are so certain of their own convictions, it's like they can see 100 years into the future, when so many small horrors will be forgotten. So it's not really about rage; raging against the machine is what they do on a good day. It's when Iris's faith in THE PLAN is shaken, that you would actually be able to provoke them.

Jealous? No. Passing-off-an-act-of-selfishness-as-being-for-the-greater-good-because-they're-a-spoiled-brat? Yes. Iris does believe the world and the future belongs to them.

Healthy as a clam. Can ward off the evil-eye. Closest thing to a disease, the unnatural circumstances of their birth lead Kim to always find her daughter a little creepy. They're a changeling.

Lawful-good in a chaotic-neutral world.

Doubt.

Jimmy and Kim had ample choices to pick alternate timelines for their daughter. But Iris was always going to be generally the same person in generally the same circumstances.

This is my Half-Life 3 bro. Hollywood can never stop milking a cash cow, and if we get any more content set in the Breaking Bad/Better Call Saul universe, I hope we get more stories about the crotch-dumplings' abilities to survive. If not Iris, the demand to know what Kaylee, Flynn and Holly did next seems pretty vocal.

Edgy/misc OC ask meme ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ

Send me a number and an OC, and I'll answer.

What memory would your OC rather just forget?

What's something about your OC that people wouldn't expect just from looking at them?

What is your OC's fatal flaw? Are they aware of this flaw?

When scared, does your OC fight, flee, freeze or fawn?

How far is your OC willing to go to get what they want?

How easily could your OC be convinced to do something that goes against their moral compass?

What's one way your OC has changed since you first came up with them?

Would your OC ostensibly be able to get away with murder?

Do you have a specific lyric or quote which you associate with your OC?

What's an AU that would be interesting to explore with your OC?

What is your OC's weapon of choice? Have they ever actually used it?

Is your OC self-destructive? In what ways?

If you met your OC, would the two of you get along?

How does your OC want to be seen by other characters?

Does your OC have a faceclaim? If so, who?

What is your OC's pain tolerance like?

What is the worst thing you have put your OC through story-wise?

Is your OC more cold and detached or up close and personal?

How does your OC behave when enraged?

Does your OC have a tendency to get jealous? If so, how does this manifest?

Does your OC have any illnesses or disorders? How do they handle it?

What character alignment would you consider your OC to be?

What emotion is the hardest for your OC to process? How about express?

What is an alternative life path your OC might have gone down? How different would their life be if they'd made those decisions?

What is your favorite thing about your OC?

[otome--fantasy]

Of Demons and Dragons

Ikemen Sengoku Imagine: Being able to turn into a dragon

Ch.8

Warnings: MC isn't physically in this one - just mentioned, slightly short

The following day a council was held at the crack of dawn, but Nobunaga was sure to not extend and invitation towards you, and instead of holding it in Azuchi's council room, it was held in the council room of Ieyasu's estate. You remained asleep while the warlords gathered to discuss the events that transpired at the hot springs.

Everyone hadn't even been seated yet when Mitsuhide noticed your lack of attendance, and he allowed a sly smile to creep on to his lips, "My Lord, are we not missing a person?"

"No," Nobunaga didn't want to raise any suspicion till he had all his bases covered, "The princess needs rest."

At that, the white haird kitsune raised a brow before turning his head to face forward with a straight face. Dear little Ryū, what did you do now?

"Right," Hideyoshi cleared his throat before he began to go over the report he composed the previous night after returning, "After Lord Nobunaga and the Princess departed castle town, Mitsunari and I headed out some time after them and kept hidden. We arrived in time to intervene in the enemy's attempts to engage with our Lord, but unfortunately the princess was caught in the crossfire and was injured anyways. However, we were able to apprehend all three of them for interrogation."

"Well? Don't keep us waiting. Did the villans confess?" Mitsuhide straightened his posture in his seat, eager to hear what the others were able to pull out of them.

"Yes," Hideyoshi confirmed, "As we suspected, they're with the group who planned the assasination attempt at Honno-ji."

"And they gave us the name of their leader," Mitsunari cut in.

"Don't be dramatic," Ieyasu sneered, "Spit it out."

"It's Kennyo, former abbot of Hongan-ji."

"Hongan-ji?" Masamune echoed, "That's the temple fortress of those Ikko-ikki warrior monks, right?" He tried and failed to hold back a laugh, "They picked a fight with Nobunaga in the first place! Now they're holding a grudge because they lost?"

"I heard he went missing after their surrender, when his temple was taken down," the blonde's brows furrowed ever so slightly. Of course, that could have just been a rumor spread to allow Kennyo time to rally more troopes.

"Yes," Mitsunari nodded in confirmation, "He appears to have spent all that time plotting his revenge."

"He's gathering the fallen monks of Ikko-ikki who feel the same," Hideyoshi cut in, "They number a little under 5,000. Not a sizable force but-"

"But when they're fueled by anger, who knows what they're capable of, right?" A smile lit up Masamune's face, "I'm impressed he can command that many men while in hiding. His talents are wasted in a monastery."

"Indeed," Mitsuhide nodded thoughtfully, "I would welcome a man of his skill working for me."

"Mitsuhide, watch your tongue," Hideyoshi interjected angrily.

"The assassins," Ieyasu attempted to real everyone back into the topic at hand, "Where are they now?"

"Yes, speaking of the assassins," Masamune raised a hand, "Earlier you said the Princess was caught in their crossfire, is she okay?"

"I let them go," Nobunaga answered Ieyasu's question first, "With a message."

"A message?"

"Yes. 'A reckoning is coming'." Nobunaga allowed a wicked smirk to cross his features for a brief moment before turning to look at Masamune, "As for the princess. She seems fine for now- once again taking her injuries in great stride. Better than a majority of our soldiers would be, in fact." He turned his attention to Ieyasu, "But that has yet to be officially determined. Ieyasu was tasked with finding out if the blade was poisoned and if it is killing her slowly."

