#something pretty that he could create his own narrative for without it (her) having any autonomy in the story he is making up

[yoursincalendricalheresy]

So we know that TM uses names a foreshadowing of characters eventual fates and I’ve seen some neat analyses of potential ways those could play out (Ulysses=Odysseus=coming back after a long journey). But after reading Nona and having the confirmation that Jod literally renamed all of his friends, I also have to wonder what those names say about how he thinks of them.

[laurarolla]

Arknights dropped the "Babel" event last week and I did actually read through almost all of it (I got interrupted by something partway through the introduction of the Doctor and ended up never reading that cutscene), and it's an interesting mix of various story elements and character histories. What interests me most is our final answer to the origins of the Doctor and the precursors, as well as the purpose of Originium.

The simplest way to describe Originium, as best I can gather, is that it is a possibly primordial element that the precursors discovered/theorized contained a collective universe of consciousness, or could be used for that purpose. Civlight Eterna is an originium art that can tap into this element of Originium to connect to history, providing a potentially perfect understanding to the one using it. This power, passed through the Black Crown, is not unlike the ability of a Newtype, connecting across conciousness through time and without limitations. However, it can also create physical manifestations of power pulled from that history and those connections, as seen with Ying Xiao, Amiya's sword that was created from the memories of Chen's Chi Xiao in Chapter 8.

In an effort to either overcome or escape the threat of some unnamed malevolent force, the precursors created or modified Terra to serve as a garden of Originium, intending to create that collective consciousness for their own ends. The mastermind behind this project, as far as Oracle (the true original Doctor) and Friston have stated is Priestess, who was set up as the next big narrative mystery to solve or explain post-Victoria. The story of Babel shows a version of the Doctor struggling to deal with the moral dilemma created when living, sentient creatures were born on Terra after the start of the experiment.

Kal'tsit went on a whole personal journey to eventually come to the conclusion that the life on Terra has a right to make their own future, and that any of the intentions of the "experiment" should be abandoned. Oracle comes to the same conclusion, with dialouge options the player must specifically click on as they do when speaking for the Doctor in most parts of the story. However, some other voice inside the Doctor's head keeps pushing them to continue the mission, leading to the tragedy of Theresa's murder and Amiya's crowning. Additionally, Theresa took her last moments to destroy the Doctor's memories, an act that Oracle accepts as necessary. It's likely that only be destroying the Doctor's memories could the Doctor be free of Priestess's influence, allowing them to pursue the path that Oracle, their true self and OUR version of the Doctor, would prefer.

Other little highlights of the event for me include: Getting to see Savage in the history of Babel, the Vampire lord continuing to be a repugnant and irredeemable prick, Ascalon defeating a sociopathic enemy by overwhelming his precognition abilities, little Amiya and the Doctor riding a big animal, and Theresis just being the big old complicated walking catastrophe that he's always been.

Oh, and the chain mechanic is pretty awesome, with the EX stages really requiring you to think very carefully about how you need to deploy to actually use the chains effectively. Probably in my top 5 event mechanics in the game overall.

[md-confessions]

Murder Drones could have been a lot better if Doll was never introduced into the plot or straight up didn't exist.

Before you light up the torches, I will remind you that I love Doll to death. I'm the guy who made an entire map of posts on the character + a handful of analyses about a lot of her different aspects; this isn't a hot idea that I made up right now, it's something I've been thinking about for a long time, and unfortunately I must finally admit it publicly.

Much like episode 7 completely recontextualised Tessa up to this point, it did the same thing with Doll, but in a negative way, her rushed demise didn't just destroy all of the future potential that she had, no, it did way worse than that: it ruined every single one of her previous scenes, as now all of them fell pointless since she was just a plot device for V and Cyn's development and not a character in her own right.

Now, while all of this is arguably completely true and factual, you might still say, why do you want to eliminate her? She still was a pretty awesome character with a large chunk of the fanbase fawning over her and could still come back for a better exploration of her character and potential.

And to that, I'll have to ask you to look at the bigger picture: Murder Drones, as it is right now, it's kind of an unfortunate mess.

Liam Vickers rushed everything, and I mean EVERYTHING in order for us to reach the part of the plot that he wanted to show, when he could have just simply narrated a simpler, smaller story with less emphasis on the lore and more on the characters. He should have known when to let go of some stuff for the betterment of the series, instead he's just trying to tell everything while rushing to the finish line and without flashing out any particular aspect of it.

While in my mind I would have just gone for a simpler, lower stakes story, I won't deny the fact that this is clearly not what Liam Vickers would have done; so, if an end of the world narrative is what he was trying to tell, he should have disregarded the high school setting even MORE than what he ended up doing.

I would have had Uzi, V and N get kidnapped by an alien/solver thing so that they would be forced into space by the ending of episode 3, and used episode 2 and the first half of episode 3 to flesh out Thad and Khan, so that we could feel the impact of the protagonist being forced out of her home. Then, the rest of whatever Liam has planned for season 2 would have happened.

If it weren't for Doll, I wouldn't be as obsessed with Murder Drones as I am right now; for me at least, she was the selling ticket for the series, but it's clear that Liam had to eliminate some aspects of his show to tell the narrative that he wanted to, and if that aspect wasn't the lore, then it had to be the characters, and Doll plus maybe her family depending on what Yeva is going to do if she were to come back are at the top of the chopping block list. Lizzie is important for V's development, Thad was already obliterated out of relevance but I'm curious on what he's going to do in ep 8, J shouldn't have returned if she was going to be irrelevant again but I still think that she wasn't wasted as long as she's still alive.

Liam could have just simply created another plot device to force V to develop and the raptor scene to happen, so even from that storytelling aspect, Doll was completely and utterly worthless to begin with.

op added:

[thehollowprince]

THE ORIGINALS would have been better without The Originals.

I'm pretty sure I've mentioned before that I think this spinoff would have worked better in the long run without the Mikaelsons in it. I also fully admit that it's partially my own bias against that damn family, but my favorite aspect of the show was the turf war between the various supernatural factions of New Orleans and as the show went on, it took more and more of a back seat to the Mikaelson Melodrama.

I understand the need for a grounding aspect of the story, in this case, that being the Mikaelsons at the center of everything, but as anyone who's seen my posts before knows, I particularly revile that family within this shared universe.

So this is my pitch for a potential rewrite of The Originals

I am also fully aware that I am writing this with the benefit of hindsight.

First off, we'll keep the time-table the same, having the story kick off after season four of The Vampire Diaries, when their high school story ended, and they all went off on their separate summer adventures. Which would lead to my idea. We'll keep the vampires in Mystic Falls, which seems appropriate given that the show is called The VAMPIRE Diaries. That means Elena and Caroline, Damon and Stefan will all remain in Mystic Falls and continue the story of Silas and the Doppelgangers, but without the characters that the narrative often overlooked or often times, forgot about entirely.

That being the characters of Tyler, Bonnie, Matt, and Jeremy. And without the Mikaelsons, that leaves just Hayley, Davina, Camille, and Marcel as our New Orleans characters in their established roles.

Obviously, this wouldn't include a magical miracle-baby.

In all honesty, this would actually be very easy to set up, especially if we factor in the ending of season four of TVD. We'll start with Tyler Lockwood, and this would also factor in Hayley Marshall.

At the end of season four of The Vampire Diaries, Klaus ran Tyler out of town after he attempted to take down the Original and finally be free of him, ironically due to the decision of Hayley to sell him and his pack out for her own purposes.

So, when we last left Tyler, he was on the run from Klaus, and we know from the beginning of season five that he was helping out some werewolf pack and didn't come to Whitmore to join Caroline for college. Let's stick with that and have him go a little further south. He heard about a pack around New Orleans (the Crescent pack) being terrorized by a local vampire who labeled himself king, and he goes to help out. There, he learns about Marcel, a vampire turned by Klaus, who acts like Klaus. Except this isn't an invincible vampire who would take an entire sireline's worth of vampires down with him if he was killed.

This is a version of Klaus he can fight.

Of course, while he's down there, he runs into Hayley, who is looking for answers about her family and her ties to the Crescent pack, which brings her into direct competition with Tyler, as they're both trying to do what they think is best for the pack and both distrust the other, leading both to fight for the position of Top Dog, creating a kind of civil war within the pack.

You add in the stuff with Francesca Guerrera and Jackson Kenner, and you have a pretty fleshed out werewolf story.

I also think you could have a pretty cool use of hybrids here because I always thought it was incredibly stupid that ONLY Klaus could make hybrids, and ONLY with doppelganger blood. It doesn't make any sense, especially given what we know about how vampires were made. But, on the other hand, I also really hated the idea of hybrids, so I'd be okay either way.