"Yes," Ieyasu pulled out a now clean dagger - the very same one that the assassin had used to attack you, "There wasn't much left on the blade, but I was able to find trace amounts of the toxin. The herbs that were used to make it aren't anything special in that it isn't hard to find the ingredients. The toxin was supposed to incapacitate the victim, make their body numb and then paralyze them - rendering them incapable of defending themselves. And that's just if it was the right dose- assuming they were intending to harm or do worse to Lord Nobunaga, anymore than the right amount and it could cause her organs to fail.

"But the princess was able to defend herself just fine," Mitsunari seemed confused, "Or at least from what we saw."

"She didn't even stumble," Hideyoshi threw his two cents in, "She got stabbed and was able to walk and talk just fine after."

"Even lifted and threw a man across the room," now Mitsunari and the others sounded like they were debating something, trying to piece together a puzzle. Masamune burst out laughing, "Reminds me of when the lass threw me and Ieyasu across the room after the first time she was injured."

"My Lord," Hideyoshi looked to Nobunaga, "I still stand by what I said when she first arrived- she is hiding something."

The others remained silent and Nobunaga rubbed his chin in thought, "Yes," he chuckled slightly, "Here I thought she mentioned you had said you trusted her at one point," he cocked his head to the side as if to taunt his vassal, "I didn't know you were one for playing tricks, Hideyoshi. Here I thought Mitsuhide was the only one here ever so willing and capable to do such a thing." His tone was joking, he was only picking on his right hand for fun, but Hideyoshi broke eye contact with his lord at those words - looking at the wood floors as if he were ashamed of his actions.

"I told her I didn't think she was sent her to kill you, but that doesn't mean she isn't hiding anything," Hideyoshi's voice was low, like he was talking more to himself than to the others in an attempt to justify his words.

"Yes, after tonight it's clear," the raven haired warlord leaned back in his seat slightly, "She wasn't sent here to kill me -or not yet at the very least- but I do agree, she is hiding something."

Ieyasu scoffed in disbelief, "That troublesome waif," before shaking his head, "What could she possibly be capable of other than getting in the way?"

"Have you forgotten, even after I just mentioned it?" Masamune snickered, "She tossed the both of us aside like rag dolls, at the same time." The One-eyed Dragon turned his attention to Nobunaga, "Personally I think we should test her strengths, she could be useful."

"What are you suggesting, Masamune," Hideyoshi practically growled, "We send her into battle?! You saw what happened last time."

"Yes, but last time she was untrained, we should see what all she can do-"

"Enough," Nobunaga's deep voice carried through the room and silenced everyone, calling their attention to him. There was a beat of silence before Mitsuhide cleared his throat, "If I may, my Lord."

Nobunaga looked to the white haired fox and raised a brow, signaling him to go on, "I agree with Ieyasu," all heads in the room turned their attention to him, "She just some random stray, we've picked up off the road. There's nothing special about her."

"But she threw us," Masamune attempted to argue.

"Yes but was she under great stress?"

Masamune shut his mouth in order to give himself a chance to recall that day three months ago, and it occured to him, "She seemed terrified."

Mitsuhide nodded and motioned for him to go on, "Can you tell us about what lead up to it?"

Masamune swallowed, eye widening slightly as he only realized now that perhaps you had been traumatized. They had found you, beaten, bloody, dying, and naked in the woods. What if he and Ieyasu trying to force you to the ground triggered something in you from that night?

"Masamune," Mitsuhide's voice snapped the warlord out of his thoughts, "Continue."

"When I came into the room, Ieyasu was trying to get the princess to lay down, because she needed her rest, but she refused and she was fighting back," he swallowed a lump in his throat as his imagination went wild with what the experience may have caused you to remember, "So I tried to help him and... She screamed for us to get off of her before she threw us both in opposite directions."

"And in the hot springs?" Mitsuhide turned to look towards Mitsunari and Hideyoshi, "One would think being stabbed might be a pretty distressing situation."

Hideyoshi's jaw clenched, suddenly having the feeling that the kitsune was covering for you, "I suppose it would be, yes."

"Well then," the white haired warlord shrugged slightly, "It's no secret that people can do remarkable things under great stress - including exhibiting great shows of strength, speed, and endurance. Perhaps it was the adrenaline coursing through her veins that allowed her to preform these unbelievable acts."

Mitsunari looked to the floor and brought a hand to his chin, "I suppose it wouldn't be the first time we've heard of such a thing. Some of our soldiers have ridden into camp, half dead and clinging to life, determined to deliver a message to us."

The others remained silent before Nobunaga spoke up with a rather disappointed sigh, "And I suppose I have once heard a rumor when I was young, of a man lifting a cart to save a boy," he waved off the conversation, "You've made your point Mitsuhide."

The white haired warlord smiled in satisfaction, "Thank you, my lord."

"I still think the lass should at least learn to defend herself," Masamune spoke up from his seat after a brief pause of silence, "Mitsunari said the princess had been able to defend herself, but obviously not very well if she still got injured," he raised both his hands in the air as if to surrender when he saw the look Hideyoshi shot him, "I'm not saying we send a woman into battle, all I'm saying is we teach her some self defense and how to get out of a few tricky situations should the need arise."

"Very well," Nobunaga's responce came quickly, "If you're so adamant about her learning, then you shall be the one to teach her."

Masamune's eyes seemed to light up at the prospect of sparing with you, "But," and that light was quickly smothered by Nobunaga continuing, "Only after she's been cleared by Ieyasu."

Ieyasu nodded, having expected as much. However, his eyes widened slightly when Nobunaga spoke again, "And she is to stay with Ieyasu for close supervision, till he can be sure that the toxin isn't killing her, and that the threat has passed."

The blond immediately seemed to detach himself for the situation. He wasn't a babysitter, and the idea of him having to watch you, though for good reason, didn't exactly sit well with him. But with a sigh and silent nod, it was clear he accepted his fate, "And in that time I will concoct an antidote to be sure there are no ill effects."

"Excellent."

As soon as the meeting was adjourned, the warlords dispersed, and while most of them returned to their manors, Mitsuhide made a beeline for Azuchi castle. Vassals, maids, and other servants moved out of his way as he stormed through the halls and to your room. However, when he slammed your sliding doors open, you were no where to be found.

Troublesome Ryū.

On his way out of your room he almost ran into a maid carrying a stack of folded towels, "Oh Pardom me, my Lord!" She fumbled and stuttered, hands scurrying to catch her stack before it toppled over. Mitsuhide helped her catch them in time before looking her dead in the eyes with his sharp gaze, "Do you know where the princess is?"

The maid shrunk back, not entirely sure she should answer his question. Everyone knew of the rumors running rampent about Mitsuhide- how he was biding his time and plotting against Nobunaga, so what did he want with his lords beloved Princess?

"Answer the question," his voice was calm, but it only served to strike more fear within her.

"I-I don't know," she stepped back in an attempt to put room between her and Mitsuhide, but when he stepped forward in time with her steps back, she panicked - closing her eyes as she flinched away from the man, "She's in the garden with Kinu!"

When the maid opened her eyes again, she was alone in the hall, with no trace of Mitsuhide having been there other than her racing heart. She looked both ways but he was no where in sight. With a shakey sigh, the maid went back to what she was doing before she was interrupted.

You were so going to owe him big time after this.

When Mitsuhide reached the guarden, he was met with the sight of you sitting in the center of a large flower bed, with a more petite woman with jet black hair right beside you.

"So what does your kind often eat, Milady?"

Your kind?

You chuckled, your shoulders shaking with your light laughter, "A lot more than this."

Mitsuhide craned his head up from where he stood to peer over both your shoulders. There was a small blanket spread infront of the both of you with food laid out on top. It was a basic breakfast, typical, and well balanced - steamed rice, with miso soup, a cut of fish, and some eggs. He had never thought about what a creature such as yourself would require for sustenance, but hearing just a small cut of your conversation made him wonder briefly if you were constantly on the verge of starvation.

"Well if you ever feel the need to grab a midnight snack, keep an eye out for our castles resident mother hen."

[amarriageoftrueminds]

#mcu #bucky barnes #um . . . how is wanting buckys autonomy and disability to be respected babying him? #no matter what ayo was feeling it was still a really shitty thing to do (cool motive. still ableist) #and saying it's because he's violent - he really isn't? - the scene in cw was him using self defense against people trying to kill him #(should his arm have been removed then?) how does that equate to him being violent? #there's multiple examples of him choosing to run away instead of fighting - given the choice he doesn't choose violence #(and if he is so violent and brutal how come in that scene with ayo he tried to talk to her while she attacked him?) #even as the winter soldier he would sit there calmly waiting for orders #after zemo triggers him the avengers attacked him not the other way around #and how is not telling him being kind? #that's something that could put him in a life-threatening scenario - what if its triggered while fighting someone or while climbing #they tell him they trust him and then he finds out they were lying the whole time - that's not kindness thats cruel #they're saying 'we'll respect you as long as you do what we want' 'you're not free your body still isn't yours' #and the idea that the wakandans can take his arm because they made it is so so creepy #if i designed and created a wheelchair for someone do i have the right to take it away from them if they do something i don't agree with? #and it doesn't matter that he can live without it as some people claim #it's his - a part of his body the only one who should get to remove it is him #there's fics where hydra or other bad guys remove buckys arm against his will - why is this a bad thing but the wakandans doing it is not? #the guy lost his arm more than once - why was it necessary to do it again from people he thought were on his side #and i hate the argument of 'oh well bucky didn't have a negative reaction so it's fine' #the show blames him for everything that hydra made him do #they refuse to admit he was a victim - of course they're not going to let him have a negative reaction to this #because why explore the trauma that surrounds an action like this when you can make a gag about it #'my thought is that the failsafe in the arm was justified and people need to stop coming for Ayo based on this ridiculous narrative #that Bucky is too traumatized and sensitive and too much of a fave to ever be challenged or he’ll explode into dust' #no it was not justified - it was gross (god this whole thing is so disturbing - all thanks to this awful show) #and it's also gross to suggest a disabled character can't have negative feelings about someone being ableist to him or he's 'too sensitive' #you can't talk about nuance when you pin all the blame on one character and refuse to admit the other was wrong #anti tfatws

(tags via @wewringmagicfromtheordinary)

I hardly know where to start so just a bunch of random points as they come to me:

*banging head on desk* Bucky. Barnes. was. mind-controlled! Totally different thing from brainwashing (he might also have been brainwashed... but we didn't really see evidence enough to suggest that.)

Small note: we did not see Bucky being a brilliant sniper in WWII either (even if he did later become one as TWS; debatable.) We saw him take like two simple shots.

CATFA only allows one non-Steve person to be good at anything and it's not Bucky; that movie would slit its own throat before it let Bucky look good!

The explicit implication in that stairwell fight scene in CACW is that Bucky (emphasis Bucky: not TWS) hasn't killed anyone, and doesn't intend to.

So even though - yeah, of course - those breezeblocks would be lethal weapons if you swung them around like that, in real life, comic book movie logic and the suspension of disbelief in this universe is that Bucky is behaving non-lethally by using them -- has even set up his apartment with non-lethal defenses.

Shittily-written Steve shrieking 'you're going to kill someone!!' has got nothing to do with what Bucky is actually is like and everything to do with how other people stereotype him (including Steve), just because of TWS. Which wasn't 'him.'