Next up, we have Matt Donovan, who was never given any kind of storyline on TVD until the final season when they finally shoehorned in his ancestry at the last second because they realized they were closing shop and they should probably do SOMETHING with him before the end. So, for my idea, he goes on his Eurotrip with Rebekah, and when he comes back, he decides he's done with Mystic Falls and the Salvatore Brothers and all the unpleasantness that comes from living in a vampire town, so he packs up and leaves.

He's trying to find out who his father is, so he goes looking based on the few details he managed to get out of his mother over the years. Maybe he even calls his mother, and she sends him an address in New Orleans where she met him, and that address turns out to be Rousseau's, where he meets Camille.

We'll find out over the course of a few episodes that they're cousins and that his father was either a part of the O'Connell family, or maybe Father Kieran himself, once again dragging Matt into the middle of things he doesn't want to be involved in. But this time, with Kieran's collection of Dark Objects, he can fight back and protect the regular people from the tyranny of the supernatural citizens of the city, leading to him getting involved with the Faction.

And with Cami, aside fromher being a therapist to the supernatural vitizens of New Orleans, will bond with Matt, both being alone after the deaths of their siblings due to the direct actions of the supernatural, with Matt trying to warn Cami away from Marcel because he's seen what happens when a human loves, and is loved by, a vampire.

Next up would be Bonnie Bennett.

Instead of Bonnie dying to resurrect Jeremy, she lives and actually goes on that road trip with her mother she faked to hide her death. Abby may not be a witch anymore, but she's still in touch with some witches, and to make up for all the years she abandoned her daughter, she introduces Bonnie to them, letting her explore and get in touch with her witch heritage. While she's on this spiritual journey, she learns about the Nine Covens of New Orleans and decides, since she's graduated highschool, she might as well continue her sabbatical from Mystic Falls and head down to the Big Easy to build connections with a whole community of witches.

Except, when she gets there, she finds the Quarter in the grip of Marcel, who forbids witches from practicing magic under penalty of death. She obviously doesn't know the full story of the Harvest and just assumes it's a vampire terrorizing witches, just like she's used to, except now she's beefed up (magically speaking) and isn't going to stand for it anymore. She sides with Sophie Deveraux and the French Quarter witches, bringing her into direct competition with Davina Claire.

Davina is the final Harvest Girl, containing the full power of the ritual and the ability to sense and interfere with any witch who attempts to access the Ancestors for power, but Bonnie is a Bennett witch, with a legacy that goes back centuries. If it comes to a magical showdown, who will win? And when the Reaping happens and an unseen enemy hijacks the power for themselves, will Bonnie see that the witches of New Orleans aren't the victims she's been led to believe and reevaluate her loyalties?

Also, as the story progressed, would we see Bonnie warming up to Marcel? Maybe even in a more than "just an ally" way?

And last but not least, we have Jeremy Gilbert.

Bonnie used the last of her Expression to resurrect Jeremy while the Veil to the Other Side was still down. And while Jeremy was grateful to be back, his sister did kind of burn his house to the ground and the entire town mourned his passing. So instead of him attempting to reintegrate back into society, he thinks it's better that everyone thinks he's dead. Whether or not that would include Elena is a matter for debate, but know that he's not staying in Mystic Falls and instead goes out on how own journey, embracing his nature as a member of the Five and hunting vampires.

Which is what brings Jeremy to New Orleans.

He's hunting a vampire, and maybe this vampire is a part of Marcel's inner circle, so he tracks him to New Orleans and kills him, much like Rebekah did to those vampires she ran into at the beginning of The Originals when she finally came to the city to look for Elijah. So Jeremy lurks on the outskirts of the city because he might be one of the Five, but he can't take on a whole army of vampires, so he bides his time.

This could also give an opportunity to bring in Rayna Cruz, but not as "The Phoenix Hunter." Just have her be one of the Five, and she and Jeremy team up only to end up enemies in taking down a vampire: Marcel. Maybe Bonnie talks Jeremy out of it, and Rayna won't back down. I'm even thinking of a plot where the power of the Five could be channeled or pooled into one person, making them stronger and faster, putting them on more of an even playing field when it comes to fighting vampires.

Rayna could even be a potential love interest for Jeremy

I think this would have worked great as a story because it not only gives us a glimpse of what the wider supernatural world is like, but it grounds it with characters that we already knew and that weren't used much. It also makes it that much more interesting when you have characters that have grown up together dealing with the supernatural and the ramifications on their life, suddenly in a city and on opposite sides of a conflict. Do they come together or come to view former friend as new foe?

And obviously, we would bring in other characters like Josh and Vincent and Jackson and Keelin, with appearances from the rest of the Mystic Falls Gang, and possibly flashbacks to when the Mikaelsons had passed through the city. As well as the series staple of turbulent and inappropriate romances.

The downside would be interesting concepts like the Trinity and The Strix being relegated to TVD to bother the Mikaelsons, but we could still have Lucien terrorizing New Orleans with his killings so that he can frame Cami to get to her Dark Objects, setting up a nice crossover.

The only think I can't figure out, for the life of me, is what to call this. Someone suggested FACTIONS, which could work, but, at least to me, it doesn't have the same umph to it.

[azuremist]

Hunter and the “curing the disability” trope: an analysis of the twist of For the Future

Let’s start with the basics. How do you define a “disability”?

In basic terms, a disability is a physical or a mental condition that limits a person’s movements, senses or activities; a disadvantage, or a handicap.

In the universe of the Boiling Isles, there are a few things that can be considered a disability which do not apply to our world. For example, Eda’s curse is a pretty clear metaphor for disability, and would absolutely count as one. It limits her, it limits her magic. It’s a disadvantage, a handicap. Curses are disabilities; ones that can be caused by other people or inflicted onto someone with malicious intent, much like disabilities that can come from injury.

Furthermore, magicless witches and witchlike creatures are also disabled. The entire Boiling Isles runs and is dependent on magic and the assumption that everyone can use it. The inability to do magic is, again, a limitation. A disadvantage.

We even see parallels in disabled experiences in those with weak magic. Willow was bullied relentlessly for years because people thought she her magic was weak. This reflects the experiences of many disabled children’s school years; disabled children are more likely to be bullied because of their disability.

Willow is often called “half-a-witch Willow”, which, as we learn in Any Sport In A Storm, is an established term not just made up for Willow. “Half a witch” is an established, well-known derogatory term for witches with lacking magical abilities. The very existence of derogatory terms for this obviously draws parallels to minorities of the real world; with, of course, the most apt metaphor being disability.

Hunter uses the term to insult himself for his own lack of magical abilities. A sort of internalized ableism; one that could have (dare I say it? should have) been resolved within his storyline.

This would be a disability that one is born with, as opposed to gaining, like Eda’s disability is. Willow is naturally bad with abominations, and Hunter was created without a bile sack; thus, without a natural ability to use magic.

So, now we have established that powerless witchlike creatures are disabled in their universe.

Hunter as a disabled character is quite an interesting point of analysis, especially in terms of his relationship to Flapjack. Flapjack is his disability aid. Not just in the “emotional support” sense for his PTSD, but using Flapjack’s magic (rather than just being unable to use any magic due to his natural lack of it) is a form of disability assistance. Flapjack made it easier for Hunter to exist and function in this world not made for creatures like him; powerless ones.

So, when they killed off Flapjack, this is, metaphorically speaking, them killing off not only the disabled character’s best friend, but also taking away the disabled character’s disability aid as a form of or catalyst for “character development”. Which, itself, is an ableist trope which might deserve its own analysis on how it appears in The Owl House.

And then, here comes the writers, saying that Flapjack’s death gave Hunter the ability to naturally use magic.

To put this into perspective, in terms of the allegory here, this is the Boiling Isles equivalent of a writer killing off my service dog and then saying that the death of my service dog cured me of my autism.

If you are unfamiliar… The “curing the disability” trope is incredibly, infuriatingly ableist. It:

1 ) Implies that disability is something that can be overcome or cured in the first place.

2 ) Oftentimes, it’s treated as a “reward” for a character undergoing development. Hunter, of course, only was able to be “cured” because of how close he became with Flapjack. The disability being healed, narratively speaking, is his “reward” for overcoming his hatred for wild magic and Palismen, and making a true friend.

3 ) It implies that disabled people cannot be truly happy the way they are. If the happy ending that the writers imagined for Hunter was him magically losing his disability… That’s pretty damn depressing for us with disabilities in the real world.

And this isn’t even going into that many real-life disabled people don’t want to be cured.