(Steve has been chasing Bucky and researching TWS for two years by this point; he should really know all this already, especially given that Bucky has already told him he's innocent of the bombing. But hey. Shitty writers gunna write shit. 🤷‍♀️)

We can't selectively apply real-world logic and say that XYZ is evidence of Bucky being brutal, when Steve & Co. have been kicking the shit out of things in multiple movies just like that.

Why aren't they classed as brutal? Either they and Bucky are brutal -- meaning, relatively speaking, none of them are -- or they all aren't.

Notice how police break into Bucky's apartment with an explicit kill order -- but if Bucky hits them non-lethally in the process of defending himself while trying to escape... he's the brutal one?

(But if Steve does exactly the same things in the process of chasing after Bucky… it's never Steve who gets called brutal, is it? Or T'Challa? Steve is fighting his way through people, after Bucky in his wake.

If Bucky had actually been brutal, by definition, there would be nobody left behind him for Steve to fight! He'd just be daintily picking his way over a bunch of corpses!)

Bucky in WWII was likewise not a ruthless stalker of victims like TWS.

He was a drafted man, trying to talk his friend out of going to war, using absolute minimal violence to see off bullies (doesn't even deck the guy!), so terrified of violent situations that he had to pause and have mini freak-outs mid-fight where no one else could see (which we see echoes of in CACW).

Bucky was never canonically ruthless and highly-skilled before TWS; he has been no more skilled than any other Howling Commando, no more ruthless than Steve. He did not do well in the war (as you'd thtink a ruthless man would). He had to be rescued more than once, and was not happy to be there at any point. Guy didn't even enlist. Hardly ruthless behaviour!

(And yeah, Sebastian Stan having the same face with which to do a limited range of 'I am sneaking along with a gun about to fight someone' faces with, does not equal = Bucky and the WS having the same skillsets, pre-Hydra slavery. Of course he looks the same, it's the same face!)

SebStan didn't do all that good work showing Bucky shitting himself and miserable in CATFA and CACW, but then completely cold and calm as TWS, just for you to pretend there's no difference between the performances!

In CACW, instead of standing his ground and killing everyone as they come, Bucky chooses to defend himself non-lethally (even the one near-miss is an accident) and run away.

Ditto when it's Tony attacking him; he only stands his ground to fight when Tony literally traps him there (...and is attacking Steve).

Then he chose a non-violent solution by putting himself on ice, to keep everyone else safe, and chose a non-lethal post-WS career for himself. (Even though Steve and the other Avengers are still going around out in the world, presumably fighting people, and Bucky surely would've been welcome along.)

And about TWS...

Even in CATWS, Bucky-as-TWS can't outright win a fight against Steve -- is losing when they grapple and has to play possum to get an advantage (and it's not his arm that subsequently makes him dangerous... it was Hydra-imprinted ruthlessness / dirty fighting combined with basic gun skill).

Even though he's framed as this Unstoppable Killing Machine, he has failed to kill both Nick Fury and Natasha-- twice!

And he didn't win his earlier fight with Steve, either, he was definitely struggling! Ditto with T'Challa in CACW. Though in CATWS Natasha was running away from him in terror, by the time of CACW she's lasting a whole round with him one-on-one. As do an unarmed Tony Stark and Sharon (of all people?!). And that's against Beefy WS!

(And this is while TWS is... running away, again. Even though he'd just been triggered, TWS's first instinct always seems to be pulling a Batman and vanishing into the sky. Now that he is good at!)

Even within the crappy TFATWS show, which simultaneously flipflops between nering Bucky to try and make Sam look good, while simultaneously having everyone treat Bucky like a just-barely-non-rabid dog …Even in that show, Bucky is a man who has repeatedly chosen non-violence and 'peace.' For which he is shit on by his therapist, because the plot wants him punching things.

(Make up your damn minds! is Bucky so ineffectual it's funny to watch him lose, multiple times, or is he so dangerous he needs to be monitored constantly and go grovelling to all 'his' victims?? Can't be both!)

But the man who tortured Bucky the last time he was around also pickpockets a prized possession from him and mocks him for it, but if Bucky verbally tells him off for that (doesn't actually punch him or anything, mind you; like Arnie Roth got to in the comics! Just grabs him and takes his property back! Throws a glass and makes some noise!!) That's Bucky being 'violent.'

What a pussy cat!

And even those minor flashes of ineffectual temper from Bucky were, let's be honest, completely out of character.

Compare that to the movie-canon Bucky who has lived in quiet poverty for years rather than do any reprisals (violent or otherwise) against his torturers. (Even though there was a Hydra base like two countries away, as per AOU.) He has preferred to make journals, go to markets, and be a one-armed goat-herder who befriends local children, rather than be a fighter, and is seen as so harmless that the teenage princess can visit him alone. He is palpably miserable when asked to fight, and puts on a brave face to make Steve feel better.

Still has never so much as snapped at anybody, after everything he's had to put up with.

Compare him to every other 'currently ultra violent because of his Tragic Past' antihero, and so far from being innately violent, this man is practically Zen.

Yes Bucky can kill people, but so could any other person who's a threat to Wakanda, and canonically he's not more skilled at killing than, eg. Natasha or Clint, even including the serum and vibranium arm.

So this idea that he is some kind of already-violently inclined, gifted dispassionate killer outside of TWS is just… Fanon, tbh. Not canon.

And no you do not by any means 'got to hand it to' Zemo -- he is not right when he says “it didn’t take Bucky long to get back into form." He's wrong.

He's a creep, being a creep, with his creepy lies, pouring poison in Sam's ear (specifically to make him doubt Bucky.)

Bucky pretending to be like TWS is NOT proof that he really is; by definition. (🤦‍♀️) If he was really like that, this wouldn't be a 'sudden' change in behaviour in him, the way it is in the show -- like curtains up on a performance. If he was really like that, he wouldn't have to pretend at all.

Bucky is not and never has been a good man with a monster inside, the way Zemo treats him -- instead, the Winter Soldier was a zombie with a good man trapped inside.

People want Bucky to be a BAMF, because TWS is Badass, so being innately dangerous must be part of Bucky's traits, right?

And he can't be as soft and peaceful as he is in canon, cuz that's girly shit, right? Just us silly little women in fandom coddling fictional men, us liking their quiet decency just because they... uh... are quietly decent? Hallucinating peaceful cottagecore takes just because a man happens to be peaceful and live in a cottage. Delusions.

(Of course Bucky calls himself 'semi-stable!' A) he's joking and B) if he called himself 'stable' no doubt someone would scoff or patronisingly remind him, 'no, Bucky, you're a monster, remember? you need to voluntarily be put on ice for everyone else's safety because you're so evil and we're all fine with it.' 😔)

But BasicBro in TFATWS is... suddenly, out of nowhere... possessed of a temper he has quite-literally-literally never showed any evidence of before. (I'm assuming another Worf Effect gambit.)

Bucky's temper in FTATWS is not good, consistent, or even logical characterisation. Someone with a temper, a) wouldn't have chosen or wanted to do all the things Bucky has canonically chosen to do, sorry,

and b) physically couldn't have done all those things, either.

No way a man with a trigger temper could stay under the radar / out of trouble for years without being caught! Be trusted alone with a teenage princess! And children! Be given an arm in the first place!

Doesn't make any damn sense.

(Above poster is right, he can't be simultaneously safe enough to entrust an arm to, but too dangerous to have one without a switch / too untrustworthy to tell about the switch.)

But the shitty writing fairies struck again.

They only introduced a nonsensical temper in Bucky as an excuse to treat him like dirt / make whoever's standing next to him look like the 'calm' one.

Also... sorry to burst this bubble, but:

You can't use Bucky's interactions with Zemo in TFATWS as 'evidence' that he's dangerous and simultaneously claim that he isn't fragile. There is nothing more fragile than a man with a temper!

Just because the idiot writers think male anger = not fragile, doesn't make them right.

Ironically, in trying to de-yassify Bucky of his inconvenient canon characterisation -- that of a quiet, thoughtful, animal-loving, country-living hippie who does crafts in his spare time and would rather not fight -- they've actually just made him a different, more-annoying kind of fragile instead. More generic and toxic masc, and therefore 'relatable.' 🙄

He was always something of a snowflake (complimentary) but now he's a ...snowflake (derogatory).

Ergo, the idea that the Wakandans put this secret killswitch in Bucky's arm because... he's a threat?

Yeah, I know that was the script's intention, but in practise? Total bullshit.

A) as mentioned, Bucky just wasn't a threat the whole time Wakandans knew him (never left so much as a scratch on T'Challa. They have pet rhinos ffs, you think one sad hippie with a vibranium arm is a threat?! they have anti-vibranium mining tech!! the DM took down Killmonger in a full vibranium suit!!)

And B) Bucky was not being violent or dangerous when Ayo triggered the killswitch -- she was!

The Dora Milaje were the ones being a threat -- engaging in a fight -- and Bucky was trying to end the violence.

How dare he 'betray' them, says the people who were planning to betray him all along? Let us be violent or we'll cut off your arm? Like he's the danger in that scenario?! And if he non-violently tries to stop their violence, he's 'disrespecting' their country and its God-given right to be violent to people from other countries?

How American of them!

As soon as the DM are the violent ones, suddenly it's Bucky who's the brutal threat that has to be contained? Gimme a break!

(Never mind the ableism, it's the hypocrisy I can't stand!)

And Bucky didn't even want to intervene anyway -- he was fine letting the DM carry out their business and was even enjoying watching. It was Sam who nagged Bucky to jump in.

(Doesn't want to be Captain America, but still expects Bucky to follow his orders, and won't return the courtesy? Another one who needs to stop expecting to have their cake and eat it. Fantasising about the version of this scene where Bucky says 'sorry pal, I only take orders from Captain America.' C'mon guys, that could've been a turning point to make Sam pick up the shield! The Achilles reference was right there!)

Sam interfered and wanted to stop the DM being violent, and he used Bucky rather than do it himself. So where's the DM's reprisal for that? Their treatment of Sam as dangerous and untrustworthy, for ordering Bucky to interfere in their business -- 'disrespecting' their country, apparently?

Anybody could be mind-controlled; that which made Bucky kill could've made anyone kill, and still could. Sam is the Falcon! He flies! he has guns! he actually wants to fight people! So why is he less worthy of reprisal for interfering in Wakandan business, less dangerous (when he could be mind-controlled to turn his flying guns on anyone, just as easily as Bucky, now) than Bucky, who to this day has never harmed a Wakandan?

(Bucky and Ayo had already talked about Zemo and she was fine with him; it wasn't he who wanted to stop the DM taking Zemo, it was Walker, and by extension Sam. Bucky was just the poor shmuck who got caught in the crossfire, which no one will admit was there, and punished for facilitating other peoples' agendas.

So let's stop pretending this was all a 'safeguard' of 'dangerous' Bucky and a 'punishment' about Zemo… just to excuse 'Queen' Ayo's dick move.

Because even if it was (which it wasn't) that's still a dick move!

And the show treating that dismemberment as a gag was sick.)

Bucky has to make amends, for trying to enforce non-violence on others, by giving the DM Zemo back just like he promised he would (even though they've already dismembered Bucky and given away the fact that they were always planning to; their faith in him was a lie from the start. Ayo said 'you're free' but neglected to mention there was a caveat. Didn't know freedom came with a disclaimer. More American behaviour.)

...But Sam is the one who ordered that 'betrayal', and makes no apologies or amends, and still gets a new super-suit, no questions asked! Doesn't even have to show up in person to ask for it!