So, basically: this plot development is bad. When Flapjack first died, I worried that this might be where they take it, but I ended up putting my fears aside. They did a very good job with portraying Eda’s disability; surely, they would have done enough research to know to avoid this well-known ableist trope with their other disability allegories!

Well, apparently not.

Disabled people deserve better than a show which is stated in its marketing of this season to have themes of disability having a disabled character’s disability aid and service animal die, and then be “cured” because of it. We deserve better than where Hunter’s arc is going. We deserve better than this.

[navree]

Not sure if this has been asked, but if so then you're free to ignore this message. I was wondering if you could articulate why you like Aemond Targaryen as opposed to Daemon Targaryen. The latter seems to have more prominence in the story than the other.

I'm gonna go off the show, since that's what I'm currently more invested in when it comes to Dance stuff (I read all of F&B but the parts I reread the most are always about the Conquerors, as I love them).

So, part of it is that, quite simply, Daemon's a misogynistic ass and Aemond, as far as has been portrayed, isn't. I don't care for Daemon trying to groom his fourteen year old niece, I don't care for Daemon calling his wife misogynistic slurs when she didn't do anything except be married to him, I certainly don't care for him bashing her head in with a rock and getting away with it, I don't care for him trying to ruin Rhaenyra's reputation, I don't care for him then literally leaving her half naked in a brothel in a city notorious for being dangerous (she could have been raped, she could have been killed, the fact that she got back to the Red Keep without a scratch is a miracle), I don't care for him calling Alicent a whore because his half-rotting brother finally croaked, I don't care for his neglect of his children by Laena and even Laena herself (and I don't care for it in metaverse either, I really liked Daemon and Laena's book relationship and I hate how they screwed that AND how it's yet another example of how poorly the Velaryons, the only prominent characters of color, are being handled by the writers), and I definitely won't care for when he orchestrates Blood and Cheese to go after women who had fuck all to do with what happened to Lucerys's boring ass. He's a dick, which already isn't gonna endear me to him, and he's a sexist dick at that, and I don't like it.

Getting a bit deeper into it, my dislike of Daemon also comes from the fact that there's just nothing there. I've complained about this before, but everything that's actually interesting about Daemon seems to come primarily from stuff admitted about him after the fact or from Matt Smith's own acting choices beyond the script. In the actual writing of his character, he's an asshole and he wants to be king and he has a sexual obsession with his niece who he's known since she was a baby; that's it. It's left to the audience to then lean into Matt Smith's choices for the character, extrapolate what we can from creator interviews and some pretty heavy subtext, and then try to craft something ourselves. And even canon events about Daemon that I could get invested in, like his relationship with Nettles (problematic? yes, but it still tickles my fancy because there's a Lot there), just hasn't happened yet and isn't enough to get me pre-invested.

That's not the case with Aemond. The stuff about Aemond I enjoy and that endear me to him as a character, like his struggles with bullying, his bond with Vhagar, his contentious but ultimately loyal relationship with Aegon, his love for his mother, his internal issues surrounding justice denied and the need for retribution, even just his basic characterization in the four episodes we've seen him in, those are in the script. Those are integral parts of his character, that are present and visible and impactful to other characters and the story at large in the broader narrative. There is actual substance to Aemond as a character in a way there just isn't as Daemon. And even Daemon is going to be more "prominent" due to his connection to Rhaenyra, the storyline at the ready for Aemond is FAR more interesting than Daemon's. Daemon in season two is going to orchestrate the worst thing that happens in the Dance and then bounce around Westeros doing God knows what, the only thing I'm looking forward to from him are any interactions with Alys Rivers, but because I'm excited for her, not him. Aemond, on the other hand, has a lot of good set up. Because of his actions, he created an accident that he tried to avoid that has had profound repercussions on his family, and is tied to a horrible act that is going to affect the people closest to him. How is he going to deal with his emotions regarding his own culpability? How much hate and blame is he going to place on Daemon? On Rhaenyra? How will this impact his relationships with the people affected, his mother and his sister and his brother? How is this going to duel with his feelings of superiority, especially once he becomes Aegon's regent? What's gonna motivate him to take the regency but also never allow himself to be called king and remain steadfast for his brother? Is he going to enjoy it or not? We seem to be getting more stuff with him and Criston, how's that gonna be affected by Blood and Cheese and their subsequent military campaign together?

Like, see? There's so much more richness available for Aemond's character, because there's so much more to Aemond's character than Daemon's. Daemon may be more prominent, yes, but he's incredibly shallow on a writing level, and combined with the fact that he's mostly a shitty person, he becomes something I dislike (and I love characters who are shitty people, my favorite character in The Magnus Archives is Peter Lukas and I constantly blab about how I want his cruel sadism to be given more attention by the fandom). So prominence doesn't really factor into it for me, because there's just too much working against Daemon beyond that, and conversely, too much in Aemond's favor.

[alicent-vi-britannia]

The narrative of episode 17 of the first season of Code Geass

Counting down from this episode, the next four are pretty much Suzaku-focused. What sets this specific episode apart is its narrative. There are four characters who are in conflict between their duty and their hearts. Let's start with everyone's favorite:

Lelouch: At first, he assumed that his duty aligned with his heart since he believed that he had found the knight protector for his sister in his best friend, Suzaku, whom he always wanted to have on his team. Besides, he thought that this wouldn't interfere with his other duty of getting rid of the White Knight. But it turned out that his best friend was his worst enemy on the battlefield, the pilot of the Lancelot. At the moment, Lelouch is pressured to make a decision: either eliminate once and for all the only obstacle that prevents him from taking the definitive victory against Britannia or spare his life. Lelouch, apparently, doesn't choose anything as the reinforcements arrive, but even doing nothing is a decision and this reaffirms to us that there are people that Lelouch isn't willing to sacrifice, something we already saw with Shirley in episode 14 (if Light Yagami If he were in his situation, he would have killed his best friend without hesitation because, for him, his ego, his goal of being the God of the New World, is more important; for Lelouch, his loved ones are equally or more important than his revenge and his goal of creating a new world). In the end, Lelouch can only laugh at the irony because he is forced to choose duty. He must continue on the path of blood, even if he must destroy his loved ones and his humanity. This is the litmus test to become the demon that can destroy Britannia. And the thing is that he will try to honor both his duty and his heart, as seen in the next episode, which will turn out badly, because Suzaku is a problem for Lelouch's plans and Suzaku doesn't want to join Zero.

Suzaku: Britannia through Cornelia tests Suzaku's loyalty once again by forcing him to execute the man who once mentored him, Tohdoh. Thus, Suzaku finds himself torn between his principles (and the respect he feels for his sensei) and his duty as a soldier in the service of the empire. But, just as happened in episode 13 with the Japanese Liberation Front, Zero takes that decision-making power away from Suzaku because he intervenes and he persists in his idealism. In any case, Suzaku always opts for his moral code. He didn't shoot at the Japanese Liberation Front like the rest of the soldiers or kill Tohdoh, although he could have done so.

Tohdoh: He is willing to end his life because the person he had sworn allegiance to, General Katase, has died. In other words, Tohdoh is someone who puts his duty first. But then Zero appears and gives him a reason to keep fighting by assuring him that he can fulfill his heart's desire: free Japan. Now Tohdoh takes on a new duty to the Japanese. At first glance, he is the character who came out the best… Until you stop to think that Tohdoh is collaborating with the murderer of the man he served.

Euphemia: the princess must choose her new knight protector. The thing is that she feels coerced into doing what British society and her royal duty expect of her. In fact, a slight parallel is drawn here with the choice of the picture that it is to win. Surely she thought that the artist who had a mixed genetic heritage and who painted a house deserved the prize, but she couldn't declare him the winner, but rather the nobleman who painted the Emperor in one of his speeches because the Britannians, especially the nobles , they are better than everyone else, including the colonists. I don't think it's a coincidence that both paintings are placed next to each other. Euphemia literally had to choose between Britannia's traditional values or her own liberal values, in which merit was more important than title. This is the subtext of the scene in the museum. Ironically, Britannia's hypocrisy and racism push her to choose Suzaku, an honorary Britannian, as her knight justifying himself on his talent and skill (that is, merit) and this marks the turning point of her narrative arc, which will lead to taking a more active role. So, she tries to reconcile duty with what she considers right in her heart.

Episode 20 of Code Geass proposes a similar game of dynamics in the sense that there are several characters who are conflicted with something particular, but we will talk about that when I write the post. I want to see if this post gets enough love to be able to talk about secondary characters and the narrative of the series.