(Watch people claim this as a noble act from Sam but somehow simultaneously a 'betrayal' from Bucky.)

The double standard created by inconsistent writing is so annoying! Anyone else doing what Bucky is accused of is simply Too Special to be criticised!

Like: none of the countless other mind-controlled superheroes ever get treated as innately dangerous afterwards, such that treating them as an obviously untrustworthy potential-threat for the rest of their lives is acceptable behaviour, just a logical product of their inherent facility with violence... even if that alleged facility with violence wasn't actually there? Only Bucky.

(Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Clint Barton, Antonia Dreykov, Captain Marvel, Izaiah Bradley. Where's their state-mandated 'make sure you're not a monster' therapy for years? Why is no one booby-trapping their bodies for the greater good?)

Sharon turns into a crime kingpin and goes through her own minions like a chainsaw, but it's '#girlboss#badass' and 'poor Sharon' for what she's 'been through' ...after they just blithely threw in a reference to Bucky being raped!? 🤦‍♀️

But a thing can't be bad if it's happening to Bucky, right?

If a bad thing is happening to Bucky... well it must not be bad.

Ayo is doing it, Therefore it must be justified and understandable.

People can be more than one thing but She isn't; she is a Strong Female Character. So whatever she's doing, it's Good and Perfect. In fact, she's probably actually being even more Perfect by putting that booby trap on that disabled man and not telling him about it! It was for his own good, probably! Certainly her hurt feelings are more important than his silly bodily autonomy!

It's just a joke! A sign of Strong Female Character's perfect unimpeachable badassery!

Surely it's the guy being dismembered who is at fault? He must be dangerous! See how violently he stands there, looking sad about it and doing nothing! What a psycho!

Mustn't mention it at all. Mustn't say it's bad, or else I'm 'babying' that fictional creation. The creative choices surrounding him, which contradict one reading, can neither be referenced or criticised.

If Bucky is upset in the story... No he isn't. He is only allowed to be upset if it's in an acceptably Manly and more importantly Strong-Female-Character-Praising way.

He can't be a pathetic little bitch by acknowledging that something horrible is being doing to him by a woman, like some kind of disgusting "victim", because that would be unmanly and unfeminist of him (“oh no, my arm, how could you?? my TrAumA!") I mean... fragility? in a white man?! Wrong-doing? In a woman?!? Absurd!

And obviously his function in the story is to feminist-ly lose a fight against a woman, because how else will we know that Strong Female Character is perfect (ie. better than men) unless we measure her against a man?? Duh!

People are more than one thing - but these are characters, not people. They're not humans, they're fictional constructs, and what they are is what inept writers have made them.

Which is why Bucky can be a semi-pacifist who can kill people, but no more than most superpowered characters can, and would prefer not to (in fact just wants to be left alone to keep goats), and yet still be treated like a monster because of what anyone could be made to do if he was mind-controlled... even though he can't be mind-controlled any more... (.... but for some reason? he then?? releases his own torturer from prison? as if they know more about his torturers than he does?? And nobody seems aware of the contradiction in all this??) And Ayo can be both a competent warrior who acts all warm and supportive one minute and be an ableist turncoat who needs to cheat to humiliate and win a "fight" against someone who thought she was a friend the next.

In good writing, these things would be acknowledged as injustices and concerningly bizarre alterations in behaviour, to be overcome (in Bucky's case), or a sign of interesting two-facedness and depth in a female character (in Ayo's case), who doesn't have to be a perfect paragon because woman are people not statues.

Ayo who can seem nice but is actually kind of a bastard is so so so much more interesting than Saint Ayo Who Can Do No Wrong.

Likewise, 'Bucky who's having some kind of aberrant personality break, perhaps because of prolonged brain damage, releasing his own torturer from prison and thinking he's one of the bad guys.' Is so much more interesting than the moronic 'Bucky who was a wrong 'un all along, actually... we just decided... who knows why he killed all those people for his enemies huh...? search us... maybe that guy just tortured himself??' 🤦‍♀️)

But The MCU has this serial problem of accidentally introducing interesting flawed character traits and then wasting them because protagonist-centered-morality means the writers believe the characters haven't done anything wrong. These idiots would be like 'yeah Hannibal Lecter eats people, but he's the Good Guy!!'

Wasted.

(And no, in this case the actors were not playing realistic human complexity -- 1-800-Come-on-now -- because no MCU script will acknowledge that there is any. A human being might know the cruelty of taking a disabled person's prosthetic IRL, but MCU characters don't give a shit. (see: Rocket Raccoon).

You could tell they were just panting for a chance to knock that arm off and get a cheap laugh at nerfed-yt-boy's expense.)

The problem isn't what Ayo did, the problem is the narrative treating it as if that was: a) consistent characterisation for her, and b) fine, and not ableist, and then dimwitted viewers actually swallow that in a fit of StrongFemaleCharacter=Good?? Brain Disease instead of employing critical thinking and being annoyed about it.

It's almost like there's a pack of bleedin' idiots pulling the puppet strings... 🤔

I think some people mad about the arm is not necessarily about the fact that Ayo disabling the arm itself, it's more of the fact that it was not necessary and the fact that Bucky had no idea they can do that. If I were to be honest, I think it was not that necessary because Ayo is well capable of taking him down without having to disarm him and she is definitely not threatened by him. I think what some people find upsetting about that scene is the fact that it kinda comes off as Ayo putting Bucky in a position where it would make him feel like he doesn't have full control of his own body after all. The Wakandans, especially Ayo, T'Challa and Shuri had every right to feel betrayed and upset but the point is they should have told Bucky about how the arm can easily be disabled like that, they didn't know Bucky was going to set Zemo free when they gave him the arm and regardless of the things they have done for him and if they were ones who gave him the arm, they should have at least told him about it, because it's connected to him, it's a part of HIS body. It doesn't matter if it was necessary to disarm him or not, the point is they should have told him about it because apart from the fact that it's his body and that it was a bit insensitive given his history, it's also a point of vulnerability, and the fact that she did it in front of Walker (and possibly Zemo) --- people who can easily turn on Bucky, could easily that to their advantage and attempt to disable it themselves. Just my thoughts on it.