Anyway, there will be many things that we will be talking about in depth. I hope to upload a new post this week.

[mwebber]

Consider: seb and girlmark

sleeping is impossible with these bandages so hi it’s like 6 something in the morning and you will get my Incoherent Thoughts about this.

(seb and girlmark has been seminared Thoroughly in the gc so first off shoutout to besties @sportscorrespondent and @doveturneddestroyer and everybody else who also contributed to the Conversation!)

the thing about girlmark and seb is that it is so, SO much more rancid than actual martian or girlseb and mark or trans martian or literally any rendition of them u can think of. because while seb always has the advantage of being a winner—however that plays out—girlmark has nine wins to her name and a failed championship run in 2010. a whole lot of podiums, sure. but nothing changes the fact that she walks away from f1 having failed in her own ambition to be the first female champion the series has seen.

the thing about girlmark and seb is that girlmark isn’t girly. mark has completely divorced herself from the very concept of femininity in the effort to get to the top and be taken seriously by the men around her. that was the plan by her manager, and the saddest thing is that it worked. or, more accurately, it worked only to the extent that she was treated in whatever way she could be stepped on to create a Narrative. she “wasn’t like other girls,” she was aggressive. she was ruthless. but she was also “just a woman”—every time she failed. every time she wasn’t enough. perhaps even sadder than the self sacrifice is the fact that she bought into her own media mythos, this warped and skewed version of what women are and who they should be and what they’re capable of, without realizing the damage she was perpetuating against herself.

the thing about girlmark and seb is that seb is everything mark thinks she should be, and this tears her apart more than she’d like to admit. seb is pretty. seb is the kind of boy-next-door handsome that has ladies all around the world slipping their hands into their underwear. seb is small, compact, with a body built for speed and a mind built for pure analysis. the worst part of it is that seb is so relatably human, and kind to others when it suits him, and the sort of asshole that oozes effortless masculinity and complete comfort in who he is, what he’s made for, what he can do.

the thing about girlmark and seb is that it’s never the car’s or team’s fault, even when it is. it’s always her and her shortcomings that are at the center of her failures. she’s “too tall,” with her “hips just too wide,” and never mind that she’s probably the most athletic bitch in the world, she “can’t keep up with the men around her.” she’s not sexy enough to be a sex object, though men will fuck her all the same and leave her out to dry, and she accepts this reality the same way a dog accepts that its purpose is to wait by the door. just—comments day in and out that make her resentment of herself and of seb grow all the stronger. martian have always been mirrors of each other, but this idea is taken to the extreme here by necessity.

because the thing about girlmark and seb. is that nobody hates mark quite like mark hates herself. it’s an ugly self-loathing at the heart of everything she does, everything she thinks, and everything she’s spoonfed by the people around her. and it’s heartbreaking to watch from the sidelines, because mark is the most successful woman in f1 history. she’s the first female full points scorer, the first female winner. history will remember her, even if the people around her do not.

so in 2009, girlmark and seb are… fine. she’s long-since forgiven him for fuji 2007, but don’t think that means she forgets. she’s wary of him from 2008 onwards in a way that strengthens her self-hatred, because she knows exactly why red bull have hired seb on, and especially after china, she feels her leadership and position in the team—things she has clawed her way to—slipping away in front of her eyes. and her damn leg, it’s not helping her out in the slightest.

(it’s a relief when seb doesn’t pull a miracle and win the championship. it’s so relieving that she even warms jenson’s bed in thanks, and he graciously touches her back. he’s always been a good one.)

in 2010–well. we know how it plays out in 2010. the world is at mark’s feet until it’s not. she’s leading the championship one day and flying headlong into the air the next. she’s number one on the team, and then she’s shoved to number two the second sebastian fucking vettel crashes into her in turkey, because it’s always her fault. he’s such a bitch about it too. she hates him and red bull’s shit management more and more each day.

it culminates, of course, in abu dhabi. she’s flown her parents out for the race to be anchors in the upcoming storm. if she can pull this off—if she can win—they’ll be there to witness her at the height of her greatness, and maybe then they’ll see she’s made something of herself. but qualifying goes like shit, and her shoulder hurts so much it brings tears to her eyes when she’s unmedicated, and just to rub it in, seb’s gone and snatched pole. the race itself goes even worse. she steps out of the car feeling hollow, and alone, and like everything everybody has said about her is true.

in the weakest she’s ever been, she knocks quietly on seb’s driver room door, half-hoping he won’t hear and half-hoping he will, just to congratulate him quickly. it’s what’s expected of her. what’s not expected of him, however, is the way he shoos everybody else out of the room, closes the door behind them, and ignores mark’s outstretched hand in favour of slinging his arms around her shoulders to pull her in for a hug. she still hasn’t said anything, she’s still choking on the words, but then again, he’s been silent as well. helplessly—it’s the height difference, nothing more—she leans into him, and pats him once on the back. he melts, like she’s just validated him, or forgiven him, and the thought disgusts her so much that she wrenches herself away to make her exit. seb lets her go; she’s pretty sure he’s never known how to make her stay.

because here’s a dirty little secret from 2008. she met his girlfriend—an equally small, waify, pretty thing—and thought she understood everything there was to know about sebastian vettel. she was wrong: seb showed his hand when he propositioned her, all boyish grins and bashful innocence. it was an act dropped immediately after mark called him out on his cheating bullshit. but she was horny, and even if she didn’t much like him, and what did it matter if he talked his poor girlfriend into allowing him to fuck everything that moves? that wasn’t her business. so she let him undress her in his hotel room. she let him try to take the reins in bed. it lasted two minutes before mark had him beneath her, his face buried in her cunt. the first and last time they’d fuck while she wore a red bull uniform, and not counting that one time in monaco after she retired, it was the last time they’d fuck, ever.

so, really, fuck sebastian vettel, she swears to her parents in the next room over. and she bawls like a baby in her mother’s arms, because in the privacy of her room, she’s two years old again and just got her toy taken away by her big sister. the team doesn’t give a damn—they’re too busy celebrating their championships. isn’t that just the story of her life? never measuring up when it counts, and never mattering when it doesn’t.

she gives it her best in 2011, but it’s not really her best, because everywhere she goes, seb has her one-upped. he’s an asshole about it, and completely unforgiving even when she asks for a modicum of fucking respect.

she gives it her best in 2012 too, reinvigorated—but still, she can’t help but fall short, and in the last race of the season, when it matters most to seb, she channels the last three years of hurt into one action and doesn’t let him by.

she pays the price for it early in 2013, like she hasn’t already paid the price a hundred times over. the second race should be hers. by all rights, it is hers. but seb is blind to how she’s treated, how she feels, how she’s been crucified by the very sport she lives and breathes, and all he knows is that this race matters to her. so he passes her.

mark doesn’t think it’s ever been possible to hate another person more than she hates him.

for once, the media are on her side, but it’s in the worst way. she’s become a martyr of sorts, or more like a sacrificial lamb. red bull is in tatters, and she looks down on them with a dignified air, though she’s all the way at the bottom of the hill. after the initial wave of sympathy, however, it’s back to business as usual. seb comes back from the break with his blonde hair dyed even blonder and proceeds to win 9 times in a row, like some sort of cosmic fucking joke.

seb takes being the golden boy to the very maximum. he’s a veritable god in india when he wins his fourth championship, a bright and shining star amidst the grey dreariness of the grid. mark slinks away quietly into retirement, a dark cloud on an otherwise sunny day. or tries her best to, anyway.

because at the fia prize giving, seb—more honest and genuine than he’s ever been—thanks her. and seeks her out across the crowded room to look pleadingly at her, like her opinion of him fucking matters, somehow. and says, for all the world to hear, that she’s a success. a legend. the words echo with a prophetic timbre.

and the story continues how we know it. mark spends the next couple years with porsche. mark retires from racing for good and goes into punditry. something is changing, though, and maybe it’s the age, maybe it was that fateful evening in monaco, maybe seb’s matured—but he seeks her out in 2017 after silverstone and privately apologizes for all the years spent making sure mark was trapped in the walls of her womanhood. he’s just had some time and perspective and another daughter and an enlightening conversation with lewis, he explains. it’s really different being a father. you understand so much more.

and mark—mark wants to strangle him. if he wasn’t so selfish. if he’d only paid attention to what mark had to go through. if he hadn’t been a certified cunt about it all. maybe he could have seen these problems earlier. it’s made all the worse by how she’s a moral lesson for him, a stepping stone in his story of greatness.

but even though mark webber never forgets, she is always capable of forgiving. it’s either her greatest strength or flaw—she hasn’t yet decided. grudgingly, she accepts his apology.

the next year, they’re on the same flight to bahrain and staying at the same hotel, so they get breakfast together. nothing special, just the typical complimentary buffet; but it’s strange. seb’s all but slotted his way into being a friend of hers. maybe not on the level of her actual friends from the grid—fernando and jenson and dc—but mark is surprisingly okay with it, more than she thinks she is.