Thank you for sharing your perspective, anon!

I’m going to use this long-ass reply to address this stuff with Ayo and also voice some thoughts I’ve had over the past few weeks seeing people paint Bucky into being this complete soft and harmless human that needs 25-7 protection which I don’t jive with — and this is me, a complete Bucky stan.

Many moons ago, I saw a post that compared 1940s Bucky moving with stealth and a loaded gun on the train to the Winter Soldier doing the same thing, essentially discussing the similarities and debating how much of non-brainwashed Bucky was in the Soldier. And I think the fandom forgets or chooses to neglect the following when painting him as this fragile, peace-loving guy:

Bucky was an incredibly skilled sniper in the United States Army. His job is to eliminate threats in the most efficient way possible, and he’s good at it. HYDRA gets their hands on him and + the serum, this gets magnified. It wasn’t like HYDRA turned him into someone with the ability and mental capacity to kill — that was already there. The brainwashing and torture just carved out the rest of him to leave those honed skills and an amplified ruthlessness with no moral issues, no sense of self to contend with. That ruthlessness is part of Bucky, whether people like it or not.

When Bucky is outside of HYDRA for the first time and hiding in Civil War and gets attacked, he’s so brutal in his actions that Steve Rogers, the man who literally was ready to die to save Bucky and free him when no one else believed in the good in him, intervenes because “Buck, you’re going to kill someone.” Bucky responds that he’s not going to kill anyone, but the fact remains: with or without HYDRA control, Bucky has a strong capacity for violence that hovers on brutality — again, what’s the most efficient way to eliminate or neutralize a threat? Like, I don’t want to kill you, but I’ll knock your ass out with cinder blocks to the chest.

Bucky has a good heart, he’s loyal, he’s smart, he’s caring, he’s the longest-standing POW in history and was turned into a slave for decades, put through unimaginable trauma and torture and horror with no escape. Bucky is also a strong and incredibly skilled super soldier who has a bionic arm, is a trained sniper, is unnervingly precise with knives, and self-describes himself as “semi-stable.” Zemo notes in the bar that “it didn’t take Bucky long to get back into form,” and he’s right because the ruthlessness and skill of the Winter Soldier is a part of him and always has been. We see it when he has his hand around Zemo’s neck and tells him he will kill him, when he rips the glass from his hand and throws it across the room.

And I’m sure the Wakandans know all this about Bucky, this light and his ability for hard-to-stop violence, whether from talking to Steve and Bucky or doing their own homework. And they still choose to help him out of the goodness of their hearts because he’s been put through hell and they believe they have the capacity to help him and it’s the right thing to do — they’re betting more on those positive attributes. And they put a failsafe on his arm, a literal weapon, and chose not to tell him. You know why I think that shows how much they did care about him? Because they could’ve blatantly come out and said “Hey, we don’t trust you,” and hurt him outright, but they didn’t because they’re betting on the light in Bucky to outweigh the dark or any future manipulation. That it’s a worst-case scenario function they hope to never have to use — so they’re prepared if shit hits the fan, and if it doesn’t, Bucky doesn’t have to be hurt feeling like he can’t be trusted. I see no issues here, they’re just being cautious.

Now coming to Ayo, my QUEEN Ayo. From that beautiful, beautiful opening scene, we get to see her support, her reassurance, her belief that Bucky will be able to work through this, even when he doesn’t believe it himself. She watches him fight and struggle and cry, and you can feel the hope in her and how moved she is when she gets to tell him it worked, he did it — he’s free. And she says it not once, but twice. And you can hear not just the comfort, but the PRIDE and warmth in her voice directed to him, who I’m sure she’s watched throughout the whole deprogramming process and gotten to know and is happy to see him work through the pain and come out on the other side.

And then she sees that same individual make a decision in freeing Zemo that she perceives as a “fuck you” not just to her country, but to her, someone who was charged with protecting her king. She could’ve just disarmed Bucky the second they met up, but she doesn’t. She takes the time to explain her side and her feelings, her guilt and her shame, and basically implies that she feels betrayed by Bucky because Wakanda helped him and now he’s doing something that’s hurting her country. And still, she doesn’t attack or just go get Zemo. She gives Bucky the benefit of the doubt and a whole 8-hour American workday to do what he has to do because again, she believes in the best of him. And then that time limit runs up, and he chooses to get in her way.

And that’s the final straw. She’s angry, she’s guilty, she’s frustrated, and she feels betrayed hurt by someone I think she did respect and care about, someone whom she worked with and helped and supported when he was his most vulnerable. Did she “need” to disarm the arm to fight Bucky? Probably not. But is she doing it in the heat of battle and adrenaline and a whole bucket ton of emotions, including what she sees as the White Wolf blatantly disrespecting her country and her as a person and even friend and she just says fuck it, I’m done? You hurt us and me, and I’m going to hurt you back? Oh yeah. And Bucky looks shocked, not because he’s a poor fragile baby and “oh no, my arm, how could you?? my TrAumA”, but in the dual realization of “oh shit, how’d you do that?!” and “oh shit, I think I crossed a line here.” And also, I don’t think a single person in that room would be able to recreate the disabling sequence other than Ayo — it’s way too targeted and specific for someone like Walker to pick it up in the whole three seconds it took.

People need to stop reducing characters to these black and white extremes of soft and hard, of good and bad. Doing so completely devalues and ignores the REALITY of the complexity of being human, and Bucky and Ayo are both great examples of that played by stellar actors who portray that range and depth extremely well. End of the day, my thought is that the failsafe in the arm was justified and people need to stop coming for Ayo based on this ridiculous narrative that Bucky is too traumatized and sensitive and too much of a fave to ever be challenged or he’ll explode into dust. Boy deserves a life of freedom and healing and mental health support, but he’s also still a formidable opponent with the capacity for violence and skillset to kill. People are more than one thing.

Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk!!

[earlgraytay]

@rawr-monster and @eyestumblin asked me to elaborate so here goes:

Death Note is a show with a very clear central premise: no one should have the power to kill others without consequence. Not the cops, not corporations, not the Mob, not civilians, no one.

Even outside of the 2000s-era criticisms of the Japanese justice system, even if you're looking at it in a vacuum, Death Note makes it incredibly obvious what it's trying to say. It starts this off by making it very clear, right out of the gate, that the audience identification character really, really should not have this power.

For Death Note's original target audience, Light is everything you're supposed to be. He's smart, diligent, good-looking, athletic, popular but not too popular. He's The Perfect Middle-Class Japanese Teenage Boy. If you're the kind of edgy, smart Japanese teenage boy who would want to watch an anime supernatural crime drama in the mid-00s? Light is built for you to imprint on like a baby duckling.

...And then the show goes out of its way to point out, in the first proper story arc, that Light is the villain of this piece. From the introduction of L to the end of the Raye Penber/Naomi Misora arc, the show makes it very, very clear that Light is a hypocrite with a massive ego. Sure, he says that he's only killing criminals to make a better world. Sure, maybe he panicked and killed fake-L in self-defense. Sure, maybe the life of Reye Penber and any law enforcement chasing Kira were worth the clear drop in the crime rate. Maybe.

But then Light kills one of the very few unambiguously Good members of the Death Note cast, does so in a smug and cruel way, and the entire scene is framed as tragic in a way that none of the criminal deaths really were. The whole world goes quiet. And Naomi Misora stumbles off to commit suicide. By the end of that arc, even if you'd otherwise be sympathetic to Light- even if you're still rooting for him to get away with it- it's a lot harder to justify what he's doing. He's not just breaking a few eggs to make an omelet- at this point, he's actively happy to kill anyone who gets in his way.

So. Okay. The Perfect Japanese Teenage Boy (TM) can't be trusted with the power to kill indiscriminately. Maybe the problem is just that Light, as a person, is an asshole with impure motives, and if you gave the Death Note to someone who's a better person, you'd be better off. Maybe you could find someone who's motivated by love, and they'd do a better job with that power.

Everyone, say hello to Misa Amane, who is utterly driven by love and devotion, and probably one of the crazier/more evil characters on the show! She'd do anything, no matter how terrible, just because Light told her to do it. She is utterly without remorse, utterly without fear, and utterly driven by a darkly Romantic fanaticism.

Light gets to dodge what's coming to him twice because of Misa and love- once because Misa's love for Light lets him start the Yotsuba arc, and once because Rem's love for Misa becomes a diabola ex machina. In the world of Death Note, love is not a pure enough motive to let you kill indiscriminately - in fact, it makes you worse.

Okay, well, (our hypothetical edgy teenage viewer might say), cLEARLY the problem is that everyone here is too emotional, and you need to be able to detach from the situation to use the power of life and death. Of course you'd kill indiscriminately if you've got feeeeelings about it, but someone who is driven by Logic and Reason? Surely they'd never do anything wrong.

...And then L gets his hands on the Death Note, and immediately starts trying to figure out how to use it to prove that some of the rules in the Death Note are fake and Light is guilty. L's plan is to have a criminal on death row write in the Death Note and wait the 13 days to see if he dies. It's simple. Logical. Effective. It's also extremely reminiscent of the stuff Kira's been doing this entire time, and the implication is that, had L lived longer and used the Note more, he might become No Different.

(I think it's significant that in The Movie, L uses the Death Note exactly once, with himself as the victim, and he turns down the Death Note when it's offered to him. TheMovie!L is an unambiguously heroic character, and therefore, he will not kill without consequences.)

The power to kill without any consequence to yourself corrupts you. It makes you want to use it to solve more and more of your problems. It turns you into a fucking monster, one name at a time. And nothing can stop that process except refusing to use that power. Love cannot shield you. Rationality cannot shield you. Justice cannot shield you.

And every other character who gets the Death Note reinforces that theme. The Yotsuba Group? Big corporations should not get to kill without consequences. Mello? Criminals/genius detectives should not get to kill without consequence. Mikami? The Perfect Japanese Adult is outright sadistic about how he uses the Death Note. And on, and on, and on.

Near outright tells Light, in their final confrontation: "You are a murderer, and this notebook is the worst weapon of mass murder in the world." Using the Death Note is not justice; it's not going to bring about a perfect new world. It's murder, full stop. Light has become a mass murderer, a monster, by killing over and over again.

Death Note has a theme: no one should be allowed to kill without consequences, because it makes you a monster. It is not subtle about that theme. It is very, very blatant, and the only way it could be more blatant is if Near stopped to deliver an Atlas-Shrugged-style monologue about it.

and so seeing people reduce that to 'haha ACAB' gets my goat, because no. No, it's not just ACAB. anyone with the power to kill indiscriminately and without consequence- whether it's a cop, a megacorp, an autistic supergenius, a mob boss, or a perfect audience-insert- would become A Bastard.

this is a show that makes it abundantly clear that there is Symbolism and it has a Point, in the way that only stuff aimed at teenagers that's trying to be Deep can do. how you get through the entirety of Death Note and walk away with "there's no point! a cop's son decides to be the worst person ever! Light is Uniquely Terrible and that's all there is to it!" is fucking beyond me.

i don't know how you can "the curtains are just blue! ACAB lol" fucking Death Note of all pieces of media

this is a show for thirteen-year-old boys. the only writers I've seen who are less subtle about what they're going for were fucking Victorians.