2019 is even weirder, if only for the hours spent on the phone with seb as he vents out his frustrations. he should have somebody else to talk to. mark should be the last person he rants to about this, especially about this. even so, she picks up his calls.

in 2020, in turkey, she goes against the bubble rules and gives seb a long hug. longer than the one he gave her a decade prior, probably. it’s hard to tell. things couldn’t be more different between the two of them, and she’s glad to have him tighten his arms around her shoulders this time around.

he’s going to stay in the sport for another year. this podium is proof he’s still got it, too.

she pats him on the back, once, and doesn’t need any convincing to be happy about it.

[semper-legens]

98. The Fiery Cross, by Diana Gabaldon

Owned?: No, library Page count: 1412 My summary: 1771, North Carolina. While revolution brews in the air, the inhabitants of Fraser's Ridge settle into their homes and lives. Forewarning of what's to come will prepare the Frasers and MacKenzies for the future, but they have other problems on the rise. Trouble is sparking in the colonies, and as the leader of his community, Jamie Fraser is called to lead his men into battle. Will their family ever find peace - or will war and strife and bitter conflict tear them apart once more? My rating: 4/5 My commentary:

Ah, Outlander. I blame this series for why I haven't read nearly as many books as I usually do this year - just look at that page count! The books are daunting in their size, and yet, here just past the halfway mark of the series, I think they're pretty well-paced. Don't get me wrong, there's a lot of lingering around gossiping with other women or doing the washing or setting up Claire's surgery, but I think the books do an excellent job both of showing the domestic lives of our characters, and of giving breaks in the action, establishing and renewing the status quo, and doing the vital character work needed for a series like this. Sure, the book was a long one, but I always felt the pull to come back and immerse myself in its world and in its story. And while, as in previous volumes of Outlander, I've had some issues with certain aspects of how Gabaldon represents the past, I'm still overall enjoying it and glad that I've stuck with it this long! I can't write about everything that happens in this book, obviously, but here's some of my broad talking points.

Claire and Jamie continue to be a really good team. They work together excellently within their roles as healer and leader respectively. We also have another stable, settled relationship in Brianna and Roger, who get married at the start of this book and raise their son to a toddler throughout the book. Although it's still unknown whether young Jemmy is biologically Roger's kid or the child of Stephen Bonnet, who raped Brianna in the last book, Roger doesn't take any of the opportunities offered to find out. (Claire can test Jemmy's blood to see what type it is, which wouldn't confirm if he was Roger's, but could definitely confirm if he was Bonnet's depending on what the result was.) It's some nice character work, it shows that Roger ultimately wants to raise this kid as his own regardless of the biology, and though he thinks about the idea of having a kid that's definitely biologically his, he respects Brianna's choice early in the book to not have any more children for now.

Speaking of which, Brianna and Claire have some frank discussions about preventing pregnancy in this kind of time period, which is interesting! Brianna is worried about giving birth again without proper hospital care, and Claire warns her that abstinence is the only true preventative - abortificents available in this time period could cause just as many issues as childbirth. It's a very frank and unjudgemental discussion, and refreshing to see! So, too, is Claire's going through menopause throughout the book. It's not something often spoken of in fiction like this, so kudos there! Overall, I really like that this time, we don't have any will-they-won't-they kind of romantic intrigue. It's a personal preference, but I much prefer the domesticity of Claire and Jamie and Brianna and Roger's relationships as depicted here to the passionate young lovers of earlier books. Still, I gotta once again give praise to how all of the characters are allowed to have sexualities and be sexual without narrative judgement.

Claire is an inventor of sorts in this one. She's manufacturing crude penicillin, and has created a microscope that allows her to identify it properly. It's not at the standard of modern penicillin, and she can't inject it, but it helps patients throughout her practice. Claire's doctor skills have been her main strength throughout the novels, and I really appreciate that she's allowed to innovate and invent like this. She's blending both the archetypes of male and female medical professionals - the caring role stereotypical to a female doctor, the innovation stereotypical to a male doctor. And there's a realism to the production of penicillin, too. One patient dies of a suspected allergy to penicillin, which Claire deeply regrets, and it's not a foolproof treatment. But she's doing her best to do well by her patients, and that has to be commended.

I do have some things to say about how these books treat gender, though. Jamie and Roger are consistently depicted as being big, brawny, buff men willing to do rugged outdoor work like hunting and trapping, while Brianna and Claire live in more of a domestic sphere. Jamie and Roger are physically hurt more than Claire and Brianna, with Jamie covered in scars and Roger going through injury after injury (he's almost hanged to death in this one!). I don't remember an instance where the women are physically harmed in the same way. However, I don't mean to imply that Claire and Brianna are weak characters, or that they're never allowed to do what might stereotypically be called 'men's work'. Brianna is a better hunter than Roger, for example, and Claire's work is very bloody, plus she ends up killing a buffalo. I suspect a hint of romanticism is taking place here (I've never been a straight woman, but shirtless scarred Scotsmen with rippling muscles sounds like the sort of thing Gabaldon might be into) and there's nothing inherently wrong with that, it's just that an element of the stereotypical starts creeping in here and there, and it's very noticable. And again, some of it is due to the setting and to the fact that, enlightened though they may be, most of the characters are from the 1770s or 1960s. It's just worth noting as something I've seen creeping in here and there; the men are Rugged, the women are Harried and Domestic.

And finally, some of my major continuing criticisms. Gabaldon keeps dropping the ball when it comes to race. It's notable that, with five books in the series so far, and three of them fully or partially set in the American colonies, there's very few main characters of colour. The best there are Jamie's aunt Jocasta's slaves, Ulysses and Phaedra, but they don't get a lot of focus beyond their role serving Jocasta. We've seen Native Americans, we've seen a man from China, we've seen enslaved and free black people, but we seen them mostly in passing - none of them join the main cast. I don't think this is a conscious bias on Gabaldon's part, but it could very well be an unconscious one. Claire's friendship with a Native medicine woman happened largely off-screen, so to speak, as did Jamie and Ian's hunting parties with Native people. Roger, in this one, is saved from the fire by a group of Maroons (escaped slaves), but they're portrayed as intimidating, and the only member of their group to speak or get focus is a white woman that Claire and Jamie previously met. Ian living with Native people is likewise portrayed as a sad thing (though mostly for Ian's separation to his family than anything else) and while Claire and Brianna refuse to be enslavers, they aren't really doing much for the enslaved people whose labour they utilise when visiting Jocasta. Claire does attempt to help Phaedra's mother Betty who takes ill, but it ends up smacking of white-saviourism more than anything.

Again, I don't think this is something Gabaldon is doing consciously - and in fairness, there's a lot of positives to how she portrays people of colour! Ulysses, Phaedra, and the Native people Claire and Jamie interact with are portrayed with as much humanity and character as the minor white characters, and while the white characters are often racist in their thoughts and beliefs, the Native communities that we see are shown to be villages and towns the same as the white towns. At one point a local Native community asks for Jamie's help hunting a bear, and they work together well. I just think that Gabaldon could have put a little more thought into how she was portraying the non-white characters. Narratively, it's fine if these white characters from the 1700s are somewhat racist. But when the narrative itself is upholding stereotypes of the intimidating and dangerous Maroons, the savage Native people, the docile enslaved people, that's when eyebrows need to be raised, and I don't think that Gabaldon did enough to subvert these stereotypes when they arose in her story. I think that these books could have benefited from more major black or Native characters, and perhaps some consultation from black or Native historians. It's close to being better, and that's the frustrating and disappointing part about it.

Next, a she-wolf of Pompeii walks the streets.

[joealwyndefenseattorney]

Re: okay let's have an adult conversation

I had to respond cause I’m sick of this BS. This is generally a lot of questions I see asked about Joe from Swifties and it’s kinda sad because critical thinking skills would give them the answers they need. 

The spamming of questions is not an adult way to have a conversation for a start but let’s get into it anyway. 

why didn't he show up for taylor when she needed support?

People show up for people in all kinds of ways and sometimes the people who truly show up for others aren’t doing so in public. 

Why was he resentful of her success? 

Where have you found this narrative? It’s not in her music.

Why didn't he go with her to several awards shows? Including the Grammys!

If he did the narrative would have been why was he clout chasing. This is a lose/lose situation for him. 

Why did he party in her house whilst ignoring her all the time? 

Were you at the party? What proof is there of this? And you can’t use a photo cause I can’t tell you how many parties I went to with my current partner and we aren’t next to each other in photos. Cause it’s a party and we socialise with other people. 

Why did he want her to not be as famous as she is now while Travis is very open to it? Taylor wanted to be loved out loud but joe always seemed embarrassed by her. I want serious answers here, not fangirl deflections.

Wasn’t he celebrated for allowing her to be private and not on show at all times but then she released Bejeweled and the story has flipped. Because why? She changed, not him. She wanted something different from the relationship not him. That’s totally fine as well. It’s happens to lots of couples it doesn’t make either of them bad it just means they grew apart. 

Why didn't he answer what his fave taylor song was? 

Why did he have to? It is probably just as well he didn’t because the Swifties would find a way to hate on him for it. 

Why did it always seem like he hated us, the fans? 

It is not the job of the partner of your fave celeb to interact with you. This also wasn’t the way people acted towards him whilst they were dating, these are only claims I’ve seen since they’ve broken up. 

Why did he interact with several of his female co stars but locked her away in the basement of his heart? 

Again, he would have been accused of clout chasing if he was constantly posting and seen out with her. 

It is also common knowledge that it is part of certain contracts for film and tv shows (particularly tv shows) that costars have to be seen together as part of the PR strategy. Even if it wasn’t men and women can be friends without any other strings attached. 

Or literally not see she was depressed as he left her behind at home (caging her) while he went to the bar?

Be for real right now. You can’t seriously think she wasn’t on large property whilst living together. Pretty sure I’ve seen that they had a large garden in London whilst during lockdown. She’s not living in a tiny apartment with no outside space. She was not caged. Also people can go out separately from their partners and it not be a personal attack on them. I too struggle with depression and as hard as it is to reach out for help she could have sought help from a professional, the same reasoning Swifties use for her leaving Joe due to his mental health - it is not the responsibility of your partner to fix your depression. My partner supports me through my issues but ultimately it is my therapy and medication that is going to make the change. 

The issues with how Joe apparently treated Taylor are mostly made up fan issues but the issues they’ve created are the exact same as what Taylor admitted doing to Joe in her new album. How can you vilify Joe for unfounded claims and praise Taylor when she admits to treating him badly in her own words. It’s infuriating that they are all still hating on Joe, it’s like they went through the breakup.

👏🏼

[talkingharrystyles]

Secondly, why should Florence give that irrelevant clown attention? That's the sole reason why Olivia created those rumours because she wanted a reaction from Florence so she could play the victim. She's an attention seeking clown who can't live without attention. And Florence not giving the shit Olivia started any attention pissed Olivia even more.

Are we also forgetting about the Shia LaBeouf situation and how the video proves that Olivia tried to throw Florence under the bus. She was all over the place with that situation and try to use Lauren says the scapegoat. Also are we not forgetting that regardless of whether you think the relationship was a stunt or not Zach Braff was dating Florence Pugh who is very good friends with Jason Sudeikis. She watched her boss start a “relationship“ with her costar and put her in a very uncomfortable situation. It was unprofessional. Not to mention that Olivia lied to Jason about Florence it saying Florence and Harry were hooking up even though she knew that Florence and Zach were Dating at the time. She created a rumour and a false narrative about one of the actresses in her film to save her own ass. Why in the world with Florence ever want to promote this movie but be around any of them? Not to mention as much as I love Harry he kind of fucked Florence over as well.��� The best thing for its could’ve done was distancing herself from this movie and the entire situation. Florence is always the first person to clear up any rumours about her and the fact that she did it clear up any other rumours about don’t worry darling says a lot , the fact that she didn’t promote this movie says a lot , the fact that she didn’t interact with any of them at Venice says a lot, The fact that she didn’t know promotion for this film says a lot. If Florence were to ever speak about it it wouldn’t be positive it would be negative and it would draw even more attention to the shit storm that was don’t worry darling and Olivia’s career and she doesn’t want to pay attention to that anymore. Her staying silent was the best thing for Olivia and Harry because if she spoke about it they would have been obliterated in the media. We also need to remember that hairy lost friends because of the situation. He is no longer friends with Florence and I’m pretty sure him and Zach Braff aren’t cool anymore. Not to mention this is something that could hurt his reputation especially in the acting world. Also there will be a time where Florence and y have to be in a movie together. Remember that they are both in the Marvel cinematic universe so they will cross paths at some point. And for him not liking Harry and feeling uncomfortable around him because of what happened I don’t worry darling but also his participation in hurting her doesn’t help him regardless of if he liked it or not. Also remember that Harry was one of the finalist for a role in Dune 2 and didn’t end up getting it. Do I think it’s all they have to do with Florence no but I think that plays a huge factor not to mention if he did get that rule the entire press tour would have been a nightmare because Florence doesn’t really like him and he fucked her over majorly majorly

✨

[randomidiocyncrazies]

some initial scattered thoughts about an Utena AU for HaruJin:

honestly, the idea has devoured my brain ever since it was brought up in passing. idk how to make it actually work quite yet, but the vibes alone are *~impeccable~*

one of the most obvious parallels is the emphasis on the roles that the protagonists admire and want to emulate: Utena has the Prince, while Haru has the Protagonist (or Hero). The protagonists growing into those roles is part of the antagonist’s plan in both shows, as is eventually stripping them of the role and shattering their self-esteem along with it.

However, the difference between Utena and Appmon is that the roles of Prince, Princess, and Witch are inherently limiting in Utena—they are used to enforce the patriarchal system by shoving people (especially young women) into reductive boxes—while the Protagonist role is genuinely helpful in motivating Haru and is a beneficial component of his character development.

[appmon endgame spoilers under the cut]

Aside from the emphasis on roles associated with the protagonists, Anthy and Yuujin are also an obvious parallel without being direct mirrors of each other—they both have their agency restricted and act as vessels or instruments for the antagonists, but whereas Anthy is excruciatingly conscious of her role in Akio’s plans, Yuujin is unaware of his role in Leviathan’s scheme until YJ-14 takes control of him. IMO Appmon made it quite clear that Yuujin and YJ-14 are different individuals with different consciousnesses who happen to share the same body, despite the other AppDrivers calling Yuujin the traitor.

It’s also worth noting that Anthy’s passivity is a mixture of learned helplessness and malice at the world for subjecting her to the suffering and agony she is forced to endure—something that Akio takes advantage of. Anthy conspires with Akio and helps him with his schemes because she’s been conditioned to obey him, and because she couldn’t imagine any other way of living/is scared to do things differently. She was technically able to make choices, though functionally one could argue those choices were made under duress. Yuujin’s willingness to aid Leviathan is simply not part of the equation—Yuujin is essentially possessed by YJ-14 and Leviathan, and YJ-14 helps Leviathan simply because that’s what he was created to do. There isn’t even the illusion of choice.

Another difference is that Anthy is presented as a passive character who actually has more power than initially presented, while Yuujin is initially presented as an active protagonist-like character who has a pretty passive role in the narrative imo. Anthy starts the narrative as someone who must be saved, and ends it by being the person who could shut Akio down by refusing to participate in his delusion; Yuujin starts the story by being the real-life protagonist that Haru looks up to, and spends the last arc essentially being the Big Bad’s vessel/hostage that Haru must save (though he does get to act according to his own will in the end and saves Haru with his final act.)

So, what does this mean for a Utena AU?

Firstly, the role of Hero/Protagonist should probably be sincere within the context of the narrative. I feel like if there’s going to be a critique on roles, in the end it still has to do more good than harm if we want to go with Appmon’s more optimistic tone. Like, being a hero should genuinely motivate Haru, though Leviathan can have sinister reasons for wanting to produce heroes—and depending on the nature of Leviathan, maybe it thinks it’s the Real Hero or something? So the role of Hero/Protagonist still genuinely helps Haru grow as a person, but the antagonists also cling to the role either out of misguidedness or maliciousness.

Secondly, since the nature of Yuujin’s betrayal is involuntary, he can’t knowingly work with the antagonists to manipulate Haru (although YJ-14 certainly can). The tragedy is that Yuujin doesn’t even have the pretense of agency—he was never in a position where he could make informed/meaningful choices regarding the Big Bad, because he was kept in the dark just like the other AppDrivers. He was never supposed to have a will—just a convenient mask to be discarded by YJ-14 once he had fulfilled his function of gaining Haru’s trust.

I also think it wouldn’t quite work for Yuujin to be a straight-up Rose Bride (target of protection), because it’s too passive for the role he performs for Haru. To borrow a line from the Appmon manga, I think it’d be kinda interesting if Yuujin is instead the Hero’s Sword—he’s not entirely aware of what’s going on when he’s in sword mode, but trusts Haru to wield him. I feel like Yuujin being the Sword instead of the Bride would also preserve Haru’s idolization of Yuujin as a protagonist-like figure, and their partnership is initially perceived by Haru (and probably most people) as Yuujin helping Haru to get through the duels. Haru then resolves to become a capable hero worthy of a wonderful sword like Yuujin, before eventually coming to the realization that no matter how strong a sword is, it’s still an object that must be wielded by someone else—and Yuujin should get to decide his own fate (i.e. not be wielded by someone else).

(As for the ‘heart swords’ in the later arcs of Utena... I guess Yuujin being the Sword doesn’t necessarily stop him from drawing out and shaping the form of Haru’s ideals? Though I can see the both of them being initially confused about it, with Yuujin privately suffering a brief identity crisis—is he not a good sword anymore? What does their partnership mean for him if he’s no longer Haru’s sword? After all, moving away from being Haru’s sword to being the one who draws Haru’s sword for him means that he’s no longer Haru’s protector... Anyway, I think that concept could be modified, depending on what the deal is with Leviathan in this AU.)

As for characters outside of Haru and Yuujin, I think the AppDrivers are far more inclined to work together (and on the whole way less fucked up) than the Duelists. Like, I guess Rei could become a more serious rival, and without Hackmon I could see him being far more ruthless in his quest to get Hajime back... I guess Eri and Astra could be the friendly rivals (strong emphasis on friendly) and the competing dynamic between the AppDrivers are a lot healthier than the Duelists??? Ai could be the pal who isn’t directly caught up with the dueling competition stuff I guess—the Wakaba, so to speak.

I’m also not quite sure how to deal with the appmon characters in this AU? they are important so I don’t wanna just cut them out, but I also don’t know what to do with them...

[caatws]

Honestly there's nonsensical decision making to every single part of how Gamora's role and the guardians as a group have been written when it comes to life after Infinity War. I have been a fan of the mcu gotg since 2014. It was made known back then that the characters would be teaming up with the Avengers for a Thanos focused collaboration. The fact that Gunn didn't plan in advance or make any space to follow up on the potential impact of the collaboration was objectively a poor choice on his part. He wasn't blindsided and as much as I like what he's done in the past this isn't something I'm willing to give him a free pass on. Especially because it was his decision to base the mcu guardians around an abuse narrative. Minimum he should have been prepared for Gamora and Nebula to have some emotions that needed exploring after facing their abuser. Drax too based on his own writing of Drax wanting to take on Thanos. Rocket could be his favorite all he wanted but that doesn't change he included a whole host of characters in his trilogy who are all survivors with stories that would appeal to many people. He's said he wants people to relate to this story and who these characters are. It's asinine not to think about how Gamora's story might relate to people in the audience the way he loves Rocket. Part of being a thoughtful storyteller is thinking about the message that you send with what you put out into the world.

It would take hardly any time at all to sit back and reflect on what it would say to the audience that Gamora had zero funeral, no team moments going over her loss and that most characters are acting like they barely knew what was going on after her death. He knew Yondu deserved better than that and he should have known Gamora did too. It wouldn't have been hard to realize 2014 Gamora needed real development and closer relationships with the guardians because the story of the guardians is what he chose to write.

I'm not saying James Gunn is a bad person. I'm saying he had years to know where the guardians were headed when it came to Thanos. He knew he created a backstory of traumatic experiences related to Thanos for 3 of his core characters. He put effort into giving Yondu a proper funeral and still went on to do more that demonstrated he was important. He knew about and signed off on Gamora having very little character development as a result of Endgame. He was given the opportunity to do more with the guardians when it was decided there would be a holiday special. Even with all of this in place the best he could do was what we saw for Gamora in vol 3 along with zero mention of any characters beside Peter having lasting emotional effects from Infinity War and Endgame. I'm pretty sure that if I was still in school and turned in an assignment like vol 3 under these same circumstances, I would have received a failing grade. It's also wrong to make an open ending and then go online and pretend it only has one meaning when it comes to Gamora having one real family.

yeah, i think gunn either had less control over what happened in iw/eg than he let on (but then didn't want to change his vision for the final installment of the gotg trilogy being a rocket story) or he was just a lot more unserious about this stuff than i originally thought.

i think his favoritism toward rocket and yondu (cuz bestie rooker) were still present in vol 1 and 2, but it still meshed well with the ensemble stories going on bc there wasn't rly a reason to give any of the other characters more focus or detail than rocket or yondu back then. every character was on equal footing, in a way. but come vol 3, when everyone's lives and the established "normal" from vol 1/2 have been completely upended (plus add an extra 6-10 years of offscreen stuff, give or take, depending on the character), this approach no longer works. even bestie rocket's arc still suffers the consequences of this by not rly including or even acknowledging how those 5 years without his friends and family would've affected him.

i'd long gotten used to this uneven storytelling between characters in the avengers franchise, where the ensemble films often felt like The Steve And Tony Show(TM), which was part of why i appreciated the gotg films, since it felt like they didn't fall into this weird fake ensemble category. i still think vol 3 is a solid ensemble film, but it's definitely the gotg film that most starts to veer into unbalanced territory where the avengers films reside

and i know gunn wanted to try to tell le epic self-contained story or whatever, but like, it's the 3rd film in a franchise and we last saw these characters 4 years ago with the avengers in a totally separate franchise. treating it like it exists in some vacuum that makes it friendly to viewers who've never heard of the mcu in their lives or something is honestly just gonna make it more confusing than not and perhaps even frustrating for MOST viewers

[dick-the3rd]

I've been seeing a lot of analysis on Goncharov (1973) dir. Martin Scorsese, but one thing I really haven't seen was how the question "What is a human" and "What is a life worth living" is answered both by the narrative and the characters.

I mean, it's pretty clear how the movie explore the meaning of human life using subversion of stereotypes and contradictions within the same stereotype, because that's what being a human is, a mix of hypocrisies and selective blindness.

But I think there's also a really subtle detail about the lives humans live (or choose to live). Let's dwell in the main four, Goncharov, Katya, Sofia and Alexey.

First, let's focus on Goncharov and Katya, the from the beginning couple. It's very clear how Goncharov sees his life, and his own position in the mafia hierarchy, but there's this desperation within, the aching need to feel. He even describes himself as "as a very passionate man in every aspect of life". You can see for him a life worth living is a life filled with burning passions. Consuming feelings. He dwells in love, hate, pain, happiness bc those are the things that make him feel alive. His life needs to be overflowing with feelings. But then he has Katya as his soon to be wife.

It's not a loveless marriage by any means. You can see how dedicated they are to each other, the bond they formed throughout the years is not something that can be easily dismissed (and I think that's why they chose to marry each other. They are a constant together). But Katya is a very different person from Goncharov. For her the life are on the simple things, not the burning feelings. ("You see. This is why in the end we were never meant to be. You want a fire that burns you from inside out, leaving only ashes. I want a fireplace, a fire that warms me and that in return I make sure to keep it alive"). Katya knows the only way to be happy is finding happiness and pleasure in small parts across life. The curiosity of finding the next good thing is what really keeps her going.

And as the time goes those differences between the two only grow. Life turns boring for Goncharov. And I think this is why he asked Katya not to miss. He didn't want to live a life without passion. She was the closest person to him, and if she couldn't give him that, nothing else could, so he opted for death. But Katya. Katya couldn't give him that, could she? She can't give him death because for her the lack of burning passion is not enough to give up. So she misses.

And this is when their relationship turns strained.

And then we have Sofia and Alexey

Sofia matches Katya. Despite their outside differences, their core is very much the same. They have just as much chemistry as Alexey and Goncharov, but Sofia and Katya are more quiet. The world is burning around them, but S & K make sure to create this small patch of calmness.

And when Alexey appears (or re-appears really), he gives Goncharov everything he wanted. Alexey is the burning hate and burning passion for Goncharov. He's every feeling turned up to one thousand. He's the whole damn breaking. The glass overflowing. He's the answer Goncharov was desperately looking for. And for a while we think is the same for Alexey.

But then we come to the Scene™ and we realize Alexey is much more nihilistic than Goncharov. For him a life is a life. There's no hidden meaning within it, not reason to live. He lives bc that's what he has right now, and while he enjoyed the games and taunts he had with Goncharov, Alexey never really thought it was permanent.

This is why his final act hurts so much. Goncharov finally had something to live for. This was the one time he wanted the shot to miss, the one time he found a reason to open his eyes. And how cruel is that the person he wishes to wake up for the same person who makes sure to make him never wake up again.

So yeah, each characters arc is also different ways of living life, and what he do with what we have in hands.

[jasper-rolls]

Media Roundup (March 2024)

i forgot to do this for like the first third of the month oops! life is hard. quite a little list of stuff i consumed

AD:TRANCE 10 - Diverse System

TRANCE MUSIC IS FUCKING BACK, BABY. man this was a real solid compliation, just some excellent stuff throughout. it never quite got beyond the heights of 2, but still a very strong showing.

best tracks: "Warrior", "Visiophanum", "Stella Walker"

X-Men: Days of Future Past

this is that good comic book shit. some really fantastic sequences although it left some stuff on the table - i kept expecting quicksilver to show back up and attach himself to the team and he just...didn't, i guess, despite what seemed like obvious interest. presumably a set up for the sequel

i feel a little disappointed the future stuff was just not at all prominent and the story focused almost entirely on the 70s. not that i'm opposed to the 70s but it felt like something interesting could be done with the future, and i was expecting some weird timeline flashing shit with new future realities being created and wolverine having to jump back again and that...doesn't really happen, he just starts thrashing the table and making hurting kitty for really no reason - they already had the sentinel ticking clock, they didn't need to attack elliot page too. also they keep fucking stiffing beast, he doesn't...really do anything here and his design kinda sucks. please write him good just once, i'm begging you

otherwise it was pretty great. love young erik and charles's dynamic. they really need to kiss about it that would probably fix the timeline for real

The American Dream - Tedrich Lendum

i wasn't expecting much from this, and it starts off feeling a little trite, so perhaps there's only so much to expect when you're chopping and screwing country, but then it ballooned into this nigh on apocalyptic feeling. weird yet cool.

best track: "Down"

Ahsoka

laughable that everyone involved was like "oh, i guess you can see this as rebels season 5, but it's really just its own standalone thing that you can enjoy on its own terms without needing to do homework" and then it was just rebels season 5. just name it rebels season 5, man.

is this what the people want? is this really what we're satisfied by? sabine can do force stuff now even though that was like, never the point of her character. we get no idea of what ezra's life has been like since the end of rebels S4 and his character has changed not one bit from spending literal years in exile on a mudball so, whatever, he gets to go home i guess. did ahsoka change, like at all? she had some clone wars fanservice in the middle there but like. she didn't have an arc, she never stopped doing what she was going to do and she ends the show the same as she started it but she's just in a different part of the galaxy. is this all set up for the mando movie? what is the point of doing any of this when no-one's going to go through any kind of journey? filoni, what happened? you used to be pretty good at this, sometimes even great!

when is andor season 2. good god

Guardians of the Galaxy

heartbreaking: chris pratt is the star of the best MCU movie thus far

i laughed AND i cried. much more enjoyable for feeling largely unshackled from the binding narrative that's starting to wrap around the MCU at this point, where the film can focus on its characters and their journeys. especially immediately after watching something so arc-less as the mandoverse, this feels like a bright star. wonderful stuff. looking forward to more

GioGio's Bizarre Adventure II: GOLDEN HEART/GOLDEN RING

not much to say about it - despite the title it takes place in the middle of vento aureo. still, some cool fights to enjoy. joy division is a fun stand imo.

Skizz - Alan Moore, Jim Baikie

E.T. by way of alan moore seems like it'll be interesting, and the original run is decent, but it doesn't do anything truly groundbreaking, and once baikie takes over writing it becomes pretty dull. still, a neat curiosity

The Bob's Burgers Movie

Crime Hole

just a good fun hour and a half, and also a tear came to my eye when they talked about louise's hat. the villain is kind of obvious but i like how they make his earlier actions make sense. my only real complaints are that gene and tina's subplots just kinda get left by the wayside, only remarked upon occasionally, and the dovetailing of bob and linda's plot with the kids just felt a little too forced to really work. regardless, great music. some genuinely wonderful animation, not just on the dancing, but there's these delightful little actions that are done so fluidly. teddy crying in the alley, felix trying to get the toothpick out of his drink with his tongue. its a joy to watch

Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures

I Love Yoda's Indoctrination Camp For Kids

(it's fine)

American Gangster - Jay-Z

i've always kind of struggled to connect to hip-hop, and this took some close listening, but i think this is where i finally get it. learning that jay does it all off the top of his dome completely changed how i viewed it.

best tracks: "I Know" "Party Life" & "Fallin'"

Fullmetal Alchemist

i think what i liked about this i presumably attribute to the original story. the original story that takes up the back half i think has some genuinely fantastic moments, but it fumbles a lot. this did properly get me into FMA, though

From Hell - Alan Moore & Eddie Campbell

perhaps the deepest, most well researched dive into not only the whitechapel murders, but the entire society that surrounds them, and tying it in beatuifully with a genre transcending exploration of time and evil. moore does it again.

American Idiot - Green Day

the fucking album ever. more lefty than i gave it credit for: this isn't just stupid "ooh bush bad" stuff, this was a mediation on what it means to grow up being told your country stands for freedom, while it does something completely different. salient, even now.

best tracks: "Jesus of Suburbia", "Holiday", "St. Jimmy"

[millennialdemon]

I don’t know much at all about the real Cleopatra in history, and I don’t think it much matters in watching this movie, because remember, 

But having Cleopatra, as the protagonist of a movie, be controlled by her significantly older, predatory lesbian nanny through the majority of this story is a choice I have to raise a brow at. One because she is a predatory lesbian of course, but also because she is the one that is actually driving the story. Apollodoria is the one plotting to assassinate the Roman leaders, and she trains Cleopatra to do the job for her by… teaching her how to have sex and be seductive I guess… and Cleopatra goes along with it all in order to save Egypt, since her father the pharaoh is spineless and does not even try to defy Caesar politically.

Apollodoria brings Cleopatra to a witch doctor of sorts, who performs magical plastic surgery on her to make her “the most beautiful woman ever” to the ends of ensuring she can ensnare Caesar’s interest, and Cleopatra laments this only momentarily in one line of dialogue, wherein she refers to herself as “artificial”.

Apollodoria concocts the plan to get Cleopatra into Caesar’s room to seduce and kill him, and every time Cleopatra fails to do so, Apollodoria is the one supplying her with new methods and materials to try again. She even tries to get Cleopatra to stab Caesar to death with a hidden dagger while he is distracted by his first meeting with their newborn baby. Eventually, thanks to his own hubris, Caesar meets his end being assassinated by Brutus & Co, having unknowingly survived multiple half-hearted assassination attempts by Cleopatra until that point. Once Caesar is dead, Antony enters Cleopatra’s life, and Apollodoria insists upon his death as well and creates the plan to have to him slaughtered in his fight against Octavian’s approaching army.  

Cleopatra herself really doesn’t have much cunning or ambition in this narrative. She just sort of falls in love with Roman men because they think she is ever so pretty -- and she is ever so pretty because Apollodoria made it so -- and laments their eventual deaths, more so at the hands of Apollodoria than herself. She does nothing to anyone politically, despite being the ruler of Egypt, and all of the desire to save Egypt from Roman invaders is had by Apollodoria in this story, not Cleopatra. In fact, by the end of the story, Cleopatra begs to be returned to the way she was before, and seems to be resigned to just surviving the rest of her (cut very short by Octavian) life.

One of the few times when Cleopatra decides to do something of her own volition, without any coaching or insistence by Apollodoria, it is to do with trying to win back the love of Caesar from his actual wife in Rome, Calpurnia. She breaks into their room with a gun (it’s a long, stupid story) and threatens to kill her for stealing her husband away (that’s not how that works but okay girl). She is scorned by Caesar and Calpurnia alike and abandons Rome, heartbroken. Otherwise Cleopatra spends most of this story trying to brush off Apollodoria’s requests to assassinate her Roman lovers, with no particular goals other than “be wife” in sight. She seemingly has no interest in leading Egypt at all, despite having begun this journey with Apollodoria for the sake of saving it.

Now, I did not go into a movie called Cleopatra: Queen of Sex expecting Cleopatra to be portrayed accurately or in a remotely flattering, not horrendously sexist way. It isn’t so much that I wanted Cleopatra to be a #girlboss #slaying the Roman patriarchy really – as based as that could be – my issue is more with Apollodoria’s role in this narrative, simply because there isn’t much of an internal struggle for Cleopatra to have in her self-titled movie when she is directed to do everything by a wicked old crone, is there?